On the latest Sega Nama stream, Sega’s Chief Creative Officer Toshihiro Nagoshi spoke about Project Sakura Wars, giving new production details on the upcoming reboot. Sega also published more information and screenshots at the end of April, Most of it is information we’ve already covered, but the story pitch was revamped with more details, along with new information on the mecha.
Toshihiro Nagoshi revealed that he directed Project Sakura Wars‘ trailer shown at Sega Fes 2019. He stated that the trailer is mainly geared towards people who don’t know the Sakura Taisen series. Unlike past logos of the series, the logo for Shin Sakura Taisen has a more modern feel to it too, instead of a “Taisho Era” feel, with “Sakura Wars” written in English below.
Scenarist Jiro Ishii, the game’s team and Nagoshi decided on what to show in the trailer. The development team also wanted to release the trailer sooner, before the end of 2018, but Nagoshi ended up deciding against it. That trailer was everyone’s first impression of the game and Nagoshi wanted to make sure it’s a good one. This explains why back in November he stated we’d see the game soon, but we didn’t until March. He didn’t want to disappoint fans or newcomers. The trailer had to be good enough so everyone realizes Sega is pouring the right amount of resources in Sakura Taisen.
In order to make the best game possible, Toshihiro Nagoshi also revealed that a part of the team was changed at some point in development. However, keep in mind that the way he brought it up indicated it definitely wasn’t a huge change, and it’s still Valkyria Chronicles 4‘s team handling the game.
Toshihiro Nagoshi also spoke about what stirred the Sakura Taisen fan community: the fact that Sumire’s name appears in the trailer. While he didn’t confirm yet if we’ll actually see her in the game, Nagoshi admitted that he doesn’t know much about Sakura Taisen lore. So he didn’t realize having “Imperial Theatre General Director: Kanzaki Sumire” show up in the trailer would turn into such a huge deal. , They weren’t supposed to reveal that now, and he’s the only one to blame. Project Sakura Wars‘ first story pitch stated that the old Combat Revues of Tokyo, Paris and New York, disappeared ten years ago after a cataclysm. Because of that, a lot of fans saw that Sumire hint as “oh, at least Sumire is still there” and believed Sega put her name in the trailer on purpose, but they didn’t.
Nagoshi also stated that we’ve only seen like 20% of the interesting bits of Project Sakura Wars. Sega will reveal much more progressively, so we should look forward to it. He strongly wishes for the game to be a huge success, and he’s doing everything he can for it to happen.
Lastly, Toshihiro Nagoshi stated that Project Sakura Wars has a much higher “real-time’ feeling that past games, but didn’t elaborate. Personally speaking, I think he means how the game now has 3D fully explorable areas and all dialogues being in 3D. He could also mean that the battle system will have real-time elements, as in my opinion, it’ll be very similar to Valkyria Chronicles 4‘s battle system.
Next, here’s the revamped story pitch, the new mecha details, and the new screenshots:
In Taisho Era 19, the cataclysm, a new “Great Demon Cleansing War” broke out. The Imperial Flower Division, made of the Combat Revues of Tokyo, Paris and New York fought to protect the world but disappeared in the process. Following these events, the Flower Division’s achievements as a defense system became public. The World Imperial Flower Division League was created (WLOF in Japanese), with each city in the world creating new Combat Revues. Every two years, to hone their skills, all Combat Revues compete during the “World Combat Revues Great War” held in the Imperial Capital. Project Sakura Wars starts in Taisho 29, when another tournament is about to occur, with demons starting to appear again.
The mecha in the Sakura Taisen series are called “Spirit Particle Armors”, with the most iconic one being the Koubu that appears in the first game. Spirit Particle Armors can only be piloted by special women with enough Spirit Energy, and there are nearly no men who can pilot them, except the protagonists.
Project Sakura Wars has a completely new type of mecha, the “Spirit Particle Fighters”. These were developed by the WLOF after the cataclysm. Their Spirit Particle conversion output is higher than Spirit Particle Armors, so even women with less Spirit Energy can pilot them. This is why many new Combat Revues could be formed around the world. Spirit Particle Fighters are more powerful and more advanced than Spirit Particle Armors.
In past Sakura Wars games, each country had different types of Spirit Particle Armors. sometimes with completely different looks and features. They all had different names as well: Koubu-Type, Tenbu-Type, Star-Type, etc. In Project Sakura Wars, all countries adopted the same standardized blueprints for Spirit Particle Fighters, so they can easily be manufactured and piloted.
This Spirit Particle Fighter is called the Mugen.
The Mugen is the first Spirit Particle Fighter mass-produced by Kanzaki Heavy Industries (Sumire’s family). The Mugen is based on the Koubu-Type 3, It’s equipped with a Spirit Particle Supercharger and is an easy unit to pilot, with few quirks or particularities. The Mugen acts as the main firepower of the Imperial Flower Division, with most Combat Revues members around the world using it. The Mugen shown above is the one piloted by the protagonist Seijuro.
This Spirit Particle Armor is called the Koubu-Type 3.
The Koubu-Type 3 was developed by Kanzaki Heavy Industries as a stepping stone for the shift from Spirit Particle Armors to Spirit Particle Fighters. The Koubu-Type 3 was designed with the Koubu-Type 2 as its base. It uses Anshar steel as an attempt to reduce overall weight. However, the Koubu-Type 3’s frame infrastructure is nearly identical to the Koubu-Type 2’s, so it’s not equipped with a Spirit Particle Supercharger and its output is low. Overall, the Koubu-Type 3’s fighting capabilities are lower than any Spirit Particle Fighter, but it was a necessary step for the Fighters’ and the Mugen’s creation. The Koubu-Type 3 shown above is piloted by Amamiya Sakura.
It’s important to note that we’ve actually never seen the Koubu-Type 3 before. The Koubu which appeared in Sakura Taisen 4, the last game with Koubu-type Spirit Particle Armors, are Koubu-type 2.
Project Sakura Wars is known as Shin Sakura Taisen/New Sakura Wars in Japan. The game launches on PS4 next winter in Japan, and in Spring 2020 in the west. The cast shared their impressions and how big the script is. An unfinished trailer published by mistake also revealed story details not officially announced yet. Lastly, Sakura Wars creator Oji Hiroi recently spoke about how the franchise influenced Japanese culture.
The post Project Sakura Wars Gets New Details from Toshihiro Nagoshi; New Story, Mecha Info and Screenshots by Iyane Agossah appeared first on DualShockers.