The Official Evilbore Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love Thread!

[HyperZoneWasAwesome]

I won't admit to buying it, but its something I might have done.  And if I did buy it, I wouldn't be playing it immediately due to real life obligations and my scarily huge backlog, and I would have bought it more as a curiosity of that particular and inscrutable series.  That and the likelihood of it being the last significant PS2 release and I would have believed that it wasn't likely to be readily available in the future and certainly not as the nifty package available to the people who bought the initial print run.

that is, if I bought it.  It would also be the fruitiest game I would own, if I had purchased it and were too afraid of being of being labeled as the wacky jappy gamer/weeaboo that I am if I came out straight and said "I paid my own hard-earned cash on a dating-sim/RPG/anime girly game".

so I'm not saying I bought it, but I am saying that I didn't not buy it.

[Ichirou]

I'm near the end of episode 3 now.  Battles have been pretty easy thus far (I suspect they'll get tougher once you have assembled your entire team).  The game seems to be 2/3 adventure segments, 1/3 battles.

The game is definitely designed to be replayed through multiple times.  The free-roaming adventure segments are designed in such a way that there's really no possible way to see and do everything in one play-through, because events are timed (not in real-time, but time passes whenever you go to a certain location).  Plus, there's sooooo many interactions with the characters where you get timed interactions (either doing certain tasks or answering questions or commenting from multiple choices).  Sometimes, the "wrong" answers that piss off the characters are the funniest ones.

The game really feels like a mid-90s anime. The characters are really sweet and fun, but aren't the disgusting moe-blobs that are so popular nowadays.

My favorite character so far is the black lawyer.  She's so sassy.  She has the coolest mecha too.

[Vizzys]

I won't admit to buying it, but its something I might have done.  And if I did buy it, I wouldn't be playing it immediately due to real life obligations and my scarily huge backlog, and I would have bought it more as a curiosity of that particular and inscrutable series.  That and the likelihood of it being the last significant PS2 release and I would have believed that it wasn't likely to be readily available in the future and certainly not as the nifty package available to the people who bought the initial print run.

that is, if I bought it.  It would also be the fruitiest game I would own, if I had purchased it and were too afraid of being of being labeled as the wacky jappy gamer/weeaboo that I am if I came out straight and said "I paid my own hard-earned cash on a dating-sim/RPG/anime girly game".

so I'm not saying I bought it, but I am saying that I didn't not buy it.

[bork]

Got it but have no idea when I'm going to try it.  I want to keep playing Hokuto Musou and finish more of that game first.  Sakura Wars goes right into the Sega backburner alongside Yakuza 1-3 and Valkyria Chronicles.

[Ichirou]

Got it but have no idea when I'm going to try it.  I want to keep playing Hokuto Musou and finish more of that game first.  Sakura Wars goes right into the Sega backburner alongside Yakuza 1-3 and Valkyria Chronicles.

Did you get the PS2 or Wii version?

This is like the last AAA quality game to come out for PS2, I think...RIP, mayne.

I hope it sells well enough that NIS America brings out Sakura Wars 1&2 out on PSP.  Sakura Wars 2 is my favorite in the series.

[bork]

PS2...I wanted the Wii version but no Japanese dub = no sale.

[Ichirou]

You hanging that Gemini Sunrise poster in your game room? 

[bork]

You hanging that Gemini Sunrise poster in your game room? 

Nope!  Got more video n' animu posters than I know what to do with now.  Plus I'm probably moving soon, to a small 1 bedroom apartment, so no more game room.  I will have to hide my nerd hobby.   :'(

[Ichirou]

Fuck. :spitzer

[demi]

Blah, 480i

[Ichirou]

You sure?  The NeoGAF thread says it supports 480p.

[demi]

Unless I see otherwise, this game is 480i

What are passwords for? In the Free & Easy in NY section

[Ichirou]

You can get secret pictures of the characters (Bromides like in the PSX Lunar games), as well as music for your cameratron (you get that in the second episode of the game).

Don't even bother with Free & Easy in NY until you've finished the game at least once.  It's basically a free-roaming thing where you can play mini-games with the characters, get extra pictures, view all the FMVs/endings you've gotten in the game thus far.

[magus]

Nobody else is playing this game?  You guys suck. 

you shall go as a lone hero as i did for my shiren thread! </salute>

[Ichirou]

Except Shiren is totally gay.

[demi]

Yep, Shiren is shit

[magus]

 :'(

[bork]

Unless I see otherwise, this game is 480i

   Come on, NIS, how hard would it have been to have added 480P to this port?

[Ichirou]

NeoGAF distinguished mentally-challenged fellows claimed it's 480p.

[chronovore]

Nobody else is playing this game?  You guys suck. 

We can animu-cuddle together and play Record of Agarest War after it ships for 360. 

[Ichirou]

Nah, that sounds like a shit game.  Sakura Wars is AAA gaming.

[magus]

ya know i still don't understand what's supposedly make this good which is why i didn't bother... i don't want to sounds like someone trolling but what's here for me besides? "WACKY ANIMU GALS" 

[Ichirou]

Overall, the Sakura Wars series have sold over 3,000,000 units in Japan.

Sakura Taisen ranked #13 place in the Famitsu's 100 all-time favorite games list.

The first four Sakura Taisen games all made Japan’s “Top 100 Games of all time” as voted by fans.

Recorded the biggest sales as a SEGA Saturn original title.

Won the 1997 Game of the year Semi-Grand Prix Award.

When Sakura Taisen 2 was released it was currently the number one most popular game in Japan according to Famicom Tsuushin.

Famitsu gave Sakura Taisen V a 10 / 10 / 9 / 8 - (37/40) score.

In Japan, Sakura Taisen V was one of the best selling games in 2005.

According to Famitsu 1996 top ten wanted list, Sakura Taisen scored second place just below Final Fantasy VII.

Sakura Taisen 2 sold over 500,000 units during its first few months.

Sakura Taisen 2 is the second best selling dating game of all time in japan.

In 2009, Sakura Taisen scored first place in the Famitsu list of most wanted game sequels of all times.

[Ichirou]

Whether you like the game depends on two things:

1. Do you enjoy anime and silly Japanese pop culture?

2.  Are you willing to let yourself be charmed by the characters?

The BIG selling point for this series has always been very charming, likeable, silly characters.  Character designs by Kosuke Fujishima, voice-work by top-notch voice acting talent, scriptwriting by Satoru Akahori (famous for a ton of other manga like Bakuretsu Hunter).  If you're not drawn in by the setting and the idea of that, you're just not going to like the game.

It's not a stat-heavy game.  It's not a particularly difficult game.  What draws you in is the experience of having this adventure with these characters in this alternate '20s steampunk New York setting.  Which is why someone like, say, Prole, is undoubtedly going to hate this game while someone like, say, me, is loving every minute of it.

[Ichirou]

I finished Episode 6 and now feel qualified to give a definitive review of the game.

Pros:

The ARMS battle system is really well done.  A lot of people have compared it to Valkyria Chronicles, sans the real-time aspect.  Personally, I think it's closer to BoF: Dragon Quarter's (which the ARMS battle system predates by a couple of years).  The addition of flying to fight against the bosses is pretty inspired.

Each battle has different objectives and plays differently. In some battles, you have to divide your forces so some are on the ground while others are in the air.  In others, you have to move to different areas to disable cannons so your other characters can move forward.  In others, you have to save certain objects and not let them be taken away by enemies.

If you enjoy anime, specifically mid-90s stuff like You're Under Arrest and the Patlabor TV series, you will really enjoy this.  Each episode is structured in the format of an anime OAV.  Interactions with the characters are constant, and there's at least a couple of free-roaming sections in each episode where you wander around New York and can interact with the various characters & NPCs.  Depending on where you go and when you go, your interactions will vary, so pretty much everyone will have a slightly different experience on their playthroughs.

The characters are genuinely likeable, if stereotypical.  The main lead, Gemini, is just a friendly samurai cowgirl with dreams of making it big in New York City.  Then there's Sagiitta Weinberg, an African-American lawyer who works out of Harlem and is also a Broadway actress (lol).  Rikaritta Aries is a Mexican bounty hunter who also happens to be a ten year old kid.  I haven't heard her dub voice, but her Japanese voice is hilarious.  Subaru is the mysterious, enigmatic Japanese person (whose gender is a subject of much debate...paging Junpei).  And Diana Caprice is the quiet, shy, kind one, whose best friends are the birds in Central Park.  This all sounds fairly ridiculous, but the thing is, the writers and director KNOW it's ridiculous, and they treat it as such.  They are gently mocking the tropes of anime while making homages to old '70s super robot shows, harem anime, steampunk anime, sci-fi, and period stuff..  Unlike Star Ocean 4, which really just totally blows it by presenting you all these ridiculous characters and taking it completely seriously and tries to be "epic", Sakura Wars knows exactly what it is.

[Ichirou]

Cons:

The battles are too easy.  So far, there's only been one battle that really gave me trouble.  If you know how to motivate the characters during the adventure sections of the game, their stats increase in the battle and things are really easy.  I imagine if you purposefully blow the answers to the numerous interactions with the characters, their stats will decrease and things might be a bit more challenging.

The number of star division squad members is too small.  In Sakura Wars 1, you had seven people on the battlefield.  In the second one, that went up to 9.  Here, you only have 6 people, and it takes over half the game before you've recruited them all.

The character designs aren't as inspired as those in the first two games.  Specifically, the lead villains in the first three games were really well-designed and cool (Aoi Satan in the first, Oni-o in the second, Corbeau in the third), while the one in the fifth game is really borrrring (I won't spoil who it is since it's only revealed after halfway through).  What's worse, his henchmen are pretty damn dull too, aside from the dude with the sword that's been run through his head.  I think only people who played the first few games will even notice this, though.

Final score:


I give this 4 1/2 Ichirous out of 5



Buy this game so we get Sakura Wars 1 & 2 on PSP

[Joe Molotov]

Now that I'm out for summer break, I picked this game up and started to dig into it. I beat Episode 1 this afternoon, and so far it's pretty awesome.

[Ichirou]

Yeah, I really dig the episodic format, I wish more games would pick up on the concept.

I have actually finished it three times already...you need to finish it once before you can unlock a hidden extra ending.

[Joe Molotov]

OMG this game

I just beat Episode 2 and it was like 20x more awesome than the first one. Phoenix Shinji is on the case! Wait, isn't this an RPG, shouldn't I be fighting more dudes and grinding for XP? OBJECTION! This is game is too awesome for that. Instead, I'm a Japanese dude running around Harlem looking for clues so I can save The Hood. And Soul Food.

The character interactions are so great, even when you do the wrong thing it's usually still funny. Like staring at Ratchet's boobs or stroking her hair to try to make her feel better . Or when she buys you a tie, pledging your eternal devotion to her because the cashier told you when a girl buys a guy a tie, it means they want you. Or making Subaru pretend to be your girlfriend on a date with you when you get spotted by the guy you were supposed to be tailing. Or when Sagiita and Subaru were arguing during the middle of a battle and you tell them to get serious and they both negative rep you, and Shinji's like WTF and they're like "Let's get serious Shinji."

[Ichirou]

Yeah, playing it "wrong" is definitely half the fun.  Sometimes I do weird shit just to see what the characters' reactions will be.  Wait till you get to the episode where Gemini tells you all about her samurai master and all the perverted shit he did with her, which she just assumes was part of her samurai training.

I love that the game just does away with the idea of experience altogether so that you're not grinding battles but instead you are increasing your characters' stats through natural interactions with them.

Sakura Wars

[bork]

Yeah, playing it "wrong" is definitely half the fun.  Sometimes I do weird shit just to see what the characters' reactions will be.  Wait till you get to the episode where Gemini tells you all about her samurai master and all the perverted shit he did with her, which she just assumes was part of her samurai training.

I love that the game just does away with the idea of experience altogether so that you're not grinding battles but instead you are increasing your characters' stats through natural interactions with them.

Sakura Wars

 

[Ichirou]

It's genius.

[Smooth Groove]

This game would be hella more interesting if it would let the gamer play out all the weird Jap sexual fantasies.  I don't get why Jap developers always beat around the bush.  Just make your game perverted or not. 

[Ichirou]

Those games exist, but they're PC-only.

There's a porno rip-off of Sakura Wars called Raimuiro Senkitan for PC.  It's got the historical setting, steampunk technology, et al.  Only difference is that the protagonist can fuck all his teammates.

[Joe Molotov]

Episode 5 is a trap episode! Paging Himuro!  

"Peppermint" was awesome ("I'm the prettiest girl in the room!") and I think I'm going to win with Subaru now. I rocked that episode and s/he totally wants to jump my bones now...in a sophisticated and urbane way.

 

[Ichirou]

Yeah, the weird thing about Subaru is that

spoiler (click to show/hide)

they've never revealed, in the game or all the related media, books, spin-off stuff, whether it's a dude or a chick.

[close]

[bork]

Those games exist, but they're PC-only.

There's a porno rip-off of Sakura Wars called Raimuiro Senkitan for PC.  It's got the historical setting, steampunk technology, et al.  Only difference is that the protagonist can fuck all his teammates.

How the hell do these companies make money on these PC porn games?  Don't today's Japanese otaku just pirate everything like American fanboys do?

[Ichirou]

Those games exist, but they're PC-only.

There's a porno rip-off of Sakura Wars called Raimuiro Senkitan for PC.  It's got the historical setting, steampunk technology, et al.  Only difference is that the protagonist can fuck all his teammates.

How the hell do these companies make money on these PC porn games?  Don't today's Japanese otaku just pirate everything like American fanboys do?

I have no clue! Did you ever go to the porno games section of pretty much ever game store in Akihabara?  Porno games seem to sell for 9,000 yen on average, maybe that's how they make their money, by marking them up so high...and I doubt they're that hard to make, all they have to do is pay some illustrators and I hear the voice actresses for porn games actually get paid very little.

That said, Raimuiro Senkitan was actually a fairly high-profile game, since they hired the same scenario writer who worked on the Sakura Wars games.

[bork]

Those games exist, but they're PC-only.

There's a porno rip-off of Sakura Wars called Raimuiro Senkitan for PC.  It's got the historical setting, steampunk technology, et al.  Only difference is that the protagonist can fuck all his teammates.

How the hell do these companies make money on these PC porn games?  Don't today's Japanese otaku just pirate everything like American fanboys do?

I have no clue! Did you ever go to the porno games section of pretty much ever game store in Akihabara?  Porno games seem to sell for 9,000 yen on average, maybe that's how they make their money, by marking them up so high...and I doubt they're that hard to make, all they have to do is pay some illustrators and I hear the voice actresses for porn games actually get paid very little.

That said, Raimuiro Senkitan was actually a fairly high-profile game, since they hired the same scenario writer who worked on the Sakura Wars games.

Never looked at H-games, no.  Back where I used to live, the stores with H-game sections had them blocked off and I NEVER saw anyone coming or going.  NEVER.  I'm not talking about porn DVDs or hentai manga, just the games.  Although I do remember going to a Chameleon Club to pick up a game and someone was there selling like 30 hentai games.  I wish I had taken a picture of the look on the guy's faces behind the counter.   

[Joe Molotov]

Man, the Ahab battle in Episode 8 sucks balls. I busted hump for about 45 minutes, and then still lost right before we got to the castle. How hard are the rest of the battles in this game?

[Ichirou]

They're not that bad, I thought...the only one I lost repeatedly was the one where you had to rescue the girls that got turned to stone.  They kept getting taken away before I had a chance to rescue them all, and that was an insta-fail.

[Joe Molotov]

Well, that doesn't help me because I thought that one was really easy. The only earlier battle I had a problem with was the one where you had to save all your girls by stepping on the release plates and then destroying the electrodes, except most them were mined and they were scattered all over the place.

[Ichirou]

Have you been using Shinjiro's "protect" ability?

[Joe Molotov]

I don't even know what that is, so I'm guessing not. I haven't even messed with any of the Stratagems or any of that special Shinji stuff.

[Ichirou]

Shinji can protect one of his teammates when they get attacked, and the teammate and Shinji both receive zero damage.  He can do this three times per battle.  If there's an attack which would have hit both of them, they both receive zero damage.

[Joe Molotov]

And I finally finished it. Took me about 21 hours. Subaru was my "Special Person" (The Official Evilbore Selection ) and at the end Shinji is still trying to figure out if she's a man or a woman.

[Ichirou]

"Is it a tiny penis or a giant clit?" has always been one of my favorite games to play with my dates.

[Joe Molotov]

I’m playing the new one: I thought the game was charming as a slice of life game, but the combat was braindead. Then came the realization that you have to walk around and find secret events that are unmarked, making it a 3x per day chore.

Normally I would uncharacteristically detach from that, but the main appeal of this game is talking to people (and playing koi-koi)

All was good until I was forced a date with Claris after 4ish days of doing the same thing every day.

Claris then becomes melodramatic/emo because she used her magical powers to save a young girls that falls, and prattles in about being cursed with the power of magic.

Does it get better? Should I drop this?

The only thing that's unmarked are the bromide locations, events should be marked on the map with an exclamation point (and a rose petal for romance events).

But to answer your question, it doesn't get any better. What you've seen is what you get. The combat stays brain-dead until the end. All the girls have a chapter were some sad event happens, and then you're like "BELIEVE IN THE ME THAT BELIEVES IN YOU" and then the drama is resolved and everyone is happy again. It's pretty standard anime trope-y stuff.

Source: I platinumed this mf'er