Paul Chi (paulchi@ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU)
Wed, 11 Nov 1998 19:24:31 -0500
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 19:24:31 -0500 From: Paul Chi <paulchi@ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU> Subject: Miscellaneous Sakura Taisen thoughts (minor ST1 spoilers)
I've been wracking my brains for some new topics. How about these?
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Sakura Taisen 1:
Has anybody ever killed both of the robots that try to destroy the
tower? I tried a few times, but the tough one kept healing himself, so I
gave up, figuring he had unlimited heals.
Has anybody killed all the demons before crossing the gate? I don't
remember which episode this is in, but you're supposed to cross a gate to
let Ayame blast the demons with the cannon. Anyway, I did this once, the
first time I fought that battle. I didn't know what I was supposed to do,
so I killed them all (without losing anybody), only to find that the battle
didn't end. Then it dawned on me that there must be something special about
the gate, because the demons never crossed it. I moved everybody past the
gate, only to see Ayame blast a non-existent enemy and the demons
re-appear! Haaargh!
Sakura Taisen 3 thoughts:
An idea for ST3: How about a beat-'em-up, in the style of Guardian
Heroes/Streets of Rage/Final Fight? Choice of characters, multiple paths
and stories, special moves, etc. Heck, why not a Street Fighter-esque
Sakura Taisen? I think that would be really cool, if, of course, it's done
right. (It would be really hard to do right...for starters, the koubus look
too similar; maybe they could make new, more personalized designs? Of
course, there would have to be a face window that would show each pilot
during the fight, and they'd wince when they got hit, say things like
"Kanzaki funjinryuu... houou no mai!" when they do their special moves,
taunt opponents, etc. There are enough characters for a fighting game,
anyway.) I know many of you will hate the thought of ST in different
genres, but I think it's fun to think about.
Boy, ST3 has some pretty big shoes to fill. I guess we kind of went of
this already, but what makes Sakura Taisen Sakura Taisen? The characters?
The dating? The battles? All of it? Some more than others? What I'm getting
at is, is ST3 locked into the same dating sim + strategy-RPG format? Are
the lesser sales figures of ST2 indication that the same formula won't
necessarily cut it anymore? Would any ST game not in the dating sim + S-RPG
format not be worthy of the name Sakura Taisen 3? Is ST running out of
steam? Is the dating-sim genre itself running out of steam? Perhaps it
would be best if it didn't progress past ST3, like others have said?
What do y'all think?
Paul