Sakura Spirit was the first Winged Cloud visual novel I tried and while it had its shortcomings I felt like there was a lot of potential that the series could become more well known for than its fanservice. Sakura Angels seems like a step in the wrong direction though, as while it improves in some areas it falls back in the story. It's an alright experience but a lot of the intrigue that Sakura Spirit held isn't to be found this time around. Fanservice is something the series wasn't shy about in the first place and Sakura Angels cranks it up. They haven't gone so far as to show 100% nudity m... Sakura Spirit was the first Winged Cloud visual novel I tried and while it had its shortcomings I felt like there was a lot of potential that the series could become more well known for than its fanservice. Sakura Angels seems like a step in the wrong direction though, as while it improves in some areas it falls back in the story. It's an alright experience but a lot of the intrigue that Sakura Spirit held isn't to be found this time around. Fanservice is something the series wasn't shy about in the first place and Sakura Angels cranks it up. They haven't gone so far as to show 100% nudity making games like Huniepop more risque but most of the CGs are designed to show off the cleavage of the three main girls and several opportunities to show them in underwear and even "accidentally walk in on someone showering". A bit more of an attempt to vary it would have been nice, but if fanservice is what you want the novel delivers easily enough. There are some areas that provide CGs for reasons other than fanservice like one of the early battle sequences but you still get a few sequences that absolute scream for CGs but lack them because the developers preferred having another image of Hikari in her underwear again instead. Character design is more limited due to the smaller cast as there are only three you ever see during the course of the story and sometimes they are limited to school outfits that look nice but lack individual flair. Each girl also has a more fantasy magical girl style outfit that's about as revealing as I've come to expect from Winged Cloud but showcases fashion tastes more befitting of each girl. Most of the novel's events occur around the school, Kenta's house and the city streets that's on the journey between the two so most backgrounds do a good job of representing those areas. There's also a few other locations like the beach and forest used for specific scenes to help break them up a bit too. The formatting of the UI seems a bit off at times though, like there were moments where the text dialogue overlapped the menu options at the bottom that just looked messy.  The music is good, though not quite as eventful as the first novel. Shadows and Bloolust is probably the most notable track, with the energetic beat it injects into some of the battle sequences. Where the audio does improve is the inclusion of voice acting. With only four central characters - and one of them being the protagonist we never see or hear - this only leaves the three girls we ever hear, but the performances work to make story sequences with them more interesting. The player character this time is a boy who attends school, but unlike before that appears to be the most notable thing about him when the story begins. His awkwardness around others is a pretty relatable trait through and proves a point of interest at times but I feel like there's no big effort to develop him beyond what's initially presented. His contributions to proceedings are by no means awful but he lacks the spark that Takahiro had with his cast of characters which leaves the girls here to carry the weight of the story by themselves. He also seems to spend most of the story in an immature state and even towards the end it almost feels like he's getting forced into action rather than making the choice because he's matured. A late point in the story does start to reveal some interesting connections that explain the events up to then but that feels like it's disconnected from his own self. Fortunately Sayaka and Hikari form the life and soul of this party. When Kenta finds himself the target of shadowy beasts these two appear and save his life. From there they keep guard close by while under orders to keep as much of it a secret as possible. Hikari is the stoic honour student type character who tries to act upon reason but finds herself easily flustered when embarrassed. Given her reserved personality it's easy to see how Kenta identifies with her more easily and her own difficulties in expressing her feelings is interesting. Sayaka works well as her partner as she is far more lively and outgoing but is more prone to acting on her feelings. There's a slight devious nature to her as well which can lead Kenta and Hikari into all sorts of troubles. Seeing the banter shot back and forth between the two helps elevate the various scenes they're in whether the story is dealing with social life issues or the more fantasy based fighting sequences. Since they're not used to leading normal lives the novel dedicates time to humour, showing what happens when the girls try things they're not used to. There's a point where the player is given a choice on whether to let Sayaka try making breakfast again, and you're given nine options that are all variations of "no" to hammer the point home. The only other notable character is Yuzuki who acts as the antagonist for the plot. At first very little is revealed of her except that she acts in a very insane bloodthirsty manner. It's not until late into the novel that the player has the opportunity to find her outside of battle and explore the reasons for the actions. The general buildup and idea behind it is great but much like before it feels like a lot more could have been done with it than it actually does. The result is that events seem to move along faster than they ideally should and there's this entire level of backstory that's barely referenced but never explored in the slightest. That said, because so much of the novel focuses on Kenta's school life I don't think the potential is as great as it was before so I found I wasn't picking up on potential story leads as much as I did in Sakura Spirit. There's a bigger emphasis on choices this time around, although for the most part the story still follows a single path throughout. Some choices will affect the immediate following scene before linking back up to the main path, with the most notable effect being the end sequence where your choices determine which girl you have the closer relationship with and thus the ending sequence will focus more on whoever that is. A bit disappointed that picking the very clearly suicidal options doesn't result in more than the novel mocking you for it though and there's still clearly more room for expanding the player choice aspect more. My time with Sakura Angels wasn't as good as their first effort. I can appreciate improvements like the inclusion of voice acting and the expansion of player choice. The novel providing a proper ending instead of a cliffhanger is also welcome. Yet the overall story feels weaker, lacking the scale of potential or the wider interesting cast of characters. Sayaka and Hikari are a fun pair and I still enjoyed the story to an extent but it's not encouraged me to go invest in more of the series. |
