Sakura Taisen Review (Saturn)

Melody for the OP is so catchy!

Always glad to learn more about the game's background. I knew it was inspired from theatre, but didn't knew the specific one. Hanfuda thing was kinda mindblowing. I don't know much deeper the inspiration would get.

Big props to the fan-translaters. They are clearly passionate about the series.

too bad this didn't get an official release back in the day, like by Working Designs probably. It would probably cost like $600 on eBay though.

All praise due for the people who did the fan translation. I was so excited to play it without having to have a guide to help me translate. Also, you are correct, Maria is best girl for sure.

I really appreciate your detailed look at this game. The timing is perfect as I’m actually waiting on my copy to arrive. I look forward to patching it and playing once I receive my Polymega. I did have one question though. You made a comment about the “Working Designs treatment” and it sounded like you thought that would have been a bad thing. I have always felt like they handled their translation projects with care and respect for the source material. Then again, I’m not really educated on how much the original intent was altered in their translation. I’d love to hear some more detailed thoughts about Working Designs translations from you. Maybe you’ve already done a video about this?

I love this OP theme ❤️

Sega claimed this video and deemed it ineligible for monetization. So long as it doesn't turn into a strike or restrict regions from viewing, that's fine though.

Cant wait to dive into this game after finishing the PS4 reboot. The aesthetics look really good for the time and it was considered a pioneer in having a social growth status game mechanic like the Persona games series.
Must be why I'm in love with this series, the theme song slaps!

I've been wondering what song my brother has been blasting from his room these past few months, turns out it was the opening lmao

Mayumi Tanaka actually voicing a woman seems so bizarre lol

onii-chan=mon frère
lmao

Nice review as always. This game feels right up my alley so going to give it a shot down the line. I'm really impressed by the production values especially for the time. Most modern VNs have lower values, even ones with gameplay.

Also props for mentioning emulators and roms and etc. in your reviews, people who get on their high horses about that kind of thing annoy me, especially for older games. Shows that you review games because you want people to play them, not because you want to brag about how you played something.

I agree with your assessment on if it had come out back then, it would've been censored and dubbed almost certainly. I do wonder if it could've gotten VNs popular in the west earlier if it managed to be good after that, but considering dreamcast sales I would guess not.

Sakura Shinguji's gotta be lucky girl to have Sega Saturn mascot Segata Sanshiro as her boyfriend. 😂

very good video. maria is best girl, fight me.

Great video! Your points about the LIPS system really nails why it’s more than a regular dating sim. You’re not there specifically for one girl you like, you’re expected to be a captain and a friend to them. It’s always tough for me to explain what kind of game it is when people ask because a lot of people feel weird toward dating sims, so I always mention the friendship and camaraderie aspects too.

I adore the themes and influences of this game, it’s culminated into a gorgeous package. I really couldn’t ask for more in a series than steampunk spirit mech pilot Takarazuka revue.
Even the visual presentation of the Saturn game with the beautiful framing and mini games are something I miss from the later games. It has extreme amounts of charm.

... my best girl is Ayame, which is quite unfortunate.

Excellent analysis, glad to see another one join the Kagekidan. Welcome abord. Fun Fact : most of the voice actresses had at least two famous boy roles credited to them before Sakura Taisen was a thing and many people couldn't believe that one of their childhood heroes that pilots mechs or fight space lizards could voice such hot ladies. Except for Iris.


Because this Iris is also voiced by Yuko Mizutani, like Megaman X4.


Fuck me, this made sad.

A small thing : I dunno if the translation can be patched on the PSP port of ST1 but it would be nice as PSP games are far easier to emulate, if worst comes to worst. Sure, there are a few sacrifices made here and there to accomodate mostly the smaller screen given to the PSP but back then, it was one of the best way to experience the "lost" first two games.

As for VNs, well, that's what's gonna happen when you play Umineko. :3

And all waifus are best waifus in Sakura Taisen games.

Kohran is the undisputed best girl.

Is there an option to mute voices (or lower their volume all the way down) ?

Great video! You did an awesome job! Congratulations! And a big thank you to the translators!

Finally someone talked about Original Sakura Wars game

Nice video! One correction though, the Saturn was not selling poorly in 1996 in Japan. Considering this game was only released in Japan, it certainly was not developed to combat sales.
The game began development before the console had even launched to cement this.

A relic from a begone era that will never see itself restored to its former glory.

From a modern perspective, characters in the original Sakura Wars are like the big senpai of waifus people get nowadays.

Screw the twisted American standard of game categorization... it's categorized as Adventure Game not Visual Novel. Damn it!

We really wasted our energy translating these poopy ass Saturn games. Too bad we haven’t gotten a single sakura wars game besides that last one. In a series of 7?

Fantastic video! I had no idea this was based on actual theatre troupes. Thanks for making this. Can't wait to play So Long My Love and the reboot!

Saw this posted in the Action Button discord, really enjoyed the review! I'd actually never even heard of this game but am super curious to play it now.

Man... I miss playing games with 4:3 ratio. Up until now I just can't get used to widescreen whatsoever

Nobody likes my girl khoran, great video man, really love the character design of the game, to everyone wondering, game is cheap and figures are cheap too.

PD: sakura wars on ps4 is a soft reboot, a character from the first game appeared there

Back in the day I vote Iris, for one very good reason, I was her age.

Should've commented a long time ago, but thanks for the review! Sakura Wars is one of my favourite series and I'm happy you've enjoyed it! Hope you get to play the recently translated Sakura Wars Columns 2, it's very fun.

Playing it on my saturn rn
It's such a cool experience, i hope they translate sakura wars 2 soon

"Sumire being 2nd is interesting since most of her votes actually came from patreon instead of discord. I guess a sophisticated lady like that only caters to an audience with a richer taste."
Sorry everyone, I can't just explain why Sumire is best girl. Come back when you're a little, MMMM, Richer!

Also, good to know that people actually have good fucking taste considering the top three voted ones are easily the three best.

Combat idiot? That's pretty creative translation of 戦闘狂 :D

Cool stuff, hope they localize the main series one day officially; heard there were some plans to do that recently, now the localization would probably be quite good. In all honesty, I doubt it'd sell nearly as well as in Japan - it's a genre that's not particularly popular in the West, though definitely waaaay more today than in the 90s - but many new players could still be introduced to the series. Well, time will tell.

I blame Bernie Stolar for never getting this released.

A watched this review several times. Finally i give up and i will play sakura. Everything about it is just tooooo perfect to ignore the chance of spending the end if the year doing something fun; and probably a game where you have to do several runs to see different endings is the perfect choice too, so i guess its perfect timing! 😅👌🏼
But my oh my this OST is just so perfect, and lets face it, 80's/90's anime artstyle is peak gorgeous art! I cant wait to enjoy this beautiful game.
But i can already say it out loud just from the review: MARIA IS BEST GIRL! \😳💛
And as i said i watched this video a lot but never commented, so time to say Thanks for the reviews! This channel is amazing. c:

Yeah Sumire is the best one, she can be so sweet when she decides to show her softer side.

I wonder why the translation group didn't translate the superior Dreamcast version instead of the Saturn version. Still, great to be finally able to play this game.

Sakura Wars is one of the best series that deserves to be memorable, plus the Japanese voice cast is crazy famous.

It’s a really good game. Using the fan patch and a back up of my Japanese copy on burned discs. I cannot stress this enough: emulation is tricky, so if doing OG hardware, Mclassic, Retrotink, and QUALITY Component cables go a long way. 5th gen consoles clean up really well with line doublers and anti-aliasing with smoothening.

I just started playing the translation tonight. Very impressive for its time.

I wish Sega would stop being lazy and remaster the first five main series games and release them all in the US this time. Tactical RPGs are doing well in the US and games with romance options have been doing well for a long time so there's no reason they shouldn't have been released here long ago IMO. I' think translating them would have taken less effort then the animes as well and many of those got released here.

Kohran is my favorite girl in the franchise though I have favorites from each squad since I owned the fifth game and the reboot plus animes, mangas, or both focused on each squad.

i came across some figures from this series on MFC and I tend to find new media to check out just from mindlessly scrolling, initially I was iffy as it looked like a typical harem game but was pleasantly surprised when I watched this video !!, totally diving into this game headfirst.

It's so good fellas.