Snow Sakura Q&A Thread - Now on sale!

Visual Novel Community Archive, 2000-2009
#1

As of today (Thursday December 13th, 2007) Snow Sakura is in stock and shipping! Press release follows:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

G-Collections Announces Adult PC Game Snow Sakura Release, Holiday Price Reduction

San Diego, California, Thursday, December 13, 2007

JAST USA affiliate brand G-Collections, the leading publisher of Japanese PC dating-sim games in English, today announced the immediate availability of Snow Sakura, the latest adult PC game for Windows computers.

Snow Sakura is the story of Yuuji, a young man sent to live in the snowy wilderness of northern Japan. As you, the player, get used to life surrounded by your tomboyish cousin Saki, your demure classmate Misaki, her scheming best friend Kozue, your cool senpai Rei, and your bumbling teacher Misato, warm bonds of affection begin to grow between you of a sort you’ve never felt before. But what is the mystery of the Snow Sakura, the tree that blooms even in the heart of winter? A timeless tale of humor, romance, and tender eroticism that’s often compared to legendary games like Kanon, Snow Sakura is a unique multi-ending adult gaming experience from D.O., one of Japan’s top dating-sim game companies. The game can be seen at http://jastusa.com/snow/

In conjunction with the release of Snow Sakura, G-Collections announced a $5 reduction in the game’s list price, to $34.95, as a holiday gift for customers. This reduction applies to all existing preorders as well. JAST USA President Peter Payne said, “We wanted to show our appreciation to all fans who had expressed interest in this great erotic visual novel, and the price drop seemed to make a nice present for everyone from us. We’re extremely glad at how the return of G-Collections to the English dating-sim game market has been received by fans, and we hope we’re showing them, both through the great new titles we’ve been announcing and with the increased speed at getting releases out the door, that now is the best time ever to be an active fan of these unique games from Japan.”

Snow Sakura has gone Golden Master, with release expected in December! Press release follows:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

G-Collections Announces Golden Master Status and December Release of Snow Sakura, New Adult PC Game

San Diego, California, Tuesday, November 20, 2007

JAST USA affiliate brand G-Collections, the leading publisher of Japanese PC dating sim games in English, today announced the golden master status and planned December release of Snow Sakura, the brand’s latest adult bishoujo (“beautiful girl”) dating simulation game.

Snow Sakura is the story of Yuuji, a young man sent to live with his uncle and cousin Saki in the snowy wilderness of Hokkaido, northern Japan. As Yuuji it is your quest to navigate through the quirks of small town life, quickly being taken in by Saki’s group of madcap friends and energetically going about your new life in the beautiful winter countryside.

Surrounded by the tomboyish Saki, your demure classmate Misaki, her scheming best friend Kozue, your cool senpai Rei, and your bumbling teacher Misato, warm bonds of affection begin to grow between you of a sort you’ve never felt before. Running through them all is the story of the Snow Sakura, a legendary cherry tree that blooms in the heart of winter. What is the key to its mystery, and who will you choose to stand by your side beneath its flowering branches?

A timeless tale of humor, romance, and moments of tender eroticism, Snow Sakura is a unique multi-ending adult gaming experience from D.O., one of Japan’s premiere bishoujo gaming companies, and G-Collections, their exclusive international licensor. G-Collections President Peter Payne said, “We’re delighted to bring this game out just in time for the holiday season, and we think it’s the perfect way to keep warm through the New Year. We think fans of Kanon will be especially interested in this title, as it’s a great entry in the tradition of ‘winter-themed’ bishoujo games with deep, involved stories and complex, emotionally driven characters.”

About JAST USA

Ever since the first computers with color displays, Japan has had a strong culture of “love simulation” computer games, which simulate emotional and sexual interaction between the player and various game characters when the player “wins” the love of a given character. PC dating-sim games are often referred to “hentai” or “H” games by U.S. fans. JAST USA has been involved in licensing and translating Japanese dating-sim games since 1998, and is the leading producer and distributor of English-language PC games for adults in any form. The company has a catalog of over 50 English-translated games with every theme from maids to “cat girls” and more. Game titles are available to retail customers via http://www.jastusa.com or for wholesale customers at http://www.pcrdist.com/ .

[ 12-13-2007, 02:24 AM: Message edited by: Shingo ]

#2

The purpose of this post is to answer any question you may have about Snow Sakura and to try to build hype for what I’m personally convinced will be a sleeper hit. I’ll be posting periodically up to the game’s release both here and at our official blog (http://www.otakuism.com/) with tidbits about the game, but if you have any questions feel free to fire away!

First off, the basics:

  1. The game has six possible endings.
  2. It’s a long game - maybe the longest we’ve released this year, upwards of 30 hours of play time.
  3. This game is cute, erotic, and funny. If you like a good helping of humor with your drama and romance, this is the game for you.

More details to come in the coming days~!

[ 11-20-2007, 05:23 PM: Message edited by: Shingo ]

#3

Sweet!

  1. Which character path is your favorite and why (without spoilers please)?
  2. Would you say this game is much more story-centric, a la Kana and Crescendo?
  3. How does it compare to the other D.O. Game offerings that have been released in the U.S. – namely Kana and Crescendo?
  4. Do you actually get to play Mah-jong?
  5. Any bonuses included, such as soundtrack, trailers, misc. art, etc.?
  6. How many choices, on average, per decision point?

Thanks!

[ 11-20-2007, 02:33 AM: Message edited by: Mockingbird ]

#4

  1. I enjoyed them all, but my favorite character paths are probably Saki and Rei. Saki because she’s spunky, has a great voice actress, and going after her gives you more great lines from your uncle (who really steals the show in some parts of the game); Rei, because she’s so damn cool. She’s a miko priestess who smokes cigarettes and plays mahjong - how cool is that?

  2. It’s definitely more story-centric than Bazooka Cafe and Pretty Soldier Wars, but probably not to the level of depth that you’ll see in a Kana or a Yume Miru Kusuri. I think a good key word for Snow Sakura is “balance” - both between the erotic content and the story, the drama and the humor. It’s a very human game.

  3. To tell you the truth, I don’t know. This is a terrible admission to make but I haven’t played either of them through in full yet; I hope to do so soon if I can find the time.

  4. There are a few mah jong scenes in Snow Sakura, but you’re not put in the pilot’s seat for any of them (although your knowledge of the game is tested in other ways…).

  5. We don’t have access to any bonus material for this title that wasn’t part of the original Japanese release. However, there is a bonus scene unlocked after the the game is entirely cleared that is preserved intact in our release.

  6. There are an average of two or three choices per decision point (roughly split 50/50), with a few instances of unconventional selection mechanisms. Snow Sakura has more total decision points than any other game we’ve released this year.

[ 11-20-2007, 03:51 AM: Message edited by: Shingo ]

#5

Sounds awesome! Can’t wait to get mine!

#6

Excellent! I’ve been waiting for this. I’m also waiting for Family Project. But I just preordered Snow Sakura. :3

#7

Trying to get me hooked? :wink:

Awww…
… but I suppose that would have been asking for too much anyway. After all, I don’t recall D.O. having developed a Mahjonng A.I. for another game yet - and doing that plus a mahjonng-gametable-simulation as an integrated gimmick for a game with a lot of plot might be an unreasonable effort.

So - hence this is announced as a G-Collections-game, may we also hope for a download-buyable version?

#8

Good news!

I pre-ordered this a long time ago. I guess this is going to be my xmas present to myself. I hope Santa arrives on time.

#9

Erogamescape scores (average value, standard deviation, highest score, lowest score, number of input data):"Kana ~Imouto~": 81 14 100 0 703 "Crescendo ~Eien da to omotteita ano koro~": 78 13 100 25 123 "Crescendo ~Eien da to omotteita ano koro~ Full Voice: 80 13 100 21 208 "Yukizakura": 74 11 100 20 208In case you don’t know much about Erogamescape, 70-77 is “average”, 78-84 is “good”, 85-89 is “very good” and 90+ is excellent and more.

[ 11-20-2007, 08:16 AM: Message edited by: OLF, i.e. Olf Le Fol ]

#10

Are they all going to be in their twenties or will one or more be eighteen/nineteen?

30 hours, In one play or more?

#11

Yes, a download purchase option will be made available. We’re currently in the process of integrating our new G-Collections titles into the download system and hope to have good news on this front by the time Snow Sakura is released.

Character ages are never specified in the game. You, Saki, Misaki, and Kozue are all in the same class and presumably the same age; Rei is one or two years older (I’ll have to check on that) and Misato is perhaps six years older than you. You attend school at an “academy” that has you on the track to college, so if you want to put an age to it you and your classmates are all probably in the 18-19 range.

More than 30 hours of complete play time to clear all of the paths would be my estimate, though times will differ from player to player.

In case you don’t know much about Olf, he suffers from a terminal case of adjective deflation. My take on Erogamescape scores (which I don’t always agree with and should only be used as a rough guide) would probably be more like 65-70 is “average”, 71-75 is “good”, 76-80 is “damn good”, 81-85 is “amazing”, 86-90 is “epic”, and 91+ is “the second coming of the deity of your choice”.

It’s all stastical wordplay, when it comes down to it - I trust individual text based reviews on EGS much more than the raw numerical scores. I may translate some of the Snow Sakura EGS reviews, in fact - that could be good way to get a preview from another voice.

#12

T_T
‚¢‚¶‚ß‚éB‚Ђǂ¢‚æI

Statistics are only good when you know how to use them, text reviews tell more about the game.

[ 11-20-2007, 07:49 PM: Message edited by: OLF, i.e. Olf Le Fol ]

#13

is this one more like a actual dating sim in terms of game play?

#14

I’m not sure what you mean by “dating sim” in this context; could you give me an example? The game play in Snow Sakura is a relatively standard branching plot structure, there aren’t any stats or diagrams.

[ 11-21-2007, 01:13 AM: Message edited by: Shingo ]

#15

umm, how bout is it setup more like Ai yori Aoshi? or more like Kango type?
I always like to ask this question, for the same reason i like to read reviews about games and see gameplay videos, so i know what im getting into. not saying it will be a bad game or anything like that either way, i just like to know how the choices are setup, cuz in kango the choices dont matter so much as the picture you pick of the girl inbetween the choices, where as in Ai Yori Aoshi or TCI you need to pick a specific choice to get a certaint path.

[ 11-21-2007, 04:09 PM: Message edited by: Gambit ]

#16

Snow Sakura is similar to Bazooka Cafe and Yume Miru Kusuri (and presumably Ai yori Aoshi) in that each choice you make impacts your progression along the route with a certain girl to a certain degree. I won’t say more at this point due to spoiler potential, but it’s a similar mechanic to most other multiple choice progression games out there.

#17

What would this rate on your all time favorite bishoujo games scale?

#18

Excellent news :slight_smile: - I’ve been really looking forward to this game, and I’ll pick it up when the download edition is available.

I do have one question - how important is Japanese history in Snow Sakura? Is some knowledge of it (either pre-knowledge or information picked up in-game) necessary to complete certain paths?

Thanks :slight_smile:

#19

I noticed in my J-List update email that some of the plot in Snow Sakura was described as follows: “…you made a promise to one of the girls under the magical Snow Sakura tree. The mystery is, which girl was it, and why did you forget?” So now I’m wondering a few things which may involve spoilers:

  1. What if one or more endings involved false memories, lies, or willingly forgetting the past? I’ve read stories which involve long-forgotten promises which lead to true love… and I’d be interested in seeing something a bit different.

  2. What sort of person is the male protagonist? I don’t expect he would be some sort of over-the-top, possibly crazy person (as in Akane Maniax), but is there anything that makes him distinct?

  3. If there are five girls and six endings, then what might the sixth ending be?

#20

There are three typical solutions to that question:
[list][]No-girl-ending (extreme case; bad / dead end)[/][]combination-ending (extreme case: harem)[/][]Secret character ending[/][/list]