Aquadine

Aquadine is a thoughtfully soft kinetic visual novel about carrying on and living life true to yourself.

Aquadine is one of the better visual novels I’ve had the pleasure of sitting through and I have played a fair few. The fantastic art design and backdrops really prop up an interesting and compelling storyline with some believable characters. The plot and storytelling may not be for everyone, but you can tell some thought and effort has been poured into the writing.

Aquadine is a colorful and feel good visual novel with a great cast of characters to spend time with. It won’t ask for a lot of your time but it also doesn’t have things like choices and branching paths that some visual novel fans may be looking for. If you’re fine with that and enjoy stories focused on teenagers then you’ll most likely enjoy this.

Aquadine is a thrilling visual-novel experience with a brilliant art style and beautiful character design. Each character involved in the story only adds more life to the storyline and as a whole delivers an invigorating experience to the reader. Backed with amazing music that sets the mood of the situation, the game is topped with amazing features allowing users to go back and forth with the story at any point in time.

Given how hard the last few years have been, I have to admit that it felt nice to play a game with low stakes. I had forgotten how great it is to just enjoy titles without worrying about putting in countless hours or gaining levels. I was truly just there to enjoy a visual novel that had all of the necessary components for success; a well-rounded cast, a short yet engaging story, and beautiful art.

Aquadine is a very successful debut from SoftColors. The characters—and especially the world—are well developed, and the cast has a lot of charm and humor. At times, however, their impact may weaken slightly due to repetition. The atmospheric and varied musical score more than makes up for this. Still, it is also a rather sad story, dealing with Torrie’s serious illness, fears about the future, and at times even doubts about the value of one’s own existence. Yet friendships and family can provide a great deal of support, especially when the characters are not too convinced that they must handle everything on their own. Overall, I had a great deal of fun accompanying the girls on their journey and watching them grow up.

Aquadine is a gift that keeps on giving. From its well thought-out cast of characters, through to the prevalent water themes in the city and all of its sights and sounds, there is a constant reason to keep on playing. While the various routes are a little short, they still serve as complete packages on their own, making the addition of an epilogue route even more exciting for completionists. It has its fair share of emotional beats, but the story ultimately serves as a wholesome adventure with friends [and lovers], mysteries and truths, and even a mermaid or two! Aquadine is a surprise, for sure, but it is most certainly an exceptional and welcome one.

Aquadine’s characters, sounds and visuals make for a truly extravagant package unlike anything that’s come before it. Aside from minor complaints in the story, people will have no trouble falling in love with the world and its characters. I spent eight hours on this journey and I wholeheartedly recommend it to everyone looking to see what the English Visual Novel scene is up to. Please consider picking the game up on Steam and Itch and enjoy yourself. Congratulations to SoftColors on the release and may everyone know that Anya is the best girl. See you next time friends.

Overall, Aquadine is an amazing experience. I wish I could talk more about how much I loved it, however, know if I did, it would hit the spoiler category. I won’t go there because I want you all to experience it. If you enjoy visual novels with a big amount of world-building and emotional development, then this is the right choice. I just feel it could’ve been a bit slower at times. I also feel it could depend less on some tropes to elevate it to higher ground.