Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love (Game) - Giant Bomb (2024)

Overview

Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love is the fifth game in Sega and Red Company's long running Sakura Wars franchise. Like its predecessors, So Long, My Love mixes tactical RPG gameplay with adventure game elements where the player can build a relationship with different heroines. The title served as a reboot of sorts for the series, introducing a brand new cast in an American setting. Sega published the game for the PlayStation 2 in Japan on July 7, 2005 and NIS America eventually released the game in the United States in 2010 for the PS2 along with a new Nintendo Wii port developed by Idea Factory. This marked the first time a title in the Sakura Wars series was ever localized into English.

NIS America's release of Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love was published as a two-disc premium edition on the PlayStation 2 where the English and original Japanese audio tracks where contained on two separate discs. Besides the change in audio, the Japanese disc also featured several differences in its script, such as all of the characters keeping their original names in order to more closely match the Japanese audio. The Wii version was a single disc release that only contained the English voice track.

Gameplay

Gameplay in Sakura Wars is divided into two main segments - Adventure Mode and Battle Mode.

Adventure Mode

In Adventure Mode, Shinjiro Taiga, the main protagonist, is controlled from a third-person perspective and can move throughout various locales of New York and interact with other characters. Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love features the series' traditional Live & Interactive Picture System, or LIPS, which requires the player to participate in quick-time events that decide the outcome and consequences of interactions with other characters. During a conversation, various responses or actions may appear on screen for the player to choose or perform within a time limit. Failure to choose an option within the time limit is also considered a valid response. Furthermore, the player's actions over the course of the game not only determine the narrative direction and ending of the plot, but also the effectiveness of the party in combat.

Character progression in Sakura Wars does not occur in the traditional role-playing sense of earning points from combat towards higher experience levels; rather, the protagonist and his party members become more powerful over time depending on the strength of their respective relationships - therefore, Adventure Mode is the primary avenue through which the player bonds with the other party members in order to become more effective in Battle Mode.

Battle Mode

Battle Mode consists of turn-based combat on a gridless field. Each party member's STAR (steam-powered mecha) is assigned a certain number of movement points based on his or her speed, which can be spent on actions such as movement or attacks. Additionally, when controlling the protagonist's command unit, the player can also issue special commands to the rest of the squad in order to activate special attacks or change tactical modes befitting the situation. Over the course of the game, more tactical options will become available as the player builds up his/her relationship with the other party members.

Main Characters

Sakura Taisen World Project

Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love was always meant to introduce the Sakura Wars franchise to an international audience and was one of seven games announced as part of the "Sakura Taisen World Project" in 2002. The project was meant to reinvigorate the franchise after the death of the Dreamcast and the finale of Ogami's storyline in Sakura Taisen 4. Along with the announcement of Sakura Taisen V and several spin-offs, ports and remakes, Red Entertainment also revealed plans to localize Sakura Taisen V Episode 0 and Sakura Wars V for a Western audience with the hope of expanding the franchise outside of Japan [1][2]. Nothing ever came of these plans, however, and several of the World Project titles were eventually canceled in 2008, including an action adventure prequel game that took place before Sakura Taisen 1 called KOUMA and a "psycho trip action" title set during the Sengoku period named Sakura Himenishiki Emaki. Instead the franchise would remained in Japan until NIS America released So Long, My Love stateside in 2010.

The World Project titles included:

1. Sakura Taisen: Atsuki Chishio Ni - 2003
2. Sakura Taisen Monogatari: Mysterious Paris - 2004
3. Sakura Taisen V Episode 0: Arano no Samurai Musume - 2004
4. Sakura Taisen 3: Paris wa Moeteiru ka? (PlayStation 2 Port) - 2005
5. Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love - 2005
6. KOUMA (Canceled)
7. Sakura Himenishiki Emaki (Canceled)

Soundtrack

Disc 1:

Disc 2:

External Links

1. Sakura Taisen World Project Announced - GameSpot (July 1, 2002)
2. Sakura Taisen World Project - IGN (July 1, 2002)
3. Sakura Taisen World Project Official Site