Project Sakura Wars' Main Story Will Have Full Voice Acting, at Least in Japan

In a preview event showing off the game's Tokyo Games Show (TGS) 2019 demo for 100 fans and gathered press, Sega producer Tetsu Katano gave new details on Project Sakura Wars (working title). The PlayStation 4 exclusive, scheduled for a December release in Japan and a 2020 release in the west, will feature full Japanese voice acting throughout its main story and some side events.

Speaking with Japan's PlayStation blog, Katano confirms that Project Sakura Wars' main storyline will be fully voiced, along with select side missions. Whether or not the game will feature the same amount of voice acting for its localized western release is unclear at this time.

Katano also discusses some new combat dynamics and explains how the game's new "Analog LIPS" dialogue system lets players peep on certain women in the game at the potential risk of losing their trust (yeah, that tracks). In the slice of gameplay reserved for the TGS demo, the game's new lead character Seijuro Kamiyama is joined by one other member of the Imperial Combat Revue. Katano noted that you'll be able to encounter party members in the course of a mission and will gain the option to swap in new fighters in the middle of the game's real time combat.

The peeping mechanic works during non-combat gameplay as an extension of how "Analog LIPS" gives players dialogue options based on what they're looking at. In the demo's example, you can decide to watch a character as she changes, but you'll get dinged in terms of respect and frozen out of certain interactions moving forward.

Project Sakura Wars will be the franchise's first installment in about 15 years. The series, which began back in 1996, revolves around groups of magic-aided mech pilots who work undercover in theater revues. The new game takes place about 10 years after the events of the fifth Sakura Wars, bringing the series' staple steampunk demon-slaying into the 1940s.