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"Sakura Sakura" finally got release date - 19.11.2018


adamstan

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18 minutes ago, Stormwolf said:

Eden also had it if i'm not entirely mistaken. Anyway, enjoy it! It's great

Ah, I've been avoiding Eden because of it reportedly being an utsuge.

As for Sakura Sakura - I feel very nostalgic playing it - it's not only the blinking, but I also sense some of that old school style in general (at least in a prologue). Character design, music - it all looks very promising.

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Just now, adamstan said:

Ah, I've been avoiding Eden because of it reportedly being an utsuge.

As for Sakura Sakura - I feel very nostalgic playing it - it's not only the blinking, but I also sense some of that old school style in general (at least in a prologue). Character design, music - it all looks very promising.

Understandable. I didn't know the true power of utsuge before i tried it. Never again, as long as i can avoid it. I don't aim to read vn's to feel like crap afterwards. 

Yep, it does have a very classic feel. I couldn't stop so i just kept reading and it was truly enjoyable. Music was a hit with me too.

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Wow, it keeps getting better and better :D

Dorm looks suspiciously like Maison Ikkoku, and we get assigned to room 5. Now, that's nostalgia... :D

And that line from Naoki, golden:

Spoiler

Pretty jealous you got Room 5. It's got a protagonist feel to it, don't you think?

 

Edited by adamstan
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4 hours ago, adamstan said:

I just started reading it, and...

Blinking sprites are back! I'm in love :Chocola:

Had to wait 20 years for that... (last time I saw it was in DOS VNs from old JAST, like Sakura no Kisetsu...)

Edelweiss had it i think, moving mouths and blinking 

 

kinda stupid when they dont match the voice lines though lol

 

This VN seems pretty lackluster given the amount of effort they had to put to get it out lol, delayed by almost a year i think? 

Sol Press should stop going for these obscure titles imo, sales cant be that good

 

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On a technical level, this title is pretty impressive and I enjoy the (not retro, what should I call it? Classic?) art style. Unfortunately, the script simply isn't good.

Focusing on two girls at the time is not the worst ideafor a story, because this way the information about them and their personalities is more focused and the characters are by default stronger than if they were split by four or five. But on the flipside, there is a frequency problem. The guy who gets to pick between the 2nd set of girls is an unbelievably irritating side-character you meet while reading through as the first character. That not only disconnects you as a reader, since your vehicle into the story didn't just change color. On top of said vessel changing from a car into a boat, the guy you are suddenly supposed to insert yourself into the guy you've spent the last 20, 30ish hours hating because he's just a twat. 

This main character disconnect also leads to other issues with the split. Kurumi should in my opinion clearly be a romance option for Tooru, not Naoki. The way these two bond over the common route is way more intimate that the dumb expository backstory you get from the game. I wholly believe that the entire script would benefit from dropping Akira's route entirely, not making Naoki the second protagonist and moving Kurumi's route to Tooru. 

For more traditional issues with the script, there's only two routes for the main characters and only one of them has a proper ending until the after story. Going 50/50 on satisfaction isn't a good ratio.

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After reading those critical opinions, I'm even more curious how will it play out for me. I can agree, that I probably would have been better if all four girls (yep, Akira included ;) ) would have been just heroines for Tooru instead of that protagonist split, but OTOH up until now (a little bit after prologue) I had really great fun with it. Let's continue and see...

Edited by adamstan
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Yesterday I finished Nanako's route. It was good :) I will elaborate when writing final impressions after completing the VN, but for now I have to say, that for this game adult patch is a must-have, as the so-called "all-ages version" is really half-assed.

Also, maybe I'm weird, but I don't hate Naoki at all. As a side character he's rather funny.

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1 hour ago, adamstan said:

Yesterday I finished Nanako's route. It was good :) I will elaborate when writing final impressions after completing the VN, but for now I have to say, that for this game adult patch is a must-have, as the so-called "all-ages version" is really half-assed.

Also, maybe I'm weird, but I don't hate Naoki at all. As a side character he's rather funny.

Yep. I liked him too

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I started Naoki's arc. I have one minor complaint - I wish they kept his face and voice as a protagonist too... I actually like voiced protagonists - it worked pretty well in Air or Planetarian. And here, since he already was pretty well developed as side character in Tooru's arc, sudden switch to faceless/voiceless form is a bit jarring.

Edited by adamstan
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2 hours ago, adamstan said:

I started Naoki's arc. I have one minor complaint - I wish they kept his face and voice as a protagonist too... I actually like voiced protagonists - it worked pretty well in Air or Planetarian. And here, since he already was pretty well developed as side character in Tooru's arc, sudden switch to faceless/voiceless form is a bit jarring.

Agreed. Although i wish they kept his personality too. He's still joking, yet seems very different. Much more serious overall

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10 minutes ago, Stormwolf said:

Agreed. Although i wish they kept his personality too. He's still joking, yet seems very different. Much more serious overall

Yeah, that's why with face and voice removed for a brief moment I wasn't sure if I'm not still playing as Tooru.

Well, I guess that's what promotion from "idiot-friend-side-character" to "protagonist" does to people ;)

Spoiler

But then his original personality kind of came back, when Nanako decided to give food money and managing duties to Masashi :D

 

Edited by adamstan
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3 hours ago, adamstan said:

I started Naoki's arc. I have one minor complaint - I wish they kept his face and voice as a protagonist too... I actually like voiced protagonists - it worked pretty well in Air or Planetarian. And here, since he already was pretty well developed as side character in Tooru's arc, sudden switch to faceless/voiceless form is a bit jarring.

Something similar occurs in Ef: The first tale(and the latter tale too). You play as og mc then get switched to his friend who had a voice who now doesn't and now the og mc has a voice. Makes absolutely no sense to me. If you're going to pay a VA for lines for the character, you might as well go the whole way. Though, I can understand if their budget wasn't the greatest.

Edited by Naterocks2000
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Well, yesterday I finished it - after 36 hours, according to Steam timer.

It was great fun - it just ticked the right boxes and scratched right itches for me ;)

First thing that grabbed me was lovely "classic" art style, and facial animations for character sprites - blinking and pseudo-lip-sync. I felt almost like playing remastered Sakura no Kisetsu :D:Chocola: Music is great too, and some of the tunes also feel like lifted almost straight from that classic era - for example that upbeat theme that plays during most Kurumi's scenes.

Characters were also very likeable - Tooru, Naoki, Akira and Masashi make really nice group. I actually didn't have any problems with Naoki - either as side character or protagonist. It gives that "group of friends" vibe that we loved in Little Busters or Majikoi - it isn't as strong, but it's there.
sakura3.png

All four heroines are lovely too - if I had to choose one to take home, I'd take Sakura :)
70111.jpg

I really loved all her different sides - she resembles Ritsuko Kitamikado a little (not visually, mind you :P ). On the surface - very strict and cool, but hidden underneath is quite playful and jealous girl.
And why specifically Ritsuko? Just compare those two scenes :D
ED2B9h4.pngsakura1.png

Also, her hairstyle is one of the few short hairstyles that I really like - usually I prefer longer hair.

Nanako's route (and some parts of common) have numerous Maison Ikkoku anime references, which I loved. The dorm looks very much like 一刻館, Tooru gets room No.5, his indecisiveness rivals that of Godai, Akira and Naoki keep invading his room - and there are some scenes in "sub routes" where Naoki behaves a little like mysterious Yotsuya, and finally Nanako shares many personality traits with Kyouko - mostly how she gets angry at Tooru after jumping to conclusions :P And the phones in both houses are identical :D It all added another layer of entertainment for me - loved it.

Akira is pretty good - if maybe a bit violent -  osananajimi, and she makes great pair with Naoki. She has also surprising caring side to her ;) However Kurumi's route was really nice too, so I'd have hard time choosing best girl for Naoki. (Actually it's the same with Sakura vs Nanako). One of the things I liked about Kurumi's route were some fourth-wall-poking scenes, like when she stated on various occasions that "this is just like in eroge"  ;)

The "map movement" segments were pretty nice too, with pixel-art chibi sprites, resembling a bit those from LittleBusters batting practice, and NES-style music.

Sakura Sakura is very lighthearted, but does it in a really charming way. I laughed very often seeing the banter between Naoki and Akira or Masashi, or Kurumi fooling around with Moe (who gave her such name? ;)) Also, all characters are still present during the routes - which is always welcome.

The game is pretty unusual in one aspect - there's almost no narration (outside h-scenes), all story is delivered almost exclusively through dialogues. It works, but sometimes may be a bit confusing - during some scenes I had to check the backlog to make sure what's going on.

I started with all-ages version, and completed Nanako's first route, but something felt off - like, some jumps in the story were a bit too sudden. Unfortunately, all-ages version of Sakura Sakura is really poor hack-job. I don't know if original console version was the same, or if it was done by SolPress exclusively for Steam edition, but it simply doesn't work. There are no replacement scenes, and cuts are waaay too broad, cutting off pretty important bits of dialogue or story as a result. So for this game adult patch is absolute must-have. It is free, so no problem here.

That brings us to the h-scenes themselves. They were nice refreshment after disappointment that SukiSuki was for me. While they are still full of hentai/eroge cliches, it didn't bother me, because for most of the scenes writers managed to make them "love scenes" rather than just porn. It's clear that all that characters do is expression of their love and affection towards each other, and not just fapservice for the player ;) (Well, some of the scenes in Nanako's after story have more fanservicey feel to them, but still they're good) And they don't break characters personalities. There are also some nice bits of dialogue - before, during the act and after - and cutting them is pretty big loss.

Now let's talk a bit about translation. There is "honorifics on/off" switch in the options menu, and in theory it looks like nice idea - including two versions of translation, to satisfy both camps. Unfortunately, it's rather messy. Default setting is "Off", but this version doesn't work too well. It looks like it was done with some kind of automatic replacement, with "honorifics on" version as a base. It almost always defaults to characters first name, event when it doesn't make too much sense - especially when switching from last to first name is significant story point and marks important progress in the relationship. Also, replacing both "Nanako-sensei" (in dorm) and "Sakura-sensei" (in school) with just "Nanako" sounds really off. It should have been at least "Ms Nanako/Sakura", just like they did with Bitou-sensei. After a bit of toggling, I finally left that switch in the "on" position, but that version suffers from some lack of QC as well - some of the lines are still translated as if they were from the "off" version, and sometimes honorifics are messed up - like senpai <> sensei or san <> kun. Also, it's a bit inconsistent - probably due to multiple translators. For example, the way Naoki speaks about Sakura. He often says something like "Kirishima no nee-san" ("桐島の姉さん"?), and even in "honorifics-on" version it's often translated as "Little Miss Kirishima" (which I like, as he mostly says it in a tongue-in-cheek way). However, in some cases he refers to her as just "Nee-san", and that was left untranslated - unnecessarily IMO.

I personally think that this game could have been translated properly without honorifics, but it would require some more work from the team - as it is, "non-honorific" version doesn't work, and "honorific" (or "weeby" ;)) version has its issues too.

Despite those complaints, it was great experience - 8/10. (I think it would have been 8.5 with more polished translation)

 

Edited by adamstan
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21 minutes ago, EntireInternet said:

I'm a little confused during Naoki's Love Triangle Arc just which ending it goes off of? It obviously isn't Sakura's route but at the same time all the details don't line up with it having been Nanako's route either. Is it supposed to be Nanako's or neither?

It depends on which route you pick - the beginning is vague on purpose. Akira's route continues from Nanako's, while Kurumi's is connected with Sakura.

And then it continues in afterstories - in Nanako's epilogue Naoki is with Akira, while in Sakura's - he's with Kurumi. Those afterstories are direct continuation of Naoki's arc timewise - they begin on the day when Nanako is to return from her training camp.

Spoiler

It's then revealed, that - in Akira's route - Tooru decided to come back from overseas to see Nanako, while in Kurumi's route, he's back to Tsukimi because apparently his scheduled move to Maison Lune failed again, as somebody with better connections has taken his room. But yeah, details don't line up perfectly.

 

Edited by adamstan
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Spoiler

Yeah definitely seems like the details are a bit haphazard at best. It really doesn't feel like either of them, but especially not Sakura's in the common route. They act like he's coming back from overseas when he gets back (also he lost all his money on his way back?), he definitely doesn't appear to be in the art club, Sakura doesn't really come to talk to him and he doesn't seem to go see her really though that might be because we don't get his perspective anymore, Nanako is gone which I doubt she would miss the chance to see him if he came back from over seas, Naoki is practicing Kendo seriously which only really seems to come out from the Nanako route. Overall it feels like a partially Nanako's with nothing really from Sakura's, route but even then it's iffy. Only thing from Sakura's route that really seems to show up in this common route is that Tohru is still calling Kurimi senpai and treating her as one, but that could just be habit from when he was trying to get into the art club.

Really poorly written I guess. It feels like the story is all over the place between everything honestly, maybe different writers or something? I mean I liked both the routes in Tohru's story but there were extremely different in terms of tones. Sakura's was more high stakes drama with some intrigue around the art club which really does well continuing from the common route, while Nanako's does a spin from the common route with the art club losing almost all relevance besides being a hindrance to Tohru, BUT is much better with Tohru's characterization actually resolving in his and Nanako's growth as characters, but especially his where he really didn't have any growth in Sakura's route. Felt like they were written by two different people really, though.

Honestly if they wanted to do continuations from the routes but didn't want to pick one to go from they should've just cut any common route out from the story and just had you pick from the main screen the characters routes from the ending of Sakura's and Nanako's. As is the common route for this second arc feels completely pointless. Though the common route for the original story was drawn out at times as well, at least it didn't conflict with itself and create plot holes.

 

Edited by EntireInternet
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Yeah, common route of Naoki's arc is pretty confusing in this regard. I too thought in the beginning that it continued from Nanako's, and then it seemed like a strange mix. It clears up a bit once you pick a route (because then it becomes clear who's Tooru's girlfriend - in Kurumi's route Sakura reappears in this role), and then afterstories progress more smoothly from it, but still there are plotholes here and there.

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15 minutes ago, adamstan said:

Yeah, common route of Naoki's arc is pretty confusing in this regard. I too thought in the beginning that it continued from Nanako's, and then it seemed like a strange mix. It clears up a bit once you pick a route (because then it becomes clear who's Tooru's girlfriend - in Kurumi's route Sakura reappears in this role), and then afterstories progress more smoothly from it, but still there are plotholes here and there.

Yeah you weren't kidding, first thing they did the next day of Akira's arc is establish he's going out with Nanako as blatantly as possible. Lmfao.

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Not gonna lie Akira's route was gratuitous in the amounts of sex, probably because it ran out of plot and just became a bore to read so they threw that in to pad the time I guess? I dunno, Naoki became boring and Akira became boring, both losing all semblance of their personalities because gotta protect each other in roundabout ways I guess? And then have sex every time they find out one was trying to protect the other. First two routes were much more tactful, not a fan of this and probably going to skip Kurumi's now just to try and see the after stories.

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18 minutes ago, EntireInternet said:

First two routes were much more tactful,

After stories have lots of sex too :P That's why Nanako's and Sakura's routes had only one (or one-and-a-half in case of Nanako) h-scene each - they saved it for the epilogue, while in case of Kurumi and Akira they had to squeeze it al into the routes, as they have no after stories.

Actually h-scenes in Sakura Sakura didn't bother me too much. Maybe because still they were more tactful than in SukiSuki that I played before :P And there are some nice pieces of dialogue thrown in, showing affection between characters, so it felt okay for me.

I liked Kurumi's route, it had some really nice bits. Try it - and if h-scenes will become annoying, skip just them. (I wouldn't recommend switching to all-ages version in this case, as it skips too much). 

Edited by adamstan
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1 minute ago, adamstan said:

After stories have lots of sex too :P That's why Nanako's and Sakura's routes had only one (or one-and-a-half in case of Nanako) h-scene each - they saved it for the epilogue, while in case of Kurumi and Akira they had to squeeze it al into the routes, as they have no after stories.

Actually h-scenes in Sakura Sakura didn't bother me too much. Maybe because still they were more tactful than in SukiSuki that I played before :P And I liked Kurumi's route, it had some really nice bits. Try it - and if h-scenes will become annoying, skip just them. (I wouldn't recommend switching to all-ages version in this case, as it skips too much). 

I might go back to it later but as of right now I'm just skipping through most of her route, and extra tacked on sex scenes are okay with me once the conflict is all resolved. But when they are peppered through every few scenes while one of the major conflicts is still on going it gets on my nerves. Which is why I'm glad there was just the one in the first arc, and am okay with more in the epilogue.

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10 minutes ago, EntireInternet said:

while one of the major conflicts is still on going

But isn't it somewhat natural? That characters are seeking comforting through physical intimacy? I have to admit that while the scenes were numerous, they didn't feel too much tacked-on to me, at least compared to some other titles I played. (There were also titles that handled it better, but it wasn't the worst)

Edited by adamstan
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