Sakura Wars (2019) [PS4]

“No one says a novel has to be one thing. It can be anything it wants to be, a vaudeville show, the six o’clock news, the mumblings of wild men saddled by demons.”

-Ishmael Reed, Yellow Back Radio Broke-Down

There was a period around the late 2000s when the idea of whether or not something was “a game” was hotly debated around circles within the hobby. This was around the same time that the genre we now know as walking simulators started to take off. They were especially popular in the indie scene, being either a great way to tell a story that didn’t necessarily involve violence or an easy way to the criticism-free life of an indie developer, depending on who you ask. Likewise, we started to see the rise of visual novels, which had long since been popular in Japan. It was a heady time, back when there was a push for everything that a developer called a game to be held in the same esteem as the hottest AAA titles, and it eventually led to consequences like the “indiepocalypse” crisis where market saturation led to the burst of the indie bubble.

That’s neither here nor there, though. A quick look at the state of Steam these days suggests who won that discussion, so the question is a little moot and if you’re into visual novels and dating sims they’re readily available in the West. That includes both smaller efforts that can be had for a buck and more premium, full-priced titles like Stein’s Gate. Visual novels might not be to everyone’s taste, but they’re definitely A Thing these days, and today we’re going to talk about Sakura Wars – a game that might not have made it over here if we were still discussing whether or not this sort of thing was a game or not.

Narrative: 9/10

In 1940s Tokyo, the world is under attack by demons! It’s a pretty rough time for everyone, but fortunately, humanity has a backup plan in the form of the Combat Revues. These are trained soldiers who spend their duty hours battling demons using powerful mechs called Koubu and their off time performing. Years after the most intense human-Demon conflict, the Great Demon war, the Combat Revues have focused more on performance than battle. Here, we follow the Flower Division of the Imperial Theater Revue and its new leader, Seijuro Kamiyama, as they fight against a demon resurgence.

Naturally, this is Sakura Wars. There’s more to what’s going on than just fighting demons. Seijuro can end up forming relationships with the girls of the Flower Division. These include traditional Japanese woman Sakura, bookish Claris, hotblooded shrine maiden Hatsuho and others. He’ll have to balance his personal life with his responsibilities as Division leader and, later, as a pilot of a Koubu of his own.

 Visuals: 9/10

Visuals are a pretty big deal when it comes to visual novels and dating sims and, as the latest in a long-running franchise that’s well-known in the genre, it’s unsurprising that Sakura Wars excels. Characters, environments and battles alike are all rendered in a lovely cel-shaded art style, with CGI anime cutscenes here and there for more significant events. The chibi style of the Koubu in the battle sequences might be a little offputting, but this isn’t really meant to be a grimdark experience – rather, it’s lighthearted comedy and romance with a little action here and there, so from that perspective, this is a workable decision.

 Audio: 9/10

Likewise, a narrative-heavy game like this needs great audio to stand up to its contemporaries these days, and Sakura Wars fits the bill. It’s all in Japanese, of course, and while I’m not interested in stepping into the chess club vs. AV club nerd-debate of subs vs dubs, I found the Japanese audio completely fine for what this game is trying to do. Additionally, Sakura Wars’ music is absolutely fantastic (as we’ve come to expect from this series since 2010’s So Long, My Love) and stands as a high point of the experience.

Gameplay: 6/10

This is something of a tough category to talk about, really. Are we talking about “gameplay” insofar as you’re roleplaying as Seijuro interacting with the Flower Division women? That’s fine, then; you’ve got a fair amount of options and can make our hero as chivalrous or creepy as you choose, with reasonable consequences either way. What about combat, though? That’s not really the focus of the game, after all, and it tends to be a little light on depth, playing like a mech-themed take on Musou brawling without a progression system or upgrades. It’s entirely playable and perfectly inoffensive, but it’s also clearly not where most of the team’s development time went. Does that mean that Sakura Wars’ gameplay is bad? Not especially, but this is definitely more for the dating sim folks than the mech folks.

 Challenge: 5/10

Likewise, it’s a pretty easy game in general. You can’t create builds or customize your Kubou, after all, so every challenge needs to be fit for the lowest common denominator. If you came for a dating sim, are you really going to be happy with a game that expects performance in action sequences to keep going? With that in mind it’s not surprising how easy everything is, even if that doesn’t make for especially satisfying action.

Replayability: 8/10

On the other hand, that means that replaying Sakura Wars is pretty straightforward! You’ll want to do so to see how things work out between Seijuro and each of the Flower Division women. That’s one of the most intriguing parts of dating sims, if you’re into that kind of thing, and the ability to start over and experience things from a whole new perspective is present and accounted for here.

Uniqueness: 7/10

The combination of a dating sim with a more traditional genre of game isn’t necessarily anything new, but I’m not sure I’ve seen it tied into a brawler all that often. With that considered, the combination works well here. As mentioned above, the “lite” nature of the action sequences will almost certainly appeal more to players who came in expecting a narrative-focused experience rather than one focused on combat. On the other hand, if you come in hoping that this is Armored Core with anime girls, you’re probably going to be sorely disappointed.

Personal: 8/10

All that said, Sakura Wars represents the classic conundrum of a game’s quality being based largely on the views of its intended audience. Visual novel and dating sim fans are bound to love what’s on offer here… but if you look at Sakura Wars as a game compared to other games, how does it match up? If you also have to judge the game in terms of its mech combat sequences against other mech games, does that mean it’s worse? Does it even make sense to do so? I’d argue that it probably doesn’t. Sakura Wars represents a unique mix of genres, one that largely succeeds despite minor flops here and there. From that perspective, it’s easy to recommend.

Aggregated Score: 7.6

Cory G. believes the pen is mightier than the sword…well, depending on how sharp the pen and sword are. A child of the ’90s and a prolific writer, he strews his work about like Legos made of words, just waiting for your brain to step on them. He enjoys a devilish challenge, so when it comes to talking about some of the more difficult games out there, you might just run into the Infernal Accountant Mage. Some advice: hold on to your soul around this guy, and don’t sign anything. Read more at popzara.com.