Game:

Sakura Taisen (1996)

Category:

Let's Play

Duration: 1:56:55

1,126 views

15

In this special edition of Dreamcast Club, originally streamed live at twitch.tv/masukomiclub, we play Sakura Wars, an Adventure Game/Visual Novel/Dating Sim/TRPG. Click below for links to the eyecatches!

Beginning of Episode 3:12
Cardgame Minigame 36:15
Swimming Minigame 50:59
First Eyecatch 1:13:39
Second Eyecatch 1:20:35
Third Eyecatch 1:53:36
Next Time On Sakura Wars! 1:55:34

From Wikipedia:

"Sakura Wars is a series of dramatic adventure video games developed and published by Sega and licensed by Red Entertainment (formerly Red Company). Its first game, classified as dramatic adventure, premiered in 1996 and Sakura Wars games have later been on nearly every video game console since the Sega Saturn, including Dreamcast, Sega Titan, Game Boy Color, PlayStation Portable, Microsoft Windows, Wii, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, and several models of mobile phone. The game is a Strategy RPG that features a unique sim-based story system. An in-depth storyline exists, much like in any other RPG; however, the player's destiny in the game is not predetermined, character interaction plays a major role. The player's interaction with the game dramatically influences the storyline and the ending, as the player nurtures relationships between certain characters, their performance in battle will also improve and the strength of their attacks soars. This means that the game's social elements are closely tied to the battle system. Sakura Wars carved out a whole new genre for itself; it's the first in gaming history to combine elements of dating simulation and strategy. The story for the main video games are told in an episodic format, each with its own eyecatches and next episode previews, emulating the feeling of watching a Japanese anime. Eyecatches provide the player with the only way to properly track and save his progress, and are often used to indicate a switch between the game's two main gameplay modes, though this is not always the case. Adventure mode allows the player to control the male squad leader of the assault force the game is focused upon. By visiting certain locations within a building or a city, he may interact with various characters by a real-time system known as the Live Interactive Picture System (LIPS). LIPS presents the player with options to choose from during conversations and events, where the player must make a choice within a certain time limit, or choose not to respond at all by not making a choice within that time. Choices made, including not having made a decision at all, adds or deducts "trust points" from the characters involved. These points have various effects throughout the game, including shaping the player's relationship with the rest of the cast, affecting their performance in battle, and ultimately, deciding the ending scene of the game. Corresponding chimes will sound if the player losses or gains trust points when answering to a prompt, sometimes there won't be any chime when picking a choice, this indicates that the player has chosen a "neutral" response that does not have any effect on the character's trust. A similar type of conversation system later appeared in a more recent action role-playing game published by Sega, Alpha Protocol. In the first two Sakura Wars games, the battle mode gameplay is similar to that of tactical role-playing games. The player gives commands to all attack squad members piloting a spirit armor in a square-based grid. Commands are arranged in groups, and only two commands from different groups can be issued for each turn. Beginning with Sakura Wars 3, this had since evolved into a gridless action-point based combat scheme known as Active and Real-time Machine System (ARMS). In ARMS, a unit can move as far and attack as many as its action points would allow it, although some orders are still limited to once per turn. This type of combat system would later be the basis for Valkyria Chronicles, developed by much of the same team. In Sakura Wars, a character's trust points also affect her status during battle. A unit performs better if the pilot has a higher trust rating for the squad leader and performs worse if the pilot has a low trust for the squad leader. If an attack squad member's unit is destroyed in battle, she is removed from the battlefield, and the player loses trust points with her. If the squad leader's unit is destroyed, or if the player fails to meet the given requirements, the game is over."

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Masukomi Club brings you the weird and wonderful in video games, from Japan-only rarities to vintage oddities to contemporary classics, on Twitch and Youtube. Through historical and anecdotal commentary, Masukomi Club aims to inform and entertain the Let’s Play (LP) community and shed light on games old and new.

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