Sakura Alien 2 Review – Close Encounters Of the Kinky Kind

The concept of the ‘love triangle’ is one that’s surprisingly rare in both real life and in the gaming world. The idea of a fully-consensual three-way relationship may seem alien to many, yet Winged Cloud’s games regularly seem to pride themselves on delivering a particular type of fetishism into their narratives. Today, the polyamorous love triangle returns.

Introduction

Sakura Alien 2 is a short visual novel. It is the second and final chapter in this two-part story which exists within its own self-contained universe within Winged Cloud’s ongoing ‘Sakura’ pretty anime girl games. The game was developed by Winged Cloud and published by ecchi visual novel specialist Gamuzumi, arriving on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 as a cross-buy title on 10th November, 2023, just a month after the first installment.

We’ve previously been introduced to Takagi Haru, an astronomy student, and his bubbly, affectionate classmate Hiyori. Joining the couple is Ena, a beautiful alien princess who becomes determined to make Haru fall in love with her so she can marry him and live out the rest of her days on Earth. The trio begin cohabiting and Haru’s buried feelings for Hiyori come to the surface, yet the sexy Ena also earns a place in his heart.

Story

It’s been a few weeks since normal, everyday guy Haru had his life turned upside down. Torn between the loyalty and affections of the two beautiful young women in his life, Haru’s feelings for both girls have resulted in a promiscuous love triangle forming between the three, creating a surprisingly functional polyamorous relationship.

Now sharing his home with these two adorable cuties in order to keep Ena safe and integrate her into society, Haru finds himself questioning their future as Hiyori and Ena bond, yet both are very much in love with him. The trio try to make their unorthodox relationship work, however a third beauty is about to enter the equation.

A new professor has arrived at Haru’s university. Her name is Professor Sakai, and she composes herself in a beautiful, elegant manner. She is undoubtedly alluring, and Haru is soon drawn to her, but Professor Sakai seems to have her sights set on Ena. Can Professor Sakai be trusted, or are malevolent forces seeking to sabotage the trio’s relationship?

Progression

Once again, Sakura Alien 2 uses a single-button interface to move the text forward, with the occasional narrative choice to consider. Tapping the Cross button will move the text on to the next line or paragraph, while tapping L1 allows you to rewind to the last line. Pressing the Square button will let the text auto-play, while R1 acts as a fast-forward feature, allowing you to jump ahead or skip through the game entirely if you wish. Text display speed can be adjusted from the main menu.

The occasional dialogue choice will shape Haru’s relationships with his female companions. Again, the game features one of those notoriously easy platinum trophies. You can skip all dialogue text entirely, flashing through text instantly to get your platinum trophy in as little as ten minutes. You’ll need more or less three playthroughs to unlock every dialogue choice option and every trophy. Expect a good couple of hours of content for a legitimate playthrough.

Graphics/Sound

Like its first installment, Sakura Alien 2 probably isn’t an example of Winged Cloud’s best artwork. With a lot of reused assets, niggles from the previous installment return, such as asymmetrical character eye levels and jawlines. It’s not a major distraction, but you’ll find much prettier character designs elsewhere in the Sakura saga, however the majority of the artwork is of the usual high standard.

As is customary for ecchi-themed developer Winged Cloud, focus is placed on the leading female characters, with the featured ladies always being pretty and sporting a variety of cute outfits throughout the story. You won’t find many revealing outfits this time around though, with the Sakura Alien games being some of Gamuzumi’s tamer titles.

Characters aren’t animated and will only move or gesture as their sprites are refreshed after each line of dialogue advances. Sadly, there are no independent blinking or lip-syncing attempts, not that the characters are voiced anyway. This is a lower-budget visual novel, and so it’s fully text-based. There’s hauntingly atmospheric music throughout to accompany the brilliantly detailed backdrop images and cute anime girls.

Conclusion

Sakura Alien 2 takes an interesting turn with its narrative, a turn which may take most by surprise. The previous game worked hard to deliver its message of normalising the idea of a polyamorous relationship, and we’re reminded of this in Sakura Alien 2’s opening act. It’s so very odd then that the choices we make in the sequel have so little importance in preserving this relationship.

Haru can improve his relationship with the three available girls, yet this comes at the cost of phasing out the previous love-triangle dynamic. Aside from one or two additional romantic scenes, Sakura Alien 2 opts for one single canon ending which really throws a spanner in the works of your efforts throughout the story. This can be incredibly unfulfilling if you had a particular girl in mind for Haru’s future.

If you were hoping that the journey might make up for a disappointing ending, then I’m sorry to report that the main story is centred around building up to the game’s climactic ending and accompanying twist, rather than specific character development arcs. The raw sexuality at work in the first part and touches of fan service are pretty much nonexistent now, leaving us with a tale that feels rather unfinished.