Metal Saga, known in Japan as , is a post-apocalyptic role-playing video game developed by Success and published by Atlus and Success. Metal Saga is the fifth game in the Metal Max series and the first one to reach the United States. Like the previous games in the series, it follows an open, non-linear style of gameplay. The game received a mixed reception for its unconventional gameplay and dated graphics. Gameplay The game mechanics are similar to that of most role-playing video games. Players travel between points of interest on an overworld map, during which point in time they can be attacked by randomly encountered foes. Within towns, players can rest, repair vehicles, sell items, and other typical activities. The "dungeons" in the title are usually caves or abandoned buildings. Such hostile locations are relatively small, with much of their complexity being due to their maze-like nature (and the lack of an auto-mapping feature). Combat is individually turn-based, utilizing a staggered initiative system (e.g., characters on foot are faster than those in tanks). Any canine member of the party acts on his or her own, automatically attacking foes at random. For the remaining characters, players choose among a limited number of actions. While characters do have some skills which can be used during combat, these cost money to use (rather than using a separate mana/skill point pool) and often cannot be used when within a tank. As a result, skills are not necessarily as attractive as in other such games. Although certain weapons are clearly intended to be used against certain foes, characters cannot change arms or armor during combat. Tanks All of the characters, with the exception of the dogs, can be placed within tanks to further improve their combat performance. While fighting from within a tank, characters use the on-board weapons instead of their hand weapons, and suffer damage to the tank, rather than to their person. This provides an additional layer of defense, in that characters can exit the tank and continue to fight if the tank becomes inoperable. When not in combat, one additional tank can be towed and used to store spare parts or used as a spare vehicle. There are a total of 15 tanks in the game. While the game uses the term "tank" to refer to all such vehicles, several of them are not actually tanks. These include a fire truck (complete