As the second game in the Sakura Succubus series, Sakura Succubus 2 has a bit to live up to in terms of characters, art, and personality. Striking the balance between keeping things the same as the first game while also enticing players to continue can be a bit hard. Will this game, as well as its subsequent titles, live up to the challenge?
Playing once again as Ogasawara Hiroki, a photojournalist at the Sakura Daily, Sakura Succubus 2 picks up right where the first game leaves off at the hot spring. Marina, Cosmos, and Ayu are all there to keep you company. However, there is also a mysterious woman who has caught Hiroki’s eye during his stay. The player is led to believe that it may actually be his ex-girlfriend from high school. However, the mysterious woman is actually a famous actress known as Hifumi.
Could this be Hiroki’s ex-girlfriend from high school?
Much like the first game, there is not much that happens in terms of a “plot”. The game mainly goes through the rest of the stay at the hot spring, as well as the days after, when Hiroki is back at his job. Sakura Succubus 2 also leaves off on a much bigger cliffhanger than the first game did, showing that even those higher up on the succubi hierarchy chain have their interests caught by Hiroki.
With Sakura Succubus 2, there are two new characters added to the cast: Hifumi and Hazel. Like the other women, they are also succubi. As such, they are just as enthralled by Hiroki’s strange smell and are instantly attracted to him. Bringing the harem up to five women, these two add different personalities that make it so that they can’t really be confused for any other existing character.
Hifumi and Marina get along quite well, unlike the younger girls.
Hifumi is shown to have many “wife-like” qualities, cleaning up after Hiroki and cooking him many meals. However, she also has a more sinister side, as she wants Hiroki all to herself. Hazel, on the other hand, is a lot more laidback and fun-loving than the other girls. Being a tennis player, she keeps herself in shape and is enthusiastic about her job. While these women do seem to have their own motivations and weaknesses, they easily slip into their tropes. It’s expected, but still disappointing.
Marina takes a bit of a back seat in this second installment.
The worry that does come in is whether any more women are going to be added to the story. Based on the cliffhanger, there’s more than likely going to be another woman added to the mix. With a large cast of characters, it can be hard to focus on developing everyone, especially if there are no specific routes where you can romance just one of the cast. It can end up with the writing feeling superficial and shallow. Just because it’s a NSFW harem visual novel doesn’t mean that the writing shouldn’t be compelling.
Ayu still loves attention even if she’s prickly.
The entire Sakura Succubus titles are kinetic novels — none of the choices you make have any bearing on how the story plays out. Some dialogue may be different between choices, but the story always converges back into the main storyline. Those looking for a visual novel where they don’t need to worry about bad ends or making wrong decisions may love it. However, if you’re coming in expecting to be able to romance one specific girl, that is not the case with Sakura Succubus 2.
The art is still a high point for this series, knowing exactly what type of game it is.
Lack of choices and mild story aside, the art is just as vibrant as the first game. There are CGs of the older characters, but many of the CGs center around the new characters, Hifumi and Hazel. Many of the poses are fun and dynamic, showing the girls’ personalities perfectly. And of course, everything from their breasts to their butts is accentuated. There is no heavily explicit material displayed in the console releases of Sakura Succubus, but the art is still something that perhaps you wouldn’t want someone walking in on you playing.
The music is the type that doesn’t quite blend into the background, and to its detriment.
Everything else aesthetically is pretty much a let down. Much like the first game, the soundtrack is unimpressive and uninspired. In fact, it sounds as though much of the soundtrack is the same between the two games. While that isn’t surprising given the short nature of the game, it does make the fact that they are split into separate releases even more baffling.
Truthfully, Sakura Succubus 2 is much like the first game. If you didn’t like the first Sakura Succubus, you’re not going to like the second one. The story beats are exactly the same as the first: Hiroki meets a new woman who is suddenly obsessed with him and turns out to be a succubi. The UI and music aren’t anything to write home about. The art is the most interesting part about this game and if you aren’t interested in that, then there’s not much left to hang onto.
That said, Sakura Succubus does maintain what it did well in the first game. The girls are cute, the art is nice, and Hiroki is a tolerable main character, which makes reading through the visual novel a lot easier. While doing nothing better compared to the first, it also hasn’t done anything worse.
Score: 6/10.
