GameStop has Sakura Wars (PS4) on sale for $19.99. Shipping is free with orders $35 or more.
Thanks to Deal Hunter daisybeetle for finding this deal
About this Game:
Sakura Wars is set in a steampunk version of 1940s Imperial Tokyo. The Imperial Combat Revue takes the stage as Tokyo's defense force against a demon threat in this extravagant adventure. Now home to the Flower Division, the rookie squad is not living up to their legacy is at risk of being shut down. It's up to newly appointed captain Seijuro Kamiyama to lead his squad and restore the Imperial Combat Revue and theater back to their former glory! Rise to the challenge of competing in the Combat Revue World Games and protect the inhabitants of Tokyo.
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without giving off any spoilers, not many beloved characters returned to the series despite lots of teases
So it's mainly disappointing for long time fans of the series (games, anime, model kits, figurines etc)
They just discontinued their mobile game as well last year which was fun while it lasted, and it had a VERY promising premise of the storyline with a really awesome teaser first episode
and that's it, it stops right there, this PS4 game's storyline kinda teases you that it sounds like it's going back to the roots.... with some promising "explanations", and then it doesn't
In other words, no happy ending.
Glad there are actually fans of the series here!
Sakura Wars 3 on dreamcast was probably "THE CHANGE" that I think most of us are OK with. Same guy, the old cast showed up for a while, the new cast is very lovable.
Sakura Wars 4 felt like they were playing it safe, but still works for me.
then they tried to make the game english friendly by putting the story in US and introduced action gameplay with sakura wars 5 episode 0, and it felt.... problematic. When the real 5 came out, it's not action but more similar to 3. However, even the opening song doesn't feel epic anymore and everything just felt flat.
This game was really really promising when it was announced. And the mobile game's teaser anime really makes you think that Sega is bringing the series back, but it just feels like they're very limited on the budget. They hired some top notch voice actors for the game that ended up becoming side characters
It's likely due to the fact that they changed the character design artist too (same guy who did Ah My goddess, you're under arrest), and the original voice cast is getting old. The artist is likely not returning after he had an affair with some cosplayer girl. Instead, this game's characters were created by the guy who did Bleach.
If you wanna play a story-based anime style action RPG game, scarlet nexus is the more recent one that I liked
If that's what you're looking for, School Days is still top notch to me. Many very happy endings, I promise.
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Sakura Wars 3 on dreamcast was probably "THE CHANGE" that I think most of us are OK with. Same guy, the old cast showed up for a while, the new cast is very lovable.
Sakura Wars 4 felt like they were playing it safe, but still works for me.
then they tried to make the game english friendly by putting the story in US and introduced action gameplay with sakura wars 5 episode 0, and it felt.... problematic. When the real 5 came out, it's not action but more similar to 3. However, even the opening song doesn't feel epic anymore and everything just felt flat.
This game was really really promising when it was announced. And the mobile game's teaser anime really makes you think that Sega is bringing the series back, but it just feels like they're very limited on the budget. They hired some top notch voice actors for the game that ended up becoming side characters
It's likely due to the fact that they changed the character design artist too (same guy who did Ah My goddess, you're under arrest), and the original voice cast is getting old. The artist is likely not returning after he had an affair with some cosplayer girl. Instead, this game's characters were created by the guy who did Bleach.
If you wanna play a story-based anime style action RPG game, scarlet nexus is the more recent one that I liked
If that's what you're looking for, School Days is still top notch to me. Many very happy endings, I promise.
Sakura Wars 3 on dreamcast was probably "THE CHANGE" that I think most of us are OK with. Same guy, the old cast showed up for a while, the new cast is very lovable.
Sakura Wars 4 felt like they were playing it safe, but still works for me.
then they tried to make the game english friendly by putting the story in US and introduced action gameplay with sakura wars 5 episode 0, and it felt.... problematic. When the real 5 came out, it's not action but more similar to 3. However, even the opening song doesn't feel epic anymore and everything just felt flat.
This game was really really promising when it was announced. And the mobile game's teaser anime really makes you think that Sega is bringing the series back, but it just feels like they're very limited on the budget. They hired some top notch voice actors for the game that ended up becoming side characters
It's likely due to the fact that they changed the character design artist too (same guy who did Ah My goddess, you're under arrest), and the original voice cast is getting old. The artist is likely not returning after he had an affair with some cosplayer girl. Instead, this game's characters were created by the guy who did Bleach.
If you wanna play a story-based anime style action RPG game, scarlet nexus is the more recent one that I liked
Yeah it's quite unfortunate. I was really excited for the series return when they announced it. I even went and bought a PS4 in anticipation for this game. I've mainly played on Nintendo and Sega consoles. Last PlayStation I had was a PS1.
I was okay with all of the changes they announced. While I missed the iconic artstyle of the original games I was okay with Tite Kubo as I was a huge Bleach fan when that used to be the big series. I was okay with a new cast since they have been doing that since Sakura Taisen 3 and figured the old cast would return via cameo.
Well turns out only two characters from previous games actually appear in the game and only one plays a semi important role. I think even the developers knew fans would be anticipating older characters appearing so they added that war plot in the beginning of the game to explain where they all were and why they won't be showing up. Like it felt so lazy in my opinion. Like they're ensuring fans that they're not dead but won't be able to join the plot. They kept bringing it up in the plot I though for sure they were teasing all the characters showing up in the finale. I think it would have been better not to mention them at all in that case.
The thing that got me the most though was the combat. Like I get they wanted to try and modernize it into more fast paced action but it's just a mediocre hack and slash now. It plays more like a Mosou/Warriors type game but it's still very simplistic in comparison.
What I also found odd was the rival Combat Revues. It's somewhat implied that they have more members but you only see two of them per group. This would have been okay if they had just explained that the other members were off doing other things but when the tournament comes there's always a mysterious third member for each group.
Thankfully they didn't change too much of the visual novel aspect of the game. Honestly I think that it's the best improvement over the older titles. The fact that everything is in 3D now is great. I somewhat like that they also got rid of the limit of things to do in your free time. It was the worst in the older games exploring to check around and the area you checked had nobody around and it still uses an action as if you did something. I thought the music was decent too, not as great and epic as the past games but still catchy. Also I think it's really cool as a long time fan of the series that we can explore the Imperial Theater in 3D now.
I think at $20 this is still a decent pick up if it looks interesting or if you're a fan of the series.
then they tried to make the game english friendly by putting the story in US and introduced action gameplay with sakura wars 5 episode 0, and it felt.... problematic. When the real 5 came out, it's not action but more similar to 3. However, even the opening song doesn't feel epic anymore and everything just felt flat.
It's likely due to the fact that they changed the character design artist too (same guy who did Ah My goddess, you're under arrest), and the original voice cast is getting old. The artist is likely not returning after he had an affair with some cosplayer girl. Instead, this game's characters were created by the guy who did Bleach.
Yep, always nice to find fans of something relatively niche elsewhere.
I love the irony of the fact that even with 5 being designed to have more appeal to the Western markets, it still took 5 years for it to be localized and released in the US, for reasons we're all pretty familiar with. And I can't say I've followed much in a while, but outside of this title, has there really been any presence of the series in the US beyond cameos in stuff like Project X Zone for the 3DS?
And despite any issues behind the scenes, I'd love to see a new Sakura Wars or Tales game with characters designed by Kosuke Fujishima, or even someone who has adapted his works before like Atsuko Nakajima. I'll admit some bias there being a fan of YUA and AMG as well.
I wish they kept the battle turn based. But there's still a lot of charm here with great visuals for an anime style game with great character designs by Tite Kubo(Bleach).
I was in store and they only had 2 (NEW-gutted) copies. There's no guarantee this will come factory sealed if you order from the GameStop website. Good luck!
This has very mediocre reviews. Here's an excerpt from one of them:
"Ultimately, combat feels like something of an afterthought--less of a crucial game component and more of a way for the characters to get into situations where they can deliver riveting speeches about the power of friendship and believing in yourself to overcome enemies."
If that sounds ok to you, more power to you. That does not sound appealing to me, though. I've tried a number of these niche anime games, and every single one of them has just been ok. Not horrible, but I did feel like I shouldn't have spent any time playing them when there are actual good games out there that I haven't beaten.
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So it's mainly disappointing for long time fans of the series (games, anime, model kits, figurines etc)
They just discontinued their mobile game as well last year which was fun while it lasted, and it had a VERY promising premise of the storyline with a really awesome teaser first episode
and that's it, it stops right there, this PS4 game's storyline kinda teases you that it sounds like it's going back to the roots.... with some promising "explanations", and then it doesn't
Sakura Wars 3 on dreamcast was probably "THE CHANGE" that I think most of us are OK with. Same guy, the old cast showed up for a while, the new cast is very lovable.
Sakura Wars 4 felt like they were playing it safe, but still works for me.
then they tried to make the game english friendly by putting the story in US and introduced action gameplay with sakura wars 5 episode 0, and it felt.... problematic. When the real 5 came out, it's not action but more similar to 3. However, even the opening song doesn't feel epic anymore and everything just felt flat.
This game was really really promising when it was announced. And the mobile game's teaser anime really makes you think that Sega is bringing the series back, but it just feels like they're very limited on the budget. They hired some top notch voice actors for the game that ended up becoming side characters
It's likely due to the fact that they changed the character design artist too (same guy who did Ah My goddess, you're under arrest), and the original voice cast is getting old. The artist is likely not returning after he had an affair with some cosplayer girl. Instead, this game's characters were created by the guy who did Bleach.
If you wanna play a story-based anime style action RPG game, scarlet nexus is the more recent one that I liked
If that's what you're looking for, School Days is still top notch to me. Many very happy endings, I promise.
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
Sakura Wars 3 on dreamcast was probably "THE CHANGE" that I think most of us are OK with. Same guy, the old cast showed up for a while, the new cast is very lovable.
Sakura Wars 4 felt like they were playing it safe, but still works for me.
then they tried to make the game english friendly by putting the story in US and introduced action gameplay with sakura wars 5 episode 0, and it felt.... problematic. When the real 5 came out, it's not action but more similar to 3. However, even the opening song doesn't feel epic anymore and everything just felt flat.
This game was really really promising when it was announced. And the mobile game's teaser anime really makes you think that Sega is bringing the series back, but it just feels like they're very limited on the budget. They hired some top notch voice actors for the game that ended up becoming side characters
It's likely due to the fact that they changed the character design artist too (same guy who did Ah My goddess, you're under arrest), and the original voice cast is getting old. The artist is likely not returning after he had an affair with some cosplayer girl. Instead, this game's characters were created by the guy who did Bleach.
If you wanna play a story-based anime style action RPG game, scarlet nexus is the more recent one that I liked
If that's what you're looking for, School Days is still top notch to me. Many very happy endings, I promise.
Sakura Wars 3 on dreamcast was probably "THE CHANGE" that I think most of us are OK with. Same guy, the old cast showed up for a while, the new cast is very lovable.
Sakura Wars 4 felt like they were playing it safe, but still works for me.
then they tried to make the game english friendly by putting the story in US and introduced action gameplay with sakura wars 5 episode 0, and it felt.... problematic. When the real 5 came out, it's not action but more similar to 3. However, even the opening song doesn't feel epic anymore and everything just felt flat.
This game was really really promising when it was announced. And the mobile game's teaser anime really makes you think that Sega is bringing the series back, but it just feels like they're very limited on the budget. They hired some top notch voice actors for the game that ended up becoming side characters
It's likely due to the fact that they changed the character design artist too (same guy who did Ah My goddess, you're under arrest), and the original voice cast is getting old. The artist is likely not returning after he had an affair with some cosplayer girl. Instead, this game's characters were created by the guy who did Bleach.
If you wanna play a story-based anime style action RPG game, scarlet nexus is the more recent one that I liked
If that's what you're looking for, School Days is still top notch to me. Many very happy endings, I promise. https://static.slickdealscdn.com/ima...lies/smile.gifhttps://static.slickdealscdn.com/ima...lies/smile.gifhttps://static.slickdealscdn.com/ima...lies/smile.gifhttps://static.slickdealscdn.com/ima...lies/smile.gif
I was okay with all of the changes they announced. While I missed the iconic artstyle of the original games I was okay with Tite Kubo as I was a huge Bleach fan when that used to be the big series. I was okay with a new cast since they have been doing that since Sakura Taisen 3 and figured the old cast would return via cameo.
Well turns out only two characters from previous games actually appear in the game and only one plays a semi important role. I think even the developers knew fans would be anticipating older characters appearing so they added that war plot in the beginning of the game to explain where they all were and why they won't be showing up. Like it felt so lazy in my opinion. Like they're ensuring fans that they're not dead but won't be able to join the plot. They kept bringing it up in the plot I though for sure they were teasing all the characters showing up in the finale. I think it would have been better not to mention them at all in that case.
The thing that got me the most though was the combat. Like I get they wanted to try and modernize it into more fast paced action but it's just a mediocre hack and slash now. It plays more like a Mosou/Warriors type game but it's still very simplistic in comparison.
What I also found odd was the rival Combat Revues. It's somewhat implied that they have more members but you only see two of them per group. This would have been okay if they had just explained that the other members were off doing other things but when the tournament comes there's always a mysterious third member for each group.
Thankfully they didn't change too much of the visual novel aspect of the game. Honestly I think that it's the best improvement over the older titles. The fact that everything is in 3D now is great. I somewhat like that they also got rid of the limit of things to do in your free time. It was the worst in the older games exploring to check around and the area you checked had nobody around and it still uses an action as if you did something. I thought the music was decent too, not as great and epic as the past games but still catchy. Also I think it's really cool as a long time fan of the series that we can explore the Imperial Theater in 3D now.
I think at $20 this is still a decent pick up if it looks interesting or if you're a fan of the series.
Niche to the west. Popular in the East.
then they tried to make the game english friendly by putting the story in US and introduced action gameplay with sakura wars 5 episode 0, and it felt.... problematic. When the real 5 came out, it's not action but more similar to 3. However, even the opening song doesn't feel epic anymore and everything just felt flat.
It's likely due to the fact that they changed the character design artist too (same guy who did Ah My goddess, you're under arrest), and the original voice cast is getting old. The artist is likely not returning after he had an affair with some cosplayer girl. Instead, this game's characters were created by the guy who did Bleach.
I love the irony of the fact that even with 5 being designed to have more appeal to the Western markets, it still took 5 years for it to be localized and released in the US, for reasons we're all pretty familiar with. And I can't say I've followed much in a while, but outside of this title, has there really been any presence of the series in the US beyond cameos in stuff like Project X Zone for the 3DS?
And despite any issues behind the scenes, I'd love to see a new Sakura Wars or Tales game with characters designed by Kosuke Fujishima, or even someone who has adapted his works before like Atsuko Nakajima. I'll admit some bias there being a fan of YUA and AMG as well.
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
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"Ultimately, combat feels like something of an afterthought--less of a crucial game component and more of a way for the characters to get into situations where they can deliver riveting speeches about the power of friendship and believing in yourself to overcome enemies."
If that sounds ok to you, more power to you. That does not sound appealing to me, though. I've tried a number of these niche anime games, and every single one of them has just been ok. Not horrible, but I did feel like I shouldn't have spent any time playing them when there are actual good games out there that I haven't beaten.