Sakura Wars (2019) serves as a soft reboot with the theme of passing the torch to a new generation. Honestly, I found this game to be rather average, with characters that felt somewhat clichéd compared to the charm of the previous series (which I've only experienced through comics, to be fair). The action felt lackluster and somewhat like an afterthought, and there was quite a bit of filler content that dragged on, making it a bit challenging to finish. However, I must acknowledge that the game possesses charm and is rich in details, particularly in its 3D character designs, environments, music, scene direction, and other trivial elements that demonstrate the developers' love for the franchise. Looking towards the future, I hope this series doesn't end with just this game.

P.S.: I was particularly bothered by the variety in character design here. It reminded me of Ao no Kiseki when they used character designs by Katsumi Enami from the previous series alongside new designs by Falcom's in-house artists, which felt somewhat jarring. A similar situation occurred here, with Tite Kubo handling the main cast while other characters had distinct designs, diverging from Kubo's artistic style. Additionally, the bromide system still evokes nostalgia with Kōsuke Fujishima's designs.

My Score: 7/10

Technically the game shouldn't have been much, but I just loved every moment. The story was simple but the character were so likeable and engaging that I was just completely invested. The animation was so well done, a bit too much at times, but overall it made the scenes so much better and more fun to watch.

Gameplay wasn't much really, barebones at best with a turn your brain-off mentality. However the dating sim part definitely makes up for it, at least for someone like me that likes romance and also just loves these characters.

Overall it was a really nice chill experience, and it makes me wanna try out the old ones. Maybe sega will release them again one day.