Aokana – Four Rhythms Across The Blue is an adult visual novel from studio Sprite and originally released on Windows back in 2014.
Currently sitting at an Overwhelmingly Positive review score on Steam, the game is finally getting a worldwide release for PS4 and Switch August 21st.
The game has been available in Japan for the past two or three years on the above platforms, but this is the first time Western anime-lovers will be able to play the game on consoles.
Aokana – Four Rhythms Across The Blue is a game about flying through the sky. There are special anti-gravity shoes that have created a brand new sport, the “Flying Circus.”
In terms of actual gameplay, this is an Adult Visual Novel. There is no gameplay as such, but rather a series of narrative tabs to be interacted with and to read.
A series of characters provide different “paths” through the game. There is Asuka Kurashina, the “eternally upbeat” and “painfully honest” student, or Misaki Tobisawa, the girl who always does as she pleases.
Each character has a different route through the story. It’s up to you to decide which girl you want to follow through with until the end of the narrative.
For a visual novel, its general atmosphere, art style, and music have been praised by players. Players also state that the game provides around 30-50 hours of content if you play through each girl’s story.
The narrative has also been praised. You can summarize the entire story as “Girls flying through the air experiencing love.” Different interactions and messages of passion, perseverance, and trust pervade the storyline.
There are H-Scenes throughout the Visual Novel, although the original base-game on Steam is censored. The same goes for the PlayStation 4 version of the game – though there is no X-rated patch to go with the console version.
If you want to play through the H-Scenes then you’ll need to purchase the Nintendo Switch version of the game.
General reviews state that the H-scenes are fairly tasteful and aren’t 100% necessary to the story.
Aokana – Four Rhythms Across The Blue releases this week on August 21st in a worldwide console release for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. You can pre-order the game now.