[Review] Sakura Sakura (by YouNa)
"Sakura Sakura is the best 'Pure Love Comedy' Visual Novel"
After the enjoyable time I spent playing, Sakura Sakura could be included in GOTY among the Best Visual Novels. Sakura Sakura is a Visual Novel with a very comfortable and pleasant storytelling. It's a romantic comedy about two overbearing Sakuras and their light-hearted love triangle. It was first announced over ten years ago. Thanks to publisher Sol Press, we are finally able to enjoy this game on Steam.
So, what are the special features of this lovely visual novel, Sakura Sakura? Is it really worth the purchase? First of all, the full story of this game is more than 40 hours. These rich stories include pure love, school life comedy, and friendship. There are 4 heroines in total: Nanako Sakura, Sakura Kirishima, Akira Nitta, and Kurumi Tachibana. They are all really attractive. Thanks to them, the story is more alive and fits into a romantic comedy. The first two are the main heroines, and they represent Sakura Sakura, the title of the game. The latter two are the sub-heroines. I like this story's narrative because it gives fresh vibe among the characters. I want to emphasize that their stories provide enjoyable experiences beyond your imagination.
Furthermore, Sakura Sakura, the game itself is quite well-made too. The main parts of the story are made up of the following: Common routes, each routes for 4 heroines, 2 additional epilogues covering one year later, and 1 bonus privilege story for players. The main areas of Sakura Sakura are the dormitory and the school. This game makes a big effort to allow players to interact with main characters in dorm. The game provides the player with a dorm map, which allows the player to experience various sub-routes in addition to the main-routes. This would be highly regarded as a good attempt to go beyond the technical limitations of common visual novels. I think you'll notice these unique features of the game once you begin playing.
(Dorm Map Image in Sakura Sakura made by Vodoka, Sol Press Staff)
Of course, Sakura Sakura has basic features too. In particular, this game has nice convenience features. It provides CG Mode, OST, Record Memories, Skip & Auto Mode Control, Sub-Routes Check Table, etc. This means that Sakura Sakura is a really valuable 'Premium' Visual Novel. The only technical drawback of the game at this time is that it does not seem to support Steam screenshots by the F12 button. I would like to share the beautiful moments of this wonderful game with more players around Steam. This is an issue that could be improved with an update in the future.
Sakura Sakura is made by Hiqosoft and published by Sol Press. Thanks to the efforts of Sol Press and the hearts of our visual novel fans, after a long wait the game has finally been localized and translated. People who have been waiting long to play this game will feel rewarded and players who are new to this game will experience a new world through Sakura Sakura. Now that the wait is over, let's go play Sakura Sakura for a love comedy of dorm life!
If you are interested in learning more about this game,
check out the following sites for additional information:
[Sol Press] Sakura Sakura
https://solpress.co/projects/sakurasakura/
[Steam] Sakura Sakura (by Hiqosoft / Sol Press)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/658140/Sakura_Sakura/?curator_clanid=33855818
