Fusionist is a brand-new turn-based mecha combat game that uses the ever-popular (and equally criticized) gacha system. Interestingly, the game also incorporates blockchain technology to make every player’s mech a unique, one-of-a-kind vehicle. Regardless of your opinion on NFTs and blockchain games, Fusionist holds up with decent gameplay for a free-to-play title, though I’d like to see some changes during the game’s Early Access phase to improve it further.
Unfortunately, my first attempt to play Fusionist was stopped by network connection issues. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one facing these problems. Just hours after the game’s already delayed release into Early Access, Fusionist’s servers were either turned off or not functioning for players. While disappointing, this isn’t exactly unheard of for Early Access games.
In its current Early Access state, Fusionist can be a bit confusing to navigate, with no clear tutorial that I could find, and the game just throws you into things. While initially overwhelming, careful exploration of the UI and some trial and error will help you figure out what the menus offer.
The “Blueprint” tab serves as the game’s gacha pull screen. Here, you can create new mechs with procedurally generated parts, paint jobs, stats, and classifications. It’s a bit confusing at first, but you’ll quickly learn that each pull requires resources, with higher rarity pulls costing more.
Interestingly, Fusionist is an NFT-based game. To my understanding, this means that each mech you pull is a non-fungible token (NFT), generating a blockchain tag that identifies your mech as unique. This means every mech in the game is technically one of a kind. However, as you can probably tell, I don’t know much about the science behind NFTs.
It’s hard to form an opinion on Fusionist’s use of NFTs in gameplay. I assume this unique generation system is intended to encourage player-to-player trade, but in the game’s current state, I don’t see any option for that. While the concept is exciting, I don’t yet see a practical purpose for each mech being uniquely tied to the blockchain.
Once you pull a mech you’re fond of, you can upgrade it in the Hangar. Although the upgrade requirements might be confusing at first, it appears you just need mechs of the same type and level that you no longer want. This is a straightforward upgrade system that keeps players engaged in the gacha system after getting what they want—or while they wait for that big pull they’re hoping for.
All of that aside, what really matters for Fusionist—or any game—is how fun the gameplay is. For a free-to-play title, Fusionist is pretty good. I’d like to see only a few minor changes before the full launch.
Fusionist is a fairly standard turn-based fighting game. Using the mechs you’ve acquired through the blueprint system, you assemble a team to engage in turn-based combat against other players or AI, leveraging your team’s strengths to defeat the enemy.
If you’ve ever played XCOM, you’ll have a good idea of what to expect from Fusionist. Each mech has a certain amount of movement and special combat actions they can perform during their turn. This is where the gacha element becomes interesting, as the abilities, strengths, and weaknesses of your mechs are determined by the randomness of the pulls, making each mech potentially unique in combat.
At the time of writing, I wasn’t able to try any PvP battles, as they seemed to be locked behind a timer and only open at certain hours. This limitation may dissuade some early-access playtesters. However, the game does offer PvE missions where you can face off against preset computer-controlled teams. I had fun with these missions until I hit a difficulty wall that prevented me from progressing with the team I had. Still, I was confident that smarter play might let me beat the mission after a few more tries.
The straightforward turn-based mechanics are enjoyable, and the game is carried by its great effects and cool animations during battles. However, if I could suggest one thing to the development team, it would be this: Please, please include cinematic camera angles during fights!
There’s nothing I wanted more during my time with Fusionist than to see the combat up close and personal. From my understanding, there’s no reason the camera has to remain fixed in its top-down perspective. Adding cinematic close-ups or even a free-camera mode could elevate the experience, showing off the game’s most impressive features: the incredibly detailed mech models and exciting combat animations.
While I’ll leave the NFT aspect for consumers to judge, I will say that Fusionist is engaging and worth trying if you’re interested in a free-to-play game. However, the restrictions in the Early Access playtest might make it better to wait until the full launch before giving it a shot.
Pros:
- An interesting gacha system with cool, unique mechs
- Engaging turn-based combat, especially for a free-to-play game
Cons:
- Gacha elements may appeal to some but deter others
- Limited access due to the Early Access status
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