Review of Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm
| Subject | Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm - 18+ Patch |
| By | Helpfulness: 0 Vote: 8Dunnodoncare on 2024-11-13 |
| Review | Aokana is sort of a (personal) standard to measure traditional VNs with romance, and heroine routes. This doesn't mean that Aokana is amazing, or enters best ever territory, but it does mean that most of what was achieved by the title, was above average, and this serves as a solid comparison point to determine quality within the medium. This reality alone doesn't justify the score, because what really makes this VN great is the "Flying Circus" (competitive sport), and that's the real reason to read this. Think of Aokana as a great entry point to longer VNs, and better understanding how this medium works. Positive: - "Flying Circus" - Aokana features a fictional sport called "Flying Circus", that really captures the essence of competition, tournaments, rivalries, last second "turnabouts", and more. This is where Aokana shines brightest, and more than enough to recommend it immediately. If you have any interest in competitive sports, this should resonate with you, and Aokana will be a wonderful experience. - Visuals and OST - Lots of cute girls flying around at high speed, and fighting turn to some great visual concepts. It's easy to dismiss production values as minor, but having movies, effects and lots of CG's put to good use, is very important to set this medium apart from others. OST follows the exact same reasoning, and Aokana has many good tracks. - Serviceable mix of drama, action, slice of life, and comedy - There are some weak spots individually, but what Aokana provides is better than usual, and this connects to the opening proposition. "The whole is greater than the sum of all parts", to keep it simple. - Strong secondary cast - It adds diversity, and value to the title, with their greatest contribution being delivered in the "Flying Circus" segments. Many VNs dismiss the support cast immediately upon entering routes, and most of the time it's sheer laziness (the easy road). Aokana is not like that, and that's another block "cementing" the idea of a high quality product. Negative: - Uneven heroine/route quality. It's very noticeable, and hardly a question of subjectivity (I'd argue 1 heroine, clearly receives more attention than the others); Aokana is a good VN, but it's completely dependent on the "Flying Circus" mentioned above, to soar beyond the competition. Whenever the setting changes to something else (high school, club activities, group of friends...) the difference in quality is significant; Sub-heroines not getting routes is just "another day at the office", but it needs to be mentioned (it's not OK). Score: 8/10. Highly recommended, as your first long VN, or if some sport is an important part of your life. On the other hand, more experienced readers may resent, and get too caught up in some of the excessive tropes, and exaggerated archetypes. |
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