As I mentioned in the Sakura Wars LP thread, I picked up the recently localized Sakura Wars V: So Long, My Love for PS2. Well, they dropped the "V" from the title seeing as it's the only game in the series to have been brought to the West.
And if the 48+ hours I've sunk into it in the past three weeks are any indication, it's good. The cast isn't quite as memorable as the original Hanagumi, but still very enjoyable, and the plot is about what you'd expect from the series. (Demons trying to raise a dark lord in a massive metropolis, steam/spirit powered mecha battling said demons, etc...) The battle portions of the game are quite a lot of fun. This is actually probably the funnest SRPG I've played.
The English voice cast... varies. The protagonist has by far the best VA of the lot, which is unfortunate since he has maybe 30 spoken lines in the whole game. Sagiita (Cheiron on the English disc) is passable, Subaru is properly androgynous and clinical, Diana's VA can barely act, Rika (Rosita on the English disc) ended up with a Mexican-Russian accent, and Gemini's "Texas" accent makes my ears bleed. Everyone else with voices is so-so. The various English voices can be previewed http://otakuxgamer.com/?p=4824]here. Go with the far superior Japanese disc if you have a PS2. The game also came out on the Wii, but for whatever reason NIS decided that version would be English only. Boo.
So, I highly recommend it to anyone on this board. I'm off the start playthrough number three.
And if the 48+ hours I've sunk into it in the past three weeks are any indication, it's good. The cast isn't quite as memorable as the original Hanagumi, but still very enjoyable, and the plot is about what you'd expect from the series. (Demons trying to raise a dark lord in a massive metropolis, steam/spirit powered mecha battling said demons, etc...) The battle portions of the game are quite a lot of fun. This is actually probably the funnest SRPG I've played.
The English voice cast... varies. The protagonist has by far the best VA of the lot, which is unfortunate since he has maybe 30 spoken lines in the whole game. Sagiita (Cheiron on the English disc) is passable, Subaru is properly androgynous and clinical, Diana's VA can barely act, Rika (Rosita on the English disc) ended up with a Mexican-Russian accent, and Gemini's "Texas" accent makes my ears bleed. Everyone else with voices is so-so. The various English voices can be previewed http://otakuxgamer.com/?p=4824]here. Go with the far superior Japanese disc if you have a PS2. The game also came out on the Wii, but for whatever reason NIS decided that version would be English only. Boo.
So, I highly recommend it to anyone on this board. I'm off the start playthrough number three.
