So what's so cool about Sakura Wars? All I know is that Segata Sanshiro has a thing for the girl on the box art.
Turn based tactics gameplay, similar to FF Tactics - [square tile grid movement]
Alternate history post WWI steampunk setting fused with traditional Japanese mythology
It's a SFW dating sim so it has way more dialogue options than most 90's era RPG's.
Outstanding CD Quality soundtrack if you like traditional Japanese orchestra
High quality Anime cutscenes
It has a five season Anime series which ran from
1997 to 2007 plus a 2001 animated film which is simply gorgeous. The first 10 episode's+Film actually received an English Dub in the early 2000nds despite the games never being exported overseas until V: So Long my Love in 2010 (Five years after its JP Release)
It's the purest example of why the Saturn was a powerhouse in Japan but not in the west.
A series of RPG's with a robust multimedia franchise that Sega of America passed on...
Despite the late 90's being the defacto anime boom era. Add some extra Irony considering Tenchi Muyo would air on Toonami in July of 2000 and it- both tonally and content wise is on par with Sakura Wars.
Just swap out alternate history for Aliens, all the Japanese mythology and SFW harem stuff is present in both franchises.
So the argument of "It's too Japanese to release in the west" Sega of America made in 1996 was way off the mark.
(The 2019 PS4 Reboot is the best introduction to the franchise if you're remotely curious.)
