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Aquadine is a beautifully illustrated visual novel, that delivers a story of the ancient city of Aquadine that was once ruled by the God of Underwater. But years later, it lies in ruins and today people are not sure if this is a myth or reality. However, to honour the culture, Aquadine is now the name of the city where our characters live. But there are many untold secrets yet to be discovered. Embark on a journey that will lead you to crucial choices, that will finally tell the end of the story that you wish to see.

Developed by SoftColors, Aquadine has already been released for PC on Steam.  It made its way on the Consoles and Nintendo Switch on August 26, 2022, published by the Ratalaika Games. Here is our Review for Aquadine. A story of a young boy, taking up the role of a gondolier to support his family.

Welcome to Aquadine

The city of Aquadine is filled with love and a rich history that makes the landmark more famous and attracts regular tourists from around the world. Since the city canals are filled with water, it’s easy to travel around the city in a gondola and absorb the city’s beauty while listening to the melodious song of the Gondolier as he tells about the ancient history of Aquadine.

Long ago, a major drought occurred which made the land crack, rivers dry and even the well ran dry. This became a major calamity for mankind and they had no option but to turn to the God of water. He agreed to grant the wish of restoring water in the world under one condition – humans will never fight amongst each other. 

Aquadine Nintendo Switch Screenshot

Humanity thrived and developed at an ever-growing pace. Happiness was at the heart of humans and everyone lived peacefully until one day it all changed. Greed took over happiness and people once again, turned against each other. 

This broke the promise of God, and he decided to form his own kingdom, hidden from mankind. This kingdom remained forever shielded from humanity in a hope that the people of the kingdom will never fight against each other and will forever live in peace.

And that was the history of Aquadine the Gondolier sang to the tourist. Our Gondolier name is Ciel. A charming young man with blue, beautiful eyes like no other. Ciel has appreciated for his skills as a Gondolier but not long ago, there was a Gondolier with unmatched skills in rowing, singing and making tourist fall in love with the city. Her name was Torrie.

Aquadine Nintendo Switch Screenshot

Unfortunately, she was struck with a disease that was unknown to mankind and as a result, there was no cure for her deteriorating condition.

The truth was, Ciel was actually the son of Torrie, with a hidden identity. His actual name was Robin. He took up this identity so that he could support his family. Robin’s father died long ago in a storm at sea, and hence Torrie was the only one earning for the family. Ever since she fell ill, Robin was the only one able to fend for his family. However, since he was no match to Torrie as her skills and didn’t want to create a sympathetic image towards tourists, he took on a brand new charming identity.

Aquadine Nintendo Switch Screenshot

But, while he is not singing the history of Aquadine to the tourist, he spends his time at the school with his friends. Robin is actually quite shy in school and confines himself to socialising. But as the story progresses he makes a deeper connection with the other students. Cameron however, is a strong and charming person, who is a black belt in martial arts and works as a waiter. He has been a friend of Robin for quite some time, and they both share their troubles with each other.

Aquadine is a beautiful visual novel that will allow you to dive deeper into Robin’s story, as more people enter his life, and somehow he has connected the ancient history of Aquadine. There are countless mysteries yet to be discovered for him. But will he be able to piece it all together? Will he be able to conceal his identity from the public forever? What happened to the kingdom of Aquadine that today it lies in ruins and is a myth? To answer more questions like these, the story of Aquadine awaits you.

Picture Perfect Presentation

Aquadine is a visual novel. Hence it requires you to read texts more than actually play. Hence, you can even just tap on the screen to continue reading and not touch the joy-cons ever to interact with the game. 

The game has beautifully illustrated characters and art style. The background offers refreshing and high-resolution art to perfectly set the mood and setting, which greatly emphasises the storytelling experience. Not only that, the characters themselves are partially voiced so that they can express their emotions and the tone at that particular moment. All these little efforts make a huge impact on the storytelling experience.

Even the background score is mesmerising to listen to. Each setting and situation has its own music, helping easily identify the heat or the rising tension of the moment. 

Aquadine Nintendo Switch Screenshot

The UI and other mechanics of the game only make the game more accessible and easier. You will have your own personal notes section where you can Log any and as many dialogues, as you want to store so that you can revisit your favourite writings at any moment.

To top that, Aquadine allow you up to 20 save slots, allowing you to save any part of the story you love so that you can revisit only that particular section as many times as you wish.

Verdict

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.

We at Gameffine would like to award Aquadine an impressive 8/10.

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