Last week’s BitSummit exhibition gave me the chance for a first hands-on with Fuga: Melodies of Steel, the latest title from CyberConnect2. Though known for tackling large projects like Bandai Namco’s .Hack games or Asura’s Wrath for Capcom, Fuga is CyberConnect2’s first in a string of self-published games. Though smaller in scope, it’s looking like a charming title that marries beautiful artwork, turn-based tank combat and a bunch of furry friends.

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Fuga: Melodies of Steel takes CyberConnect2 back to their shared universe of “Little Tail Bronx” games. Just like Solatorobo, the game features a cast of anthropomorphic animals, although Fuga takes on a much darker tone. The colourful skies have been swapped for a war-torn land, with eleven children caught up in the conflict and making a new home aboard a giant tank called the Taranis. Think Howl’s Moving Castle, only with tank treads and a lot more firepower. Exactly how their struggles against the Belman Empire will play out is anyone’s guess, but this demo saw the kids onboard the Taranis advancing through the countryside while being assaulted by waves of enemy fighters.

Combat is turn-based, with each pair of characters commanding a different weapon on the tank. These weapons feature different properties, like a machine gun that delays enemies from attacking. The characters also have special abilities that change the effect of the weapon, like causing shots to hit all targets or slow enemies down. These skills could only be used once in each battle, so they need to be timed carefully. The turn order is shown at the top of the screen, so planning out each character’s actions in advance seems to be the key to strategising. Some enemy tanks had particularly nasty attacks, so I found it helpful to delay them and try to take them down before they could get a shot in. The Taranis’ HP recovers after each fight, so battles could get pretty brutal.

Though the combat seems simple, It took me a while to get the hang of managing the battlefield. Were the demo not impossible to lose, the kids’ home would surely be turned into scrap metal. The trick to taking down enemies is whittling down the guard rank next to their HP. This number decreases with each hit from the main cannon, decreasing their defenses in the process. Think Octopath Traveler only… that’s exactly what it’s like. I have no excuse for the miserable ranking the game gave me after each battle.

As the Taranis advanced forward, I was also given some down time between battles. During these intermissions, you can wander around the tank and use up AP to talk to your teammates. You’ll gain experience from spending time with each other and it seems like there are different events to see. Despite being this giant war machine, these segments make the Taranis feels like home

I liked the fact that Fuga has these kind of lighter events. It reminded me of something like Valkyria Chronicles in the way it divides itself between tank combat and building morale back at base. During the tank’s travels, it also comes across random events based on tarot cards. For example, one lucky draw of the Sun card let everyone out to do some washing. These give some nice benefits and add a lot of charm

Not that Fuga is otherwise missing much charm. Despite the bleak setting, the illustrations are adorable. Even the enemy tanks have cute little cat ears! The overall presentation is nice, with the characters and vehicles presented as cel-shaded 3D models that fit with the painted backgrounds. The Taranis is particularly impressive, what with all the individual parts moving around. It’s almost a living, breathing thing as it lurches around in battle, sighing with puffs of steam.

Although I only played an early build of Fuga, it’s looking like into a promising follow up to Solatorobo. There’s a darker tone, but the same hopeful spirit – not to mention a whole lot of French, both in the text and voicework. Actually, the project lead and director of Fuga is French and it’s a co-production between CyberConnect2’s Japanese and Canadian studios. The language of cool tanks and cute animal people is universal, so let’s hope that Fuga can find an international audience too.

Though the version I played was in Japanese, Fuga is planned for a simultaneous release in English and Japanese. It’s coming to the PlayStation 4, PC, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One (I demoed the Xbox One version, surprisingly) and scheduled for release in 2020.