Great Video Games

We have seen many SRPGs in our time. Some were extraordinary and some were not so great. Though most SRPGs make you grind through their battle system to power up your characters, Sakura Wars revolutionizes this by combining Sim elements into the SRPG. No longer shall the game dictate what the player should experience. Instead, Sakura Wars allows the player to choose their own destiny. The player’s human interactions affect the story and power up the characters.

User Reviews about Sakura Wars: So Long - My Love Premium Edition

This game is a real treat at the end of the PS2's lifespan. All I knew about Sakura Wars before I played 'So Long, My Love' was it had multiple anime productions I was never interested in and it was a long running games series in Japan. But NISA's premium edition release in the States was enough to pique my interest and give it a shot. Furthermore, members of the development teamed worked on Skies of Arcadia and Valkyria Chronicles, two other great games.
If I had to compare it to something, it's like Persona 4 with a stronger emphasis on dialogue choices/character interaction, a lighthearted and more anime-esque story, and substituted with tactical rpg combat. It sounds like a strange hybrid but I've had a blast all the way through the game. The characters are wonderful and the dating simulation is fun thanks to each girl having an interesting personality. The battles, though few, are engaging and entertaining. The Japanese voice over is great, but your mileage may vary with the English voice over.
Now I'm a late comer fan of the series and I lament that the chances of the older titles getting released or future titles are almost impossible. This is your best chance of experiencing the uniqueness and joy of Sakura Wars, and hopefully not the last. -- A pleasant surprise that has finally reached the U.S.

This is the kind of game that really needs to be finished in order to do a proper review. I held off on playing it for a while, as I've gotten somewhat disenchanted with games as of late. But I finally got the time set aside to play and beat this one, at least through one ending.

Sakura Wars is not a new idea. The Sakura Taisen (War) games have seen numerous versions across the years, as well as DVDs of the same name. It's a broad reaching storyline, and even in this game, there are a lot of mentions and cameos from characters of the previous installments. Don't let that deter you; the game does very well as a standalone story, but just know that what you get here is just a fraction of the overall picture. In the grand scheme, this is kind of like a side story.

You're Shinjiro. Your uncle has just appointed you to a squad in New York to take a leadership role. Apparently it's a fairly new squad and needs solid leadership. Your uncle is a battle hero, and the squad was expecting him to be assigned, and is initially disappointed at your arrival. Eventually you prove yourself as a solid leader and member of the team, to the point the squad cannot function without your leadership. Once you develop your squad, there will definitely start to be a sense of Voltron flashbacks, from the outfit designs to the way they take the pulley down into the tunnel, to how they get into their STAR. The STAR is a steampunk mech that is designed around the person's fighting style and personality (again, definite Voltron flashbacks abound).

In the middle of all this is probably the most unconventional battle engine ever detailed. Instead of experience, your strength comes from the bonds of your teammates to you. During non-battle times you'll be introduced to a number of sidequests such as fetching goods, taking pictures, and even going on "dates" with the girls. Sometimes you'll be asked to answer a question or make a decision about something, and what choice you pick will determine how good or how bad the girls' perception of you becomes. These are all of course optional - you can blow every single one, but just keep in mind that if you do, the fighting abilities of the girls in battle will be low. Sometimes you'll be asked to press a series of analog stick combination motions before a timer runs out, simulating such things as unscrewing panels, moving control sticks, and swapping pipes. While you don't have to get perfect timing, you do need to get fairly good at it in order to get a good response from the girl who asked you.

In battle, you can perform simple combination attacks, joint attacks, and special moves with an action bar that goes down. The strategy element here is that the same bar that lets you move is also consumed for attacking, so you have to find a good balance between moving and attacking. If your bond with the girls is strong, you might get a longer action bar, allowing you to do a little bit more. In some situations you might get the girls to be "highly motivated", which garners them and you a bonus in stats for the duration of the scenario. Ultimately, I'm telling you that the dating/relationship part of the game is critical to your success; if you don't like games like that (Persona is the most recent that I can think of besides this), skip it please.

Generally speaking I had fun with the game. But I have the same complaint about this one that I have with all Japanese games in the genre that have relationship aspects: The flirting is extremely convoluted. Even if a girl says something blatantly inappropriate (chest massaging is a topic that comes up later), if you say something flirty back, they get pissed off. It REALLY bothers me. It's like the Japanese have no concept of "this"-for-tat...that's how guy/girl conversations usually go, people. That every girl in the game gets offended when they talk about how their master effectively molested them and you say that it was inappropriate, is absolutely infuriating at times.

There are multiple endings to the game; one for each girl and then a grand finale ending. When you beat the game you do get to keep your ranking (gained from previous relationships, so the second playthrough you can afford to play around a little bit) and the battle skills. However, the path to get there is just not fun because of the convoluted flirting I mentioned before. Also, while you can now skip cutscenes and certain text, you can't skip the analog stick sidequest, and those are the most annoying of all. Before you ask, no, you can't just save before a certain point and then pick a different girl - the development of the relationship happens over the entire span of chapters. Even for characters that haven't joined the squad, you're still creating bonds with them well in advance, and by the time you're at the certain point, you could choose to date another girl, but the bond won't be the same. No bond, no ending.


So....

=- What Sakura Wars Does RIGHT -=

- Anime cutscenes. Love them in games.
- Battle engine is easy to get into and quite fun, if challenging later on.
- Some of the dialogue is downright hilarious, such as the exchanges with Cheiron.
- No grinding (although, see WRONG below)
- That it takes place in the "real world" is a good thing (but see WRONG below).


=- What Sakura Wars Does WRONG -=

- Some bosses just plain cheat. There are times when you get knocked off a cliff and that character is out of action for the rest of the battle. No warning.
- Sticks to the old Japanese RPG rule that "girls can flirt with you but you can't flirt back".
- Not a very long game, even if you do dating and sidequests. My fastest is 15 hours for one playthrough, so I figure under normal circumstances...oh...about 25-30 hours. Not TOO bad, just not quite lengthy.
- Japanese disc is included for those that want the true Japanese voices, but the save file is incompatible between the two discs; meaning if you start Japanese, you play it all the way through. Won't bother some, but others it might.
- Getting the bromides and pictures and whatnot was too tasking. There should just be a point where you can get all the bromides automatically after beating the game.
- Joint attacks do pathetic damage - sometimes even weaker than standard combos.


So...do I recommend it? As long as you're cool with the relationship aspect being the dominant one, yes. It's a great game. The negatives I mentioned are valid ones, but the game itself is still fun. It'd be what you'd end up with if you took the school aspect out of Persona 3, took the merged Voltron out of Voltron, and married the two games. Not a bad game, just different, but well worth a try anyway. -- Like Voltron...minus the big robot, with flirting.

Almost 14 years after Sakura Taisen was released on the Sega Saturn, the beloved Japanese series finally makes it stateside with Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love. As stated various times, this is actually the 5th installment of the Japanese series. NIS perhaps chose this game to bring since it takes place in New York, and the Japanese culture references would be at a minimum so not to turn off your average American gamer. I have played Sakura Taisen 1-4 on the Dreamcast, but didn't play part 5 when released since I didn't own a modded PS2. I have done my best to try and separate this game from the previous 4, since this starts a new story arc in the series.

Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love puts you in the shoes of Shinjiro Taiga, a newly transferred Lieutenant from Japan. As it goes, your uncle is the main protagonist of the original Sakura Taisen series. The timeline is an alternate 1920s New York, where steam technology rules the world (and WWI never happened). You eventually report to a theater located right in the center of Times Square. Here's where some gamers might get confused: Wait? What? A military member having to work in theater? This is where some knowledge of the previous games comes in handy, but the in-game dialogue does a good job at explaining why. The heart of the game is the dialogue, and the responses you choose (or in some cases choose not to make). This directly affects the effectiveness and morale of your squad; members who trust you have higher attack/defense/movement and vise versa. The turn-based strategy portion is challenging and entertaining, but not groundbreaking. There are no experience points in the game (everything is based on character interaction) so therefore it is not necessary to lay waste to all enemy peons prior to reaching your objective.

The time in between battles can get long, and at times it does feel like you're reading a novel versus playing a game, but this is part of its charm: the game goes through great detail in describing the characters' pasts, aspirations, conflicts, etc. For those "completionist" gamers, this game provides 6 alternate endings to start. Although the average time to complete the game from start to finish is about 20 hours, another play through will allow you to explore areas of the story you didn't have time to. And finally, there is a mode in the menu called "A Free Day in NY" which allows you to do things 'outside' of the game (more features get unlocked when you complete the game with each character).

The PS2 version of this release comes with two discs: one with the original Japanese language track and the other with the English dub. These are considered two separate games, and the save games for each are not compatible with the other (games saved using the Japanese CD will not be able to be played with the English CD). I originally had no intent in playing the English dub (since it can be hit or miss). But after deciding to give it a shot, I played the entire game using the English track. Kudos should go to the English voice actors for a job well done in voicing the characters.

Gamers who are looking for a quick fix until (insert popular game) comes out will not enjoy Sakura Wars. Those who are willing to put time into a game to get the most out of it should seriously give this game a look. -- Great game for those looking for something different and fun!

As many of you might have heard, or seen on many websites. Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love (hereafter Sakura Wars V) is most likely going to be the last RPG released for the PS2, all 10 other games coming out for the system are either expansions to FF11 or movie games/sport games.

With that being said, Sakura Wars V is an absolutely amazing game, I can honestly say I cant remember the last time I enjoyed a PS2 game this much! The story is set in a 1928 'Steampunk' New York. You play as fresh out of training 19 year old LT.Shinjiro Taiga who thinks hes going to be part of the Flower Division his uncle Ichiro Ogami was a part of (Ichiro was a new member of the Flower Division in Sakura Wars 1,but is now commander of it,only 4 years later) You also get to have a brief conversation with Sakura while Shin is in Japan. When Shin goes to see his uncle he is then told that he (Shin) is going to go to New York to become leader of the newly formed Star Division. Shin is at first a mix of disappointed and happy. However when he gets to New York his Teammates (Cherion,Subaru,Ratchet,and his CO Sunnyside) all disapprove of such a green horn becoming Captain,as they were expecting Commander Ogami himself. Although through a series of events and meeting people who boost his confidence (who will later join the party) Shin manages to tough it out and become an actual part of Star Division. The game is also fairly long (about 50-60 hours) and has 8 Chapters total.

Sakura Wars V is played 2 different ways, the first (and for most of the game) you are an Usher at the little lip theater,all the girl characters are actresses,and your main job in the game at this point is to impress them with your answers,further in the game you will eventually have to woo them with your answers and the game becomes a little more intimate, then eventually come X-mas time you will get to take anyone of the girls on a date and end the game with them. Although Ratchets ending is only available during a 2nd play through save file. A RELOADED SAVE FILE FROM CHAPTER 7 will NOT WORK since it is a first play through save file. There are a total of 5 endings in the game with a bonus 6th&7th if you go on a date with Ratchet. I should also mention that there is a fair deal of Anime quality cut scenes throughout the game that compliment it well.

The 2nd part of the game is all about mech battles, the battle system is done in a strategy style but you are free to move anywhere on the field as long as you have enough mobility to do it. Attacks and pretty much anything else you do in battle affects mobility. In each chapter there are 2 battles (1 ground and 1 air) with the exception of chapter 8 which has 4 battles (2 of them are a joke though)

The graphics in Sakura Wars V do the job just good enough. The game was released in 2005 in Japan and the graphics back then were just good enough for PS2 the robot designs are nice and in all truthfulness you hardly ever see any of the characters with in game graphics 95% of the time you are looking at there animated images. The music in Sakura Wars suits the 1920's New York well and is just a pleasure to listen to. The Voice acting is some of the best I've seen NISA do. And the main character is voiced by the same man who does Bleach (and who has done many other RPG's as well)

Overall if you can still find this game,I'd recommend you pick it up as soon as you see it. The prices for the game have gone up all over the internet. And just like every other quirky title your going to be hard pressed to find it soon. -- A Great Final Farewell To The PS2

Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love Premium Edition

I have long been a fan of NISA and the games they have localized to the NA audience, and Sakura Wars: So Long My Love is another in a long line of excellent releases for the PS2.

When i began to see previews of the game and found out it wasn't only based on my favorite genre(RPGs/SRPGs) but also a dating sim, i knew i had to have it for my PS2 library. As an added bonus the packaged extras are a nice touch, especially for the price.

The game is divided into chapters and tells the stories of your fellow squad members, and progresses to an insanely fun final chapter. The character plots are well thought out and fit nicely into the story itself. I have to add that i played the English dub only, and the voice acting is well done if not top notch in my opinion.

It pays to note that like all RPG/SRPG games, this game is text heavy, but with a twist. You actually have to interact with the characters in the game at certain points by using the joysticks. This interaction takes up a huge chunk of the game, so if you prefer your games to be in a state of constant action this game might not be for you.

There is plenty of replay value with multiple endings to see, and there are plenty of unlockable items in the game. There is a place on the main menu that allows you to go and check out all you have earned as well which i found to be a nice touch.

At this point in time i have beaten the game twice, and i find myself wanting to open all the possible endings.

This is more then likely my last PS2 purchase, and i have to say it has been one of the best investments game wise i have made in 2010. That includes PS3 games as well. I also made it a point to go to the NISA website to thank them for releasing this game. That's just how great it really is.

If you love RPGs/SRPGs or even just dating sims, you can't go wrong with this game. This isn't the last game to be released on the PS2 in NA, but it is a nice tip of the hat near the end of what i consider to be the greatest gaming library of all time.

-- Bang!! for my buck