Sakura Note: A DS Game that Looks More than Just ‘Okay’

Sakura Note is a new DS game coming out from the makers of Contact, a DS game that had a decent amount of hype until people played it and realized the battle system was comprised of equal amounts of garbage and feces. Since I’m not particularly fond of garbage or feces, I never got around to playing Contact, but after seeing Sakura Note, I’m thinking I might have to.

Sakura Note was developed by a dream team lineup of gaming so-and-so’s. Here’s a snippet from 1up’s writeup:

“Sakura Note is immediately notable for the staff working on it. Nobuo Uematsu, well known for his contributions to the Final Fantasy series, is handling the music, and another old FF veteran, Hideo Minaba, is leading the visual department. Kazushige Nojima, writer of most of the Kingdom Hearts games, is doing the story here, and Contact designer Akira Ueda is the chief designer of this game as well. The whole thing’s being produced by Kenichiro Takagi, who’s fresh off completing Half-Minute Hero for Marvelous.

As far as the game itself goes, it’s a story-heavy, overhead-view adventure set within two towns and the surrounding countryside. A new girl, Nanami Yoshida, has just moved in to your neighborhood, and apparently she’s being targeted by a local band of ghosts and ghouls. It seems this has something to do with a pair of sakura (cherry blossom) trees that dominate the landscape of both towns, one slowly withering and another one blooming deep into the summertime, as if to make up for its weaker sibling. You, a normal boy, decide to get to the bottom of both mysteries, talking to people and unlocking new story episodes as you go along.”

Read through for more thoughts, box art, and a trailer.

If you pre-order a copy of Sakura Note in Japan, you also get a free bonus disc containing the game’s soundtrack. You can sample some of the tracks on the game’s official site.

While you’re on the site, check out the awesome character designs. They have a sort of Hayao Miyazaki vibe going on, which is in no way a bad thing.

As awesome as this game looks, I’m hoping it’s not too depressing. I know they’re trying to go with a “mellow” feel to it, but I hope they don’t overdo it and drive people to slicing their wrists while listening to the bonus soundtrack on repeat. Nonetheless, I haven’t really had a decent DS title to sink my teeth into lately, so hopefully Sakura Note finds its way to the states, and soon.