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Sakura Kakumei, Delightworks' Sakura Wars gacha, ending service on June 30, 2021, half a year after it launched
- Thread starter Deleted member 51691
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Not surprised considering it cost like $27 million to make but only brought in $700k in it's first month
It was super high budget and tragically meh looking (It looked so much like everything else out there right now).
The world really wants this series dead.
So Long, My Love
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Wow, that's gotta hurt. The game looks like they put a lot of resources into it. The visuals would pass as a console game.
What a woof.
I was playing the game and it looks real pretty on a phone and the character designs are pretty non-gratuitous for a gacha centered around collecting ladies.
But its biggest sin besides being a gacha is that it is far too slow paced both in combat and in collecting resources to level up characters. They had to dish out a bunch of easier ways to get stuff because nobody wants to jump through the hoops of grinding out super rare gear to get one character to level 30 or something so they can do high level content.
Also Sakura Wars is now super rip. I really don't know what they could've done but I feel like the attempts to recapture the old audience was a little misguided. It was very popular in Japan in the 90's but I honestly feel like too much has changed in the last 20+ years for anyone but the most dedicated of fans to still be around. There was a time where this series was a billion dollar budget series and I think that time has probably passed for the time being.
I was playing the game and it looks real pretty on a phone and the character designs are pretty non-gratuitous for a gacha centered around collecting ladies.
But its biggest sin besides being a gacha is that it is far too slow paced both in combat and in collecting resources to level up characters. They had to dish out a bunch of easier ways to get stuff because nobody wants to jump through the hoops of grinding out super rare gear to get one character to level 30 or something so they can do high level content.
Also Sakura Wars is now super rip. I really don't know what they could've done but I feel like the attempts to recapture the old audience was a little misguided. It was very popular in Japan in the 90's but I honestly feel like too much has changed in the last 20+ years for anyone but the most dedicated of fans to still be around. There was a time where this series was a billion dollar budget series and I think that time has probably passed for the time being.
I wonder if the rise of Chinese gacha games with uh... Far higher production quality is something contributing to the failure of things like this. I mean, it seems like 95% of Japanese mobile games are Granblue clones - While out in the Sinosphere there's a spectrum of Console-Quality (or at least Handheld Quality) titles with compelling gameplay.
MOBAs, Shooters, Genshin Impact, Honkai Impact, Arknights, Girls Frontline, Date a Live: Spirit Pledge - All games compelling for their actual gameplay rather than just being an NFT-Casino where you're whaling $10,000 for a JPEG - And many of them willing to take full advantage of the hardware of Flagship Phones instead of being built to run on lowest-common-denominator phones with little in the way of scaling upward.
Vs, well, unambitious Granblue/FGO cash-in clones that sometimes have 3D models.
Honestly, I'm not really sure how it did so badly. I played a bit of it (so I guess I'm a part of the problem because I just didn't come back), but it was very high quality. I know there was kvetching about pulls and stuff... I suppose the IP just couldn't push folks past that unlike a Fate or something.
I tried it, played for a while and it just didn't grab me. Good quality models and it seemed fairly generous but... idk gacha is really competitive i guess.
Not even DelightWorks of Fate/Grand Order fame couldn't bring success to Sakura Wars mobile... : /
I beat Sakura Wars on PS4 last week and I enjoy it, but never heard of this exist gacha before. It has to be sucks for a company that wanted this game to be popular from glory days. :\
They caught lightning in a bottle with Fate.
But, at least it's bringing Sony Music billions.
Shame SEGA couldn't do that with this.
No, I don't think that's particularly the case. Chinese gacha games have steadily made strides in quality and IP, and have become very competitive in this market, but it's not such a clear cause-and-effect to the failure of other titles. In the time since Sakura Wars and Genshin came out, Cygames's Uma Musume came out in Japan and absolutely crushed the damn competition. There's almost nothing that has made it budge from its number 1 spot on the Japanese app/play store since it released in Feb. Who knows, maybe Apex will do that, lol.
Yeah, nowadays you need to invest in gameplay and can't rely on waifu gacha anymore. Lots of mobile game has evolved to offer engaging gameplay on top of the monetizations. Just look at the highest grossing and most popular mobile games today, it's either a battle royale, moba, shooters, or top-down action/mmo games. These turn-based with auto "RPGs" are so outdated.
I feel like it has more to do with the strength of the Fate ip though lol.
I didn't touch this game so I have no idea what was or wasn't well done but something most have gone horribly wrong because the IP still had some nostalgic value and unlike Fate, was actually mainstream at one point.
LOL same
Yep. Coulda been Three Houses, but instead we got... the mess we got.
lmao, SEGA is not an artist!
My pea brain is really amused by this gif (or the weed helps, but either way).
Dude, not gacha; Sakura is dead. :( 🌸
Oh wow, I did not know this... Then again I sorta find it amazing how one company or creator can burn hot one minute, and run cold the next. It's just really competitive out there I guess, and sometimes the stars don't align.
No one plays FGO for the gameplay. It's first year or so was an unmitigated garbage fire disaster and people stuck with it long enough for it to become decent because it was Fate. Sakura Wars is a dead IP in comparison.
Delightworks is being carried by Fate and Typemoon. Never forget that.
I remember how Saltriver (game director at DW) bragged at how they discarded complaints and how they had such a unique approach to gacha and how "unpredictable" they were but having played FGO at launch it's a huge testament to Fate that it managed to survive that shitshow. Sakura Wars from what I've read had similar problems to launch window FGO.
If you want a reliable and strong developer at making hits "out of nothing" or new IPs then Cygames and Mixi are far better at it.
I remember how Saltriver (game director at DW) bragged at how they discarded complaints and how they had such a unique approach to gacha and how "unpredictable" they were but having played FGO at launch it's a huge testament to Fate that it managed to survive that shitshow. Sakura Wars from what I've read had similar problems to launch window FGO.
If you want a reliable and strong developer at making hits "out of nothing" or new IPs then Cygames and Mixi are far better at it.
I'm still wondering how do you fuck up a Sakura Wars gacha? It's like a perfect fit.
You have a setting where you naturally put into a situation where you are constantly surrounded with cute girls and have an excuse to get more cute girls.
You have a setting where you naturally put into a situation where you are constantly surrounded with cute girls and have an excuse to get more cute girls.
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Wow, that is like Epic Fail level for a gacha.
The Bleach gacha's still running, and before the announcement of the impending anime Bleach had been essentially over for... four years?
The Bleach gacha's still running, and before the announcement of the impending anime Bleach had been essentially over for... four years?
See, I think that's a misunderstanding; no gacha game can solely rely on the character bait (well, except *ducks* FGO). An engaging gameplay loop is always required to make a lasting mobile game. To take GBF as an example of one of these turn based RPGs, its simple gameplay belies their MMO-esque loot and RPG system that gets pretty addictive. Gameplay has always been a huge part of getting people to stick around (well, except *duck again* FGO).
But yeah, I also absolutely agree that simply copying the formula no longer works (but it's always kind of been the case in this space); mobile service games have been at such a cutthroat place where the titles need to innovate and be of sufficient quality, because there's a lot of competition vying for the most valuable prize: player engagement and buy-in. To take Genshin as an example, they succeeded massively on that front by innovating in the genre and being the first-to-market to offer their open-world experience with high production values and competent gameplay.
It's always sad to see franchises die and this one has 2 huge chances to not die unfortunately neither succeeded this gotcha game and the ps4 game
I mean Bleach is still a popular IP with lots of fans? At least compared to Sakura Wars
They spent a -lot- of money to make this game and vastly overestimated its appeal on every level. The game they were making and the franchise itself.
FGO is the only gacha I really ever got into because of its simplicity. I tried to get into GBF and it was a miserable experience. There is nothing addicting about it. All its layers of systems on top of each other were a complete turnoff. It just feels completely impenetrable as a new player given how old the game is. Different strokes for different folks I guess. I don't really agree with your assessment on mobile games, there are a lot of games that don't try to replicate the console experience and do well because not everybody is looking for that on a mobile game.
Not must have, it did. Only $900k revenue in 4 months of service.
In contrast, Cygame's Uma Musume did $15.6m its first month alone.
Just a pity the Sakura Taisen series has to be put down again.
Different strokes like you say, but I don't think anyone puts the gameplay as the number one appeal of FGO, lol.
Also I'm not necessarily talking about console experience, quality and innovation can very well be just as tailored for a mobile experience as Genshin is for a console-esque experience. Uma Musume is this weird crazy blend of sports management sim in a game about racing horse girls. But its quality is unmistakable, even if the whole experience is very tailored to mobile devices.
I think the bigger problem is that a lot of these games just aren't compelling at all in a fundamental way.
People only have so much time so your game has to have a hook of such. Most of these mobile games don't even try to have a hook, Fate/Grand Order's gameplay and graphics when I last took a look at it was utterly uninteresting and arguably bad.
It doesn't even have to be a decent game, just has to have something to create a gameplay loop and maintain interest. The launch for a whole lot of gatcha games are just devoid of things to do. Not even busywork but actual things to do.
People only have so much time so your game has to have a hook of such. Most of these mobile games don't even try to have a hook, Fate/Grand Order's gameplay and graphics when I last took a look at it was utterly uninteresting and arguably bad.
It doesn't even have to be a decent game, just has to have something to create a gameplay loop and maintain interest. The launch for a whole lot of gatcha games are just devoid of things to do. Not even busywork but actual things to do.
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His point is that there's this misconception that gatcha games sell on waifu alone, but that isn't true. If you go to forums and reddits, you'll find a lot of in depth discussions about systems, people trying different builds, etc like any traditional games. Even as simple as FGO is, you'll still find team builds and compositions for farming or completing the brutally hard Challenge Quests. People (mostly console/pc players) tend to see gacha waifu success and "well duh", but in reality the entire package matters.
It's not like current DW has improved much either. The content and pacing in FGO is still terrible. It's been a year since the last Lostbelt (story chapter). Still can't believe that Odysseus battle and sprite wasn't even ready for his story debut.
Plus his despiction having barely Oddyseus elements although that's another can of worms.
Plus his despiction having barely Oddyseus elements although that's another can of worms.
It would have costed way less to just port Shin Sakura Taisen to every console than creating this game.