RPGM - Completed - Sakura Gozen [v1.10] [kaniheadcrab]

This game isn't worth experiencing for the porn or the gameplay, which are by themselves 3/5 and 2/5 respectively, but for the story. If you want to get the best possible experience out of this, DON'T PLAY IT UNTIL SOMEONE PROPERLY TRANSLATES IT!

It's one of those games where I say, play chapter 1 (not just prologue) and decide for yourself whether you want to play this. I don't think the game is perfect. The gameplay loop is repetitive, combat is too easy, the weapon system was interesting for the tutorial, but not in-depth enough to stay interesting past that, the H-experience system might as well not be there and the H-scenes are fine, but pretty standard these days.

But there's a point during chapter 1 which made me go from wanting to finish, to wanting to finish the game. The story is good. Too good for machine translation.

If you just want the porn, I'd still say wait until proper translation, because I didn't go in for the story, but it got me hooked anyway.

Standing CG generally drawn decently, but most else of the game is mediocre to poor, generally messy (albeit very easy game to navigate and play), is annoying on the eyes (e.g. low quality environment and backgrounds) and constant random sounds during dialogue. I'm not seeing the high score on DLsite (much of the 5/5 reviews on here can be dismissed as they've vested interest in the game). Likewise with the scenes/text, it's overall bizarro and sudden but sometimes humorous.

I can only chalk it up to one of those 'popular or highly-rated games that just doesn't do it for me'. If the art interests you, perhaps just give the prologue a play (~15-20 minutes) and then see if it still holds your interest. I found it to be overall mediocre and for RPGM standards, it's average at best and I generally like HRPGM too.

EDIT: Minor addition.

Okay! Obtained the final ending and I gotta say... FIVE STARS! The game absolutely stands above most other RPGM games on F95 here and showcases the great potential of RPGM as a platform. As expected from the makers of the Monstrous Horror Show! You can definitely tell the developers put love in this game.

Sakura Gozen pushes the boundaries of what we traditionally expect from RPGM titles with its entertaining writing, dynamic gameplay, and stellar art. The humor and dark themes blend well, creating a tone that's entertaining and interesting to prod into. From the good plot to the polished UI (which is shockingly smooth compared to most RPGM games), everything about this game exceeds expectations. The developers have clearly poured immense talent and creativity into every aspect of it.

The combat is fresh and fun, combining both turn-based and rhythm elements. The system of using multiple weapons with unique attacks offers plenty of variety, and while it might be easy to overpower enemies with the help of useful items, it's still satisfying. Plus, the option to skip erotic cutscenes after seeing the description of it is a major quality-of-life feature so you may skip any erotic scene of a certain fetish you're not into (for example, I skipped a scene with feet because I'm not into.

The art is great across the board—both the pixel art and CG are stunning. The minor animations in the art add life to every scene, especially the battle sequences. The music is just as impressive, always matching the tone and keeping you immersed, even during the more straightforward battles.

One of the best parts is how it respects your time—there's no unnecessary grind, and the pacing is perfect. The gameplay is designed to be fun and engaging without making you feel bogged down by repetitive tasks. The story is equally captivating, with unexpected twists that keep you on your toes from the very first chapter. The balance of humor and more serious moments is handled well.

On the downside, the game is easy due to the abundance of healing items and buffs, meaning you never really feel the pressure of defeat. Though I don't mind it too much.

Overall, this is one of those rare games in the RPGM genre that combines deep, well-executed mechanics with top-tier art and good storytelling. If you’re looking for a game with a entertaining plot, great gameplay, and fantastic erotic content, this one is definitely worth your time—and don’t forget to support kaniheadcrab, the devs who made it all happen!

Edit: Don't dismiss any review unlike what the reviewer above mine said.

Kino Masterpiece and an absolute best-use case example of RPGM potential by talented Devs that push the traditional expectation of what a game engine could be capable of, as well as excellent humors and artistic with dark themes, in other words, very Kino writing, systems , art, UI (not clunky at all and incredible actually compared to most RPGM titles) , both turn based and real time gameplay, plot, direction, Everything! Just exceeds every expectation and is extremely entertaining.

++ Props to the amazing translation! Really Amazing

The One CON is the ☆★LoliCON Content

Edit: Initially I wrote about difficulty scaling , but a certain ending feels like a pretty tough fight. I am still not done playing at the time of review

++ Some people on here are suggesting that the 5* is misplaced after having barely played 5 mins of the game, this game is a very immersive story rich narrative driven self-paced RPG with optional fast corruption , its moronic to even leave a rating. At the time of typing this sentence I have 7:17:00 clocking in my save and I'm deep into chapter 2 side missions with barely a SeXP of 4

Once in a while a game like this comes every few months that serves a good mix of erotica and story content. This is one of those games. Story engaging enough to keep you entertained and with a good amount of scenes with good quality. The battle system is also decent albeit takes some getting used to but its not too hard. Plus the option to skip already seen non-erotic cutscenes is a feature I wish most games of this genre would have.

Gameplay: 5/5 Very good gameplay. The system of having 5 weapons with multiple attacks is not too complicated, but not too difficult to deal with. Also, to avoid getting boring the game gives you the option to instakill regular mob enemies, making grinding for the best weapons a cinch.

Story 4/5 I liked the story a lot. What you think is gonna be a fun comedy game quickly shifts into what the fuck by the end of the first chapter, and proceeds nicely from there on. Despite the sudden tone shift, comedy continues while being fairly well executed and merged with the story. However, the use of a few characters like Sakuraba Ouma was somewhat botched I would say, since his position shifts wildly throughout the story.

Art: 5/5 The art in this game is fantastic, showing off dynamism and power. The music is also suitably dramatic. There was no shortage of talent in this game's development.

It's an excellent game.

This is one of those RPGM Gems, that pops up once in a blue moon.

Theres basically no grind, no bullshit.
Scenes, events and even music are great.
The table of contents is just perfect for its category.

Dude, just fucking play the game. And if it's possible, suport this creator.

The game feels a bit clunky in the beginning but you get used to it. The CG is really good and the game has a pretty good flow to it. The story is actually really good, what happens at the end of chapter 1 is pretty insane. The only downsides, one being personal and the other being more objective, is the protagonist's tits are a bit big for my taste and really makes the more serious cutscenes feel a bit off and the translations are a bit off, especially for the UI and tool tip related stuff. The heartache mechanic from the help screen seemed like it was permanent but it is not and actually quite easy to get rid of.

First off, I 100%'d this game (did the revising/editing and some bug fixes). To avoid bias, I usually refrain from reviewing games I've helped translate, but I think this one was good enough to just go ahead and do it safely.

Story 5/5 - The game has very humorous and tropey dialogue, and a good mixture of serious segments, as well. It never gets boring, even when doing the side quests. It is VERY Japanese, though, so be prepared to see a lot of weeb speak and TL notes (I could not localize a lot of the jokes, and had to settle for explaining them instead).

Artwork 5/5 - This game's art is great in all sections: H-Scenes, roaming, and battles. On top of looking good, a lot of it also has minor animations (e.g. 3 to 5 frames being looped). The pixel art is BEAUTIFUL, and I love that the gallery has preview pixel art for every single h-scene in the game, despite being completely unnecessary. I would honestly love to see a game by this developer that focuses more on their pixel artwork. No hate on the CG, though--both look fantastic.

Combat 4/5 - The combat is great, at its core... You select up to 5 attacks to use per turn, and then you do a mini-game to land "Perfect" hits for each attack. That part is fun. Unfortunately, the combat is WAY too easy. You're given all these healing items and stat-boosting combat items throughout the game, but you never need to use a single one. Even against this game's Superboss, I ended up using only 2 healing items.

Music 5/5 - Not much to say here. The music is just REALLY good. So good, that it makes the overly-easy battles still feel somewhat exciting.

Total: 4.75/5

An Awesome game. It's a "2d" rpg game with qte based combat. There are A LOT of different scenes, with a good variety of kinks. All it's main cast of characters are very well designed, and the story....is Very sad.

One of the honestly too few H-games where "I played it for the plot" works both ways.

It also feels like it respects the player's time, which is also an unfortunately uncommon aspect of these type of games.

Pros:

-It's clear a lot of time and care was put into this game, and it shows by the high quality pixel art (for the characters at least)
-A HUGE variety of kinks, chances are there's something for everyone.

Neutral:
-The characters can be charming or even funny at times, but they can come off as rather one-note
-The game play is laughably easy, you don't even need to actually do the button presses in order to win 99% of combat.

Bad:
-Rather clunky UI, there can be a lot of stuff thrown at once .
-Somewhat poor translation, but for the most part it isn't too hard to figure things out .

Overall this is one of the better games uploaded here and I'd recommend it if you just want some quality H-scenes with a variety of content that features some characters that are at least bearable.

WARNING: THIS REVIEW IS VERY BIASED

-Because I crowdfunded it, I QA'ed it, and I spent too much time on it. I know this game is PEAK AS FUCK. I owe ONM's single-handedly fixing the game so it could be released, letting you guys play it in perfection. Shoutout to Dazed for actually seeing the potential of the game to be translated. I'll just explain my experience with the game, and I want you to watch the trailer on the official site.

Gameplay:

Pros:

An actual fun and new way to battle, rather than the old, same, default RPGM battle system.

NO FUCKING GRIND (as long as you do the side quests).

PEAK AS FUCK BOSS BATTLES.

PEAK AS FUCK MUSIC.

Alt.Shop (2nd-form shops).

Cons:

Because the game has almost no grind, and the game system helps the player too much, you’re already SO GREAD UP AND OVERLEVELED.
That’s it, really lol.

H-Content:
All of the H-Content in this game is amazing. It has all types of genres/tags for everyone to enjoy. Just look at the art, man.


Story:
You start in CH1, chilling with Suzume, doing their best to become the best samurai in the town and to prove that Sakura deserves to be called as one. So the castle prepared a competition to prove who is the worthy one and thats where everything s̷͍̯͊̍̀̀̔̕t̴͖̯̤̱̰̬̑̔̓̓a̷͇̅r̵̝̪̊̔t̵͓̓ŝ̴̨̹͈̲̯̒͆͆

This games plot will just blow your minds ( maybe your dick too? ) away.
Just play Ch1 and you will see how amazing this game goes.

AND I CAN' T STRESS THIS ENOUGH IF YOU ATLEAST FINISHED THE GAME AND ENJOYED IT, GO BUY A COPY AND SUPPORT THE DEV!