Project Sakura Wars Details its First Story Chapter; Michie Tomizawa Comments on Reprising Sumire’s Role

Iyane Agossah July 15, 2019 11:46 AM EST

Sega published more Shin Sakura Taisen screenshots and touching comments from Michie Tomizawa about her feelings on voicing Sumire again.

Sega revealed more details and screenshots for Project Sakura Wars. First off, following the reveal that Sumire indeed makes a comeback in the game, comments from her seiyuu Michie Tomizawa were published. New screenshots detailing Shin Sakura Taisen‘s main story’s first chapter were published as well.

Michie Tomizawa mentioned how surprised she was to be contacted to reprise Sumire’s role yet again, even more so when learning Sumire’s new role as commander. She felt a strange mix of emotions, with a small bit of confusion followed by a great feeling of happiness. Now that Sumire has been revealed, she’s happy to be able to publicly talk about it and will do her best with the cast to make Sakura Taisen bloom again. She’s sure Shin Sakura Taisen will turn into a game enjoyable by both older fans and newcomers to the franchise.

It’s worth noting Michie Tomizawa is the sole seiyuu involved in Project Sakura Wars, besides the main characters’, whose comments were published, showing once again how iconic to the franchise Sumire is.

Next, here are the screenshots and quick overview of the Project Sakura Wars‘ first story chapter, titled ” A New Wind”.

As already seen during the gameplay videos shown on stream, the first chapter begins with protagonist Seijuro Kamiyama arriving at the Imperial Capital and joining the Imperial Assault Force. There, he ends up reuniting with his childhood friend and swordsmanship classmate Sakura Amamiya, who joined the Imperial Assault Force out of admiration for Sakura Shinguji.

Seijuro meets with the commander, Sumire, who explains the situation to him: The Imperial Assault Force has currently no budget and is short on hands and mecha units, with the defense of the capital being handled by another country’s Assault Force. Seijuro accepts his mission as the captain of the New Flower Division but knows fully restoring the group will be tough. Seijuro then ends up meeting two of his new subordinates: Hatsuho and Clarisse. However, Hatsuho and Clarisse don’t have mecha units yet, and Azami and Anastasia aren’t there yet. The game follows a similar pattern as all previous Sakura Taisen games, where the other girls will each join one by one in the following chapters.

A few days later, the Imperial Theater receives a notice stating it’ll soon be disbanded if they can’t produce any achievments. Soon after, the Imperial Capital is attacked by a horde of monsters, a large scale attack that hasn’t happened in ten years. Seijuro and Sakura sorties but the whole capital is then engulfed in another dimensional space created by spiritual energy. As the battle system wasn’t revealed yet, the press release quickly skims through the battle part, but somehow Sakura and Seijuro, probably with some unrevealed helping hands, manage to repel the enemies and dispell the dimensional space. In the end, Sumire notes how odd it is for such a large-scale attack to happen, meaning a huge incident might be coming.

Other screenshots revealed also showcase events and sub-events with each of the girls, which are all conveniently displayed on the map. Collectible bromides and clues required to advance certain events can be found easily as they shine from a distance. Just like in previous Sakura Taisen games, certain events can only be done in a short time frame. In Project Sakura Wars, when a time-limited event is happening, a blue bar appears to show players how much time is left. Players need to complete the event by talking with the right characters or find the right clues before time runs out.

More screenshots showing Sakura Taisen‘s iconic dialogue choices system, the LIPS system, and the various facilities in the Imperial Theater, were published as well. You can find them below. You can read more on the game through the Famitsu interview of the staff. Sakura Taisen creator Oji Hiroi also spoke about the franchise influence on Japanese pop culture in another Famitsu interview. The second “Sakura Taisen Imperial Communication Department’s Broadcast” stream revealing more info on the game will be held sometime in late July.

Project Sakura Wars, known as Shin Sakura Taisen in Japan, will be launching there on PS4 in Winter 2019. As in between December 2019 and March 2020. Project Sakura Wars will launch in the west a bit later, in Spring 2020.