Tokyo Game Show 2024

FAIRY TAIL 2 Brings Fans to Final Story Arc With Revamped Gameplay

In 2022, Fairy Tail fans were graced with the Koei Tecmo game FAIRY TAIL. Loosely following the story of the anime and manga of the same name, it was met with relative praise. However, with the manga series ending in 2017 and anime in 2019, there was still a bit of story for a video game adaptation of the series to explore. Now, in December 2024 we're getting the finale of Fairy Tail and then some with the upcoming FAIRY TAIL 2 from Koei Tecmo. We got some time playing it during the Tokyo Game Show 2024.

FAIRY TAIL 2 takes players and fans of the anime and manga series to the final story arc of Fairy Tail, the Alvarez arc. More specifically, it appears players begin around volume 52 of the manga series, or episode 287 of the anime series. As such, the demo starts players off with the climatic confrontation between the character Makarov Dreyar and Zeref Dragneel. It's a great opening, at least for the demo, and puts us right into the action and prepares us for upcoming events.

That upcoming event is our first combat of the demo. Featuring the Fairy Tail main characters Natsu Dragoneel, Lucy Heartfillia, and Erza Scarlet against the villainous Spriggan 12 member Ajeel Raml, the battle hearkens back to their confrontation in the anime and manga series. However, its true purpose was to introduce players to the combat mechanics.

Fans of the previous installment of the Fairy Tail game series will instantly notice the combat system has been revamped. Rather than going into a menu to select which attacks you want to use, four attacks are now set to the square, triangle, circle, and X buttons (for the PS5). For the demo, the square button was the default attack, while the other three were designated for more powerful and character specific attacks. Unfortunately, for many random encounters it appears you'll mainly be using the default attack. But as you use it, you'll build a separate gauge to use the more powerful and character specific attacks. It's a fun little dynamic that adds action to a turn-based combat system.

One other small change to the combat is a shield gauge over your opponent's health bar. As these gauges break you can perform a combination attack, called a “Link Attack,” with one of your party members. It's a bit unfortunate this is labeled as a combo rather than the powerful “Unison Raid” attacks seen sporadically in the anime and manga series. But this is understandable, as the "Unison Raid" is supposed to be an ultimate attack rather than a simple combination attack.

While the Tokyo Game Show 2024 demo of FAIRY TAIL 2 gave players a chance to explore a bit of the final arc of the Fairy Tail anime and manga series, it appears the game will also have a completely new story following the events of the anime and manga. According to a Koei Tecmo staff member at the Tokyo Game Show 2024, the game company created a new story following the Alvarez arc, but before the events of Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest. So, despite being an adaptation of the Alvarez arc, fans of the anime and manga series will have something to look forward to after completing the “main” story.

FAIRY TAIL 2 isn't a game that's easily accessible in terms of story for people unfamiliar with the Fairy Tail franchise. There are some menu options that allow for players to look up character histories but that's more homework rather than a natural introduction. But for fans of Fairy Tail, this game is a great way to live the Alvarez arc of the manga and anime series, albeit with some liberties thrown in. So, if you're a fan of Fairy Tail, you'll want to take a look.