Customer Ratings & Reviews

Was hoping a bit more from this game but it wasnt too bad. It felt kind of like watching an anime with all the animated cutscenes it has. The characters emotions develop too fast imo. Also the combat is very simple and easy. There also isnt much of it. I've never played any of the previous titles before so I didn't know what to expect but was a bit disappointed they didnt do more. I'd recommend playing Valkyria Chronicles over this, if you want an home-style game from Sega.

cool story and likable characters. game play is pretty fun as well

Sakura Wars has always been a niche series, and one that’s never made a big impact in the West. Unfortunately. It’s a series that’s grown, and has always had such interesting mechanics — choosing to focus heavily on social sim mechanics, character interactions, and narrative. And while past games have typically (all to my knowledge) had some form of turn-based combat, the newest Sakura Wars for PS4 has transitioned to being real time action combat (more similar to Devil May Cry or Musuo/Warriors style games). While I tend to prefer turn-based and strategy role playing games, the heavy emphasis on, as aforementioned, character dialogue and social sim elements (similar to the Persona series) still drew me in as they are very much still present in this newest entry in the franchise. The typical gameplay loop sees your main character meandering about the central hub area (the theatre) interacting with his team mates, often participating in the LIPS system — essentially just choosing the correct dialogue options to increase his bonds with them). Choosing obvious bad responses are often hilarious to cringeworthy and add replay value. Choosing good options, by increasing bonds, have positive effects on your team mates in battle. Battles are basically where you transition to a separate battle area/environment where you go through a fairly linear level (sometimes just one area, other times interlinking areas) where you will fight waves of varying enemy types). It’s button mashy and stylish, though not entirely devoid of strategy. I found that each level didn’t overstay its welcome, boss battles were particular unique and engaging, and slashing my way through hordes of lesser enemies was mostly satisfying. Some of the platform jumping was a bit hit and miss, but overall I thought the combat in this game was fast and frenetic and fun. The mixture between the slowing down to explore the theatre and, throughout the game, the surrounding city areas (shops, parks, streets, etc) and jumping into fun and semi-mindless combat was balanced well throughout my 20ish hours with Sakura Wars. This game is bursting with style. It plays out and often feels like watching an anime — relying on intro and outros to each act that reminded me of Cowboy Bebop. And a fantastical, over the top yet somehow oddly endearing and heartwarming tale that had highs and lows and bombastic moments that rivaled the likes of Gurren Lagaan, serious moments found in series like Gundam, and so on. The cast of characters were all very likable and I found it genuinely fun to get to know all of them and see their interactions with the main protagonist. I really liked the protagonist, too, and loved being able to shape him regarding choosing his responses, how I liked. The environments were gorgeous to look at. The mech units varied and so unique; I really dig the pseudo steampunk style this world and lore has. The level of detail in environments and the theatre especially were phenomenal, too. If you like games with tons of character dialogue and choice based options, social sim bonding elements, romance, comedy and action, fast paced and well balanced action combat, and heartwarming yet bombastic anime-like stories, then you can’t go wrong with Sakura Wars! It was absolutely worth my purchase and my time. And it convinced me to check out past games such as Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love on the Nintendo Wii!

Fun game similar to 90s anime. Great voice Japanese voice work, fun simple Dynasty Warriors combat with characters who have genuine personality and touching arcs, and the music! It's just like classic Sakura Wars. Fans of the original games will be put off by the combat and certain story elements but overall it's exactly what we'd hope for in a new ST game in terms of character and writing.

This game blew me away, all the characters look amazing, the story is unique, character interaction feels natural, and the gameplay is a mix of Valkyria chronicles and a hack and slash gundam game. One of the best games ive played so far this year. Top 3 for sure.

If you've had no exposure to the Sakura Wars series before (and if you haven't, I can't blame you as the only one that made it West before this was on PS2/Wii), then be prepared for a very niche, very anime experience. The reason I say this is because even the premise of the story is downright absurd and is the kind of stuff typical of the Japanese medium. It takes place in a steampunk world where the cities of the world are protected by combat revues armed with giant steam powered robots. Oh, and the revue this game is about is funded by putting on Broadway style plays. So yeah. The bulk of the experience involves running around the theater talking to folks, building up relationships (think Persona), and making split second dialogue decisions. When you're not doing that, you're chopping up enemies with giant robots or watching anime cutscenes. It's a wholly unique experience and the type of thing most game publishers don't take chances on anymore. I, for one, am here for it and hope you are too so we can see the rest of this series ported to modern systems someday.

Sega has done it again with releasing another smash hit, this time with sakura wars! Wow this is like Segas new golden age or something. Keep in mind sakura wars haa been a thing for Japan for a LONG time mostly as a visual novel/romance series, this is more like a soft reboot new sakura wars game strictly for the north america audience as most of us are unaware of the sakura wars franchise. You play in a Steampunk version of 1940 tokyo. The Imperial Combat Revue, the captial's global defense force, is on the verge of disbanding, which offers the city little protection against external threats. You play as the captain of the Tokyo Revue were it's up to you to mend the hearts of your troops and restore the revue to it's former glory. You can play as other characters from your troops of course, all of then pretty much being women *cough* your own harem of beautiful woman *cough* There is this LIPS dialogue system were you as the captain interact with your female soilders and the way you say things to then will have a effects on relationships off and on the battlefield. This is important because there is no leveling up in this game, so you got to pretty much charm or even romance these ladys to be more effective in battle. Point and simple the main combat in this game is MECHA COMBAT, which is one of the reasons why I bought it because I love Gundam so this really clicked with me. As you play as the captain with his mecha you also play the other characters with their own mechas it's pretty nice action paced and it feels great as you can imagine if you saw gameplay videos of it. Keep in mind though you will not jumping into the mecha fights until near the end of every chapter..... So this game is 80% visual novel/romance and 20% mecha fighting..... So basically if you don't like visual novels you will not enjoy this at all. The soundtrack is actually pretty good, I guess lush would be a good way to describe it..... Soundtrack gets an 8/10 from me. And since this very much an anime type game, there will be a couple of anime cutscenes here and there... That is also obvious from the overal style of the game and also the typical over the top anime dialogue. Oh should I mention the character designer is none other than the legend himself Title Kubo the creator of bleach? Ya he KNOWS how to draw beautiful woman and really good looking guys that's for sure, it's the second reason I bought this game. My man Kubo is on a ROLL this year. Also I don't know why the costume set that comes with this physical edition is like 349 MB...... That's a really big file for just freaken costumes.... And of course you can buy more costume DLC in the Playstation Store as well as a 20 dollar deluxe upgrade with a bunch of costume DLC, BGM's, and Static Themes with probably to be added later. In any case if you like beautiful woman, and mechas then you will defently love sakura wars!

Gameplay solid and story is overall good. My one issue would be they focus too much on one heroine.

Great story, amazing graphics and excellent gameplay with some of the best animated designs. A must have!!

This game was fun. I was invested in the story, especially as a new player to the Sakura Wars series. I’m surprised that this is only the second SW game to come to the West. Anyway, the story was enjoyable and the combat, while really easy, was fun. I do wish that there were difficulty levels for the combat. Aside from combat, I think another area of the game that can be improved in the future would be to focus on all the girls as opposed to just the titular Sakura. Definitely worth a try!

Sakura Wars is a charming adventure that feels like an interactive anime. It feels really comfortable running around the gorgeous environment of the Imperial Theater, talking to people and maybe getting into a little trouble. The mech suit action segments are a nice change of pace but aren't the main draw of this game -- the characters' interactions told with well-written dialogue and emotive animations are.

This game blew my expectations. It’s a visual novel mixed with brief hack and slash mech fighting. The dialogue tree system works great and the game is well written. All of the character models look great and have lots of expression to them. With multiple dialogue choices and different endings, it has a lot of replay value. My only real complaint is the lack of customization when it comes to combat. 9.2/10

Fun game. Fun characters. Great story. Lot of replayablity.

Very anime feeling and fun action mixed with vn feeling pacing and dialogue. I enjoyed it

If you're a fan of JRPGs with romance and fighting then this is the game for you. Love the character designs in the game. Beyond the actual main story there are plenty of side quests, collectibles, exploration and battle simualtions. Has alot of replay value with the new game plus and the five different endings you can get.

This game is super fan, cool gameplay, great ,music

Visual Novel with a brawler. I think I read it some where that it's 80% visual novel, 20% brawler, and that's very accurate. I been enjoying it a lot, but it's nice to have the cute anime story broken up a little with some button mashing. But the story is fluffy and cute, and a little dating sim. I recommend it.

This game is like a playable season of an anime, with a lot of the tropes and scenarios. Even has previews of the next "episode" or chapter. Lots of dialogue, little combat, and dialogue choices. The "dating sim" aspects can be cringey if that's not your style, and if it is, more power to you. Definitely recommended for anime fans.

I really enjoyed Sakura Wars! A fun cast of characters and engaging gameplay. A bit too easy though with no difficulty settings. I also thought the subtitles were a bit too small. Overall I defenitely recommend Sakura Wars!

It has flaws, it's not deep. But it's great fun, love the characters, music is fantastic, got me interested in the series. Currently playing the original now via the English patch because of this. It really is a fantastic series.