Apocalypse Again
Artery Gear: Fusion is the newest project from the creative minds at BiliBili. The multimedia Chinese studio is famously known for producing titles such as Fate/Grand Order and Azur Lane, firmly staking their claim in the mobile gaming niche. This mecha game features chibi mecha girls who serve as battle units in an apocalyptic world.
The mecha girls, known as Artery Gears (or just AGs for short) battle puppets who have been terrorizing humanity for nearly two decades with their nonstop brutality. Cities all across the world have fallen into ruin because of these mutated puppets and technology has gone haywire. Technology can even become corrupted by the presence of the puppets and their strings, plunging everything around them into an abyss. That’s when the chibi mecha girls come in to save the day.
Mecha Girls Unite
When it comes to mecha girls, Artery Gear: Fusion sincerely means that the girls are mechas and not that they’re piloting giant robots. It’s a nice change from the usual set up of machine and pilot, allowing for a closer relationship between the two. The girls are a fusion of machine and human, that’s where the game’s name is a clever play on lore. Some of them do use mecha suits, but on a smaller scale that still packs quite the punch.
The AGs tend to have serial numbers or special names that serve as designations and explanations of their skills. What’s cool about this is that there’s a lineage of AGs within the world of Artery Gear. There are a few elite groups and one of them is a specific type of AG known as The Harpy and these AGs have undisclosed powers. They haven’t been fully explored within the game yet and that’s something that adds a thrill to gameplay. The AG technology is developing faster and faster in order to keep up with the puppets.
A Perfect Weapon
Now, the main strength of the AGs is that the puppets are incapable of mutating them when they encounter each other in battle. AGs were created for the sole purpose of destroying the mutated puppets and are immune to their corrupted strings. Thanks to their creation, conventional weaponry has been pulled from the battlefield in the world of Artery Gear and AGs have filled those spots.
AGs come in three main grades that determine their strength: 3-Star, 4-Star, and 5-Star. Following that, they then belong to one of five classes: Assault, Repair, Defense, Tactical, and Balanced. These classes setup the combat style of the AGs and how they can be deployed on the battlefield. There’s one more division when it comes to AGs and that’s their attribute. Compared to the classes, there’s only three attributes: Thunder (Blue), Crystal (Green), and Molten (Red). These attributes are the core of the AGs as they determine what type of enemies they can easily defeat or lose to.
Gachas and Whaling
Artery Gear has a decent pity system in place of the usual gacha system employed in similar titles. Players are guaranteed a 4-star AG within the first round of pulls. There’s another benefit to their pity system. All summon points on special banners are carried over to the general banner. Spending resources responsibly is the best way to enjoy a gacha based and this title is no different. There’s gift packs available in game and pay-to-win mechanisms in place thanks to micro transactions. While there’s a galore of gift packs, Free-to-play is still possible because of the AFK system and story rewards.
Away From Keyboard Mothership
Like any good mecha RPG, there’s a home base for fighters to return to. In this case, it’s a hangar in the sky consisting of five different ships. This is where a lot of the AFK or idle features can be found. AFK is a lifesaver when it comes to mecha games and farming for necessary resources.
The mothership works as the overall barracks and hang out area for all the AGs that have been pulled from the gacha. Each subsequent room can be unlocked through leveling up and upgrading the mothership. The rooms are really just for aesthetics and bonuses.
Now, the two most important ships are the supply ship and the armament ship. The first one produces funds and the second one produces experience orbs. Both of these are important and should be the focus of upgrades, especially when it comes to free-to-play or casual players. The rates for AFK are a bit low at the beginning, but AFK isn’t a substitute for working on character builds.
The expedition ship is where AGs can be sent out on missions in search of rewards. This is another section that’s pretty common when it comes to mecha games. The same is true for the science vessel which is dedicated to crafting and forging gear for AGs. What’s cool about the science vessel is that stats can be transferred from gear to gear.
Rekindled Hope
Artery Gear: Fusion might not be everyone’s cup of tea. It is a relatively new game and there have been a few glitches that BiliBili has already addressed in Artery Gear. There are definitely some areas where BiliBili can still improve on to make the game better. Resource grinding and farming is one of the spots where improvements can be made, which, with time, can be done. With that in mind, Artery Gear:Fusion is a decent timesink when it comes to mobile RPGs.
