ohmygodiplayedthedemoanditwassoawesomeiwantitsomuch

Who agrees?

I already have it. As someone who actually played through all of the Sakura Taisen games, it feels very familiar to me. Although it is missing the dating sim elements, and I kind of miss those.

Not one for Strategy games, but I must admit it looks very pretty.

Dating sim? :O

Back before they started making games for Sega, Red worked on a number of games for the PC-Engine (Turbo Graphix 16) in Japan. They developed the first three Galaxy Fraulein Yuna games for Hudson. The first two were primarily dating sim style games. You would travel from location to location talking to the other characters and there was a rough combat system that played out like a turn-based RPG in the first game and a card battler in the second. The third game switched over to a tactical battle format, though. It was grid-based, and very simple. With the death of the Hudson-based machines, however, the third game was released on the Saturn and later ported to the PSX.

Red never went first party with Sega, but they did develop some of their most popular titles for Sega systems. The Sakura Taisen series is probably their most lucrative in Japan. The series took place in an alternate reality pre WWII Japan where the world managed to thrive on steam power. You played the male captain of a female team of mech pilots, each with psychic powers. In the story segments, there were numerous places where you had to make a quick decision on what to say. Depending on what you chose or if you ran out of time, one or more of the female characters would gain or lose points of respect for you. Then once or twice per chapter, your team would fight through a tactical battle. Your team members' stats were based on how much they liked you in the story segments.

The storylines were actually very well put together and the chapters played out like episodes in a longer anime series. You had an animated intro, eye catches during breaks, and even previews for the next episode at the end of each chapter. Production values were incredibly high with the major characters being played by well-known voice actresses of the time, there was a lot of vocal music recorded just for the game, as well as voice work and a generous amount of 2D animation made just for the game.

The combat sequences in the third Sakura Taisen game switched from the grid-based maps to 3D maps. Rather than move in blocks, you would control the characters directly during their turns and perform combo attacks, etc. They had time bars that depleted as they performed attacks or moved around the map. It felt more streamlined than Valkyria Chronicles and the maps were considerably smaller, but the system was very similar.

It's not surprising that several members of the creative team also worked on Sakura Taisen, I just find it disappointing more elements from their past games didn't make it into this one. I like the combat system, but I'd rather have some input in the story mode and see it have some impact on my characters. As it is, you just watch a lot of cut scenes and then fight. I know Red left to make crappy games for Microsoft, but the creative team is pretty much still there. They could have made this into a bigger hit with a little more effort. I mean, they're pushing the multimedia promotion with an anime series in Japan, so why skimp on that element of the game?

your encyclopedic video game knowledge is somewhat startling

Isukun likes to make sure he always has plenty of information with which to prove someone wrong.

Dood wow.

I was just curious about the dating sim elements, wasn't quite wanting an entire synopsis of the company's history. XD

Who was I proving wrong? I only happen to know this much about these games because I am a bit of a fan of the franchises. I have all of the main entries in the Galaxy Fraulein Yuna and Sakura Taisen series as well as all the OAVs from both (I watched the Sakura Taisen TV series, but I didn't like how it deviated from the plot of the game). I don't think Valkyria Chronicles is a bad game, I just wish they hadn't pushed the story elements into the background.

No one in this case; I was just commenting on your tendency to argue very vehemently more often than most of the other people in this forum.

Isukun has the amazing ability to stretch out a one sentence post into a multi page essay. It is a talent I both fear and admire.

I'm also glad that he and I usually agree on things, makes it a LOT easier to win arguments.