Back ساكورا وارس: سو لونج ARZ Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love German Sakura taisen V - Saraba, itoshiki hito yo Italian サクラ大戦V 〜さらば愛しき人よ〜 Japanese
| Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love | |
|---|---|
 North American PlayStation 2 cover art | |
| Developer(s) | |
| Publisher(s) | |
| Director(s) | Takehiko Akaba |
| Producer(s) | Masakatsu Watanabe |
| Designer(s) | Shinpei Tanaka |
| Programmer(s) | Fumihito Kondo |
| Artist(s) | |
| Writer(s) | Satoru Akahori |
| Composer(s) | Kohei Tanaka |
| Series | Sakura Wars |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release | PlayStation 2Wii |
| Genre(s) | Tactical role-playing, dating sim, visual novel |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love[b] is a cross-genre video game developed by Sega and Red Entertainment for the PlayStation 2, with a later port for the Wii developed by Idea Factory. The fifth installment in the main Sakura Wars series, it was released in 2005 in Japan by Sega, and in 2010 in North America and Europe by NIS America, being the first Sakura Wars game to be localized in English. Defined as a "dramatic adventure" game, So Long, My Love combines overlapping tactical role-playing, dating sim and visual novel gameplay elements.
Set in a fictionalized version of the late 1920s, the game follows Japanese naval lieutenant Shinjiro Taiga, who is dispatched to New York City to train with the New York Combat Revue, a troop of magically-imbued women who defend the city from supernatural threats while also working as a theater company. Shinjiro must prove himself worthy to lead the Combat Revue as they try to stop Oda Nobunaga from world domination. The narrative is divided between the Combat Revue's fight against demonic forces and each member's personal struggles.
The game began development following the release of Sakura Wars 4: Fall in Love, Maidens for the Dreamcast in 2002. The setting of New York was originally intended for Fall in Love, Maidens, but the discontinuation of the Dreamcast resulted in the planned story for Fall in Love, Maidens being reworked for the next mainline entry. So Long, My Love was produced by Masakatsu Watanabe and directed by veteran Sega designer Takehiko Akaba with series creator Oji Hiroi as general producer. The script was written by Satoru Akahori, the characters were designed by Hidenori Matsubara based on concept artwork by Kōsuke Fujishima, and the music was composed by Sakura Wars composer Kohei Tanaka.
The game was announced in 2002 as part of the seven-game Sakura Wars World Project. NIS America's localization took two years to complete, being their longest and largest project at the time. The game was well received by critics, but sold poorly compared to previous Sakura Wars games. Sega decided to place the franchise on hiatus in 2008. So Long, My Love was the last entry until 2019 with the release of Sakura Wars, a soft reboot featuring new production staff.
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