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You are Shuji Yamagami, a sixteen-year-old Japanese boy, and this is your first day at the Kotobuki Preparatory School, where most of the student are already eighteen or older. It's not easy to be a new student, and it is also not easy to make a closer acquaintance with one of the many attractive girls who study together with you. Seasons of Sakura is a manga/hentai interactive story, which can hardly be called "adventure" due to a complete lack of puzzles or other challenges. The story proceeds as you go to different places, meet different characters and talk to them. The gameplay and the interface are quite similar to those of Three Sister's Story, developed by the same company. There are several options at each screen, including "think" option. The view is 1st person perspective, with still pictures of locations and characters (mostly girls ;)) It is not just another adult-pictures-collection-wraped-in-a-paper-thin-plot that most Hentai titles are. The fact that Hentai scenes appear only in the game's ending attests to its emphasis on plot and gameplay over gratuitous sex scenes. Although the downplay of Hentai elements alone would have made Season of Sakura worth a look, the designers went one step further by actually populating the game with believable characters and interesting real-life situations. Add to that excellent translation from Japanese by JAST, and we have an excellent game (i.e. not adult pictures collection) that is fun, interesting, and replayable. One of the game's highlights is the fact that the female characters are very well thought out. Each girl has her own dreams, interests, and secrets. They are not licentious, stereotypical girls common in most other Hentai games, and each girl has her own way of rebuffing your approach if you are too rude. The game keeps track of your relationship with each girl throughout the game, and determines near the end which girl is most likely to respond to your passion. |
