Aquadine

"You are the ocean's gray waves" Oh wait, wrong game. Do you enjoy likeable characters? Do you enjoy beautiful art scenery? Do you enjoy water atmospheric settings and mermaids? Do you enjoy romance? If you answered yes to most or all these questions then Aquadine is for you! Aquadine tells a beautiful story through themes of family, friendship, trust, and finding love. The tale is of friends and the real life struggles that we all face and the paths we take when confronted with these struggles. But it's not just about the challenges we face, but as well as the fun times it is to hang out with friends and family and making lifelong lasting memories. The game is on the short side, around 10 hours if you're an average reader, although I took close to 20 because I like savoring these VNs for a bit longer. But wow did I enjoy my time with every single hour I spent on this beautiful visual novel. The artwork in this game is aesthetically pleasing. Seeing as the setting of this VN takes inspiration from the water city of Venice, the color blue is prevalent. It makes for some very gorgeous scenery throughout Aquadine's locations. This VN also has some nice world-building when it comes to the city, the characters, and the history of the land of Aquadine. Also the music in this game is so good! So many good tracks throughout the VN. There's even some vocal songs sung by characters in game. Ear pleasing in addition to aesthetically pleasing! The VN follows a cast of 5 central characters, 6 if you include the MC's double identity, through a journey of fun times and mystery for this joyful group of friends. The character themselves are great and each one is rich with personality, they complement each other well. You can really see the camaraderie between all 5 friends trhoughout their journey. Even the MC of this story has a very interesting story behind him, he lives the lifestyle of a double identity very well with his personality. Everyone is so great that I had trouble choosing a favorite, but if I had to narrow it down to 2, they would be Diana and Anya. However that is only my opinion, all the characters are great so no wrong choice on who your favorite character or love interest ends up being. Here are a few cons I had that I'll mention: Not a complete con but while I do enjoy English voice acting, I was a bit sad to learn it was only partial. I know voice acting is expensive so I don't fault the developers for that. I still enjoyed what voice acting we did get, but hopefully SoftColors are able get to a point where they are able to fund a fully voiced VN, I look forward to that day. I know some people disliked the jumping animations but I didn't really mind it, in fact it's pretty funny to look at when you're on skip mode *boing boing*, so not really a con just felt I had to mention it. Needs more romance moments and scenes. I loved what we got but I would have enjoyed seeing more scenes of the couple being romantic with each other. May deserves a route! The one girl who has had genuine feelings and has understood Robin's ordeal from the very start. Feels bad, definitely believe she needed a route. Other than these few cons, this is a wonderful visual novel! Would I recommend this game? As if I would say no after all the feelings I laid in this review. Yes, I wholeheartedly recommend Aquadine. I look forward to following SoftColors and whatever other VNs they work on in the future. What a pleasant experience it was to play the Visual Novel, Aquadine. Wonderful characters, beautiful scenery, and what a breathtaking setting of a watery city. Kudos to SoftColors on their magnificent debut into the VN genre. And congrats for bringing to life this enchanting tale of Aquadine. I give Aquadine a 9.5 out of 10

As someone with bare minimum knowledge of visual novels (and no real experience with them) I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into with Aquadine, but from the moment I booted it up my expectations were shattered spectacularly. You can always tell when a developer pours their heart into a game and I dare say it shines through in every facet of Aquadine. The music is fantastic with its mixture of soft, relaxing tracks to hang out and vibe to, emotional pieces to highlight the highs and lows of the story, exciting songs to get you into the action (including one that hit me out of nowhere in the best possible way), and a few vocal numbers that really worked their way into my head and had me humming them even after I had closed the game. The artwork sells Aquadine as the beautiful gem on the ocean that it is with many vibrant, colorful locales that made me envious as well as some truly adorable and often breathtaking full splashes to highlight key moments of the story. And as for the story... where to begin? I don't think I can actively put into words how much I loved Aquadine's story, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to try. The opening chapter wasted no time on getting me acquainted with its setting and introducing its colorful cast of characters. Each and every character has this air about them that makes them feel genuine. From their designs to their dialogue every single one oozes a personality and uniqueness that almost needs to be seen to be believed. Their manner of speech, their choice of words; all of it puts how much love and care went into developing them on full display and I found myself falling in love over and over again every time they came on screen. Once the opening chapter concluded and I made the surprisingly difficult decision of which route to take I was greeted with a branching path for the narrative that did an excellent job of taking all the questions I had about the main cast and answering them. And it was here that I found my favorite and most frustrating parts of my experience. Anya, Diana, Cameron, and Elisabeth all get their time to shine within their respective routes as each one focuses almost exclusively on them and their relationship with Robin. Through each route Robin serves as a catalyst to each girl kicking off her own journey of acceptance and self discovery that never ceased to pull me in. I found myself relating to their struggles, laughing with them, crying with them, and cheering them on with every challenge. And the frustrating part? Who IS best girl? And the reward for completing every route? The true ending. I had no idea where the story was going to end up by the time I reached its final chapter, but I knew that I was in for a ride. I was committed but, without saying too much, I was not prepared. After all what's an emotional journey of self discovery without its equally emotional conclusion? I don't think I'm overexaggerating when I say that SoftColors knocked it out of the park by the time the credits rolled. The ending was poetic. It was beautiful. It was emotional. And while I could go on and on about how much I loved it that would enter spoiler territory, so I'll just say that I was very thoroughly satisfied and leave the rest to be experienced individually. I could very easily end here and say that I think Aquadine is a 10/10 but it would be remiss of me not to mention the very small list of nitpicks I have overall. As I said above the art, music and story are fantastic and as they're the core experience I feel confident in saying that Aquadine is a 9/10. I found the menus difficult to navigate at times but it never really affected my experience in a negative way. The character sprites are all wonderful and the various motions they exhibit during their dialogue breathe a good deal of life into them, but they felt sparse and/or stiff at times and I found myself wondering if there could have been a better way to portray character actions and reactions. Finally, and probably my biggest and most notable nitpick, is the voice lines. I don't think a fully voiced script is a must when it comes to text based dialogue, but there was a disappointing lack of variety in the generic voice lines that characters would occassionally throw out. It didn't hinder the experience but rather served to break the immersion at times which, while a slight grievance, didn't affect my enjoyment all that much. As I said, these are honestly just nitpicks that I had and in no way do I think they should affect anybody's decision to not play. Aquadine was my first forray into the visual novel space and I'm genuinely grateful for the experience. I found myself enjoying every little bit of it as I delved deeper. I had fun learning about the secrets of Aquadine and it's inhabitants. I loved seeing everyone interact with one another and watching them grow throughout. But most importantly: I just loved it. Thank you, SoftColors, for the experience. I can't wait to see what happens next! P.S. Diana best girl

It's truly an amazing experience with this game so far I love every minute of it every cast member in this game does a fantastic job the developers put every little detail into this game and that I can appreciate it the art style of the game is freaking amazing the environments throughout the game is freaking amazing I'm learning about each character so far Start with her Anya to get to know her backstory her past. Do I recommend this game? Absolutely, it's a great freaking amazing the game everything run smoother Crystal Clear sound that's barely no issues, none I hadn't experienced none of do all the other routines too. My full review on Aquadine. Aquadine Start off say this game was a totally amazing experience for me. Anya Taeli She's been kind of shy, funny and she also transforms into a human to a mermaid spoiling alert to get to know her backstory was totally amazing everything about it, I like it how she says whatever that part was funny she was great her performance was awesome by the actress Jane Redd. Diana Frezner Funny had a great personality, but she did have her moments with her and her mom broken down tears and everything else overall she was definitely amazing, her performance was amazing set type of girl I would love to hang out with great personality great attitude everything else and the great actress that played her by Meghan Nigrelli. Elizabeth Rhodes She's been an amazing person completely understand her backstory she loved and cared about everybody her friends in the game and everybody else and a great actress that played her by AmaLee Cameron Young She was being bullied when she was young, she wanted to hang out with the boys and they said no cuz she's a girl spoiling alerts overall her performance was great, fantastic she was also funny and some cases she willing to do anything to help her friends out Karate Girl performance. The places in this game were amazing the environment music performance very nice awesome, fantastic, especially under the water scenes in the game that was freaking awesome to experience that throughout the playthroughs on each character. Robin, mom Torrie Liyun Her performance was amazing had touching moments that literally made me cry throughout the playhouse when I see her in the hospital bed, but overall she cared about other people she helped other people get through the struggles and that was totally amazing great actress played by her Heidi Tabing. Do I recommend you play this game? Absolutely, it's an amazing visual novel game and in my opinion, it's the best visual novel 2021. Banjo totally cut a little cat in the game I like the fact that he gets angry, it's so funny how they did it in performance very well done. Thank you developers give me the opportunity to experience your game. #Aquadine Hopefully down the road we may see a sequel to this game.

The visuals and soundtrack are amazing. Really immerses you in the world that SoftColors is trying to paint. Characters are good, and while some (mostly the minor characters) do fall into more repetitive actions or jokes, the majority of the cast gets great development that shapes their own. While I have not finished the game yet, I would recommend this game to anyone interested in the art style or vibe.

[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/34294631/] Follow Far2close - Visual Novel Playthroughs Curator Page [/url] Aquadine Developer: Softcolors Publisher: Softcolors [b]Pros:[/b] 1. The story presents itself as an emotional journey that not only focuses on Robin, but it also focuses on the entire friend group of Anya, Diana, Cameron, and Elisabeth. It does use a school premise, but it mixes in a bit of the mythical with Ancient Aquadine and tales of Merfolk. When completing all routes, the epilogue provides an intense wave of feelings along the way. 2. The majority of characters are written well, as they each go through their own personal struggles that eventually coincide along with Robin's own obstacles. Even the side characters possess ton of background to give impact to the events that happen rather than feeling like one sided, disposable people. 3. Background art can play such a heavy role as it is necessary if you want to properly gauge the surroundings of the characters; luckily for Aquadine, it does an excellent job in doing that. The background art beautifully showcases Aquadine in both the gorgeous spots of town, but also including humble abodes of the daily townsperson. Especially the background art for when Ciel rows into the area of the ghostly yet gorgeous jellyfish spirits. 4. Character art is the utmost importance here, and safe to say it is done well. The characters and some CGs possess a charming soft look to them, while also being visually unique from each other. By far, the characters designs look absolutely wonderful. 5. With partial voice acting, the actors/actresses perfectly convey each character's personality from Diana energy and spunk to Robin's bluntness and change of pace when he is Ciel. Especially Larry, the voice actor for Larry did an excellent job. 6. The inclusion of a glossary is great touch to help add in to the world of Aquadine with its characteristic lore. 7. The inclusion of an Opening AND Ending definitely shows how much love Softcolors has put into Aquadine, making the experience unforgettable. 8. The music does an excellent deal in adding to the situations in game whether it be a folk tale being told to the chaotic life of a teenager going through emotions. The same goes for the Opening and Ending music, having a catchy beat and lyrics. Elisabeth's route utilizes music in a great way that adds to her character as well. [b]Cons:[/b] 1. The pacing can be quick as there is some event hopping such as the characters can be summarized as doing several activities to jumping ahead to the next day. It is not much of a major issue as the pacing may be quick but it doesn't speed through without us understanding the character relationships and such. 2. Some characters are introduced in specific routes, so if you play in a different order, you may feel confused as to who they are OR you may already know who they are. (I played Diana>Elisabeth>Cameron>Anya) 3. The sprites are animated to show emotion such as shaking, bouncing and other little bits, but it also shows that the sprites suffer from "no ankles" as you can see where the art clearly ends. [b]Conclusion:[/b] Aquadine provides an emotional story that helps us connect not only with the main cast of characters, but also the side characters as well. Alongside this, Aquadine possesses gorgeous visuals and a soundtrack that provide an excellent experience. Even with its minor issues, Aquadine doesn't let them set back the love and passion Softcolors has put into their debut visual novel. [b]Score:[/b] 9/10 OUTSTANDING

I don't play visual novel games very often, but Aquadine makes me seriously want to reconsider! It's a very well made debut game by SoftColor. Everything from the story, characters, and setting are filled with intrigue and passion by the developer to deliver an experience that is amazing! The art and music are definitely some of the highlights as they make each scene that more breathtaking and memorable as I played. Another thumbs up from me is the main character Ciel who is such an interesting and dynamic character, that by the end I fully related to and wanted to see happy by the end. Aquadine also has 4 main heroines, each with their own unique routes and stories that encourages multiple play sessions. Some are more interesting than others and the pacing of the game can vary based on which route you choose, but their shining personalities and interesting plot lines encouraged me to play all 4 and that's something I usually never do in games! In the end I encourage anyone who loves visual novel games or tried them before to pick this one up! It's a game that has 4 unique stories, fleshed out characters, and a world grabbed my heart and imagination. It may suffer from slight pacing problems and some routes that are better then others, but it doesn't change the fact this is one of the best visual novel games I ever played!

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I enjoyed this game, and if there's ever a sequel to this, i'm buying it

I used to have another steam account where I played this for the first time, and I wished to replay this on my current account. Aquadine was a breath of fresh air for me as I typically don't boot up visual novels, so this was my first kinetic VN. Admittedly, I first only bought it because it had mermaids in it, but I did it again now because of how much I enjoyed it. I admire how Ciel's job as a gondolier helped introduce the lore pretty naturally. Seeing all the connections between characters also helps to bridge the gaps between routes and the lore. Cameron was my favorite then, and the same is still true now. All the routes are pretty enjoyable, and the last part of each route were my favorite parts of the stories just because of how things come together. This time around I noticed that each route shares some details that you would only know if you played a certain route. I guess that helps the broad strokes feeling of the memories ending, even if a certain character's route was the only one that could possibly be the "main" one... given the entirety of what happens. Still, I prefer the more realistic slice of life stories of the other routes where the stakes were small but felt rewarding to see played out. The backgrounds are absolutely beautiful, and the changes between different light levels is done incredibly well. While there is a limited soundtrack, my favorites popped up enough to where I didn't mind sitting through the ones I didn't like that much (even then, I'd still listen to them any day). Anya's route is still a bit of a whiplash. Given what happens in that route and the memories route, I'd recommend leaving her route for last. I'm disappointed that the memories route barely hints at Diana and Elisabeth's newfound growth. By the nature of Cameron's route being acknowledged, some stuff definitely had to have happened, but likely not to the full extent as what the player experienced. Again, just broad strokes. Back then, reading the final route memories made me cry, and having finished this again I'm still crying as I type this review. That abrupt ending still hits me right in the feels. But then again, having the spoiler event happen while it seems like everything would be ok in the end is rather realistic after all. Everyday could be the last day you see someone, but maybe that's what we all learn sooner or later. I wish there was a bit more to the ending like an epilogue a few months or years later, but I respect the vision and why it ended on that note. Overall, if you want a fresh and wholesome VN with a main character who isn't a self insert... here ya go. If you do Anya's route last, you'll probably enjoy each slice of life and maybe a few laughs and tears along the way.

Honestly such a well written story. The music and the world that this game immerses you into is simply breath taking. Maybe that's just because I grew up by the sea, but this is one of the most gorgeous visual novels I have ever read. One feature that I do like is that the game is able to tell a clear and concise story without mucking it up with player choices that contradict themselves. This is the type of game where you can sit back and just absorb the beautiful music and art style, and read a wonderfully crafted story based on the initial path you choose towards the beginning of the novel. Honestly 9/10 from me, it even got me to cry at the end lol