Aino, ready to launch!
Robolife—Days with Aino's review
Developer: Barance Studio
Genre: Management sim
Reviewed version: Final
Censored: No (except on DLSite)
Patch Needed: No
OS: Windows
Language: English, Chinese, Japanese, Russian
Robolife—Days with Aino is a visual novel and management sim hybrid that caught my curiosity because of the quality of its art and turned out to be so good it got a spot in my Top 10 NSFW Steam Games 2021 list.
Story
Its premise might sound familiar to you if you watched Chobits back in the day. You play as a tech student who finds a broken android named Aino tossed in a scrapyard and decides to overhaul it as part of his course's project, just to discover she has no memories of herself and all her data is locked and encrypted. The plot is very lighthearted and full of jokes regarding Aino's lack of knowledge about how the world works, her trying to fix things in the most extreme way possible, or her unexpectedly shooting orgasm-powered lasers when aroused.
Furthermore, it features three different routes with different endings in which the jobs you take and the decisions you make along the way decide which one you get. Each of them also varies in tone, with Idol being upbeat, Weapons-development being dead serious, and Hacking being something in-between.
Gameplay
At its core, Robolife—Days with Aino is a neat management sim game where you send Aino to work at different jobs to obtain the ratings you need to pass the deadlines and get some money to buy spare parts. Once you successfully complete a task ten times, another variant with higher rewards and requirements is unlocked until a third variant is completed. Failing a job or not usually depends on having the right specs, but there's also some luck involved in it. Sometimes, you may miss despite having the right specs or succeed despite being unfit.
Different sets of parts become available as you progress in the game that you can mix and match to improve Aino's stats and make her fit for the jobs you want to complete. Sometimes, equipping a complete set is required to complete the sidequests you get from interacting with people and visiting specific places.
Audiovisuals
Visuals-wise, it's gorgeous with a capital G. The characters and backgrounds are extremely detailed with vivid colors, which means the H scenes are so well-done you won't even care that they aren't animated. Moreover, Aino's appearance changes every time you swap parts, and the showroom section allows you to change her appearance to your liking without worrying about her specs and the like.
The soundtrack does a good job of enhancing the scenes they play in, but none of the tracks are memorable. However, what's hard to forget is the phenomenal work the voice actresses did to bring the characters to life and give them more personality, even if it's just partial voice acting.
Verdict: Outstanding
I said it at the start of the review and I'll repeat it now; this game is awesome. Not only it's visually stunning, but it's also engaging both story and plot-wise. Whether you're looking for a management sim with visual-novel-like storytelling or just a game with high production values, you can't miss this one.