Developer CyberConnect 2, mostly known for its .hack series of single player role-playing games, the Little Tail Bronx series, and the series of fighting games based on the popular manga and anime franchise Naruto, has just announced details for its upcoming debut in the world of publishing with Fuga: Melodies of Steel.
Through an exclusive interview with RPGsite heading into Anime Expo 2019, CyberConnect2’s Executive Vice-president Taichiro Miyazaki expounded on the company’s plans moving forward, specifically its first foray into turn-based strategy RPGs.
Originally planned for fall 2019, Fuga: Melodies of Steel tells the story of 11 children in a war-torn France inspired setting. Aboard the Giant Tank Taranis, these children undergo challenges that will test their friendships and involve necessary sacrifices that they need to take if they are to battle the evil Berman empire and save their imprisoned families. The Soul Cannon – a powerful weapon aboard the Taranis can help them, but will require sacrificing a crew member. Decision making and strategic planning is essential to your success.
Containing 12 chapters, Miyazaki explained that the game will involve heavy trial and error. Each chapter provides players a chance to revive if they die, and to attempt a different path to see if it will be more successful. Of course, the ideal ending would be if all of the 11 children survive, but this interview also confirmed that multiple endings are in the works. Happy endings or tragic ones dictate the player’s experience, and probably mean that the game offers a lot of replayability.
Fuga: Melodies of Steel was originally part of the company’s Trilogy of Vengeance titles: three self-published titles that revolve around the main theme of vengeance. Birthed from the company’s in-house initiative called the “C5 Project Initiative”, CyberConnect2 aims to gather ideas from their in-house talent to make their own mark in the publishing realms by veering away from their previous business model that heavily involved developing projects for publishing giants.
It is quite understandable that given the limited manpower they have, the release date for Fuga: Melodies of Steel needed to be delayed to 2020.
Fuga: Melodies of Steel is expected to release early 2020 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch and PC via Steam.