#2 New Sakura Wars – Chapter 1: Winds of Change – The Withered Flower Division

New Sakura Wars (or Shin Sakura Taisen in Japan) is a dating sim-action game developed and published by Sega and considered a reboot of the franchise. In 1940 Tokyo, 12 years after the events of Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love and 10 years after the so-called Demon Great War which eliminated most of the Combat Revue’s in the world, a new Imperial Combat Revue’s Flower Division is formed led by Commander Sumire Kanzaki (a returning character from the previous games). Forming the team is the new game protagonist and Flower Division Captain Seijuro Kamiyama; Swordswoman Sakura Amamiya; Shrine Maiden Hatsuho Shinonome; Noblewoman Claris Snowflakes; and actress Anastasia Palma. With this new cast of characters and playing the captain of the Flower Division, you will be tasked with improving the chemistry and teamwork of the Flower Division and is responsible in returning the Imperial Combat Revue in its former glory.

A game which received a metacritic score of 73 in the PS4. Praises were placed on the episodic format of the game which resembles an anime and mainly on its dating sim elements which are its interesting cast of characters, the interactions and the funny dialogues. However, criticisms were placed on its main plot and the gameplay aspect which feels like a typical dynasty warriors-type of hack-and-slash and how it becomes repetitive and boring fast.

As for me, I agree with the media reception. The game’s strengths are on its strong cast of characters, their diversity and have many notable and memorable cutscenes and interactions. Considering that its interactions/cutscenes compose most of the game, you will be kept interested so long as you try to interact with many characters as much as possible. On the other hand, its action-based gameplay is what sets the game back and is a major downgrade compared to the Strategy RPG-based gameplay of the previous titles, it’s boring, repetitive, sometimes annoying due to its grading system, and the battle stages are few. However, I find it admirable that the playable characters during battle are varied in playstyle and the companion AI is somewhat decent. Overall, if you like games with interesting characters and has light and fun interactions with easy casual gameplay, then this is for you. Enjoy!!!