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[botticus]

Is it just me or are the QTEs during conversations kinda broken? Other than the "move stick or d-pad left/right/up/down", there's no explanation for what you're supposed to be doing. I got one that was spinning the stick, which was easy enough, but this quarter-turn (on a d-pad too?) makes absolutely no sense, since a quarter-turn apparently isn't what they're looking for.

It's too bad the battle parts are so much shorter than the adventure segments, but on the bright side, I'm not too put-off by those.

 

[RPG_Fanatic]

It looks like Amazon is sold out of the PS2 version as well, it's only available from third parties now.

I looked after reading your post, it said there's one copy of the PS2 premium edition left from Buy.com! Oh yeah, instant collector's item.

Also checked the Wii version...

Only 4 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).

After reading this post, I checked amazon.ca

$50.00 for the PS2 version and
$60.00 for the Wii version
:lol

 

[radiantdreamer]

Thinking about getting this. Do characters have individual stories and lives that you learn more about as you get to know them? Do you tend to care about these characters through this? Or is it mostly just a lot of random events things that you all do together as an excuse to give you a chance to make the right choice for that character and up their stats? I'd be fine if there's both, so long as the former two things are there.

Dude just buy it! The game is being sold out everywhere the longer you ponder about this!

Seeing all the positive reaction from the game makes me so happy.

It is a pity that Sega didn't do this ten years earlier for the Saturn.

No market back then.

 

[Rebochan]

Is it just me or are the QTEs during conversations kinda broken? Other than the "move stick or d-pad left/right/up/down", there's no explanation for what you're supposed to be doing. I got one that was spinning the stick, which was easy enough, but this quarter-turn (on a d-pad too?) makes absolutely no sense, since a quarter-turn apparently isn't what they're looking for.

The QTEs drive me insane. It seems no matter how fast I do the inputs, I've never scored 100% because it's just not fast enough.

I'm on the PS2 version. I can only imagine how this plays out on a Wii setup.

I've also noticed, at least on the PS2 disc, that the translation seems to be degrading over time. The first few chapters were solid (though taking some amusing liberties with the Engrish), but by Chapter 4, there's a lot more obvious typos.

I also keep noticing on the radio that I'll get a message that says "Message too long." Anyone understand this? Is it a translation issue or did the original game originally have something like that too?

This is still leaps and bounds ahead of their Ar Tonelico scripts...so far anyway. No game breaking bugs or untranslated text anyway. I still feel bad for all the Wii users that don't get to play the Japanese disc.

 

[pancakesandsex]

This localization pleases me. The dubbing is hilarious. Just as cheesy as it should be, although I expected some of the characters to sound a little different, it grew on me.

 

[botticus]

This is still leaps and bounds ahead of their Ar Tonelico scripts...so far anyway. No game breaking bugs or untranslated text anyway. I still feel bad for all the Wii users that don't get to play the Japanese disc.

I'm actually pretty happy with the English VA. Certainly don't have the problem with Gemini that people seemed to react to from the trailers.

 

[Rebochan]

I just feel like Wii owners got screwed since they didn't get a choice and PS2 owners did.

Though because of the way the dub and Japanese discs work, I literally can't spot check the dub without doing a completely new playthrough on the dub disc.

 

[RurouniZel]

Seeing all the positive reaction from the game makes me so happy.

It is a pity that Sega didn't do this ten years earlier for the Saturn.

We can blame Bernie Stolar for that, 'cause Working Designs was this close to doing it before Bernie's "kill the Saturn to make way for Dreamcast" campaign. >>;;

Fucking Stolar...

 

[Durante]

I finally had time to really dive into this today, I'm up to chapter 5 now. (Playing the Japanese PS2 disc in PCSX2)
I'm enjoying it a lot, and I spend far too much time state saving/loading to see all the conversation outcomes, some of which are pretty hilarious :lol

The battle system is quite interesting, but the battles are a bit too easy so far. The game shines in how adventure mode and battle stats interact. It also helps that I like pretty much all of the characters, and many of the small optional events/conversations that happen are really entertaining, so it's fun discovering them.

Some screenshots since everything is better with pictures:

Is there any significance to which character portrait shows up next to a save on the save screen?

 

[Rebochan]

We can blame Bernie Stolar for that, 'cause Working Designs was this close to doing it before Bernie's "kill the Saturn to make way for Dreamcast" campaign. >>;;

Fucking Stolar...

For what it's worth, if that's how late they were looking at it, the Saturn was already dead in the water in the US and had been for some time. The games never would have seen the light of day. On top of that, factor in how bloody long WD took with their games and we'd have been lucky to get 1 game out of them several years after the platform died.

Which is sad because if anyone could have pulled off these games, WD could have. And I say that having made my feelings on Ireland crystal clear.

 

[Lindsay]

So the games been good so far guys?? I'm really really gonna start it tomorrow! I mean it! I even finally unwrapped it in preparation! I've been to busy until now but I'ma get serious and do this!!

 

[Hcoregamer00]

No market back then.

True you could argue that Phoenix Wright's insane popularity proved that there is a market for visual novels (very niche). Of course, Sakura Taisen could have been a trailblazer back in the day since it was a dating sim with Strategy Elements (also equally niche).

Even if there were no market back then, word of mouth on this unique game could have turned it into a large franchise with a large following.

 

[Lafiel]

Whoa, just started this game today. (PS2, Japanese disk) Finished episode 1 - 2 hours 30 minutes clocked so far. And i'm really ENJOYING it, the game has so much charm, the dialogue and interactions of the characters is just. and the combat seems to be fairly entertaining to watch and play.
Can't wait to play more later.

 

[Ricker]

Who said this game was easy hehe...I failed last evening at the first Boss battle...I should of bought this on the PS2,damn the freakin wiimote and nunchuck controls.

 

[radiantdreamer]

True you could argue that Phoenix Wright's insane popularity proved that there is a market for visual novels (very niche). Of course, Sakura Taisen could have been a trailblazer back in the day since it was a dating sim with Strategy Elements (also equally niche).

Even if there were no market back then, word of mouth on this unique game could have turned it into a large franchise with a large following.

Perhaps, perhaps not. The industry was also a lot smaller back then, and so was the market. Which meant that there was a smaller niche to target and greater risk. Even awesome games like Alundra and Lunar weren't purchased by many - and those ones were the beginning of the norm of anime related games. Lunar had a great following back in its time, but it wasn't nearly as sustainable as some of the more popular existing franchises. Sakura Taisen probably wouldn't have made it very big still even back then.

 

[mjemirzian]

Is there any significance to which character portrait shows up next to a save on the save screen?

That is the female with the current highest trust level.

Who said this game was easy hehe

Is it difficult to control with the wiimote? It's very easy as far as SRPGs/turn based tactics games go.

 

[Ricker]

That is the female with the current highest trust level.



Is it difficult to control with the wiimote? It's very easy as far as SRPGs/turn based tactics games go.

Well it`s not hard per say,they just don`t explain it too well and all of a sudden,in the adventure mode,you have to do a buch of stuff,on a timer,with the nun and wiimote...I couldn`t figure how to make the wheel on the right to work in the theater part where you have to turn/use/pull the lights and the generator.etc etc...for the battles,It`s my fault,I didn`t watch out for my spirit gauge and didn`t heal enough,so they all died when I almost had the Boss...the joint controls are confusing me a bit with the targeting....but yeah,even with alll my mistakes I almost beat the Boss so it`s probably not that hard hehe...

 

[Durante]

That is the female with the current highest trust level.

That's what I expected, and that means I have to change my "make everyone love me" strategy a bit since currently it's the last one I want

Two captures of battles in high res (sadly there are a few problems with hardware mode that make me play run the game with software rendering most of the time):

 

[Rebochan]

Holy CRAP.

I want to run that in PCSX2 now. That is just gorgeous.

 

[botticus]

Since battle stat boosts are determined by Condition, what does Friendship affect?

 

[RPG_Fanatic]

I loved that part.
100 Arrows!!!:lol

 

[RurouniZel]

Since battle stat boosts are determined by Condition, what does Friendship affect?

Friendship affects the power of the dual attacks I think. I could be wrong, 'cause I intentionally tried to use them as little as possible.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

Perhaps, perhaps not. The industry was also a lot smaller back then, and so was the market. Which meant that there was a smaller niche to target and greater risk. Even awesome games like Alundra and Lunar weren't purchased by many - and those ones were the beginning of the norm of anime related games. Lunar had a great following back in its time, but it wasn't nearly as sustainable as some of the more popular existing franchises. Sakura Taisen probably wouldn't have made it very big still even back then.

Arguably, they could've made an impact during the Dreamcast days if they brought over ST3. Grandia II and Skies of Arcadia did relatively well, and with the game being a first-party title at the time it could've done okay with proper advertising. Hell, lots of people were excited by the preview it had in the official DC mag and hoped Sega would bring it over. Depending on how well that went, they could have then brought in the ST1 PS2 remake to gauge interest in the original, and then followed with ST4 and 5 (skipping 2 since it was PS1 only).

 

[radiantdreamer]

Seeing that high-res screenshot has me interested now...

Is there any way to put PCSX2 save files back onto my PS3? I haven't been successful with google.

 

[Rebochan]

Good question. I know how to go from PS3 to PCSX, but not the reverse...

 

[Lindsay]

Is this game supposed ta make you feel like your on the verge of failure all the time? I don't answer questions right and sucked at that electric fixing stuffs! After going through all of that I lost to the first boss. And a second time. And a third time. And then I just quit out of the game ~_~;

I knew I'd be terrible at the game so I'm not disappointed. I'll just go an use a walkthrough like I ended up having ta do with Valkyria. But I really don't feel likes going through that opening battle again so I dunno prolly let the game sit again for awhiles. Still its a neat addition to my gaming collection an thats gotta count for something!

 

[ShutDown202]

damn. for some reason i reeeeeeaaaaallly want this game and i pretty much know next to nothing of it. I havent even see a gameplay video or trailer.

Does it resemble the recent Persona games in anyway?

 

[Durante]

So, is it possible to win (Subaru's chapter spoiler)

Spoiler

the duel against Subaru

? Even (ab)using state save/load the outcome doesn't change.

Is there any way to put PCSX2 save files back onto my PS3? I haven't been successful with google.

Well, I guess you could go from PCSX2 to PS2 memcard and from there to PS3 with the right equipment, but that seems really cumbersome.

Does it resemble the recent Persona games in anyway?

Well, in so far as that both allow you to develop relationships between characters that influence battle in a way. But this is far less repetitive

 

[Ricker]

damn. for some reason i reeeeeeaaaaallly want this game and i pretty much know next to nothing of it. I havent even see a gameplay video or trailer.

Does it resemble the recent Persona games in anyway?

It`s nothing like Persona at all hehe,think of the battles as a SRPG without the hexes or squares that show you how far you can go...the adventure part is kinda like the chat portions of Persona I guess but not much...I never played the Ace Attorney games but I think it looks a bit like that from screenshots I have seen.

Is this game supposed ta make you feel like your on the verge of failure all the time? I don't answer questions right and sucked at that electric fixing stuffs! After going through all of that I lost to the first boss. And a second time. And a third time. And then I just quit out of the game ~_~;

I knew I'd be terrible at the game so I'm not disappointed. I'll just go an use a walkthrough like I ended up having ta do with Valkyria. But I really don't feel likes going through that opening battle again so I dunno prolly let the game sit again for awhiles. Still its a neat addition to my gaming collection an thats gotta count for something!

And Lindsay for the Boss

Spoiler

don`t forget to heal yourself once in a while.also what helped me on the Boss fight is I took out the 2 little mechs first floating near the Boss,then the 2 arms,try and keep your super moves for the tanks on his back after that and then the head

 

[radiantdreamer]

Well, I guess you could go from PCSX2 to PS2 memcard and from there to PS3 with the right equipment, but that seems really cumbersome.

Hmmm... well that sucks... and since Sony has removed BC from their systems, it's even less likely that PCSX2 or anybody will make PCSX2 to PS3 save conversion.

 

[Nekobo]

I got up to the battle in Chapter 4 LSAT night. Diana currently has my highest trust level, but I think I'm going for Gemini. Enjoying the game so far, much more-so than FFXIII, but I'm a little miffed that the poster girl still isn't playable. :/

FYI, looks like Double Jump is still working on the guide. Most of us will probably be done with the game by the time it (hopefully) comes out, but I'll probably grab the print version as a collector's item.

http://www.doublejumpbooks.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=6298.15

 

[radiantdreamer]

I got up to the battle in Chapter 4 LSAT night. Diana currently has my highest trust level, but I think I'm going for Gemini. Enjoying the game so far, much more-so than FFXIII, but I'm a little miffed that the poster girl still isn't playable. :/

FYI, looks like Double Jump is still working on the guide. Most of us will probably be done with the game by the time it (hopefully) comes out, but I'll probably grab the print version as a collector's item.

http://www.doublejumpbooks.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=6298.15

I'll most likely end up buying it. By the time I finish RoF, it may already be out. If not, I suppose I could play FF13 first before this. I've already bought the game now anyway, so Supporting the Cause mission objective has been met.

 

[Aedile]

I've always been a believer in the idea that 'visual novel + [some interesting game genre]' would be a great fusion, since it covers both the weakness of VNs (often not a lot of game-interactive elements) and of other genres (often not a lot of narrative-interactive elements). Unfortunately, not knowing Japanese--I'm sure this sort of thing is old hat over there--the only games I've been able to point to as examples are the latter-day Personas, which were more RPGs-with-VN-bits than straight-up genre fusions.

As much as I love Persona, this game is more along the lines of what I was thinking of. In other words, it's like nothing else on the non-Japanese market right now, and it's been a breath of fresh air so far. It's not without its faults (the tactical battles are somewhat shallow, and some plot points and characters feel a bit like well-worn anime stereotypes), but I'm really impressed that a Western publisher was willing to take a chance on something like this. Now I'll just keep my fingers crossed that sales are as encouraging as the reviews have been.

Does it resemble the recent Persona games in anyway?

If you enjoyed the relationship building and multiple-choice conversations in the Persona games, you'll probably enjoy this one. It has tactical battles with RPG elements, but instead of gear or items providing stat bonuses, they're based on your performance in the VN portion of the game (which boils down to choosing the correct conversation paths and successfully completing QTEs). You also have a city to wander around in quasi-real time.

 

[Nekobo]

Just had my first attack coupling with Subaru. Totally random anime school themed cut scene in the middle of a heated battle...so ridiculous, but I love it. This game is awesome.

 

[Wedge7]

Godamn.

Its so weird, I just subscribed to Edge Magazine like a few months ago, first issue arrived like a week ago and I finally had time to flip through it for a few minutes the other day. I was reading through it, sorta whatever, saw the Final Fantasy review (not going to shit up this thread), whatever, and saw a random review for this game. I was immediately intrigued, seeing the dating sim aspect/strategy rpg gameplay. Read the review, thought it seemed interesting, and it sorta stuck in my mind. One of my favorite rpgs ever was P3, and honestly, the dating sim stuff was what originally caught my eye.

To be honest, I never had the affinity or even real knowledge of this series as alot of you in the thread seem to, but it seems interesting. Fast forward to today, happened to see the ign review, saw the relative high score/praise given and knew gaf probably had a thread on the game. Read the thread, and the immediate thing that stood out to me was the JPN voice overs, and that it only was on the special limited edition PS2 versions. So now I'm in this hilarious situation of just hearing about the game the other day, and now suddenly feeling like I'm too late to purchase this game that I didn't even really know existed.

I've never really been a buyer who makes spontaneous purchases, but this is the exact same sorta situation I had when Persona 3 came out. A series I had never really know or heard about (yea, its true), and saw a few reviews/read word of mouth type reviews, and got immediately excited and purchased it days after hearing about it, and ended up loving it.

Are all the limited edition PS2 ones sold out, I've always been leery about ordering from sites that aren't big, IE amazon and stuff. Dont want to pay huge amounts on ebay either. Bah.

 

[RurouniZel]

Added 3 more reviews to the OP:

ZTGameDomain: 85 / 100

This is one of the few times when a game does something so different it will make or break the game entirely, but if it is your thing, it will be hard to beat when it comes to overall quality.

RPGFan.com: 90%

Sakura Wars ~So Long, My Love~ is a great game in its own right. It sports NISA's best localization to date and has truckloads of replay value to boot.

Cheat Code Central: 4.6 / 5

The worst part about So Long My Love is that awful feeling when you realize that there are at least four other Sakura Wars games that have never come to America. I desperately need to return to the warm and happy world of Sakura, but the best I can hope for is a second (or third) playthrough that takes advantage of Sakura's branching storyline.

 

[RurouniZel]

Are all the limited edition PS2 ones sold out, I've always been leery about ordering from sites that aren't big, IE amazon and stuff. Dont want to pay huge amounts on ebay either. Bah.

Looks like FYE online has it.

http://www.fye.com/Sakura-Wars--So-...VproductId82836160VVcatId455366VVviewprod.htm

Gamestop.com

http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?sku=282071

Sears

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/search_10153_12605?keyword=sakura+wars&x=0&y=0&vName=

 

[Wedge7]

Looks like FYE online has it.

http://www.fye.com/Sakura-Wars--So-...VproductId82836160VVcatId455366VVviewprod.htm

Gamestop.com

http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?sku=282071

Sears

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/search_10153_12605?keyword=sakura+wars&x=0&y=0&vName=

Thank you my good man, that gamestop one is probably what I'll end up using

 

[radiantdreamer]

Godamn.

Its so weird, I just subscribed to Edge Magazine like a few months ago, first issue arrived like a week ago and I finally had time to flip through it for a few minutes the other day. I was reading through it, sorta whatever, saw the Final Fantasy review (not going to shit up this thread), whatever, and saw a random review for this game. I was immediately intrigued, seeing the dating sim aspect/strategy rpg gameplay. Read the review, thought it seemed interesting, and it sorta stuck in my mind. One of my favorite rpgs ever was P3, and honestly, the dating sim stuff was what originally caught my eye.

To be honest, I never had the affinity or even real knowledge of this series as alot of you in the thread seem to, but it seems interesting. Fast forward to today, happened to see the ign review, saw the relative high score/praise given and knew gaf probably had a thread on the game. Read the thread, and the immediate thing that stood out to me was the JPN voice overs, and that it only was on the special limited edition PS2 versions. So now I'm in this hilarious situation of just hearing about the game the other day, and now suddenly feeling like I'm too late to purchase this game that I didn't even really know existed.

I've never really been a buyer who makes spontaneous purchases, but this is the exact same sorta situation I had when Persona 3 came out. A series I had never really know or heard about (yea, its true), and saw a few reviews/read word of mouth type reviews, and got immediately excited and purchased it days after hearing about it, and ended up loving it.

Are all the limited edition PS2 ones sold out, I've always been leery about ordering from sites that aren't big, IE amazon and stuff. Dont want to pay huge amounts on ebay either. Bah.

Wow, that was quite the read, and it amounted to very little. Sorry to shit on you like that. It was too long, but I did read.

Good to hear that you're interested in this game. The PS2 version can still be bought in various places, but if you'd also like the exclusive artbook from rosenqueen, they were sold out a while ago. Not sure if they restocked though.

I'm actually surprised that Sears has it.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Oh finally played the game, took me like an hour and 30 minutes to get to that major battle. I kind of like the game and the main character is so lovable. Some of the mid-dialogue games feel weird with the wiimote and nunchuk.

I wish all dialogue was spoken, its really quite selective at times.

 

[Ramune]

For what it's worth, if that's how late they were looking at it, the Saturn was already dead in the water in the US and had been for some time. The games never would have seen the light of day. On top of that, factor in how bloody long WD took with their games and we'd have been lucky to get 1 game out of them several years after the platform died.

Which is sad because if anyone could have pulled off these games, WD could have. And I say that having made my feelings on Ireland crystal clear.

I have an old issue of the gaming mag Gamer's Republic and they had an interview with Atlus regarding their then newly released game "Thousand Arms" which as you may know was done by RED Co. who also worked on the SakuTai games at the time as well. Seems that they were interested as well in bringing Sakura Wars over, but understandably, were a bit on the wait and see side of things, especially seeing if Thousand Arms would be well received. Even then, I think WD would have been the closest to actually nabbing Sakura Wars when all's said and done.

Still happy this game is getting positive reviews and it's by all accounts, considered the weaker entry in the series. It's a unique series here, and it's finally getting its due! ^_^

 

[Durante]

Added 3 more reviews to the OP [...]

It's great and a bit surprising that the game is getting such positive reviews. I'm at the end of chapter 6 now and it's on its way to becoming a personal GotY contender. I also agree that it's NISA's best localization so far (I haven't tried the dub though).

Some more emu screenshots. The GUI actually scales pretty well for a PS2 game.

 

[RurouniZel]

It's great and a bit surprising that the game is getting such positive reviews. I'm at the end of chapter 6 now and it's on its way to becoming a personal GotY contender. I also agree that it's NISA's best localization so far (I haven't tried the dub though).

Some more emu screenshots. The GUI actually scales pretty well for a PS2 game.

http://www.abload.de/img/gsdx_20100417211313b5ck.jpg[img]
[img]http://www.abload.de/img/gsdx_201004172301373680.jpg[img]
[img]http://www.abload.de/img/gsdx_201004172328575uc2.jpg[img][/QUOTE]

Awesome pics Durante! I can't wait to get my hands on a computer that can actually run PCSX2 at a good frame rate (read: not 5 fps). XD

 

[Ricker]

Just finished the whole Harlem part this morning,at first I thought it was a little cheesy but it turned out pretty fun hehe...I like this game a lot,it`s like playing a brand new Dreamcast game lol...

 

[Hcoregamer00]

Wow, the game looks really impressive on a PS2 emulator.

I really want an iteration of this franchise for this generation

 

[RomanticHeroX]

Broke my vow of not buying any games for the rest of the year so I could pick up the Premium Edition, all to please 16-year-old me. At the very least I'm guessing I'll be able to resell it for a good amount later on.

 

[Durante]

I should repeat that hardware rendering in PCSX2 is somewhat buggy in this game, with shadows and a few other effects missing sometimes. I play in software mode most of the time where it looks exactly as it does on the PS2, but with ridiculous system requirements. Just so that no one is disappointed
It's too bad that there is no Wii version with Japanese audio, since apparently the Wii port is perfect in Dolphin.

 

[InfiniteNine]

I should repeat that hardware rendering in PCSX2 is somewhat buggy in this game, with shadows and a few other effects missing sometimes. I play in software mode most of the time where it looks exactly as it does on the PS2, but with ridiculous system requirements. Just so that no one is disappointed
It's too bad that there is no Wii version with Japanese audio, since apparently the Wii port is perfect in Dolphin.

Well I just hope it's fixed by the time I get something capable of running it properly, I'd definitely give a replay when it looks this beautiful!

 

[Ricker]

The cut scenes,especially the ones when you get the whole Lips base prepared for the battles,which is awesome by the way hehe,looks really good on the Wii,very close to those emulated screenshots I think.

 

[kiryogi]

In the end I can't play this anymore. As awesome as the dub is. It's Sakura Taisen 5. And worst off, I'm up to Diana's chapter now. Fucking shoot me. D: