It's a long running SRPG series where you play as a leader of a group of girls that has been given the duty to fight demons. These girls also are part of a theater troop modeled after the real life Takarazuka theater group in Japan. The game not only consists of srpg battles but also scenes where you interact with the characters through conversations where you must make quick decisions on replies. Those replies with either raise those characters like or dislike of you which plays a part in the battles. Of course those also leads to your character eventually building a relationship with one of those characters by games end.
The games are also done in the style of an anime series. Each mission is set as part of an episode of a series. It's the closest thing you get to a real anime feel in a video game (along with the great amazing Playstation shooter Geppy X)
In its heyday the series was huge in Japan. Not only were their games but anime series and a huge feature film. It had its own store which was amazing, as well as live shows with the casts performing as their characters like the characters do in the game. I got to go to one of these way back in 2002 and it was amazing. And of course lots of merchandise, pachinko games and more. You can still hear it's music at times played on tv shows here in Japan too!
It's kinda surprising it's taken this long for the series to return but considering that ST5 wasn't as big as the previous games, it was probably best for a rest. But simply put, most of the games in the series are some of the finest games ever made in Japan. It's a shame that Sakura Taisen 1-4 never made it west. The first two especially considering how good they are. Fantastic series, one of my all time faves. So happy it's back!
