Sakura Swim Club (PC) Review

Describing Sakura Swim Club is difficult, not because of the game, which is fairly flat and straightforward, but because it was meant for adults and must be carefully tip-toed around for proper reviewing. A simple and short visual novel, it follows the story of 'Generic Guy' as he adjusts to a new school environment. His problem? He's unmotivated and uninterested with the world. Forced to pick a club GG opts to go for the swimming club; a club that consists of only two female members and has developed an infamous reputation. Upon arriving he meets up with 'Tsundere' and 'Sweet Girl,' and various things start to follow.

This visual novel is not good. The primary reason is because it was meant for one purpose and one purpose alone. As a result the characters are flat, and the story is little more than a token piece meant to tie everything together - often tripping over itself in order to add comedic and "romantic" moments at seemingly random times. At one point, for example, GG has 'Tsundere' and 'Sweet Girl' over at his house when the later one notices that GG has a game console. In her attempts to utilize it certain hijinks ensue that seem impossible for multiple reasons, and were clearly included simply to have said hijinks.

As a visual novel it ends up being quite lacking, as the choices are, few and almost never all that deep (at best). There is a bit of a plot and story involving GG and how he will adapt to the new school and handle his overbearing parents, yet it's never all that tense and the conclusions are fairly obvious. The plot is flat with no real twists or turns, the characters are archetypes through and through, but at least, if there's one redeeming feature that is that, as a piece of a certain… genre, it's decently acceptable.

While clearly not on par with more thought out pieces and certainly underwhelming, there isn't actually something 'wrong' with Sakura Swim Club. The art is decent enough, the story, while clumsy, is not really the main focus, and the characters, while obvious recycled clichés with little deviation, are also not really bad or all that groan-worthy. The problem is that it targets a specific niche and makes no attempt to deviate from it, become deeper, or even try a bit harder. While that does keep it from becoming frustrating, it also means that it's simply flat through and through. It has one place and it is more than glad to stay there.