Ah, Sakura Wars. A strategy / dating sim series that has, as far as I know, only just now made it to the US.
Well, I purchased the PS2 release of it yesterday, and played for a few hours before I had to get to sleep.
I can give a simple summary of my thoughts so far: Awesome. The characters have a classic goofyness that fits in with the styles of the characters in the previous anime and game releases (or at least, what one can gather from the Anime, which have made it to the US in the past few years). The game has a style of NCP interaction depth I have never seen before in a game, and it works really well, to the point where that interaction is actually how you “power up” character stats for combat.
As for combat itself, well, you would simply have to play the game, or see it played, to get a full understanding. 
I would say more, or try to type up a nice, overall review, but I am pressed for time.
Later!