 Aquaria - Fantasygame
Review: Aquaria
PC games nowadays are made with multi-million budgets and complex 3D Engines. A comparable big advertising campaign requires a big publisher which tries to influence the game development as much as possible.
That things can be done different is being shown by the independent developers of Aquaria - a 2D-underwater-fantasy game made by Bit-Blot. In times of nearly fotorealistic grafics the title is refreshingly different and shows that you can do an amazingly atmospheric and professional game with a ridiculous small amount of resources.
Aquaria tells the story of the young nixen Naija (beatifully spoken by the british actor Jenna Sharpe) who questions her heritage and "uniequeness". Therefore the female sea creature goes on a long and perilous journey, far away from her home waters and into foreign (and vast) waters. The storyline is being told on at certain points of the game and always performed in a very catchy way by using illustrations and sound. The good voiceacting in combination with the images results in a binding experience that gets you on the PC again and again - just to get to know more about Naija's past.
Wet Eyes - The Visuals
The unusual setting hits your eyes like a refreshing gush of water. Where modern games try to lure people with sophisticated but rather sterile looking 3D-Engines, Aquaria seems to be mockingly different - and very more lively at that. The game features with fantastic underwater worlds which Derek Yu conveyed in his very unique style without looking like a rip-off of comparable games. The sea is populated with various  Die erste Oberflächenberührung
Regarding optical alternation you don't feel any lack in Aquaria at any time. Ranging from green kelp forests over abandoned technical cities of long gone cultures to dark and hostile looking caves you get to see a lot. Thanks to the steadily increasing abilities and the complete freedom in exploration you find yourself visiting an old area more than once just to discover another secrets. Nice wave-, light- and reflectioneffects impressively show what's possible with a 2D-Engine.
Underwater your hearing is different - The sounDscape
Definately a big highlight in the game is the soundtrack which programmer Alec Holowka made simultaneously while programming the game. The music tracks are variedly and follow a central theme and they fit the current ingame-happenings with accurate precision. As a good soundtrack should be, the music never urges into the foreground. Nevertheless the songs stay in your memory even after switching off your PC. In result, one can only hope for a soon release of the soundtrack.
All other sound effects are pretty adapted to the underwater-setting - they are more "reserved". The storyline is being told almost exclusively by Naija's inner monologue, at which both actor and sound effects sound very professional and not annoying at any time. The fact that creators payed special attention to sound and tones as a whole gets clear as soon as you right-click: Niaja influences her surroundings and herself with sung notes according to your mouse actions.
Everything else but inert- The Gameplay
The controls of Aquaria are an easy to learn combination of mouse and keyboard. The left mousebutton determines Naija's swimming direction, the right button opens a ring menu in which you can let Naija sing by touching various symbols. By doing so you activate certain spells like a shield or completely change Naija's nature. The whole change and sing mechanism is really easy to learn and integrates into the gameplay quite well - (but) also a bit too linear and appropriate at times.
 Abwechslungsreich - hier ein Ausflug in die dunkle Tiefe
The difficulty range of the game has something for every taste. Lots of boss enemies wait for you to get rid of em. Every one of these (sometimes optional) screen-filling monsters requires a special tactics. Its on to you to find out a boss-weakness by evaluating the on screen hints. Of course your satisfaction is all the bigger once you send those biggies to the dirt and gain new abilities at that.
The fights and reaction based puzzles in Aquaria are often pretty demanding and interestingly designed. However this is the biggest flaw in the game as well: The difficulty of some areas and bosses ranges from "can be solved by children" to pretty damn hard, thus diminising the good whole impression a bit.
Result: two people, Two years - and almost flawles
What programmer Alec Holowka and artist Derek Yu created here is a reason for many full-prize titles to cower down in shame. In a 2-year cooperation which took place over the internet most of the time, Aquaria became one of the most extensive game titles in its genre that doesn't have to fear comparison to comparable games like Zelda and Metroid. Lots of awards, among those the very important "Independent Games Festival Award 07" show that Aquaria deserves the attention.
In every minute of the game you feel that the developers themselves are great fans of the genre: Every hand drawn detai of the vast underwater world looks fitting. The great soundtrack underlines the game well and can be considered as one of the best of its kind.
Despite of all its qualities also this game has its flaws. Aquaria is a very quiet title. The storyline takes time to get on and the exploration of extensive areas might not be everyone's taste. To appease most of the audience, the developers integrated lots of secrets and details. Everywhere there are things to explore and in a short timespan you can get achievements or at least see new stuff. Lots of helpful additions for fast transportation also help you to speed up Naija's exploration of her past and future thus calming down the more jerkily type of player.
Aquaria is a game that you have to "make work" on yourself. When you're open enough to it you get a refreshingly different experience which draws your attention for many MANY hours.
Rating: 9/10
Source: Exclusively on the Homepage of the developers. There's also a very good and long demo to download..
For friends of games like: Metroid, Zelda, Cave Story, Shoot-Em-Up Games
Price: 30 $
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