Sakura Wars
ManyNorth America gamers probably have never heard of theSakura Warsseries , get alone recreate any of the games . They ’ve been a notable success in Japan though , so Sega decide to give the serial a diffuse reboot after a 15 - year suspension . This newSakura Warsmaintains many of the concept that makes the serial so iconic , while adding a few new ideas to the mix in an attempt to keep things feeling fresh . unhappily , Sakura Warsstumbles over itself several times , and the game fun outdated game automobile mechanic .
The report ofSakura Warsborders on nonsensical , but is so unique that it ’s hard not to delight it . Players take on the role of Seijuro Kamiyama , a former Navy Captain who has been appointed as the fountainhead of Tokyo ’s Imperial Combat Revue . This elite task force serve a dual role within Tokyo ’s community . Their daylight job is as a theater troupe that must keep the people of Tokyo well-chosen . Whenever demons attack the city though , this squad mustclimb inside their Gundam - style mechsand use their unique accomplishment to bring them down .
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Kamiyama has joined the Imperial Combat Revue at the worst potential here and now though . The dramaturgy is fail because the squad is incapable of putting on a dependable show , and their mechs are falling into disrepair . It ’s your job as Kamiyama to mistreat in and assist the squad gain confidence both on point and in struggle . The radical make up one’s mind to enter the Combat Revue World Games so as to gain recognition and realize more support to keep the theater run and this finally morphs into a pretty generic " save the worldly concern " patch as the story progresses . The level proceed to grow more ridiculous by the end and at times it ’s challenging to keep abreast what is pass off .
The place whereSakura Warsshines most is in its animation style . The 3D animation is attractively rendered , and it is fun to explore Tokyo and take in the sights . During cutscenes , Sakura Warsswitches to an telling anime - same CGI . It is easy in these minute to forget thatSakura Warsis a telecasting plot and not a very well - made anime .
It is hard to nail down just what genreSakura Warsis though . Part of the gameplays like a dating simulator or optical novel , and the other part is an action - adventure fighting game . Both parts of the plot have glaring offspring that detract from the pretty artwork and neither aspect ofSakura Warsfinds a means to be peculiarly fun to act .
The dating simulator aspect ofSakura Warsis where players will spend the majority of their time . In between battle player have free sovereignty to explore several locating of Tokyo to their affection ’s subject matter , while also being able to interact with the five team extremity . These interaction range from work disputes , help them with small task , or even take them out on date . The all - ladies squad include characters from different backgrounds with unlike personality , so players will be tasked with deciding which one they care about most .
Players can efficaciously complete the game by only completing the of the essence quest to progress through the date sim part ofSakura Wars . Most of the fundamental interaction with the women in the Imperial Combat Revue are optional , but by completing them , their fight power will increase . By win their trust , each character acquires increased health and damage outturn for the scrap portions of the game . This is actually very helpful in the last combat part of the game , when players get to opt which mate they would wish to accompany them .
The largest issue that a western consultation will have withSakura Warsis the implication of entering a relationship with the women on the squad . First and foremost , Kamiyama is technically the political boss and superior officer to the romance options . This make any relationship with them feel inappropriate as there will be a clear power unbalance . And of course , there ’s the dazzling world of the age of the game ’s character . Kamiyama is stated to be 20 days old , while the majority of the team is 16 0r 17 , with one of the daughter even being 13 . This is hard to ignore and Kamiyama comes off as creepy no matter who he romance with . Japanese consent laws may differ from most of the highly-developed world , but this is still jarring for anyone who decide to playSakura Wars .
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It also does n’t facilitate that most of the adult female that the player can interact with are almost incapacitated without Kamiyama ’s guidance . The titulary Sakura is a master swordsman and talented actress , but she is perpetually doubting herself . This leads to Kamiyama having to boost her confidence and she credits him for enabling her to achieve success . Almost all of the women in the game act similarly despite being open in their own right . Most of the optional interactions with women in the game are resolved by the instrumentalist informing them how pretty they are , so that they start to feel better about themselves . At no point in sentence do these characters begin to prize themselves without Kamiyama ’s influence .
After players pass meter with the dating sim constituent ofSakura Wars , they will then be acquaint to combat . During these segments of the biz players can switch between Kamiyama and one of the other women on the squad to fight off the demons attacking Tokyo . Players can fight using light and grave jazz band , parry enemy onslaught , and even use substantial peculiar power to obliterate enemies . switch between characters is bare , execute with the touch of a button .
Combat inSakura Warsis mostly sufficient , but there are several aspects that give it feeling incomplete . The most noticeable is that actor are incompetent of locking onto the enemies they take on so there ’s constantly a need to campaign the photographic camera to stay on in one place while throwing complicated combo at monster . This is n’t much of an issue against with child groups of little enemies , but once more difficult and agile demon are insert it becomes frustrating . With some enemies gameplay devolves into swinging the camera around to discover where they run off to , which opens the player up for an blast from behind .
These segment of the game also become repetitive over time inSakura Wars . There is n’t enough variety to the enemy of the biz , and most enemies are take out by just spamming the blast push button . player will even be wedge to fight one boss in the game several times , with lilliputian change to maneuver or difficulty . Fighting is just far too simple most of the time and more experient gamers will be beggingSakura Warsto give them a challenge that is n’t associated with the finicky camera .
One of the most upsetting panorama of combat inSakura Warsis that the player is fall in very few options to prefer which teammate will join them in combat . During the course of the biz players will perpetually be paired up with Sakura , but will only have a few opportunities to fight with other members of the team . This is thwarting if thespian are have to struggle airborne or ranged enemies , but their team does not have anyone capable of using ranged attacks . Sakura Warsalso resorts to coming up with bad excuses every fight for why the entire team ca n’t fight together or why a sure character must posture the fight out .
Sakura Warsdoes a mass of things right . The storyline is ridiculous but fun , and Tokyo is beautifully craft . It is hard to forgive the game ’s serious issues though . Many players will not be able to see past the complete import of Kamiyama ’s relationship with his younger subsidiary , and fight is n’t interesting enough to hold the attention anyone accustomed to more complicated action mechanism secret plan . Players who are n’t monumental devotee of the series may findSakura Warsdifficult to stomach .
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Sakura Warsreleases on April 28 , 2020 for PlayStation 4 . A PS4 code was render for the role of this review .
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