Seasons of the Sakura

"H-game with a heart"

Sakura(or cherry blossoms as they are more commonly known) symbolize a lot of things for people. For some its beauty represents joy and bliss. Others interpret its falling leaves as signs of deep sorrow and painful memories. Still some believe that the sakura represents mystery and secrets hidden from the world. And you might just wonder, "what does this have to do with Seasons of the Sakura?". The answer is that these interpretations of the sakura is the very essence of the game itself. Seasons of the Sakura is a game which has deep connections to the cherry blossoms. At first, gamers wont notice these connections as the game just seems to be another romantic h-game of some sort. And even after playing the game a couple of times some gamers still wont notice its connections to the sakura. The reason for this is probably because the gamer doesn't want to feel the story. Some guys out there are just after the h-scenes in this game and when they actually play it they'll probably give out bad comments. This happens to be the reason why Seasons of the Sakura is different from your standard h-game. Confused? Well read further to understand my point.

Seasons of the Sakura was created to be more of a romantic digital novel than an h-game. It focuses more on that sweet first love and how romance felt earlier in the life of a human being. The story tries to elaborate more on building relationships and how love affects the minds of young people. This is why h-gamers who look for nothing but h-scenes view this game as a low quality game. However, those who do look for the games deeper meaning will see why it is named Seasons of the Sakura and why it is unique in the world of h-games. Like the many interpretations for the same sakura, the people which your main character interacts with in this game also have different personalities and different ways in trying to achieve the same goal. And as the main character, it is your job to ensure that at least one of them get to that goal. To further explain the games aspects, a rating system will be placed below and it is in my hopes that this will clear up some more doubts and confusion about this game. Now on to the ratings!

Graphics - 6/10
Graphics in this game is pretty neat. The art is presented in a decent manner and the characters are drawn well. Backgrounds are somewhat accurate for the given place and are drawn nicely. While the drawings aren't exactly revolutionary in any way, they are presented in a manner that is nice and acceptable for most gamers. A drawback to this game's graphics is the lack of animation and the low number of still drawings. Gamers will certainly find the repetitive art annoying and may even be enough to turn away those who like variety in their games. Another drawback to this game is the stunning similarity of some of the characters to very popular anime characters. Some may find this to be good but most will certainly be "disturbed" by this similarity.

Sound - 7/10
Again sound is nothing out of ordinary but isn't bad either. Its not bad for its genre but doesn't set new bars for sound either. Best way to describe the sound is that it is presentable and playable to the point that is wont cause any major problems. It may be a little repetitive but most gamers wont notice this considering the games length and the events which take place as the game progresses. Overall, sound is above average and should satisfy most gamers.

Gameplay - 8/10
Ok so now on to gameplay. Decisions in this game at first seem like they have no effect whatsoever. But as the game goes on players will find themselves making decisions which affect the main characters relationship toward others. Some decisions even sound as if they have no effect but in reality determines how the story will go. Although some choices seem easy to make, the more important ones do require thinking. This is a welcome difference to the standard easy choices that most h-games present to gamers. Getting the story to go the way the player wants to needs planning and careful decision-making. Oh and the game employs the standard click on a presented option type of gameplay.

Story - 8/10
As stated in the introduction, this games story is quite good if the player decided to understand its true meaning. The story is quite romantic and can even be touching at times. It makes the player feel as if he was watching a romantic and funny anime only he has a measure of control on what happens. The story is enjoyable and should be appreciated by any gamer who decides to play this game. Although game events does not have a great variety, it does do its job well by making gamers feel what the characters are feeling and builds up emotion for the more serious parts of the game. All in all the story is well presented and gets the job done.

Well this concludes my review. I hope this helps gamers understand and appreciate the game more. Gamers who want a romantic yet fun time should definitely check out this game.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 06/07/05