Review by: Cole Jones

Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love is a pleasant surprise for both anime fans and anyone among the "import crowd." Even with a gaggle of games, movies, TV shows and a string of live-action musicals under its belt, this New York-based adventure marks the triumphant debut of Sakura Taisen: Japan's favorite interactive anime/dating sim/strategy RPG. If any of those genres sound tempting to you (especially the first two), then there's a good chance Sakura Wars has a shot at winning you over.

Even though this particular Sakura Wars title is being published by NIS, you won't find any of its trademark item customization or hoarding here. Instead, as Shinjiro Taiga -- a fresh-faced samurai lieutenant picked to lead the all-female New York Combat Review -- you're given the lofty task of smoothing things between the women and making them more effective on the battlefield. Lucky for you, somewhere around 70% of your time is spent schmoozing with the ladies in "Adventure Mode," so you'll have ample opportunities to build up "trust points" by accurately answering the questions that pop up during the game.

Key to building relationships in Sakura Wars is the Live & Interactive Picture System (also known as LIPS), which forces you answer questions and play analog stick-based mini games within a tight time limit. Each of your responses are what builds or breaks your bonds between each of your characters, and as such, the LIPS system is long been Sakura Taisen's ace in the hole. Given that you can only pick a single answer and explore the handful of NY neighborhoods for a brief period of time, this short (15-20 hour) RPG is intended to be played and re-played in order to enjoy the multiple responses and endings.

Each chapter starts with an anime-styled eyecatch and ends with your characters hopping into their STAR mechs to fight off evil minions trying to siphon off all the "pneuma" (aka magical force) in the world. Thus begins the SRPG phase of Sakura Wars, which initially reminded me of a less intense (and, generally, more forgiving) Valkyria Chronicles, but grew to become increasingly complex as more teammates and areas are added to each fight.

I started out dreading the dialogue and dying for battle, but things slowly started to change as I started to warm up to the characters and realized that there's little-to-no character customization for Battle Mode. Instead, you're encouraged to bolster your relationships via team attacks and change team formations (known as "Stratagems") in order to speed up, use super moves, or utilize healing powers. Even though this helps give the land and air portions of battle a little extra strategy, as the occasional fan of hardcore SRPGS, I was left wanting a little more growth from my characters and the battle system.

Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love is a rare gem that'll certainly find its niche among anime fans and RPG perfectionists, but I fear that your average gamer won't have the patience for the dialogue and runaround involved in each episode. Once you get used to the fact that your STAR mech's power grows in accordance with your team's motivation and trust levels -- and not by finding, buying, or equipping weapons along the way -- you'll realize that Sakura Wars SRPG twist is unlike just about everything out there. Even though it's quite the anomaly stateside, the game deserves (at least) a rent from anyone who thinks it might be up their alley.