Visual Novel / Aquadine

Aquadine is a mini Visual Novel released on computers on February 11, 2021 and ported to consoles on August 26, 2022. Within the titular city of Aquadine that is very similar to the real-life city of Venice, Italy, the inhabitants are constantly seeking to prove or disprove the city's founding legend that, during a time of drought, the people prayed to the sea god, Levios, to spare them from destruction. Levios saved the inhabitants on the condition that humans and merfolk live together in harmony in a city he built named Aquadine. As the further details of the legend were lost and all evidence of the original Aquadine appearing to not exist, the old city was renamed "Ancient Aquadine" and a new one built over where the old one may or may not have existed.

The story focuses on a group of high school friends who are each seeking to overcome some doubts and problems in their lives while harboring their various secrets from each other and the world:

• Robin - A bookish high-school student who is considered a failure as a gondolier for not being able to measure up to his famous mother. He's spent the past several years secretly building up his career and earning money for his hospitalized mother under the alias of Ciel.
• Anya - A shy, cat-loving, introverted girl who is top in her class and never actually attends lectures. She would much rather draw anything and everything she can rather than spend time with other people.
• Diana - The daughter of the owner of the most-famous coffee shop in the city. While very outgoing and charismatic, she hides her own insecurities about not knowing what she wants to do with her life.
• Cameron - Robin's best friend since childhood and the very hard-working captain of the school's martial arts club, a position earned by defeating the previous captain who is a year older. Cameron is one to never back down from a challenge, but also tries to stay distanced in a way that people can't explain.
• Elizabeth - A famous singer on hiatus who comes from a rich family and recently moved into Aquadine where she's quickly pulled into the circle of friends. Whenever the topic of her returning to her singing career is brought up, she will dodge the question and change the subject.

As Robin tries to juggle his dual-life, schoolwork, and workload, he finds himself pulled into more of his friends' activities and slowly begins opening himself up to all of them while aiming to decide on which one to wholly support in their own problems. For him it all starts one night when, after working as Ciel, he hears the song he sings not far from his house and, after sculling in that direction, spots one of the mermaids of legend. From there he begins to learn more about the founding legend of the town and the secrets contained therein in hopes of helping to cure his mother's illness.

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Aquadine contains examples of:

• Actually, I Am Him: Played for Laughs in Elizabeth's route when her friend Johnathan asks Cho to beat up "the blonde guy" who he's heard has been tailing her. Cho immediately makes the connection and punches Johnathan, who is blonde. Johnathan finally makes the connection himself and finds it Actually Pretty Funny.
• All Myths Are True: While only fully explored in Anya's route, Robin is able to learn the truth about the foundation of the city and the existence of the merfolk.
• Aww Look They Really Do Love Each Other: Diana and her mother have a big falling out in her route, but they're also able to overcome it with an honest heart-to-heart after her mother explains her side of the story and not wanting Diana to repeat the same mistakes she did while growing up.
• Bad "Bad Acting": The video that Cameron and friends make in the former's route to help promote the Cloud Company during a business slump is made with incredibly low production values, but it goes viral anyway because people love seeing a panda beat the crap out of people.
• The Battle Didn't Count: Positive example during Cameron's route as, while the original bet that Robin made with Simon Scowl was to defeat an opponent of Simon's choice, Simon revealed that he would have let Cameron participate in the tournament regardless of the actual outcome of the match because of how seriously Robin took the training in preparation for it.
• Big Eater:
  • Elizabeth easily eats enough food for multiple people while maintaining her figure. Her very unladylike belches whenever she eats are also a Running Gag.
  • Banjo, the black cat that Anya befriends, will eat more than a normal human possibly can at any given time.
• Bittersweet Ending:
  • The Golden Ending "Memories" segment where despite all of his hard work, Robin's mother still dies but he still has his friends to help him carry and overcome the grief, even if it may take a long time to do so.
  • The "Memories" segment as a whole is one to the other routes that it's not a continuation of as it reveals Diana has not started her modelling career, all of Cameron's previous wins and trophies were negated upon people learning her true gender, and Elizabeth is still on hiatus due to not finding the motivation to move on from her mother's death.
• Bland-Name Product: Burger Jack, several characters' go-to place for fast food.
• Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: Elizabeth's father, Charles, is adamant that she not date until turning 30 and, upon meeting Robin for the first time, shoots him with a water pistol while Alfred made the "bang" sound.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: The overall story concludes with Robin addressing the player and ensuring them that, no matter what, bad things will happen in life and it will take time to heal from them, but they should be used as learning experiences and lessons in becoming stronger, especially since You Are Not Alone.
• Brutal Honesty: Elizabeth's father forced Alfred, the family butler, to try Elizabeth's first attempt at baking brownies when she was a child because he couldn't bring himself to lie to his daughter that they were good or tell her they were terrible. Alfred, however, did tell Elizabeth directly that her brownies were terrible and she thanked him for being honest before going back and trying again with renewed determination to get it right.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Elizabeth's ability to see the "floating jellyfish" and even speak with them in her route comes back into play during the "Memories" story.
• Clark Kenting: Robin pulls this off In-Universe as, even after four years, nobody in town has managed to figure out that he and Ciel are the same person.
• Coming of Age Story: For each character on their respective route and for Robin as a whole as they work to overcome their doubts/pasts and learn that failure does not mean the end.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Larry, Cho, and the rest of the Martial Arts team are on the receiving end of these whenever they attempt to challenge Cameron.
• Desperately Seeking A Purpose In Life: The source of Diana's main conflict in her route as she doesn't want to inherit the family cafe but doesn't know what she actually wants to do, giving her a bit of an inferiority complex when she's the only one of the group who doesn't have talent or ambition (that she's aware of).
• Disappeared Dad: The story reveals early on that Robin's father died when he was an infant and never knew him while growing up.
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: Everyone who meets Mute initially confuses him for a girl.
• Fiery Redhead: Diana is one in terms of being incredibly outgoing and charismatic, channeling that energy into positive vibes. She only actually loses her temper in her route when quitting her job in anger after having enough of her mother's harsh, unsupportive attitude.
• Golden Ending: The "Memories" story that opens after clearing the four individual routes technically serves as one to combine elements of the individual routes and brings the overall story to its conclusion.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Elizabeth is the nicest character in the cast and her hair is golden blonde.
• Hard Work Hardly Works: Subverting this is a central theme for nearly every character in the overall story. Robin's success as a gondolier even under the Ciel guise, Cameron becoming the Martial Arts team captain, and Elizabeth's baking ability and singing career are all explicitly mentioned to be the result of years of practice and training, along with countless failures getting there.
• Heroic BSoD
  • Elizabeth gets one in her route when during her comeback concert, she freezes up when trying to sing the song she was singing when her mother collapsed. She's able to overcome it with words of encouragement from her friends and fans.
  • Robin is hit hard in the "Memories" afterstory upon learning his mother died despite everything he was doing to try and cure her illness and spends several weeks cooped up in his room, thinking his efforts were All for Nothing.
• Hidden Depths: Larry, the resident Butt-Monkey for everyone and The Chew Toy for the Martial Arts team, manages to win his match in the tournament in Cameron's route.
• Honor Before Reason: Rather than blow her cover, Cameron enters the Miss Aquadine pageant disguised as a female panda.
• Hope Spot: In the "Memories" story when Robin follows a blue orb all the way to Ancient Aquadine's graveyard in hopes of being led to an Aquamarine crystal to heal his mother, only to see her name appear on the tomb and learn that she had just died.
• I Just Want to Be Normal: Anya's main conflict in her route given that her being the last mermaid tore her family apart and she would much rather be fully human before her character development.
• Involuntary Shapeshifting: Near the end of the Common Route, the game reveals that Anya is the mermaid that Robin saw and she turns into that form upon entering seawater.
• It's All My Fault:
  • Robin's maternal grandfather feels wholly responsible for taking Robin's father on the final voyage that resulted in his death.
  • Elizabeth feels personally responsible for her mother's death when she collapsed after pushing herself to attend one of Elizabeth's concerts after overworking herself into a heart attack.
• Lethal Chef:
  • Elizabeth started out her baking career with brownies that her father forced the family butler to eat instead. She improved significantly over the years after that same butler was honest about them being terrible.
  • Anya's tastes are considered unique in that no one likes her cooking while she doesn't like anyone else's.
• Literal-Minded: Elizabeth does not understand sarcasm or metaphors, so she constantly has to be corrected when she misunderstands either.
• The Lost Lenore: Levios admits that, despite being a god who should be able to get any woman he wants, he was never able to fall in love again after the death of his wife, especially since her death was a Heroic Sacrifice to protect their daughter from hunters.
• Luke, I Am Your Father: In Anya's route, Robin learns that he is Levios's last direct descendant and the spirit of his daughter, Onepta, resides within him. During the climax, he's turned into a merman and renamed Arcielo, Prince of Aquadine.
• Meaningful Rename: In Anya's route, when Robin is turned into a merman and named the Prince of Aquadine, he's given the name of Arcielo, meaning "Altar of Heaven."
• Mutual Kill: Not a "kill" per se, but a double knock-out when Cameron and her opponent knock each other out in the climax of her route. It's considered a draw in the tournament but everyone praises her for being able to go toe-to-toe with a guy who had been undefeated for over a year.
• Never Found the Body: Robin's father went missing during a sudden storm during a sailing expedition and was declared dead after months of searching without ever finding the body. Anya's route and the "Memories" story heavily imply that he's alive and working for Levios, but he has no idea that Robin is his son.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: Simon Scowl, head of the Martial Arts Association, is modeled after Simon Cowell and is just as relentless a critic when judging the Miss Aquadine contestants in Diana's route.
• Odd Friendship: Anya and Diana. Anya wanted to always be left alone, but Diana would never actually do so. Eventually, Anya started considering Diana her friend.
• Official Couple: While each of Robin's four friends has an individual route, the "Memories" story that opens up after clearing all four continues Anya's story and cements her and Robin as this.
• Samus Is a Girl: Robin suddenly learns that Cameron is a girl when walking in on her while she's changing.
• Second Place Is for Winners: The ultimate message of both Diana and Cameron's routes as, despite not winning the Miss Aquadine pageant and martial arts tournament respectively, the learning experiences and end results taught them far more than they expected and still opened numerous future opportunities.
• Secret-Keeper: On every route, Robin entrusts the knowledge of his double-life as Ciel to at least his love interest for various reasons- most often as a sign of trust that he can keep their respective secrets as well.
• Servile Snarker: Elizabeth's family butler, Alfred, is not one to mince words at his employers. Charles and Elizabeth, however, appreciate him being wholly honest with them.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: When Cameron starts wearing the girl's uniform at the end of her route, Robin makes note of how good she looks in it. The in-game CG artwork of her on her route also emphasizes her feminine features, almost to the point of wondering how anyone could mistake her for a guy.
• Shipper on Deck: All throughout the common route, Diana is constantly trying to get Robin and Anya together.
• Snark-to-Snark Combat: Once Robin comes face-to-face with the current avatar of the sea god Levios, the two of them spend most of their time trading barbs with each other while still working together to the point of almost becoming Vitriolic Best Buds.
• Spoiled Sweet: Elizabeth is the daughter of a rich family, but she doesn't have an intentionally mean bone in her body. At worst she is Innocently Insensitive when she doesn't understand a situation.
• Supreme Chef: Elizabeth's baking prowess is on par with her singing ability and is actually a skill she has that most people outside of her circle don't know about since she does it entirely for fun.
• Surrounded by Idiots: Anya's attitude prior to her development and coming out of her shell consists of this as she initially considers hanging out with everyone to be a waste of time.
• Third-Person Person:
  • Robin's grandfather almost always refers to himself as "Grandpa," except when he's reminding his old crew to refer to him as "Captain."
  • Cho, the former captain of the Martial Arts team, constantly refers to himself as "The Dragon!"
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Cameron and her sister May share this dynamic, respectively.
• Took a Level in Badass: Elizabeth's motivation for resuming her singing career and accepting her own mother's death so she can move on in her route is because she doesn't want Robin to have to go through the same pain she did when she learns he's in a similar situation.
• Underdogs Never Lose: Anya manages to win both the Mario Kart-esque racing game in the common route and the Miss Aquadine pageant in Diana's route despite being the least likely to win either... at first.
• Victorious Childhood Friend: Cameron in her route and, as it's the only one where she develops romantic feelings for Robin, also averts Unlucky Childhood Friend as a whole.
• Wham Line: In the "Memories" story, when Robin is following the Blue Orb to the Ancient Aquadine graveyard: "I watched the blue orb pass through the tombstone and suddenly saw my mom's name appear. My mother had died."