Review of Aquadine
| Subject | Aquadine |
| By | Helpfulness: 0 Vote: 7comfycal on 2021-02-26 |
| Review | I've followed Aquadine's development since late 2019 and I'm happy to finally play and review the game! The TLDR at the end of the review summarizes my feelings on the series. I recommend this game to anyone looking for a lighthearted and fun cast with emotional stories and and wholesome themes. The game is romantic but doesn't actually delve into detail with the romance between the characters. If you're looking to go on dates and enjoy lots of 1 on 1 time with your favorite girl, then this may not be your game Story (overall impression ) - 6/10 Hope is a theme often echoed throughout the story. I believe the essence of Aquadine lies not only in the trust you place in those close to you, but also the humility it takes to confide in them. At the vanguard of this wholesomeness, is the pleasant air that surrounds the town itself. However, even the scenic Aquadine can be thought to have its own hidden sides and unfortunately Robin falls to the brunt of that. Secrets, the past, something we're ashamed of, surmounting regrets - we all carry and hold on to baggage in our day to day lives. Aquadine seeks to uncover such baggage within our main cast and with the support of friends and family, carry those burdens together and walk towards a new day. While I didn't cry, there were quite a few moments that pulled me in emotionally. The characters I cheered on the most were Diana and Anya. I found Diana to be the most relatable and her genki attitude well-written and endearing. Her route builds upon that, ramping up how valuable her innate personality is in tackling her insecurities and how the world itself pushes their expectations onto her. Aquadine's faster pacing synergizes flawlessly with her kind of story and as a result felt the most natural to me. Anya, on the other hand, was initially my favorite and while I do think she's still a great character, the role she plays seems to weaken her personality. A lot of issues seemed touched upon only surface level. There just wasn't enough time: 1) to shovel deeper into her issues, 2) for her relationship with Robin to blossom properly, and 3)to show the complexity of her character. The approach to recognizing, understanding, and making the effort to see her own value felt contrived in favor of moving forward the plot. Again, my issue isn't how she changes, but the lack of time for development. No memories or formative experiences are given their own scenes. It tries to be evocative, but is simply too rushed. Personally, I didn't care too much for the cultural and the approach to the canon plot as a whole. I won't go into much detail for the other characters. Cameron's route felt similar to Diana's, but focuses more on inspiration and the unique abilities you wield to support those close to you. I expected Cameron to be more on the cool side, but he plays both in a charming way. His route features action scenes, but are quite cliche to the point of being humor. The formulaic approach knocks it down a few points for me. Elisabeth is my least favorite girl. Not that she's bad at all, but she just wasn't my taste design or personality-wise. Aquadine loves its parallels and her route is no exception. She shares similar struggles to our protagonist Robin. With the initiative to make his problem her own, she finds the courage to face difficult feelings and accept the past. The route's themes revolve around family more so than the others. [Spoilers]Something that felt... tacky... for both Cameron and Elisabeth's routes are the CLANNAD inspirations and references. To name a few: Tomoyo's combo kicks on Sunohara, Tomoyo's mascot costume, Nagisa's father being overprotective in a comedic/eccentric way, baking, Nagisa freezing up during her play (biggest offender ), Nagisa's naivety. I'm sure if you've played the VN, there might be more. I think it's great to be inspired, but taking a scene, and matching it to fit your own work is at worst plagiarism and at best unoriginal. Everything other than the biggest offender is quite forgivable/unproblematic. I just feel a bit disappointed after expecting something more original in a high quality EVN. While difficult to ignore the similarities, I tried to be as fair as possible to my first impressions, afterthoughts, and whatever feelings I had right after completing the game. I wrote a bunch of notes while playing so I just took the most notable ones to put into the review and elaborate on. I don't mean for my little descriptions to be the culmination of each route but I guess that would be my bad for overlooking that aspect. There are good things to say about each route and I just happened to bring light to mostly my issues with them. Trying to point out every thing would defeat the purpose of this review. [Possible spoilers] Just some random observations of the side characters. Each of them seem tied to one of the deadly sins perhaps? Grandpa Himmel - Sloth, Mr. Norton - Pride, Susan - Greed, Elisabeth's Dad - Wrath, Larry - Lust, Banjo - Gluttony, Dr. Wudman - Envy. Of course, the main characteres themselves also possess traits that can be born from these sins. The template seems super effective in bringing life to the world. Art - 9/10 Aesthetically fitting character sprites and breathtaking backgrounds- Aquadine's art style lends to the series' lightheartedness and fresh atmosphere. What brings up the presentation as a whole is how the setting is gorgeously portrayed by the artists zhia2chen and closz. Inspired by Italy's canal city Venice (which SoftColors initially inspires from the ARIA's Neo-Venezia) we get a glimpse of the Aquadine's cultural foundation through its architecture and the types of lives that are led by its inhabitants. I admire the amount of thought put into the setting and how the series uses Ciel's tours to appreciate that. The character designs are consistent and seem to pay attention to the world that's lived in. I do wish that there was more variety to the characters' outfits (like Cameron's "new" uniform) but everything is quite adequate and in line to the story, so no real complaints on that end. I'm still not sure whether I really like when the sprites would shake and bounce around. Fortunately, they do succeed in their job of livening up the characters and don't detract from the experience at all. Seeing the sprite cutoffs at the thigh seems careless, but again it's not a huge problem. The game showcases a nice array of CG's. They seem to highlight key moments mainly, which is adequate, but could be utilized more to add flavor and memorability to some SoL scenes. I understand how much of an investment good and consistent art is (especially out of pocket) so I won't harp on this too much. There are style changes towards the end of most routes, which did feel jarring, but they manage to communicate the proper atmosphere very well (especially the ones with Robin and his mother). Music/Sound - 8/10 I came across Aquadine through their opening trailer while searching up VN openings and it hyped me up a lot for its release. The trailer and song itself are wonderfully produced and I believe it's one of the best EVN openings out there so big kudos to everyone involved! The ED theme does something special with the way it contrasts Aquadine's ending. It almost got me. The song itself feels on the cheery side, but the lyrics themselves are quite heartbreaking. It's a fantastic summation to those bittersweet feelings and the hope Aquadine imbues. I spoke with the dev himself on the direction of this theme and discovered that it was meant to be similar to the ending theme of "Anohana"Secret Base. I first listened to this before the game's release and was even doubtful of the resemblance, but now I feel in sync with that vision and very much grateful to experience the song as it's meant to be. In game we have quite a pleasant OST. The tracks are adequate, yet not very memorable. It's the same notion for sound effects. I believe sound is the biggest advantage this medium has over novel, comic, manga, and similar mediums. I wish for EVNs to pay a bit more repsect to this. Voice Acting - 8/10 Growing up, I've always found the original creator's language to be the most appropriate for its medium. In the case of Anime, I've held a strong belief that Japanese would always be the superior dub and this would extend to anime-inspired or related media as well. I'm slowly letting go of this bias by identifying that my issue with dubs isn't entirely based on the voices, but with the direction and casting of each character. Aquadine helps a bunch in getting me to be more open to those voices and trust in the talents of the english voice-acting scene. Something about each voice feels very natural and most importantly pleasant to listen to. From Anya's adorable sighs and quips to LARRRYY PUNCHHH and his death cries- the use of partial voice acting is quite efficient in giving everyone life. I think this could be utilized even further by having emotional scenes or lines fully voiced for emphasis. My favorite were - who could've guessed it - Anya and Diana's voices. I think the most interesting thing is not one character lags behind in this field. Quite a feat in my opinion! Summary / TLDR: Aquadine is a lovely EVN featuring a vibrant cast, each with their own distinctive charms and struggles. While the characters are the strongest point of the story, pacing issues, characterization inconsistencies, and almost contrived moments bog down the overall experience. The exploration of their personalities feels lacking. Themes are spelled out for you before you're given the chance to sit down and think about them. Most SoL scenes felt more "instrumental" in that they exist as filler or setup towards the next plot point. I believe good SoL has its own innate value. Feelings or thoughts can be gleaned from the mundane with a sort of unsuspecting familiarity. The story's fun SoL is mostly succesful, but the "real" ones fall short. Nonetheless, experiencing the world of Aquadine was enjoyable and as a whole, presented with a lot of heart. There will be a route or two that you will enjoy or relate to. I look forward to SoftColor's future stories and projects. 7/10 Diana and Anya best girls |
| 0 points |