"The new and on-going trend of the Sakura Taisen series!"

Introduction

I was a hopeless Internet n00b when I first started using computers in the year 2000. As soon as I got to use search engines to visit some personal sites, what popped up was the Japanese series Sakura Taisen and Sakura Taisen 2 which were the hugest hits by that time in my hometown. Their fan sites were everywhere on the first few pages of the newly added sites of the search engine database.

Now that Sakura Taisen 4 is about to release on DC and that Sakura Taisen 3 has officially been translated into my native language, it is time to review Sakura Taisen 3 before the forthcoming version draws everyone's attention away.

Gameplay 9/10

The gameplay is pretty straightforward. What you have got to do is control your hero Ichiro OOGAMI by using the arrow; point and click and he will follow you. Keep an eye on his conversations with the chicks, mainly chicks... ok? You will have to make decisions, sometimes in a hurry, using the LIPS which provides you with a few different options of say for example what to say next or what to do next.

Then when you get into battles, decide what each robot is going to do. They will need "action points" to be activated and make the moves. The battling system is very simple. You and your AI opponents take turn to move, attack, defend or whatever you feel like doing. This is the strategic side of the game which enhances the entire gameplay.

Your decision of the hero's actions will have an impact on the relationships of all the chicks with you. This may in a way alter the development of the story and the chicks' status in battles.

There are many minigames before the main battling missions start. So if you are puzzled by the interaction pattern between the in-game medieval freaks or if you get frustrated by the battles, you can always enjoy the minigames, save your progress and try another set of different LIPS options to activate different dialogues.

Storyline 10/10

The story is EXCELLENT! A date simulation and a battle simulation are all mixed together.

Since spoilers are not welcomed everywhere on earth, I will not be taking away the fun of the entire game by telling you the exact story and the five endings. Try it yourself. You will find it fascinating.

Getting to it, the story is about battle-and-romance. You are playing the role of Ichiro OOGAMI, a graduate with the First Honour (or whatever similar) who is invited to join the Paris Floral Assault Squad and to strike the evils back. This is just the beginning; do not presume that this has fallen into one heck of the old-day Japanese manga, anime or game stories.

New comers will join the Squad. They are the chicks and they will assist you in the battlefield. Their robots have different abilities. They have some so-and-so friendship with you when you are not in battle.

The rest is all up to you to figure out.

Graphics 7/10

Mixing both 2D and 3D graphics is always a good practice. Apparently, the characters' skins are a bit too boring; they have no animations.

The maps and the robots may better have to made more detailed.

The anime of the robots' killing movies is very lengthy, slow, and repetitive. I just skip them by spamming the enter key on my keyboard. I just do not want to watch them anymore!

But I have to admit that the outstanding gameplay and story outweigh the graphics. Graphics may not be that important when we are talking about a video game.

Sound / Music 9/10

I am not that demanding on the sounds and musics. I will then rate it leniently.

Replayability 10/10

At least see two endings! At least choose another chick to be your... spoilers follow, you have been warned, wife when you start a new game.

There are still quite a number of different options to choose from time to time in the game.

Replay it at least once! Get it? Good, thank you.

Buy or rent?

Buy the game if you want to try it. You will find it worth it. Trust me. Do not rent or borrow it. I do not think you can rent it if you are not in Japan.

And do not buy the pirated versions either!

Finally, let's see what they are up to on Sakura Taisen 4! Sakura Taisen 3 is already the most awesome PC game produced by Sega ®.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 04/21/05