There are two things that I love dearly, anime and video games. When companies like Sega mesh those two together, life gets a little sweeter. Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love isn’t for everyone. People like my husband who need action and occasional blood splatter won’t be buying this one.
The game centers around a boy named Shinjiro Taiga. He’s a young samurai who has come from Japan to join the Star Division, located in the heart of NYC. His job, along with his team is to protect the city from bad guys. What a surprise!
The game has two parts. The first part is what I would call the storybook/dating sim. The Star Division’s cover is a theater. This theater is the team’s day job. When your not fighting, your cleaning the theater, helping with a musical or cruising around the city. During conversations dialog choices will pop up, say the wrong thing and you’ll piss your team member off. Oh, and all your teammates are girls. You need to spend time with these ladies, helping them break out of their shells, deal with problems and fall for your boyish charms. Your relationship status will affect your battle tactics.
Each chapter has one big battle. There are no random encounters. Throughout the game there are action sequences, but those require controller directions, nothing else (think God of War). These battles are long. When I say long, I mean an hour to two hours and that’s without dying! Each team member has a star they control (looks like a Gundam). You can perform different joining attacks, and specials. The battles will usually start off on ground level and take to the skies for some arial combat. Even though the battles take forever, they’re entertaining, and theres a save halfway.
My favorite part of this game is the anime stylization. Its like watching an interactive anime. There’s a little bit of quirky romance, humor and ton of storyline that break up the monotony. There aren’t too many games that incorporate a dating sim, that actual works. If you can find this one, I recommend picking it up.
that sounds fun. i think i need to get my emulators back…