Sakura Taisen 3 - Pari Wa Moeteiruka?

There are so many games today that use all manner of attention-grabbing techniques like super-realistic graphics, immersive sound, and such...but when was the last time that you played a game for it's story?

Enter Sakura Taisen 3. Sakura Taisen 3 (Sakura Wars for those who are more familiar with that name) is the third installment in this highly popular franchise. It places the player in the shoes of Ichiro Oogami, a navy officer recently assigned to the European city of Paris, in France.

The game's title screen

The game immediately follows the events of Sakura Taisen 2, but that doesn't mean that one would have to play the previous iterations just to get the story.

In fact, this is the perfect time to get started on the series. At the start of ST3, the game brings you up to speed on the story so far, but even then, it's sort of like a fresh start, even for veterans.

As Oogami, you are tasked with the responsibility to leading a newly-formed Assault Troupe in Paris. This Troupe, as with the previous titles, combats supernatural beings known as Kaijin.

The concept itself appears to be pretty much straightforward. Enter, kick demon arse, and you're done, right?

Wrong.

If that's what you're after, you've come to the wrong place. True, combat is essential part of the ST series, but it is not the main focal point.

The game itself plays out like a Visual Novel. You know, those 'choose your own adventure' type of games, like To Heart and such. In the west, this is (sometimes wrongly) known as a 'dating sim'.

Screenshot of the LIPS system. Isn't she just adorable~?

'Aww...text, text, and more text?', you might say. But believe me, this is something you'd want to read.

Gameplay is divided into two systems: the LIPS and the ARMS systems. The LIPS (Live-In Picture System) is the dialogue part of the game, which gives the player the chance to respond to certain situations. There are different kinds of LIPS, depending on the event.

The second is ARMS. ARMS (Active and Real-time Machine System) is the combat mode, and it's quite well-executed, as far as these types of games are concerned, and is definitely a massive improvement over its predecessor's combat system.

Also, the game has not been localized, so the game is mainly in Japanese. However, a valiant and dilligent individual by the name of Kayama has painstakingly translated majority of the game and has made a translation guide (available somewhere). Even just by going through that, this is still a game worth checking out.

More details soon.

Oh, and...