Are you getting hyped for Shin Sakura Taisen? The game’s promotion in the west is pretty much dead and I don’t get how non-Japanese players unaccustomed to the series can get interested in the current state of things. We still don’t even know how the game will actually be called, Project Sakura Wars being a temporary title. Meanwhile, new information is released regularly in Japan, and you can check out everything revealed so far at the bottom of this article. This is a usual thing with Japanese games, and I really hope Shin Sakura Taisen’ western sales won’t suffer too much from that.
Anyway, Sega is revealing more these past few days as the Japanese release date is approaching. This time, we have profiles for new side characters, story elements, and a video introducing the Imperial Assault Force main characters designed by Kubo Tite. New screenshots are included as well.
Let’s take a look at the new side characters first. We first have an introduction to Sakura Amamiya’s parents.
Hinata Amamiya, passed away at 27 years old. Voiced by Mariko Kouda.
Hinata was a strong woman, always cheerful and positive. She greatly influenced Sakura in her childhood, so Sakura ended up inheriting these personality traits. The sword used by Sakura, the Amamiya Kunisada, was the sword used by Hinata.
Tekkan Amamiya, 42 years old. Voiced by Sho Hayami.
Tekkan is a blacksmith. He raised his daughter Sakura after his wife Hinata passed away. He’s a man of few words and seems like a strict person. However, Tekkan has patience and gentleness, qualities owned by the best artisans, and he’s a reliable man. Project Sakura Wars protagonist Seijuro Kamiyama and Sakura are childhood friends. As such, Tekkan considers Seijuro like his own son and nicknames him Sei.
Next, we have the head of the Mochizuki Ninja village, and the cool Okiayu voiced guy. We’ve seen both characters in previous trailers and videos.
Hattansai Mochizuki, age unknown. Voiced by Masaharu Sato.
Hattansai is the current leader of the Mochizuki Ninja Village. He raised Azami in place of her parents, trained her, and taught her the 108 rules of the Mochizuki Ninja. Ever since Azami joined the Imperial Assault Force, she’s been writing reports on her activities. Hattansai visits the Imperial City once a week to receive the reports.
President G, age unknown. Voiced by Ryotaro Okiayu.
The president of the WLOF, the World Assault Force League.
The person holding the seat of WLOF President changed multiple times over the years. However, no one knows anything about President G. Be it which country he’s from, his age, or his real name. It’s unclear whether “G” is his actual initials or not. He’s reputed to be cold and calculating. He seems to have certain plans and ambitions regarding the upcoming World Assault Force Tournament.
We also were introduced to Mister I, the right-hand man of President G. Everything is a mystery about him. He leads a squad of black suits working for the WLOF, performing intelligence-related activities like spying. Sega didn’t reveal who’s voicing Mister I.
The airship is the WLOF and President G’s flagship.
Next, we have new details on how the World Assault Force Tournament works. In Project Sakura Wars, the WLOF is organizing a tournament at the Imperial City every two years, where Assault Forces from all around the world fight each other to hone their skills. The fights are 3 vs 3 team battles.
First off, players will need to pick three team members out of the five members of the Imperial Assault Force Flower Division. Kaoru of the Wind Division is seen there, telling Seijuro he should tell her when the team’s ready.
After that, the battle against the other Assault Force team will begin. The rules are pretty simple. Defeating enemies on the map will earn you points. Points are reflected with the gauge at the top, and you’ll win if you fill it with your blue color. Else, the team with the most points will win the round when the timer ends. There are two rounds in total.
The map is pretty big and enemies can appear pretty far away from your current position. The trick to winning battles is to use your radar efficiently, as it detects even out of range enemies, and getting to them before the opponent team. Sometimes, enemies will simultaneously appear at multiple locations of the map.
Golden enemies will also appear at times. These golden enemies net tons of points, so you should prioritize them.
Multiple story cutscenes will also trigger during the tournament battles. We’ve also seen in previous videos that the two Assault Force teams can directly fight each other during the battles.
Next, Sega is planning to release new videos, each focusing on the various character designers working on Project Sakura Wars. The first video focuses on Kubo Tite. Bleach‘s mangaka is the one who designed the main characters of the story:
Sega also revealed the visuals for the Shin Sakura Taisen PS4 themes in Japan. The first one is found in preorders, and features Sakura with her Character Song Otome Nandesuyo. The second theme is found in the Limited Edition, and has opening song Shin Geki! Teikoku Kagekidan as BGM. Needless to say, you’ll get both themes if you get the Limited Edition.
The Sakura Taisen series official Twitter is also regularly publishing samples of the artbook found in the Limited Edition.
Lastly, the Akihabara Electric Town Winter Festival, held from November 22 to 29, will include a collaboration campaign with Shin Sakura Taisen. I’m not paid enough to translate everything about that in detail, but basically there will be a lottery to win signed posters. You should check out the official site if you’re actually planning to go there. I just wanted to mention it because the SD illustrations made for the event are ultra-cute.
PS4 exclusive Shin Sakura Taisen launches on December 12 in Japan and in Spring 2020 in the west. A demo will be launching on the Japanese PlayStation Store on November 21. We’ve covered every single detail Sega revealed so far:
- First story details and the first trailer
- Spoilers from the unfinished French trailer
- Comments on the Sakura Taisen series from its original creator Oji Hiroi
- Translation of the Famitsu interview with the staff: Part 1 Part 2
- Comments from the main cast
- Comments from Toshihiro Nagoshi, story and mecha details
- Gameplay intro videos for Sumire, Kaoru, and Komachi
- Comments from Sumire’s seiyuu Michie Tomizawa
- Shangai characters designed by Lucky Star’s Yukiko Horiguchi, new gameplay
- Toshihiro Nagoshi explaining the switch to action RPG battles
- London characters designed by Sword Art Online‘s Abec, new gameplay
- Berlin characters designed by Strike Witches‘ Fumikane Shimada, Yasha’s intro, story and gameplay trailers
- Anime announcement trailer
- Opening movie and Limited Edition details
- Stage play announcement, OST comments from Kohei Tanaka and more Limited Edition details
- How long it takes to beat the game and more comments from Producer Katano
- Reveal of Itsuki and Hiromi, designed by Haruhi Suzumiya‘s Noizi Ito.
- New gameplay videos, screenshots, and story details
- Demo details and Combination attacks details
- Compilation of all the Character Song Music Videos, more gameplay
The next stream is coming on November 20, at 20:00 JST. Click here for time conversions. It’ll most notably feature Azami’s seiyuu, Hibiku Yamamura, as a guest.
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