Beach Bounce was the second game developed and published by Dharker Studio, back in the summer of 2015. Since then, the game has been “remastered”, to improve several things, and it surely did.
Summer is almost at its peak, so we’ve decided to revisit Beach Bounce, and let our readers know one of the hottest games on Steam!
Beach Bounce is the first game of the Bounce Series. Two other games are available, Beauty Bounce released in February of 2017, and Bunny Bounce, released in March of the same year.
In Beach Bounce we take the role of Tomoyo Oshiro, a young man who receives an invitation to be of assistance at his grandmother business, a resort named Beach Bounce. Poor granny Umi is sick and she knows time is the essence, not only for her business, but for young Tomoyo as well, who dropped out of college, and his future is not the most certain when comes to relationships either.
Will you choose the responsible path, working hard and improving the resort, or will Tomoyo fail his duties and become a disappointment to his grandmother?
Beach Bounce it’s a dating simulator at its core, but the story progression has the perfect fluid of interest and arousal to keep one following the events, and simultaneously, waiting for the next big naughty scene.
Despite the simplicity of the main plot, it shouldn’t be underestimated, as each character adds interesting revelations about themselves, their lives at the resort, and their personal problems. Some of those stories entwined and thus creating an even deeper story development, with a well written plot. The narrative is perfectly aligned with the different endings, providing a solid experience.
Beach Bounce is not entirely about dating, as there are several options that can lead the player to a rough path, and there are plenty of bad endings. Eleven, to be more precise. That’s how easy one can fail, but if you think that number is impressive, we can tell you more. There are four good endings, and four more odd endings. This makes Beach Bounce consisting of almost twenty different endings, in which half that number ends with special cutscenes.
For those new to Visual Novels, Good Endings mean the player usually succeed on a specific path, whereas the Bad Endings it's clearly a game-over. Odd Endings, however, are definitely fan service for those looking for odd extras, in this particular case, it’s connected to specific romantic endings, where the player can achieve a multiple-partner relationship!
In Beach Bounce, bad endings results in the ultimate failure to run this well renowned resort, and therefore in a game-over.
Although there are no strategic elements, there is a tremendous amount of choices that actually matters. Over twenty choices determine who the player will date, and what ending accomplishes. These choices are tied to the future of the resort as well, so one must choose wisely, and let his common sense dictate what's the best approach for each situation.
But not everything is a burden for Tomoyo, as we’re granted a free roaming status, which means we can select what area to visit and consequently what character to visit or hang with. This determines how the player spends his duties, preferences and overall goals towards the main story.
Artistically, Dharker Studio went with an anime style, but under a western approach for characters, avoiding typical anime renders, therefore adding their own characteristic visual mark, that would later serve as a reference for some of their future games.
Across the seven possible dates, each girl has the appropriate style based on their personality, and current emotion. This means the renders show different facial and body expressions, even if minimal, such as blinking, sadness, happiness, and others. This is a nice detail, not always presented in Visual Novels, with this amount of detail.
During your stay in this top-resort, duties come along with pleasure, and there are some interesting characters to meet, based on your preferences. Mysterious Yuuki, the receptionist whom preferences might surprise you. Mineko, the shy blond and cute girl that will most certainly conquer your heart. The cold hearted Rein, that’s actually a sweetie when you get to meet her. Aiko the expert in volleyball girl that will make you into sports, even though you’re a nerd at heart. Sakura that will make your head spin with craziness, and even a couple more temptations that are best kept in secret for those yet to play Beach Bounce.
Your preferences are everything, and when design choices come, Dharker Studio team sure did everything you could ask for in character development and diversity, to appeal your inner interests. Not only visually, but emotionally, as each girl portraits a very distinctive personality, and every single player will undoubtedly feel more attracted to a specific mentality. This is indeed a Dating Visual Novel done right!
Backgrounds are also an important piece of art, and they overflow with peaceful sceneries, relaxing outdoor landscapes and through simple handwork they provide fantastic settings for the action at hands. One can easily resemble any part of the world where Beach Bounce belongs, aiming at worldwide audiences.
Each map section can have multiple backgrounds, all very adequate, thus delivering the right amount of scenery even for those looking into the uncensored version of the game.
Day and Night cycles do not affect the backgrounds unfortunately, and that’s pretty much the only thing we’ve left desiring the most, since the resort looks amazing during the day, we wonder how would look under the night sky, or through festivity lights.
To further enjoy Beach Bounce, the adult patch can be downloaded directly through Dharker Studio official website, using Google Drive or Dropbox to download and apply the patch.
New content becomes available, where romantic moments are pushed to another level. We’re talking about pure sexually explicit scenes, with different positions in which the player can also interact and choose how and where to proceed things with the characters.
As it stands, the adult patch adds premiere content to the game that considerably extends the experience. Doesn’t unlock extra achievements on Steam, but unlocks images on the in-game galleries, and they are always pleasant to unlock.
Going through this frisky summer adventure is particularly good if in-game music is turned on. Created by Sam L Jones, the official Beach Bounce soundtrack features 25 unique tracks that flow between electric and synthwave pop tunes, with the occasional riffs and bass solos, that will absolutely bring your spirit up with these fantastic happy and melodic sounds.
Fear not, as gloomy scenes have their own slow piano tracks to go with the mood, but since this is a very happy game, you’ll most enjoy the cheerful beats. Definitely one of the best soundtracks for a Visual Novel, and with an appropriated price, it’s almost irresistible not grabbing it.
Beach Bounce is the perfect example of an Indie Developer creating a fantastic product with available tools, through dedication and passion for erotic narrative, with the right amount of fantasy, drama and humour!
A game about choices, with high doses of entertainment content and fantastic multiple endings that will make you go back to uncover even more endings!