About Sakura Beach 2...

Still I love the art, it's different than the other Sakura games but that isn't really a bad thing as long as the quality is as good as Sakura Beach.

Bible Black

I'm actually of two minds about the choices and how they matter in VNs. On the one hand, I do like when they change things around because that is super cool and allows some nice changes in experiences. On the other hand, I like to see all the content, and often times the choices in games compound upon one another, and trying to figure out the right combination to get certain 'routes' is something I don't have much patience for, so I will just often look up how to get routes/endings. I actually don't mind the 'kinetic' types of VNs since for me they are like a graphic novel almost. Plantetarian is a fantastic read but has zero choices in it. Sakura Spirit only had a single choice which slightly diverged and then merged back with the main thread, but it was a fun read as well. And then again, Angels, which I really loved, had the choices sprinkled throughout the game which decided which girl you ended up getting close to in the end and changed a few scenes. I suppose I don't really have a conclusion here other than just sharing my personal opinions. I will agree that I like the novelty of the fantasy settings from Spirit and Fantasy though. I do enjoy the more real world stuff like Swim Club and the Beach games too, but I like what Spirit and Fantasy brought to the table with their worlds and fantastic elements. Especially Fantasy though, and it makes me a bit sad that we may not see a continuation of it, since I really wanted to know more about what was going on in the world and with the plot. Angels actually was a nice compromise of a more real world setting with fantastic elements. If you look at the entire catalog of the Sakura games though, you can see that so far they have produced a good bit of variety on the spectrum.

Jason Beeler

The negative reviews already bring up the most obvious points to address. More interactivity or responsiveness goes a long way to bring immersion, and on the other hand choices that lead to next to no impact to the course of events are alienating. Some of the strengths of VNs are that you can immerse yourself in the role of the main character better when you have at least some illusion of control over what happens. It could lead to separate events that don't have a lot of consequence but have their own CG scene (not all CG need to be available in one go, adds some replay value too), but of course some bigger story branching would be welcome. And personally, I just prefer the fantasy-world setting stories like Spirit and Fantasy over the real-world settings like Swimming Club and Beach. They have more novelty, which is very important as the competition with Steam VNs is getting a lot harsher (Clannad, Muv Luv, Grisaia, Maou…). Another thing that Sakura Spirit was known for is that how it pushed some of the boundaries of Steam with the ecchi, and seeing how some nudity seems to now be allowed (Kindred Spirits, Huniepop, Written in the Sky), you might consider stepping up a little bit in that if you want to focus a lot on fanservice, starting from something like at least partly visible nipples or a bit more daring love scenes. And with this I refer to the pre-patched Steam versions.

I think the problem is just that the art style for Sakura Beach is much different than the other games, so people are quick to judge it harshly. I personally haven't played either of the two but I intend to write a well thought out review on both like I do with all your games.

Mooncubus

I never review on any game I'm sorry :( I enjoy them all. People will always complain over stupid stuffs or complain about everything.

Mesos78

Posted my review, granted its a drop in the bucket, but I really enjoyed Sakura Beach 2, and I think the steam rating of "mixed" is not accurate at all. So might as well do my part, and keep up the great work Inma!

RecklessAbandon

I'm going to start playing it to review it even though I don't own Sakura Beach 1, I hope that it doesn't spoil the experience too much. A bit off topic, will this and/or Sakura Beach 1 get Steam Trading cards and/or Achievements?

Bible Black

I didn't see anything bad about Sakura Beach 2 =/ I think many people doesn't understand those games are not porn.... I agree with Jason Beeler point of view

LeSeccyeth

That's a good idea, marking them not helpful. I will have to start doing that myself.

Jason Beeler

I don't normally review products on Steam, but I went ahead and typed up one for this one. Just wanted to show my support for what you guys make. <a href="http://steamcommunity.com/id/lanshaft/recommended/407980/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">http://steamcommunity.com/id/lanshaft/recommended/407980/</a> for those interested in reading. I may have written too much perhaps, but oh well. Some other thoughts in no particular order: I kind of detest that people are always posting about the Sakura novels and saying "if you want porn, just go look it up on the net". For me at least, the character designs are an important part of what you guys make, and I do enjoy them, but I'm not reading your VNs to be purely porn. People are just too quick to jump the gun and look at these short little ecchi stories, especially since they feature anime/manga style characters, as weak porn. I suppose technically ecchi could be considered that, but I just kind of hate the negative attitude towards it. As far as the "serious" VN community goes, I think the more vocal people in there are a little stuck up, myself. I can appreciate the great writing and whatnot in those longer VNs, but honestly the sheer length actually turns me off of those quite a bit. That's one reason why I like the ones you guys make, because they are shorter and more easily consumed. You guys may not be pulling out Pulitzer winning writing here, but I think the stories are fun and charming, not to mention compact. In my limited experience with longer more "serious" VNs, I find that part of their length is a lot of padding or filler, which can be a slog to get through. Compared to that, I like the Sakura games because I can sit down for a few hours, enjoy the amusing story, art, and music, and have gotten my fill. To me, they are great pulpy entertainment, and there is nothing wrong with liking pulp. Then there is their concern about all these ecchi VNs pissing in their pool of "sacred" and "mature" VNs, and that people will see these and write off the entire genre. Hate to break it to them, but VNs are the niche of niche as it is. Most of those people who would be turned off would probably be turned off by your "serious" VNs anyway. I can sort of see their concern in a way, but I think they just take it too far in bashing things that they weren't the target demographic for anyway. But then again, that happens all the time in video games, so I shouldn't be surprised I suppose. I've kind of formed an opinion in the past year or so about some of the ridiculous things that anime, manga, and video games and what not do, in that I'd rather just laugh and enjoy them for their silliness than get mad. But I can see there is still a sufficient vocal population that prefers to get upset and spout their negativity instead of just ignoring it or being constructive about it. Unfortunately, even when those of us that enjoy such things (not just these VNs, but really anything in general that people get negative about) speak up about it, we'd be labeled as blind fanboys, or, in the case of things that are even remotely sexy, horny teenagers. A shame really. I do enjoy Inma's art though, as well as Wanaca's. I think they both have their strong points, and, as I said in my review, it is nice to see you guys working with multiple artists so you can tell more stories. I will agree with KuroYuki that maybe in the future Inma should get their own prefix for the VNs their artwork is featured in. Same thing perhaps with that third artist you've been working with and posting artwork from. That might help differentiate them in the future and temper expectations a bit. Only issue might be is that the "Sakura" line has more name recognition behind it, so side branding may not get as much attention. Anyway, I actually really appreciate that you guys take the time to develop these charming, short, ecchi VNs because they are fun reads. I like that you guys tell these funny stories with some tasteful sexiness in them and aren't just throwing out all the naughty bits. That said, I am certainly not opposed to extras like you did for Swim Club or had back-added to Fantasy, since those were quite nice, but I know that those in particular are not the focus of your VNs. That's enough rambling for now. Love your work Winged Cloud. Keep it up. Maybe I'll put myself out there more and post reviews of your VNs in the future or show my support in other ways.

Jason Beeler

I'll write a review once I'm a bit more in, like usual. I always, always mark those 'reviews' down as not being helpful too. That moves them to the bottom.

Richard Clark

Some people really cant appreciate what fan service and ecchi games have to offer, there's far too much of a taboo approach to these things. The anime haters have far to narrow a view and really shouldn't be taken seriously. I agree that Inma's art is brilliant, i especially like how the blushing is done. :)

however its not really like other sakura games it still has it pro's like the completely oblivious MainChar and the pillows filled with bricks. and allot of ppl in youtube comments really like NeNe because of the song XD

Yea we also thought so. I think the problem is that we started with Sakura Beach 1 and hardly can rename the thing now into something different. But I agree that for the next games we probably want to call it something different

Winged Cloud

I like Inma's art, but I think it would be better to differentiate the art styles by not using the "Sakura" tag in the game. At least with that, people won't compare the art styles between Inma and Wanaca as much. I just wish people would stop acting like idiots on the internet, but whatever pleases them I guess :\. Love the games guys and there's a reason why you guys are backed by so many people on Patreon &lt;3

I think there are those people as you describe them who hate it for the sake of being anime. Then there are also the "hardcore" visual novel fans which are totally not our target audience. They read very depressing or extremly long story visual novels. Somehow thought they hate us for not making the stuff they like. It seems like they think because we release ecchi games, their precious japanese games dont do well on steam. Usually we dont mind this. I dont think Sakura Beach 2 is the most well written vn there is, thought it certainly has it appeals and by no means deserves the rating it currently got. Thats why I just ask for people who enjoyed it to look at the rating and see if they agree with it.

Winged Cloud

"Oh no! This digital graphic novel has boobies and compromising imagery! BURN IT WITH FIRE!!!" You just gotta love how petty people can be. Honestly, I think more game developers should think like you guys behind Winged Cloud. People today don't bat an eyelash at plowing down hundreds of innocent, defenceless civilians in a game but God help you if you even show half a boob or anything higher than the knee. They may not be 'games' as games are typically thought of, but I sincerely applaud your decision and comittement to make and publish something that actually challenges the shallow boundaries people have put up around themselves. There's nothing wrong with the human body, animals ears and tails or not, and certainly nothing wrong with enjoying such games if you so wish to. Keep doing what you guys are doing and I hope the haters shoot blanks so their stupidity is purged from the genepool.

Silvador