Sakura Space Review

11/11/2016

Platform: PC (via Steam)
Player(s): 1

What happens when you have a spaceship full of bounty hunter/mercenary ladies tasked with going after the biggest bounty the region has ever seen? Why, you get Sakura Space, of course!

The story itself is fairly generic and straightforward. The bounty is, of course, a unique target that creates all sorts of fun antics for the ladies. What really makes things stand out is the fun characterization. The characters are all unique and it’s endlessly fun to see their interactions. Be warned, going into this, that when I say it’s an all-female team that’s exactly what it is. Including the captain (the main character). Some may be put-off by this, but I found it rather refreshing. It adds an interesting dynamic to the dialogues and progression that you wouldn’t necessarily get if it was all male or mixed. There are a couple fun twists during the course of the story, which I won’t specify for fear of spoiling it. I will say that it’s really nice to see the day-to-day of bounty hunting, though. We get to see little things that we wouldn’t normally see in stories like this. Granted, many of them are mundane but somehow the writers managed to make it all interesting. Things such as planning and deducing, conversing and keeping morale, and similar events. It’s really neat.

Despite the main characters being really fun, I was a little disappointed that things are made to feel so isolated. No tertiary characters we meet (and there are very few of them) are ever given any character. They feel bland, dull and it’s obvious they’re there simply to move the plot along. They aren’t even given names! It pulls you out of the immersion a little. On the other hand, unlike the few visual novels I’ve read recently, this game lets you make a few conversation choices throughout. They don’t really change anything besides the way the dialogue is delivered that immediately follows. That being said, it does help to add a little personality to the main character to help connect with your own thoughts a little more, even if it’s the only real interaction in the game.

To help move the story along, is a fantastic soundtrack. I usually don’t pay much attention to visual novel music, I generally turn it off. This one, however, has a really catchy soundtrack that has tracks appropriate for the various moods, including a ‘battle theme’ that sounds straight out of an RPG. To counter this beautiful part of the game is the complete and utter lack of voice acting. Not in Japanese or English or any language. That was really disappointing for me, especially in this day and age. Thankfully, the art doesn’t suffer from any such problem. The backdrops and characters are all gorgeous. My only complaint is that there isn’t more variety in poses (to display more range of emotions) and backdrops, but what we do get is incredibly detailed and designed well.

BE WARNED THIS PARAGRAPH TALKS ABOUT SEXUAL CONTENT. If you purchase Sakura Space from Steam, you will be getting a censored version of the visual novel. The full version (which can be patched HERE) does have a good amount of sexual Yuri (female on female) scenes. Honestly, in most cases, I’d prefer the censored version since these scenes almost always feel shoehorned in just to satisfy fans. They have almost no context and feel out of place. On the other hand, there are some that are placed fairly tactfully. Keep in mind while there is some raunchy stuff, there is nothing visibly seen outside of breasts thanks to clever angles. For those who care, these scenes aren’t animated or voice acted, just like the rest of the visual novel. END OF SEXUAL CONTENT DISCUSSION.

All things considered, Sakura Space shows that the developers are certainly learning as they continue releases under this ‘Sakura’ series (usually unrelated stories, but with similar art styles). It has a much more engaging story than Sakura Spirit, and it doesn’t shy away from exploring sexuality while still holding onto an interesting story. It is short, though. I finished it in about 3-3.5 hours. If you can overlook the shortcomings I’ve mentioned, I’d definitely recommend checking this one out. It’s cute, gorgeous and fun.

- Teepu

Graphics: GREAT
Sound: GREAT
Gameplay (aka Story): GREAT
Value: GOOD

OVERALL: GREAT

Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/521500/

FULL DISCLOSURE: This game was provided to A-To-J Connections free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of review.

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