this is such a step up from p1 its crazy. maya rules. I liked how they narrowed down the broader themes of self-discovery in p1 and focused on each party member's relationship with their parents and how it formed their sense of self.

the combat is still holding it back, these games are easier than p5 even. But its a bit of a blessing in disguise cause the encounter rate is so high if you weren't able to auto battle through the entire game and actually had to make decisions and stuff during fights it would be like 3 times as long lmao.

also why no yuka ayase cameo they brought like everyone else back

It's my first Sakura Wars and maybe a weird jumping on point for these games. I loved the sprite work and quickly locked in on Sumire she's so fun. Only takes a couple of hours for one run and there was a decent amount of event variety for how short the game is. The story never actually goes anywhere there's no melodrama and you never really get to see any character really go through anything, but its more than enough for a gameboy color game since the events are still cute and there are a lot of really well drawn pixel art CG's.