Aokana – Four Rhythms Across the Blue

I thought the sky was blue because of me. I thought nobody could beat me. But that is all in the past, now it’s time for me to help her not to go down the same path as I did.

I knew that Aokana was one of the more popular Visual Novels out there and after reading it I understood why. You are Masaya, a former prodigy in Flying Circus or in short FC. With Aoi being at your side you only thought about FC and wanting to be the best, until you got beaten by a much stronger opponent that didn’t even take a fraction of the time it took you to learn a specific technique. Unable to deal with your own demons in your head being overwhelmed with the fame you were getting and your terrible defeat you quit FC for good and forever. Even going as far as choosing a school that doesn’t even have an FC Club. But on your first day back to school as a sophomore, your past starts coming back to you in the form of a cute girl. Will you be able to deal with your past or will you continue and try to run from your former self…

The game features five different routes, with 4 being tied to a girl and one being a “bad ending” where you don’t lock any of the heroine routes. There are about 10~ choices in the game but it’s kinda hard to know which choice lock which heroine and if the specific choices even matter.
The dialogue and its feeling can change at times. It can be hilarious while not losing any credibility when it wants to be serious. And neither felt overdone or unnecessary. It never felt forced or rushed. The whole pacing of the game felt just right.

The art style of the game was pleasant to look at especially the emotions of the girls never failed to entertain me. The illustrations of the girls are really well done, especially their flight suits. I have to mention the backgrounds. The backgrounds in most of the Visual Novels feel empty and not worthy to look at. But the backgrounds in Aokana felt full of life, with actual people doing stuff in the background, filling it, and giving it life.

The story really draws you in and you want to know how it continues. You wanna know how the heroines feel and what their backstory is. After finishing a route it feels complete and you don’t feel as if anything is missing to feel happy with. It makes you excited for the other routes to see what those have in store.
The game does have 18+ scenes but it felt as if only one scence of either girl was really fleshed out and actually worth playing. I wouldn’t call those scenes a strong point of Aokana. They aren’t bad per se but I didn’t feel they added too much to the overall feeling of the game. I do still recommend getting it since it does add some scenes that might otherwise get lost in the censored version. [nekonyansoft.com]

Overall the game was worth its price, even without a sale. You will definitely get your money’s worth out of it. It tells a great story that reminds me in a way of “If my heart had wings”.