Sakura Taisen V

Cthulhu · Post by **Cthulhu** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 11:37 pm

Anyone getting this? V ep 0 was supposed to be really bad (it sure looked bad) so I wasn't planning on it at first, but it got a platinum award from Famitsu and some glowing reviews elsewhere (at least, I think it got good reviews elsewhere) so I just might. It's about as far from shmupping as you can get, but I was wondering if anyone else here played these and was considering it.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 11:42 pm

Mine is on the way... trying to finish up Eternal Mana 2 before it gets here. Episode 0 was just some slapped-together action game to set the mode, keep ST fans at bay for a while, and of course, make a little money.

There are actually a lot of non-shooters I'm getting excited for in teh coming months. This and Grandia III next month are two.

Cthulhu · Post by **Cthulhu** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 12:13 am

Eternal mana... heh, I really should play that. It still hasn't made it out of the shrinkwrap.

After spending an excessively large amount of time with Namco x Capcom and not getting much out of it (great dialogue, crap game), I took a long break from RPGs (and strategy RPGs) and went on an action game spree... I'm in the mood for something a bit more methodical now, so I'm thinking about giving STV a whirl. It might be better to save money and just play Eternal Mana 2 (

), but I'm not known for being reasonable when it comes to new games.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 2:00 am

I like the Sakura Taisen games mainly b/c they're short enough to play in a couple of weeks...even for someone with a short attention span like me. I played ST3 a couple of months back. It's about a 20-hour game, which is fine with me. Eternal Mana seems to be about 23-25 (I got stuck on the 2nd to the last chapter). Good game... check it out.

Grandia III I'm sure will be ridiculously long.

Elixir · Post by **Elixir** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 2:11 am

The entire 6 CD set of Sakura Taisen 3: Is paris burning? is sitting in my drawer right now. I'll need a printer to print off the entire translation FAQ before taking this seriously.

greg · Post by **greg** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 2:33 am

I was playing through ST 2 but lost track of it around Christmastime. What I love about these games is that they play through like episodes of a TV show and it's a great way to study Japanese.

Cthulhu · Post by **Cthulhu** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 4:12 am

I love everything about the ST games except the combat... for anyone who has played a lot of other strategy RPGs, it's just not fulfilling. This is more noticable in the older titles (the original Saturn and DC port of Sakura Taisen 1 really suffer from this), but the combat becomes worthwhile by 3... and I honestly haven't played 4. Heard it was good though. V (I hate mixing up roman numerals and numbers, but for some reason I always see this one listed as "V," not "5") looks like it will actually have pretty good combat though. I hope. Maybe. We'll see.

(Can you tell I'm hesistant here?)

greg · Post by **greg** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 6:46 pm

I can see what you mean. The first game's battles were too easy, even when trying to end the mission with all your units intact, and so far the ones in the second game are as well. Some battles in the first game have a whole legion of enemies and then suddenly they're all wiped out or your troops run away. I'd rather face the challenge and use the characters' super moves to clear out a bunch of enemies.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 8:42 pm

ST3 isn't too horribly challenging either, but they're a lot more fun. You're no longer stuck with a mere two moves per character. You attack inversely to how much you move (move more, attack less). Here's my impressions of the game:
click me

Cthulhu · Post by **Cthulhu** » Sat Jul 09, 2005 1:28 pm

I was in Akiba today and STV was just too alluring to pass up at a mere 6400 yen... I guess reading Famitsu's absolutely glowing review yesterday didn't hurt either. I'll post some impressions after I try it out.

BTW, if you thought the character designs looked a little off on the offical web page, they look much better in game. I have -no- idea why they used such poor images for the web site - some game screenshots would have done a better job.

Capt. Takehiko · Post by **Capt. Takehiko** » Sun Jul 10, 2005 4:17 am

I buy them to get insane amounts of money from a local games dealer who regards them as collectors items.

I've never actually played.

Cthulhu · Post by **Cthulhu** » Mon Jul 11, 2005 1:27 am

Okay, finally got started. I only played it for about 20 mins last night (I was dead tired) so I haven't seen much yet, but so far I'm impressed. Everything is crisp and clear (unlike the usual fuzzy/wobbly text in hi-res mode), the animated sequences look fantastic, and the voice acting is spot-on. Everything feels polished right down to the smoothly fading and scrolling menus. If the combat system is any good (*crosses fingers*) then this'll be a fantastic game.

Cthulhu · Post by **Cthulhu** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 11:56 pm

Okay, I've gotten to the end of the first chapter. The combat engine is considerably better than I was expecting - it's nowhere near as plodding as the setup in some of the previous ST games, and you have a good number of attack options. There were only one one or two enemy types in the the first combat section, but ... well, it's the first one. If there are a decent number later, then I'll be happy.

Impressions!

Good stuff:
Characters (lively as ever)
Dialogue (well written)
Voice acting (excellent)
Graphics (both in-game and in cinemas)
The combat engine doesn't suck (like most Hiroi Ouji games)
Low loading times (with the exception of saving and loading)
New LIPS features work pretty well
Everything feels "polished"

Bad stuff:
Interrupt save takes a long time to perform (saving takes a while, and then it drops you to the title, and then you have to load it) and can't be done in certain places
Combat is still a little slow, because:
No way to skip battle animations (I don't really want to, but I do like the option to be there)
Saving takes up tons of memory card space

Overall, I'm really impressed. Really impressed. This is the best game for both Red and Sega in a long time. Perhaps Sega has shaken off some of it's 04/05 funk? I can only hope...

Cthulhu · Post by **Cthulhu** » Tue Jul 12, 2005 11:58 pm

GaijinPunch wrote: Grandia III I'm sure will be ridiculously long.

Sorry, forgot to reply to this earlier. Grandia was indeed ridiculously long, but II was only 30-40 hours iirc?

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 2:25 am

II wasn't that long, but wasn't as loved as the first one for the most part. Also now that Square Enix is publishing it, I just somehow feel there's going to be a lot of crap thrown in.

I got my ST-V and have played to the first save point in the 2nd chapter. It is nice, but I see some things there that will make long-time fans not like it. One, the character images (while they're talking) seem rather dull... as in not glossy. Different style. Not necessarily bad, but oh, well.

The only thing I really don't like is that the battle animation seems to take place in a set "place" in the stage, and doesn't happen around the real geometry. That's kind of old school, but in a really bad way I think.

The mechs look considerably more detailed than previous games. THat is impressive.

Cthulhu · Post by **Cthulhu** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 4:32 am

GaijinPunch wrote: The only thing I really don't like is that the battle animation seems to take place in a set "place" in the stage, and doesn't happen around the real geometry. That's kind of old school, but in a really bad way I think.

The mechs look considerably more detailed than previous games. THat is impressive.

Yeah, the "set" areas are a little odd. There's zero loading time for them though, so I can live with it. I love the size comparison with the older ST mechs - the stars are soooo much bigger than the koubu. Nice little touch.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 12:01 am

Yeah, it's a tradeoff I suppose. IIRC, ST3 (not played 4 yet) showed you attacking wherever you were. Much better, IMHO. Not really sure why they don't now, as there would be no loading time (wouldn't have to load anything...it's already there).

I also like the "flying" fighting stages. Spices it up a bit.

Cthulhu · Post by **Cthulhu** » Thu Jul 14, 2005 12:52 am

GaijinPunch wrote: I also like the "flying" fighting stages. Spices it up a bit.

Yeah, they're pretty neat. Feels quite a bit like the boss battles in Panzer Dragoon Saga to me.