text/GameForce
Nowadays, "movie-based games" have become an important label for many 3A masterpieces. Players are also happy about this way of quickly immersing in the virtual world. When to talk about the craze, it is probably starting from the 32-bit host represented by Sony PS and Sega SS. The 3D polygon processing capabilities and large-capacity CDs allow game developers to flexibly use lens switching in their works and explain the plot with pre-made animations. Works such as "Metal Equipment" and "Final Fantasy 7" allow players to fully appreciate the shocking experience brought by the new production concept.
However, in the mid-to-late 1990s, there was a work that adopted a more stunning concept, which was to cleverly combine the stage plays and game interactions, allowing players to experience the emotional interaction of characters and the fun of traditional game fighting within the main storyline framework, which eventually became an important milestone in the development of the game. In this issue, we will review this masterpiece " Sakura Fighting ".
Regarding the game "Sakura War", we must first start with the producer Prince Hiroi. Born in Tokyo, Japan in 1954, his biggest hobby in middle school was to watch various movies and earn money from working to buy a simple 8mm camera. At that time, the photography belt was expensive and could only be shot for 3 minutes. Under limited conditions, Hiroi gradually mastered the skills of using montage and explained more plots within a limited time, laying a good foundation for entering the animation game industry later.
When Hiroi graduated, the Japanese game industry had not yet developed. He first established his own studio and accumulated a good reputation in the fields of toy design and animation creation. He was then invited to join HUDSON to design game stories for PCE-CD consoles that were equipped with CDs with super functions. After creating works such as " Days of Demon Realm ", Korami's "Heartbeat Memories" launched by PCE-CD console gave him great creative inspiration, so he decided to make a new style game that combines stage play expression forms, turn-based strategy war chess, and love cultivation. This is also the earliest prototype of "Sakura Wars", but HUDSON rejected this proposal.
Just as Prince Hiroi was in trouble, the deputy president of Sega Izuki Akichiro called, hoping that he could join the SS Saturn game lineup. At this time, Sega hoped to have a representative image closer to Japanese players, rather than being limited to the strong blue Sonic with European and American styles. After careful consideration and discussion with both sides, Hiroi officially decided to join Sega and started the creation of the "Sakura War".
In this work, Hiroi incorporates his real experience into the game. Li Honglan is actually his cousin of the same name and surname. Asakusa Park where Alice visited during her birthday was his childhood entertainment venue, and Maria is based on the senior sister of her college years as the prototype. The original painting of the character in "Sakura War" is led by Yasuke Fujishima . Hiroi put forward high requirements for the female lead. He could not use strange clothes, but also showed the temperament of combining kindness and courage. Yasuke Fujishima spent a long time conceiving, and even had no results in half a year. At this time, the Sega Saturn console was officially released, and the senior management even considered that the project would be cancelled if progress was slow. At 2 a.m. on December 31, 1994, Yasuke Fujishima sent the setting picture of the heroine Sakura Mamiya, which won unanimous praise from Sega headquarters. Since then, this classic girl in a kimono officially stepped onto the game stage and eventually became one of the most charming game women.
On September 27, 1996, "Sakura Wars" was officially released on the Sega Saturn console. The heroine Sakura Shinmiya was a large close-up as the cover. The 2CD was a super large capacity at that time. As one of the first party of Saturn's host, Sega also invested in the top promotional resources. The story of the
game is set in the early 20th century Japan's Pacific era. It has been more than fifty years since the Meiji Restoration . With the intersection and integration of Western culture and Japanese traditional culture, the imperial capital Tokyo has become a modern city full of steam technology. However, magical powers such as monsters and spells are also threatening people's safety, and the sudden appearance of demon subduing from the underground has brought great disasters.
In order to fight against the demon subjugation, the army gathered the psychics and formed a troops to subjugate the demons. There were four members: Yoneda Ichiki, Yamazaki Manosuke, Fujira Kamama, and Mamijirajira. The four of them used their magic swords to fight against the monsters. Just when they were in a desperate situation, Mamijirajira sacrificed themselves to seal the demons with the magic weapon. Yamazaki Manosuke disappeared, and Yoneda Ichiki and Fujira Kamama survived, which is known in history as the "war for subjugation".
Several years later, the evil organization "Black Nest Club" headed by the demon monk Tianhai in order to restore the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate, he led the new monster "Demonic Fighting Force" to carry out sabotage activities in the imperial capital. Therefore, the new demon-subduing force " Imperial Huaji Group " was established. It was led by Yoneda Ichiki and Fujiya Kamama, and gathered six high-spirited girls headed by Mamijiji Sakura, the daughter of Mamijiji Ichiro. At the same time, based on the design left by Yamazaki Mamijiji Matsusuke, Kamiji Heavy Industry completed the "Kumura" armor for the demon-subduing demon-subduing armor. The Imperial Huaji Group uses the Ginza Grand Empire Theater as the base, and usually uses the opera troupe to cover people's eyes and ears. When the monster appears, it turns into a warrior guarding the imperial capital and drives Mitsu to fight the enemy. The male protagonist of the game, the Navy Ichiro, is the newly appointed captain, and the plot of the story begins.
"Sakura War" adopts a stage play-like split-scene form. The game has ten chapters, each chapter can be divided into the first half of the plot interaction and the second half of the turn-based strategy battle. There are animations to explain the plot between the chapters. The main plot depends on the victory of each chapter to promote it. In the first half of the interaction, players can talk to many NPCs and make choices to enhance the favorability of different characters, so as to get better support in the battle.
In the plot interactive gameplay, the player operates the master Ichiro to move freely within the base, and the style is similar to that of traditional RPG games. After talking to multiple people, he finally gets a combat mission. After choosing to attack, he enters the second half of the gameplay of the chess. During the conversation with characters, a selection box often appears, and you need to make a choice before the border steam countdown ends. Different personalities of the NPC, wrong or hesitant choices may lead to a decrease in favorability. Like many other love-building games, six female teammates are the most attractive part of the entire game.
Mamiya Sakura, the daughter of Mamiya Ima, inherited her father's bloodline of demon subjugation. She is cheerful and optimistic, afraid of thunder, and has a good relationship with the team insiders. At first, because she was a new actor, she would make mistakes on the stage. She has a strong affinity like a girl next door, and is a "civilian idol" and has a typical Japanese drama heroine style.
Kanzaki Sumi, grandfather Kanzaki Tadaoyi is the chairman of Kanzaki Heavy Industry who designed and manufactured Gumbu. He is the daughter of the daughter. He is the best-in-law star in the entire troupe. He has a cold personality and created the classic "Queen Three Smiles" in the game. The air is full of mockery. In addition to dislike Sakura Mamiyaji, he is also a happy enemy who dislikes each other and his man Kana Kirishima.
Maria, a Russian-Japanese mixed-race child, a taciturn beauty, never tells her own affairs to others, has a serious personality, rarely jokes with anyone, and often appears in men's clothing on the stage and in life. She served as the captain before the great god Ichiro joined the team, and then became the deputy captain.
Kanjima Kana, close to 2 meters tall and well-developed muscles, Ryukyu Karate Kanjima Liu's 28th generation heir, is mainly responsible for various martial arts characters in the troupe, but he has the weakness of fearing snakes. He usually likes to compete with the great gods and has a good relationship with Maria. Although he often quarrels with Sumika Kamisaki, he is actually a good friend who trusts each other, similar to Sakuragi Hanamichi and Rukawa Kaede.
Li Honglan was displaced due to the civil war in the country and was taken to Osaka by her adoptive parents. She liked mechanical since she was a child and spoke with obvious Kansai accent . She has a positive personality and likes to make inventions, but it often causes explosions and is kept away from everyone. However, there are still many practical inventions that play an important role in the game.
Alice, the only daughter of a rich French man, has a healing loli style. Among the many teammates, the youngest but the strongest spiritual power. She carries a bear doll called Jie Paul with her. She has a precocious personality and hates others to treat herself as a child.
At the same time, the character's personality is also reflected in the characteristics of driving the Hikaru. For example, Sakura Mamiya can use a straight-line ultra-long range ultimate skill, Kamizaki Sumiya's unique skill is a large-scale radiation attack centered on himself, Maria uses a gun to attack the longest range, Kirishima Kana's single-body close-range attack output, Li Honglan uses a missile to attack for a long range, and Alice can reply to HP to her teammates. In general, the strategy of "Sakura Wars" is not difficult, and there is no overly complex system. You can easily pass even if you have never been exposed to this gameplay.
"Sakura Wars" was widely praised by players after its launch, with the game sales reaching 550,000 sets, which was a very good performance at that time. As Sega wished, Sakura Shiro, became the representative of Saturn's image in Japan. Since then, she has also launched derivative works such as TV animation. For a long time, "Sakura Wars" and "Heartbeat Memories" were Gemini stars in the love-growing game.
In addition to the Saturn console, this game has also been ported to multiple platforms later. The most famous of them is the simplified Chinese PC version released by Tianren Interactive agent. The capacity screen performance of 3CD has been significantly improved compared to the Saturn version, and there are also peripheral gifts provided. Many domestic players have been exposed to this series since then and are addicted to it. In addition, the PS2 version of " Sakura Wars, Hot Blood " is a complete remake of the original version of Saturn. The graphics, combat system, and plot have been strengthened. It is one of the few official Chinese games on the PS2 console and one of the must-play works of domestic PS2 players back then.
"Sakura War" has created a new "stage play game" gameplay. Although the combat system is simple and there are not many scenes, the rich character development content makes players feel very immersive. Many people enjoy passing the levels over and over again in order to explore all possible character dialogues as much as possible. After that, the series continued to launch a number of works, the pictures became more and more gorgeous, and the system gameplay became more and more abundant. However, the surprise that Prince Hiroi brought to us on the Saturn console back then was the most impressive.
-END-
Follow "Shame Mind Workshop" to spread the game culture and make games more than just games.
