The Cantata release date has been announced, and this phenomenal-looking Steam Early Access strategy game is the perfect blend for fans of StarCraft, Factorio, and Into The Breach, with a style you won’t soon forget. There’s even new footage of Cantata too, so check it out.
With one of the best art styles I’ve ever seen – which I can only describe as Moebius meets the work of Hades and Pyre developer Supergiant Games – Cantata is set to leave Steam Early Access in just a few weeks. We’ve already talked about Cantata before, and I think we will again after looking at this.
Cantata will feel immediately familiar to those of us that have played bigger strategy games like StarCraft, but also smaller isometric turn-based strategy games like Into The Breach. Entering Steam Early Access in 2022, the full release of Cantata will feature 27 hours of story content, nine story campaigns (with three new chapters in the full release), local and online multiplayer, and a map editor mode, too.
You’ll have the choice of nine commanding officers across three factions, each with their own specific units and buildings, and a large campaign map. You’ll start with a few buildings and units, where you’ll then need to expand for more resources and explore the map, which is all pretty standard stuff. For me, Cantata stands out because of its style, and the option to mod the game to your heart’s content by importing your own sprites, extensive map creation tools, and a whole lot more.
The team at Afterschool Studio says Cantata blends “the scope of grand strategy titles with the turn-based skirmishes of classic Tactics games,” and you can absolutely see that in what the team has shared. I’m immediately thinking about classic StarcCraft when looking at Cantata, but this art style truly is something else.
The pixel art is drop-dead gorgeous, and the use of bright colors and excellent alien design has me wishing the team could put all of this down into the pages of a comic book – it looks that good. I’ve immediately added Cantata to my Steam wishlist, and am genuinely thinking about if I should hold out for the full release or go for early access.
Luckily, we don’t need to wait long, as Cantata gets a full release on Tuesday, August 15.
If you want even more, we’ve got the very best grand strategy games and management games currently available on PC, with Cantata sitting comfortably between these two genres.
