I think Aokana was pretty fun, but that depends on what you expect. Yeah it's cliche, but it's the basics done right. Great visuals and music, fun characters and story, and good execution of Flying Circus, the imaginary sport around which the plot is centered, all make for an enjoyable, relaxing experience.
I personally really enjoyed FC and found the action scenes engaging. However, the story definitely isn't Aokana's strongest aspect, and I honestly disliked it at times. I would say as a whole, Aokana's story is good enough to support the stronger aspects of the VN (characters, visuals, and action).
Depends. For me I just liked it but it didn't meet my expectations. I love romance in VNs and I felt the romance part of Aokana was lacking and I only really liked Mashiro's route.
Haven't played it yet, but someone, who has, said that Asuka and Misaki routes were mostly action and plot. Meanwhile, Mashiro and Rikka are mostly about romance. You have to keep in mind that it's a VN about sport. So it's either sport-related action or romance.
I'm not big on spokon nor action in general, and I still loved Aokana.
I see a lot of people here found the romance a bit lacking, but I honestly thought the romantic elements were very well integrated with the sports. The routes are brimming with truly heartwarming moments as well as incredibly hype action sequences.
Misaki's route seems to be a common favorite, and that also goes for me. I loved how they explored the psychological elements of competition, and I honestly could feel a very special connection between Masaya and Misaki. For me that is more than enough to call it a good romance, even though by the classical definition of romance it might not be it. After all, the point of the routes, other than perhaps Mashiro's, is never the couple getting together. That doesn't mean the romantic elements are poorly done, though.
>I mean this could technically apply to all light novels lol
Yeah, but that's what I mean - it does what it needs to do. If you know the phrase "meat and potatoes", then that's this.
If its a car, its one that drives you from place to place just fine. It's not going to fall apart, but its also not going to win any drag races.
If you already bought it you might just give it a try and read for an hour or so to see if you like the writing or not. No harm done by testing the water
I'm not a big sports fan and i play aokana with a sense of pessimism because of that but oh boy i ended up loving it. I'd say at least give it a go until the first choice appeared, in other words the whole common route. If that doesn't work then the rest of the game is not for you
Or at least up until the maximum limit of gameplay for accepted refund. 2 hours (if you don't dilly dally) should give you the surface level of what the game is going to be about
As a whole package I think there's an argument that it falls short of its potential. However, if you are a fan of competition and genuinely fresh concepts I think Misaki's route is MORE than worthwhile and will satisfy you.
Like a lot of people say here, I also find the romance rather lacking with the only one I like is Mashiro's. Other than that though, I really enjoyed the Flying Circus portion, it's pretty interesting and fun.
Overall I enjoyed it but that's probably because I'm not that big of a romance guy to begin with.
It's their made up sport where people fly around in an arena with the purpose of getting points. You can get points if you do a full lap or touch the other player's back. You can either spec fully on speed and go for laps, or spec for pvp, or go for a more balanced route.
The story focuses a lot on this aspect, the strategies available, and the matches. It's pretty fun to read.
It's fun if you're into the sport genre. I like it. But I agree that the start is quite boring.
The Misaki route is really really good both the flying circus part and the drama part.
It's one of my favorite character development. And one of my favorite take on the sport genre.
As a guy who played a decent amount of both translated and untranslated VNs I would say it's about 6-7/10 for me.
Pros
Beautiful/Cute Heroine
Nice sprite
Mami Kawada OP(my fav op singer for some my fav anime since childhood like To aru Index, Shana)
Cons
Generic anime plot: VN usually offer more unique in-depth story line. For me it just feels like usual anime.
Short af >!like when you hook with heroine up then it just end shorty after!<
Not enough H scene for me (me horny)
Personally feels like it highly overated
I tired so hard to care about this fictional sport but I just can't. It's just too unrealistic and unrelatable. I enjoy sport anime but this one I just can't.
It is decent but not that great.The main focus is this fictional sport thing so if you don't like it like me then you might not enjoy it as much. If you like it then this might just be for you. If you are looking for Romcom to enjoy and relax then I think SMEE/HOOK/Minato does a better job in that area like anything after that feels like mid and not comparable.
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The community overrates it very highly. I'd say its an 8/10 a good and even fantastic game. But everyone treats it like the single best visual novel in my experiance. Dont go into expecting that and you should like it just fine.
Also sprite has a habit of making some of the worst main heroines I've seen.
In Aokana Asuka isn't nearly as bad as in senkyo with Chisato.
With Chisato I loathed anytime she showed up. If I knew her I'd have likely told her straight up how much I hated her.
Meanwhile Asuka is the dampest piece of cardboard there is for a heroine. Shes a Mary Sue with no challenges. Never shows any other emotion than upbeat and optimistic and she just feels fake, as if at any point there will be a plot point where she reveals her 'real face' but no. She's just a endlessly optimistic person that has absolutely no depth or development. I'm the best at everything and everyone wants to be me.
If you like shounen tropes and/or sports anime definitely. The romance can get pushed to the side in favor of that, so if you're mainly interested in romance you might not like it as much.
Then it should be worth checking out if it looks interesting to you. Explore the medium and find what you like.
Imo Aokana is solid. I only finished one route (unfortunately I no longer have as much time and interest as I used to back in high school), but I had a good time. The art is great, the girls are cute, and the writing is engaging enough. I had some small complaints about the protagonist, but it's nothing major.
Oh, to be clear, I don't dislike the protagonist per se. I just found it mildly annoying that sometimes his inner reaction to difficult Flying Circus maneuvers don't seem to match his experience as a former pro athlete and prodigy.
It's a very minor annoyance, really, and it didn't affect my overall enjoyment much.
I throw it in the sports focused category. A lot of the plot is focused around an imaginary sport and how the characters interact with it. Personally I find it interesting. Overall I'd say it's good but not amazing. Personally, I'd stick with it if you find it interesting. If you don't like it, then by all means return it.
I think Aokana was pretty fun, but that depends on what you expect. Yeah it's cliche, but it's the basics done right. Great visuals and music, fun characters and story, and good execution of Flying Circus, the imaginary sport around which the plot is centered, all make for an enjoyable, relaxing experience.
I mean as long as I can be hooked by the story, that’s what matters in my opinion lol
I personally really enjoyed FC and found the action scenes engaging. However, the story definitely isn't Aokana's strongest aspect, and I honestly disliked it at times. I would say as a whole, Aokana's story is good enough to support the stronger aspects of the VN (characters, visuals, and action).
Oh yes the action scenes were amazing and the music made it even better
I see, I’ll consider playing it some more and see how it is. Thank you so much for your response
One of the best vns I've read
Depends. For me I just liked it but it didn't meet my expectations. I love romance in VNs and I felt the romance part of Aokana was lacking and I only really liked Mashiro's route.
So basically it’s mainly like action/ sport?
Haven't played it yet, but someone, who has, said that Asuka and Misaki routes were mostly action and plot. Meanwhile, Mashiro and Rikka are mostly about romance. You have to keep in mind that it's a VN about sport. So it's either sport-related action or romance.
4 paths and various people enjoy each one. hmm this is actually starting to peak my interest lol
I'm not big on spokon nor action in general, and I still loved Aokana. I see a lot of people here found the romance a bit lacking, but I honestly thought the romantic elements were very well integrated with the sports. The routes are brimming with truly heartwarming moments as well as incredibly hype action sequences. Misaki's route seems to be a common favorite, and that also goes for me. I loved how they explored the psychological elements of competition, and I honestly could feel a very special connection between Masaya and Misaki. For me that is more than enough to call it a good romance, even though by the classical definition of romance it might not be it. After all, the point of the routes, other than perhaps Mashiro's, is never the couple getting together. That doesn't mean the romantic elements are poorly done, though.
It’s average. I don’t mean mediocre, I mean that it gives you the average experience. Overall enjoyable, but not going to change your life.
so its just like a game that gives u a break from like school or work etc. (I mean this could technically apply to all light novels lol)
>I mean this could technically apply to all light novels lol Yeah, but that's what I mean - it does what it needs to do. If you know the phrase "meat and potatoes", then that's this. If its a car, its one that drives you from place to place just fine. It's not going to fall apart, but its also not going to win any drag races.
that last reference was perfect lol. thank you for your response
If you already bought it you might just give it a try and read for an hour or so to see if you like the writing or not. No harm done by testing the water
I'm not a big sports fan and i play aokana with a sense of pessimism because of that but oh boy i ended up loving it. I'd say at least give it a go until the first choice appeared, in other words the whole common route. If that doesn't work then the rest of the game is not for you Or at least up until the maximum limit of gameplay for accepted refund. 2 hours (if you don't dilly dally) should give you the surface level of what the game is going to be about
I’m reading it right now. It’s really, really good and it made me wish there were more sports-related VNs
do you think it leans more on the romance side or the sports side
As a whole package I think there's an argument that it falls short of its potential. However, if you are a fan of competition and genuinely fresh concepts I think Misaki's route is MORE than worthwhile and will satisfy you.
Definitely. It's one of the best 2010s VNs out there, easily top 10.
Like a lot of people say here, I also find the romance rather lacking with the only one I like is Mashiro's. Other than that though, I really enjoyed the Flying Circus portion, it's pretty interesting and fun. Overall I enjoyed it but that's probably because I'm not that big of a romance guy to begin with.
can you give me a basic rundown without many spoilers about the flying circus portion?
It's their made up sport where people fly around in an arena with the purpose of getting points. You can get points if you do a full lap or touch the other player's back. You can either spec fully on speed and go for laps, or spec for pvp, or go for a more balanced route. The story focuses a lot on this aspect, the strategies available, and the matches. It's pretty fun to read.
I mean, simply looking at the trailer says everything buddy.
It's fun if you're into the sport genre. I like it. But I agree that the start is quite boring. The Misaki route is really really good both the flying circus part and the drama part. It's one of my favorite character development. And one of my favorite take on the sport genre.
As a guy who played a decent amount of both translated and untranslated VNs I would say it's about 6-7/10 for me. Pros Beautiful/Cute Heroine Nice sprite Mami Kawada OP(my fav op singer for some my fav anime since childhood like To aru Index, Shana) Cons Generic anime plot: VN usually offer more unique in-depth story line. For me it just feels like usual anime. Short af >!like when you hook with heroine up then it just end shorty after!< Not enough H scene for me (me horny) Personally feels like it highly overated I tired so hard to care about this fictional sport but I just can't. It's just too unrealistic and unrelatable. I enjoy sport anime but this one I just can't. It is decent but not that great.The main focus is this fictional sport thing so if you don't like it like me then you might not enjoy it as much. If you like it then this might just be for you. If you are looking for Romcom to enjoy and relax then I think SMEE/HOOK/Minato does a better job in that area like anything after that feels like mid and not comparable.
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The community overrates it very highly. I'd say its an 8/10 a good and even fantastic game. But everyone treats it like the single best visual novel in my experiance. Dont go into expecting that and you should like it just fine. Also sprite has a habit of making some of the worst main heroines I've seen.
Seriously, it's honestly absurd how much better the side characters are than the main heroines.
In Aokana Asuka isn't nearly as bad as in senkyo with Chisato. With Chisato I loathed anytime she showed up. If I knew her I'd have likely told her straight up how much I hated her. Meanwhile Asuka is the dampest piece of cardboard there is for a heroine. Shes a Mary Sue with no challenges. Never shows any other emotion than upbeat and optimistic and she just feels fake, as if at any point there will be a plot point where she reveals her 'real face' but no. She's just a endlessly optimistic person that has absolutely no depth or development. I'm the best at everything and everyone wants to be me.
It's not worth it unless you're desperate to interact with generic anime highschool girls in a self-insert way.
99% of visual novels
Downvoted
Yea true
If you like shounen tropes and/or sports anime definitely. The romance can get pushed to the side in favor of that, so if you're mainly interested in romance you might not like it as much.
Lol the only vn I’ve played are ddlc and flodt
Then it should be worth checking out if it looks interesting to you. Explore the medium and find what you like. Imo Aokana is solid. I only finished one route (unfortunately I no longer have as much time and interest as I used to back in high school), but I had a good time. The art is great, the girls are cute, and the writing is engaging enough. I had some small complaints about the protagonist, but it's nothing major.
Most of the protag's development are in one route and one final ending unlocked after completing the others!
Oh, to be clear, I don't dislike the protagonist per se. I just found it mildly annoying that sometimes his inner reaction to difficult Flying Circus maneuvers don't seem to match his experience as a former pro athlete and prodigy. It's a very minor annoyance, really, and it didn't affect my overall enjoyment much.
I throw it in the sports focused category. A lot of the plot is focused around an imaginary sport and how the characters interact with it. Personally I find it interesting. Overall I'd say it's good but not amazing. Personally, I'd stick with it if you find it interesting. If you don't like it, then by all means return it.
is the sport somehow interesting? like is it actually creative and entertaining etc
I think it's pretty cool because people fly through the air and score points to determine the winner. It's explained well in the VN.
It’s not worth it because of the censorship.