Winged Sakura: Mindy's Arc Demo

Whether you are a fan of the anime current or not, it must be acknowledged that there are many supporters out there, and maybe just as many video games inspired by them being released. These games have a unique style and atmosphere to them, not to mention the characteristic artwork, which immediately sets the mood for the entire experience.

Winged Sakura: Mindy's Arc is not your usual anime-inspired video game, on the other hand, except in some regards. As such, even if you still have to put up with the awkward characters and the immature story progression, the gameplay mechanics are unique and satisfying, especially if you are a strategy fan. In essence, this is a tower defense game with a twist and a lot of pink.

The story is a bit too cumbersome and convoluted to make any sense most of the time, but you can spot the plot line progression if you look closely enough. Hence, everything revolves around Mindy, a girl with the ability to teleport between dimensions and use unusual powers to fight terrible monsters. Obviously, all she wants is to be normal and forget all about the responsibility pressing on her shoulders.

The first thing you notice about the game is the fact that it doesn’t spoonfeed you at all. In fact, you have to learn the basics in a hurry or risk seeing the game over screen in a couple of minutes. Not only that, but you also have to move fast, because the towers have a limited lifespan, and you must place them continuously in order to overpower the enemy waves. Spells and special abilities are available as well, which add even more strain on the player.

Thankfully, there is a pause option you can use to stop the action and take a few moments to carefully plan your next moves. Over time, it becomes easier to do it in real time, but it takes a lot of practice. You can manually change the target for each tower, which adds even more possibilities. However, you do not need to do all of this from the beginning.

All things being equal, Winged Sakura: Mindy's Arc does get repetitive after a while, but that’s to be expected in the genre it chose for itself. However, the gameplay stands strong and it is unique in its own way, so it certainly deserves a go from every tower defense fan out there.