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lordnikon
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Posted:
Fri May 08, 2009 12:23 am
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This is huge news everyone! Sakura Taisen V is coming to North America and Europe!

http://www.the-magicbox.com/0905/game090507c.shtml

For those of you who do not know what this is, Sakura Taisen is a fantastic RPG series from SegaWoW and Red Entertainment. It is being localized for release by NIS America. This franchise was a huge series on the Saturn and Dreamcast, and Sakura Taisen V was released on the PS2 in Japan. I actually have the Limited Edition import on this that I scored cheap during a play-asia sale.

Any diehard Sega fan should be pre-ordering this title. This is the very first time any Sakura Taisen game has been released in English.

Last edited by lordnikon on Tue Jan 05, 2010 7:03 pm; edited 1 time in total
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TheMytho
rank 38
Posted:
Fri May 08, 2009 1:33 am
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Awesome news. I had heard rumors of NIS localizing STV, but having confirmation makes it all the better. Going to pre-order ASAP.

It's about time somebody got off their ass and released a Sakura Taisen game stateside! Mr. Green
 
lordnikon
rank 59
Posted:
Mon Dec 21, 2009 4:26 am
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I am going to pre-order this game from RosenQueen, which the NIS America site links to as their store:

http://www.rosenqueen.com/home.php?cat=21

Any other devoute Sega fans going to pre-order this? I'd like to see how many here jump on board. This is one of the few chances you get to support a true Sega game, let alone pre-order one. This series dates back to the Saturn era, and this is the first Sakura Taisen game to ever be localized for the West.
  _________________
The most effective, in this war?
The Bydo have it... and they control it.
TheMytho
rank 38
Posted:
Mon Dec 21, 2009 6:55 pm
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I was going to pre-order on Amazon. Will be interested to see if Rosenqueen will offer any special incentives for pre-orders.
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Manji
rank 6
Posted:
Thu Dec 24, 2009 1:39 am
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i didnt see it for pre-order at that rosenqueen site. did i miss it?
 
lordnikon
rank 59
Posted:
Tue Jan 05, 2010 4:23 pm
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The game is now up on Rosenqueen. The PS2 version is the only one that has Japanese voice acting and implementing it wasn't easy. I guess they couldn't fit all of the voice acting on one disc, so they decided to pack in 2 game discs in the PS2 release.

Here is a quote from a recent interview regarding this:

Nao Zook of NIS America wrote:
There were tons of challenges for adding Japanese voice acting disc. The game is so huge that we couldn't just fit English and Japanese on one disc, as we usually do when we can. So we have to have two separate discs for English and Japanese, which means we have to debug the Japanese voice disc as well. We also wanted to match the English text to the Japanese voice acting as much as we could, so we went through all the text over and over and made the necessary changes. For example, we changed a couple of characters' names for the English version; Sagiitta to Cheiron. So for the Japanese disc, we went through all the characters' names, and change them back to the original names because that’s how they are called in Japanese. There are lots of hardships and challenges that come with adding the Japanese voice disc to the package, but I think it's all worth it in the end.


That is pretty crazy! I am really thankfull they went the extra mile for us PS2 owners, and are giving us the proper experience.

For more on the interview I highly recommend reading at the following link:
http://www.rpgamer.com/games/sakura/sakura5/sakura5int.html

I havn't figured out where I am going to pre-order this game from yet. The game supposedly comes with some bonus materials even if you get the standard edition. So I want to make sure that stuff gets here safe and sound.

Here is an update on the cover design differences between the Special Edition (only available through RosenQueen I believe), and the Standard Edition.

First up is the Special Edition cover. It has hand drawn artwork that is more classic and matches that of all past Sakura Taisen games dating back to the Saturn.



Now here we have what the Standard version cover is supposed to look like. I really like this version with its rich blue colors.

  _________________
The most effective, in this war?
The Bydo have it... and they control it.
TheMytho
rank 38
Posted:
Tue Jan 05, 2010 6:56 pm
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Hmm... I might pre-order from Rosenqueen to ensure that I receive a copy of the special edition. Not to say that I've had bad luck pre-ordering special editions from Gamestop, but I'd like to deal with the company directly in case something goes awry.
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lordnikon
rank 59
Posted:
Sat Jan 09, 2010 3:12 pm
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I may end up pre-ordering from Rosenqueen as well. Both the Special Edition release and the standard release come with bonus materials. So I want to make sure I get everything intact.

I can say right now that this is a game I am going to break open and play on day 1, so I am pretty excited about it. With a lot of games, especially sequels there is a pre-requisite game that I had yet to play. So I would often buy a game like this and then hold off on it, to play the previous games in the series first. However this is the very first Sakura Taisen game to even make it over to the west. So I can start playing this right away.

Also, I am really interested in seeing how the Adventure them elements play off of the mech simulation battles. In japan, adventure games and "dating sims" are quite common, but never come out here. While dating sims can often be quite shallow and pointless... some adventure games that are pure story driven have really great story lines and are almost like playing an interactive anime. Some, have really adult themes in them, and by adult I don't mean pronographic, but just more mature subject matter that is darker. There have been a few of these adventure games that cought my eye as imports in Japan. However since they are all Japanese, and the entire experience is based around story, with little gameplay, me playing those would be impossible.

So for this I am kind of amped up about playing Sakura Taisen, because it introduces me to this different gameplay element that isn't too common here.
  _________________
The most effective, in this war?
The Bydo have it... and they control it.
TheMytho
rank 38
Posted:
Mon May 03, 2010 10:37 pm
quote : #9
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My copy of Sakura Wars came in today. I originally was not planning on getting this game until the summer, but nikon sent me a PM noticing that copies on Amazon and eBay were already exceeding MSRP. I did some digging around myself and noticed that nearly every retailer was sold out. Coupled with the fact that this is likely the last domestic PS2 release of significance, and you have a recipe for rarity. I ordered my copy off NCSX last week in a bit of a panic. They have still have some copies left, so if you are at all interested, now would be the time to get a copy before you end up paying $60 for a used one in a few years.

Your local GameStop stores might be a good place to check before you order from NCSX. I noticed that the ones near me still have copies in stock thanks to the online store availability tool.
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DiMiaN
rank 2
Posted:
Tue May 04, 2010 2:36 am
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I ordered a copy of it too, but just to put it in the ps2 games collection Smile
 
gary_b
rank 8
Posted:
Tue May 04, 2010 11:20 am
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i watched some videos of this game. im not sure that i would like it? maybe i should get a copy to keep sealed?
 
TheMytho
rank 38
Posted:
Tue May 04, 2010 4:39 pm
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If you have any interest whatsoever, now would be the time get a copy. The print run for this game was likely low due to the fact that PS2 is being phased out of the market and that the game itself is a niche title. Even if you are on the fence about the game, you should give it a try due to its Sega roots.

If it isn't for you, then you could certainly recoup your investment by selling it on eBay or Amazon. The cheapest used copy on Amazon right now is around $45, which is $5 more than MSRP.
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