In the past, movies like Back To The Future explored what technology might look like in the 21st century, theorizing that inventions like "flying cars" and "hoverboards" might become a reality in the near future. While both of those two hypotheticals have yet to become a mainstream part of modern society, visual novel Aokana: Four Rhythms Across The Blue imagines a world where 🔜flying is not only possible but a popula💟r form of daily transportation in society.
Though the idea of a world where people can fly may seem like an odd choice for a romance 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:visual novel, don't be fooled by Aokana's unconventional premise. Aokana: Four Rhythms Across The Blue is a heartfelt story about the bonds of friendship 🐻that feels like an emotional slice-of-life anime from start to finish.
A World Where You Can Fly Across The Sky
Aokana: Four Rhythms Across The Blue takes place in a universe where the discovery of anti-gravitational particles has led to the incredible invention of Anti-Graviton Shoes, or "Grav Shoes" for short. While the rest of the world doesn't have full access to the shoes yet, the small Shitou islands have become the new testing grounds for these incredible inventions.
With the Grav Shoes' popularity rising on Shitou, a new sport emerged called "Flying Circus." In this sport, players must fly around in the air to touch buoys or tag out their opponents for points. Aokana's protagonist, Hinata Masaya, used to be a pro competitor. However, after a traumatic incident regarding the once-beloved sport, he gave up on flying, determined to never go back again.
Aokana begins after Masaya bumps into Asuka Kurashina, a new transfer student who has never flown before. After teaching her how to fly, Masaya accidentally ends up getting roped into leading the school's brand new flying club against his wishes. Though initially cautious to return to the emotional sport, he soon learns to love it again thanks to his friends like the competitive Misaki Tobisawa, the shy Mashiro Arisaka, and the serious Rika Ichinose.
Grab The Tissues
While Aokana may look like a typical romance anime-style visual novel filled with waifus and fanservice, don't let these pretty girls fool you. Playing this game is an emotional rollercoaster that will tug on your heartstrings. Players see the game through the eyes of Masaya, who's more than just a self-insert wish-fulfillment character - he's a well-written protagonist with a strong resolve and emotional barriers to overcome.
Speaking of Masaya's characterization, the entire cast of characters is one of the first things players will notice upon beginning Aokana. They're a colorful bunch, each with their own unique quirks and traits. Though they may first appear like stereotypical anime tropes, each character receives a substantial character arc that allows players to truly get to know the depths of each character. And it's not just limited to the four main girls - even the secondary characters have their own charms that make it difficult not to fall in love with them.
Aokana is all about relying on your friends to ove𝓀rcome pain and difficulty - and with this lovable cast of characters, it makes it easy to root for Masaya and the rest of🧸 the flying club to succeed and find happiness.
Like Watching An Anime
Despite the obvious anime-style renderings, playing Aokana feels like watching an anime. Each section of the game is divided into "episodes," with each section ending with an "on the next episode" preview, reminiscent of a real anime. It's a cute and unique touch that would be clever and worthy of praise on its own. Plus, just like in an anime, the artists don't always stick to the typical anime-style artwork and will sometimes opt for an adorable chibi-style during certain comedic scenes.
But Aokana doesn't stop there: despite the game's visual novel format, many CGs are animated. Not extensively, but it does add a bit of immersion, especially during the many scenes where the characters are flying. Seeing the characters in their different styles bob up and down in the air while SFX and music play in the background help turn what could be a passive visual novel experience into something unique.
Speaking of the music, the selections for the game are incredible. The game's soundtrack is vast, with an extensive collection of songs to fit with any combination of locations, times of day, and moods throughout the game.
Fans of shows like emotional slice-of-life anime like A Lull In The Sea, Your Lie In April, and Anohana should definitely check Aokana out if they're looking for a story with a similar feel through a different medium.
Skip The Romance
Unfortunately, when it comes to actual gameplay, there aren't too many choices for the player throughout the game. Though the choices become more frequent as the game goes on, mostly to set up for the ending romance routes, the beginning of the game is quite passive. There might have been a cool opportunity to allow for some gameplay, even simple and basic controls, during the Flying Circus matches, especially since so much time is dedicated to explaining the rules of the complex sport.
Speaking of the romance routes, they are noticeably lacking in quality compared to the main story. They're randomly more fanservice-y in contrast to the rest of the game's sincere storyline and don't hit the emotional punches as effectively. Though the main story is incredible on its own merits, even without the ending romance routes, this may be disappointing to people who initially picked up this title looking for a romantic visual novel.
Aokana: Four Rhythms Across The Blue may not be the best choice if you're looking for a spicy romantic visual novel to keep you company. But when it comes to a game that tells an emotionally driven story, is comprised of a colorful cast of characters, and is filled with beautiful music and CG's that make playing feel like you're watching a real anime, then don't skip out on the Flying Circus.
A Nintendo Switch version of Aokana: Four Rhythms Across The Blue was provided to TheGamer for this review. Aokana: Four Rhythms Across The Blue is available now for the Nintendo 🐲Switch, PlayStation 4, and Microsoft Windows via Steam.
Aokana: Four Rhythms Across The Blue
- Released
- February 25, 2016