You play the role of Seiji Kamiyama, whose last command ended with a sunken ship during a demonic raid. In this world, Demonic incursions happen worldwide, and conventional weapons are ineffective. Mecha robots called Spiricle Strikers were developed to combat this threat. Only people with enough spiritual power can operate these robots making mass combat out of the question. To defend all of humanity, teams of Spiricle Strikers were formed into Combat Revues in major cities that not only dealt with demonic raids, but also tasked with putting on theater shows to calm and reassure the public.

Seiji is assigned to the Imperial Combat Revue and quickly learns that the original team was lost ten years ago, and your new command is a colorful cast of novices. Your team consists of the earnest Sakura, fiery Hatsuo, meek Claris, secretive Azami, and sultry Anastasia who are all given ample appearances in the story, but Sakura is by far the authorial favorite in terms of screentime. Day one goes as well as you might expect for teenagers putting on a stage play. To make matters worse, the unit is financially broke. The glories of the old unit are but a distant memory to the comedy of errors that plays out on stage. Fortunately, you're not the one managing finances in this game because that job is for Kaoru, the secretary. You get to be the usher whose job is to build trust among the heroines because their relationships are so bad that other Combat Revues are scouting your teammates. Seiji’s gambit for getting back to respectability is to win the biennial Combat Revue Games (a sort of Olympics).

Purists will be pleased to know that their beloved franchise has made it overseas with minimal localization changes. The game attempts to spice up the old dating sim formula with the Live and Interactive Picture System or LIPS. Players progress the game by choosing dialogue options similar to other visual novels. But with LIPS, there are some selections that are timed. Tête-à-tête events open up once you reach a specific chapter in the game, but only if you have enough relationship points with the five pilots. These tête-à-tête events are “petting” games where you move your cursor around a sparkly screen to trigger reactions. Pick the right spot and a progress dialogue takes place, all the while your screen inches ever closer to the heroine’s face.

I was uncomfortable with this part of the game as the option of touching erogenous zones is not only present but encouraged. The girls you are petting run the gamut of ages from 13, 16, and 19. You can imagine how awkward it was to be dating and flirting with underage girls in game. The development team also saw fit to create a women’s bath that Seiji can peep in on. You can also date all five girls at once, but only one heroine will feature in your final cutscene - traditionally this is the one you select as the winner of the romance.

Being new to the franchise, I sincerely thought after selecting a co-captain, she would take command if Seiji became a casualty for the last mission. I was mistaken. While I had Seiji promise to marry Sakura, I ended up with Hatsuo, who I chose as co-captain. Imagine my surprise and confusion when I had intended to play the game straight through the Sakura route, only to find that the total relationship points I earned didn’t decide the victor. Also, every girl in the game holds the flag for Seiji in the true 90s era dating sim fashion. This is great for dating sim fans who will find a familiar space to gather all the collectibles and cutscenes. New pictures make up the bulk of the collectibles the game offers for replaying sections and completing minigames and the like. For the rest of us who enjoy the innovations in storyline and gameplay over the last 10 years, it can be quite a jolt to see 90s mechanics as the norm again.

The other part of Sakura Wars is a hack-and-slash fighting game, which has faded from popularity since the heady days of the PS2. Combat is not the game’s strong point. You press light attack and heavy attack to execute a simple set of combos. You build your gauge to unleash a special attack, and if you have high enough trust, you can execute team combos. You can also dodge, and well-timed dodges result in slowing time where you can move around and one-shot some of the tougher non-boss enemies. Each heroine has a unique mecha for combat and there is some variety in terms of range, speed, and hitting power, but none of it really seemed to matter. It’s an approachable system for new entrants, but defending the theater for the nth time gets old quickly. If this kind of combat appeals to you, the battlebot mini-game allows you to replay all your previous missions using any unit you want anytime you want. Get a high enough rank and a picture will unlock. There is a bit of platforming involved during combat, but there is no penalty for falling to your doom. Fail enough jumps and the game will just start you off on the other end. The only challenge that is present is largely for finesse and speed runs. Bosses can be a bit of a puzzle, but aside from learning attack patterns and timing dodges, even new players should be able to finish each combat round without trouble.

You would be forgiven for thinking maybe, just maybe those air battleships would be usable, but the opening number is misleading. Yes, your whole team can take the field, but only three units maximum will be usable. Even then, you are mostly limited to Seiji’s unit and one other heroine for most scenarios. Those fancy air-battleships only show up in cutscenes. Sakura Wars provides enough for longtime fans to pine for more, but it may be hard for newcomers to get invested. After finishing your first playthrough, a Game Plus mode is unlocked allowing you to carry over all your collectibles and relationship points for another go at it. Folks who want 100% completion will find this to be a great time saver.

The sound design is excellent, the scores deftly set the tone for the game. The opening score remains as thrilling as ever. The art assets are impressive but unfortunately uneven. It is largely the result of having different art directions among the in game sprites, the stills, and the animated sequences. In addition, Tite Kubo, best known as the mangaka for Bleach, designed the main cast while guest artists filled out the supporting characters. The different art directions each look great if taken into isolation, but they don’t always fit as well as you would hope together. For the most part, the oddities are subtle and characters look like themselves. Combat comes off the worst as the dark palette makes the waves of enemies seem like a massive blob rather than a bunch of drones. Even the dating sim portion doesn’t walk away without hitches. The longer you play, the more you notice recycled background characters that are merely palette swaps. It becomes especially jarring when you see twins marching along the same path in lockstep. The designs and animations for the Spiricle Strikers were limited, but what was there looked great outside of combat.

Sakura Wars (2019) is a treat for longtime fans and a great effort was made to bring new folks into the tent story-wise, but the combat is not enough to carry the game. If players don’t find the dating sim part to be engaging, then this is not a game they will enjoy purchasing. I feel that so much more could have been done; instead, we are left with something that looks modern but plays like a game from 10 years ago. This was a grand opportunity to reinvent the old formula and revive an old franchise. While the story is still there, it’s hard to ignore years of progress in video game design since then. I particularly find the choice to forgo the tactical RPG for a button masher to be incomprehensible as the tactical RPG genre is thriving as demonstrated by Valkyria Chronicles 4 and Fire Emblem Three Houses. The developers didn’t have to go all-in on the dating sim with so much invested in just giving players the choice to be a peeping Tom. Combat feels like such an afterthought and the game is poorer for it. Having a game plus mode for replaying the game is a welcome feature, but the only reward is more pictures. I wonder how many players will jump at spending more time gathering them. The polish is there in places but absent in others making for an uneven experience. While fans of PS2-era gaming will be satisfied, it’s a hard sell to anyone without the nostalgia factor. It’s unfortunate that this iconic franchise doesn’t have a solid modern game for new audiences to go with it.