If you like RTS games, this is one to check out, with a good story and likeable characters. It's pretty good.

this game's badass

I picked this game up on a whim and didn’t know what to expect outside of furry ww2 simulator. What I got was a heartfelt story about the horrors of war, the pain of sacrifice and the power to defy it all.

At its core, the gameplay loop is a very satisfying one to learn and master. You choose your route through a stage, picking a relative difficulty for your tank’s needs, fight battles against some interesting but not very varied enemies and stop at intermission points to develop the tank and friendships between the children.

The battles themselves were the main source of friction, and I say that with a level of pride. The friction came in the stress of knowing that at low HP, the soul cannon would be active and present as both the hail mary and threat that it is, a win at a cost. The friction came in at the route splits, looking at the state of my tank and need for upgrades and deciding if now is the time to play it safe or risk it all for an elite battle. The friction came in when one of my children became injured, risking a KO for them, but with them being vital to shredding the armor of the boss quickly so I can win and end the fight.
At the end, this friction faded in a way that was still satisfying. After feeling out matched by an invading army, my children of the Taranis were resolved to end things and they walked through the final chapter like the Steel Demon of lore.

As for the children themselves, most of them were super cute and that was most of their personality. I was endeared to them, but a massive shout out to Jin and Britz for having the best writing of them.

I’m aware that this is a story in a larger setting, with games on the DS and other older systems, I might give them a go to see more of this setting. As of writing this review, I’ve not started the second game and I’m excited to see where the story of these children goes…

Because I’m the oldest, and I have to protect them, right?