Jose Barragán (devilot@WORLDNET.ATT.NET)
Wed, 11 Nov 1998 21:04:18 -0400
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 21:04:18 -0400 From: Jose Barragán <devilot@WORLDNET.ATT.NET> Subject: Re: 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.
Same thing here. I once tried to see if I could kill him but got reeeeeally
bored early on. Didn't even get to notice that he had unlimited heals, in
fact.
>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.
This would make a far better 'side game' (like Hanagumi Taisen Columns) than
a real sequel. The main ST games should always be adventure games with
strategy aspects, IMO. The side games can explore different game genres.
>
> 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?
I believe that it is, yes. There might be improvements to the engine and
such, but the basic format should remain the same. I mean, imagine if Final
Fantasy VII had been a 3-D fighting game instead of an RPG! Can you imagine
all the people who would have been extremely pissed off?
> Are
>the lesser sales figures of ST2 indication that the same formula won't
>necessarily cut it anymore?
No, I think the sales figures just reflect the slow demise of the Saturn.
There simply aren't as many people interested in Saturn games as when the
first ST game came out (thus, the low sales of the excellent 2-D Capcom
fighting game conversions).
> Would any ST game not in the dating sim + S-RPG
>format not be worthy of the name Sakura Taisen 3?
Like I said before, a fighting game or puzzle game or whatever might make an
excellent side game, but I think the main reason ST is so popular is because
it manages to mix aspects of a dating sim, adventure game, and strategy game
so perfectly. They shouldn't muck up the formula, only improve upon it.
> 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?
I really just want the game's story to end with ST3. Have Oogami marry one
of the girls (or in the case of the younger ones', have them as steady
girlfriends or whatever), and finish the storyline up that way.
>
> What do y'all think?
>
>Paul