I was excited today after noticing Japanese Twitter accounts were tweeting about the announcement of yet another Sakura Taisen game. However, it turned out to be a Chinese market exclusive game for iOS and Android.

The game is titled Sakura Taisen: New Promise and stars a new Theatrical Troupe based in Shanghaï. It takes place during the same time-frame as Sakura Taisen 4, and tells the story of the Shanghaï Troupe's fight against demons which were previously sealed 2000 years ago.

The Shanghai Troupe is composed of an unnamed protagonist, who is the leader of the troupe, freshly graduated from the military academy, and 6 heroines:

  • Yu Linglong, a girl from Shangaï who wishes to learn swordsmanship from the protagonist.
  • Rose Chevalier, a dignified, glamorous actress from France.
  • Mori Mori, a girl from Yunnan province, the southernmost province in China, who loves folklore songs from the area.
  • Lilia Lodornia, a shy girl from Russia.
  • Aoi Hinagiku, a Japanese girl from Kyoto who loves cooking.
  • Mo Minglian, a girl from Beijing who highly respects the protagonist because of his noble lineage.

It will also feature classic Sakura Taisen characters such as Sakura Shinguji, Kohran Li, and Ichiro Ogami. She's not pictured, but Erica Fontaine has been confirmed as well.

You can watch the trailer for the game below, showing the characters, some of the risque situations our protagonist can get into with the girls, and battle gameplay. You can also check the gallery below showing the different characters.

The girls are all cute, there is free-roaming inside the theater building to trigger events with the characters, the dialogues have timed choices and the gameplay retains the strategy aspect of the series. Overall, it feels like a traditional Sakura Taisen game and I really want to try it.

The Sakura Taisen franchise is extremely popular thanks to its mix between mecha strategy battles and Dating Simulator elements. It isn't the first time the franchise has a game specifically made for a country other than Japan. There's currently a smartphone game exclusive to South Korea, Sakura Taisen: The Song of Cherry Blossoms, which was launched by Sega in April 2018.

A new Sakura Taisen game for consoles was announced by Sega in April 2018. You can read comments on the new game by Sega CEO Haruki Satomi here. The game is scheduled to release before the end of March 2019.

Sakura Taisen: New Promise will release for iOS and Android exclusively in China. The game has no precise release date yet.