Aquaria (PC, 2007)
Graphics-7.5 Sound-8 Control-7 Challenge-7 Story-6.5/4*
Level Design-7 Frustration-7.5 Fun-7 Originality-6.5
Overall Score-7
*"good"/secret ending
+
Ecco- and Metroid-inspired action adventure gameplay (less frustrating but with somewhat less immersive swimming controls than Ecco, jump between bubbles floating in mid-air similar to Ecco and Sky Blazer (SNES), during energy form combat it plays more like a free-roaming shooter)
Musical element to gameplay (similar to Loom - hit the right notes in succession to cast spells with various effects via singing - carry certain objects, projectile shield, etc.) - no rhythm requirement though (good when re-using songs since it's faster and the game doesn't pause while singing but it takes most of the musicality out of it; rhythm could've been a factor for certain parts with no immediate threat)
Can look around by holding the middle mouse button/assigned button (similar to Boktai, less smooth with a controller)
Good map feature (mini-map, shows doors/found save points (before the latter are found the direction they're in is shown on the mini-map)/teleporters and turtles/beaten boss locations, you can insert your own markers (two colors, nameable), can scroll it with the RMB)
Does a fairly good job at creating a mysterious setting and a sense of loneliness
Pretty good voice acting
Quick travel/teleportation via blue plant portals and giant turtles (need to find a turtle to travel to its location - not the case with plant portals) - not quite enough of them though
On the fly transformations (energy form - homing attack+charged homing attack/spread attack (can hover the mouse over a specific enemy or object to target it, can't sing in this form), nature form - open the blue plant portals+red plants (sometimes contain pearls/keys) and plant large thorned plants which block movement and can help with travel on land by letting you super jump (charge attack; generally you can just hop around somewhat clumsily while on land similar to clinging to walls and dashing underwater)+immunity to thorns and anemones, beast form - travel against stronger currents+jump higher out of water+dash attack enemies and eat some of them while doing so (can eat fish and certain jellyfish for health, eating enemies that shoot projectiles lets you use this projectile for a bit afterwards), fish form - move faster+avoid being attacked by some enemies+enter tiny paths+can trap some creatures in the bubbles you shoot and then bind them and carry them with you in default form (glowing jellyfishes), beat form, sun form - light dark areas and lamps (small flash light while moving and the charged spell lights up a whole screen)+see the mini-map in dark areas, spirit form - move between blue crystals+if you move close to an enemy projectile and right-click it it'll be neutralized and every 5th projectile you do this to will give you a small increase in health, dual form - merge with Li and switch between the two by rolling (Li has a new charge attack and absorbs energy which the new Naija form can then use for a strong smart bomb-like attack - nice way of showing the bond between them via gameplay mechanics); switch between forms on the fly with a button press)
Recipes let you create beneficial items with collected ingredients (healing, speed boost, etc.; similar to Wiz 'n Liz or Flink)
Good boss fights overall (5 phase final boss, they tend to incorporate some puzzle solving involving song abilities)
Dynamic auto-zoom feature (similar to Samurai Shodown) - zooms out when moving faster
Control and sound options (you can play using either a mouse or keyboard or controller however the tutorial messages assume that you're using the mouse)
Cpu-controlled pet allies (similar to mascots in MW3 or SotN) as well as a human NPC ally (Li - can order him to shoot or not, can make him stay at his home cave, love interest?)
Short in-game manual (? button in the menu)
Decent art direction (somewhat unpolished shading overall and flash animation is often used (the kind where limbs are rotating or bobbing back and forth in an artificial manner, nice artwork stills for some scenes)
Sometimes overly segmented/separated background elements)
Mini-bosses
Various neutral creatures (helps the world feel like an actual place)
Number hotkeys for the transformation songs
Some huge sprites (gigantic final boss)
Some optional bosses (these start appearing already in the first area)
Alternate ending (collect all "lost memories" hidden throughout the world)
Combine ingredients to cook/craft more effective food as well as temporary stat buffs and one use weapons (you'll find recepies scattered across the world, some foods give you temporary attacks for certain forms)
Some good puzzles (fish cave, urchin armor, whale)
Includes a level editor
Large world
Optional auto-aim (energy form shots)
Can turn while dashing
Fairly unique backstory for the villain
Some memorable locations (the body, the veil, forest, abyss)
Save point and giant turtle right before the final boss
Some sequence breaking opportunities (early spirit form - push a dark jelly fish in Mithalas city to pass through a stream, unintuitive: switch to spirit form during an area transition to make it go fast enough to pass through streams (can then save and reload at a certain save point in Mithalas city after getting spirit form to skip ahead to the beast form boss, can also pass through the heart blockades in the body in boosted spirit form), advanced: can reach the veil earlier by combining bind/pick up stone with the thorn ability of the nature form - put the thorn on a stone and carry it to ride it through the stream, super duper jump by turning from nature to fish form on land while planting a thorn beneath you - lets you enter the sun temple from above, )
+/-
A bit more non-linear than Super Metroid for example (some soft gating in the form of tougher enemies and less frequent save points, the game sometimes warns you via the narrator if you move into an area that would be tougher to do early on, )
Part of the intro and its narration tone is kind of a rip off of the Dune movie (the verse=the spice) - also an amnesia story though it's executed pretty well
Fairly frequent save points (32 save slots per game and in total (shows current location and time taken) which also heal you, sometimes placed a bit far from boss encounters though)
No direct form of attack early on (need the energy form)
Generally small sprites/zoomed out view since the game encourages moving quickly
Carried objects (and seahorses) disappear when moving between areas
Can use the singing tool to play proper melodies (8 different notes, can sustain notes) which is kinda fun and sometimes produces a visual effect on creatures but it has no effect on gameplay when not singing the various jingles you can learn
Can't access the map screen in certain parts of areas despite them being drawn on the map before entering them (each area's basic layout is drawn in when entering a new one - this is generally good and there are still surprises but it also lessens the sense of discovery a bit)
Some skippable cutscenes
Diary-style narration by the (female) protagonist - also acts as a guide at times
Fire projectiles won't light up dark rooms
Dashing/boosting takes some getting used to as you have to click away from Naija rather than double click anywhere (can also press space though)
Treasure generally has no gameplay use (just minor lore and decoration in Naija's home; one important exception is some of the armor (some have stat bonuses and one lets you ride seahorses faster and travel against currents while on them, one has a regen effect when your health dips below 50%; a few others spawn ingredients in the home cave and one gives you a third cooking slot but it's a late game item)
Minor loading time between areas
Fairly big focus on ingredient collecting (takes a bit too long to make just a 2 hp healing item or a heal poison item but the temporary stat buffs and attacks are generally good)
No penalty for killing friendly creatures
Features a made up written language (it isn't learned by the player though sadly, can change it to english in some settings file but it looks bad)
So-so mid-air control when dashing/jumping (much better underwater)
Can't lock onto more than one enemy with charge shots (see Panzer Dragoon for example)
Can't teleport from your current location to for example found save points (could've been unlocked for an area once you've beaten all bosses in it)
Can't carry pearls between areas (would screw up one or two puzzles however they could've ended up at the door between areas you last used like the glowing stone in the sun temple - the one in the whale can even disappear? charges also cancel when moving between areas)
Race mini-game (couldn't activate it?)
No shops (would've been good to trade ingredients)
Some food becomes redundant over the course of the game
No bestiary or artwork gallery
Can make the bosses quite a bit easier with patience to find the right ingredients and cook the right foods since you can hold 8 of each one
-
Some cheap hits (can get stuck inside the mini-boss in the frozen veil area (taking damage until you die), shots from off screen - can look around but it's a bit awkward to do while moving and in some situations you're shot at from multiple angles, small dark path in sun temple (plus you can get stuck bouncing off of the red crystals near the boss over and over when the tide lowers because of the short invincibility time), )
Can kill various enemies from afar without them reacting to you
Plenty of dead space (riding a seahorse helps but they're somewhat rare and can't move between areas which sucks, fish form helps a lot though it takes a few hours to get to)
Various control/interface issues (the thorn-driven super jump in nature form is too finicky about timing and placement, a bit annoying how your avatar does a loop if you keep boosting quickly (slowing you down slightly) - you can keep a higher tempo by clinging to walls and "bouncing" off of them but it's not always convenient to do so, can't "throw" a carried stone/shell, no hotkeys for the song notes? (transform songs and the first two songs have hotkeys though), can't scroll the map screen nor re-view learned songs with an XB360 controller, can't speed up dialogue on a per sentence basis, can't play or move around while viewing the zoomed out map - see Diablo etc., sometimes can't use escape or enter to confirm or go back one sub menu respectively (also can't press start to unpause with a controller), can't really aim at specific units or pearls with a controller and singing in diagonals gets annoying (XB360 pad) - projectiles also tend to prioritize the nearest target even if you do aim using the mouse but it's generally a minor issue (however if you're near a seahorse (can't fight while riding them) it might get killed and then you have to re-enter the area and backtrack to where you found it), would've been useful to be able to zoom in further on the map screen at times (home, overlapping maps), over the top audiovisual effect+slow motion when taking damage near death (can throw off your timing and is a bit distracting), somewhat sloppy hit detection when picking between areas to highlight on the map screen and somewhat unforgiving hit detection when jumping between bubbles in mid-air, can't quit using Alt+F4, can't load a game from the in-game menu (have to quit and load from the main menu), can't use the cook button with a controller?, water currents could've been pre-drawn on the map as there are a lot of them and it takes hours to get the form that lets you pass through them), can't pause Naija's monologues)
Some enemies and creatures seem to not drop anything period (even some miniboss-like ones)
Many enemies take too many hits to kill (enemies also take a bit too long to kill by dropping stones on them, ) - breaks flow
Some backtracking (can only cook/craft 3 ingredient items at stoves and they're not that common, the game doesn't change the hazards/enemies while doing it)
Some trial & error (final phase of the last boss - no clue as to how you can damage its eye after revealing it, the sunken city boss is too fast to dodge when it jumps without speed boosting food, pretty vague puzzle before the sunken city boss - have to get the kid to the door first (use nature form to lure the girl with flowers or the kid won't follow you past her - why? at least there are some flowers near her but there are no text hints), frozen veil mini-boss - no hint that you need to lure it down by throwing plants at it (which doesn't even make sense since they tend to end up next to it instead of below it), sitting/resting/riding mechanic? - right click on your avatar/the seahorse while at the right spot, some forms aren't fully explained by the game, boss patterns, )
Ingredients are a bit too scarce/spread out
Ingredient drops fall down (can fall several screens down, hp drops don't) - breaks flow a bit
The opening red plants ability of the nature form is kind of redundant (basically a variation on opening buds with song which is in itself a basic lock and key-style obstacle)
Sometimes uneven difficulty (easy parts: the second mini-boss protecting a cpu ally (the blaster) is easier than the first one, the "the veil" area besides the optional boss, the crystal cave area, )
Some music tracks are too samey
No reward for getting to the top left of the frozen veil area (similar jumping puzzle to the one at the top of the sun temple)
The "bullies" that turn into enemies before the sunken city boss respawn after beating the boss (looks like it wasn't intended)
Respawning heart blockades in the final area (a bit tedious) and the area is bit too big as well
The glowing pet ally is pretty much useless and so is ice cream (only used to make a different kind which lights up an area for a minute and a couple of weak healing items)
Naija's mother being evil was kind of a lame twist for a "good" ending and her voice actor is bad (it's also prefaced by an overly long interactive epilogue part where you just move through a long spiral shaped tunnel; after this there's a also cliffhanger scene followed by "to be continued" - lame!, this ending does kind of explain why the protagonist seems to have a darker side at least)
Tedious third phase of the final boss (just runs away from you in a dark cave and occasionally attacks ineffectively a few times)
Can't interact with the turtle king/queen nor the long-legged turtle-like creature
Bugs:
-If you sequence break to the top right of the sun temple (skip raising the water) and then go back you're teleported to the bottom right where the floating blue crystal is
-Using an XB360 controller doesn't quite work (overly touchy when singing, can't remap certain moves, see above),
Notes:
-https://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Aquaria#Essential_improvements
Level Design-7 Frustration-7.5 Fun-7 Originality-6.5
Overall Score-7
*"good"/secret ending
+
Ecco- and Metroid-inspired action adventure gameplay (less frustrating but with somewhat less immersive swimming controls than Ecco, jump between bubbles floating in mid-air similar to Ecco and Sky Blazer (SNES), during energy form combat it plays more like a free-roaming shooter)
Musical element to gameplay (similar to Loom - hit the right notes in succession to cast spells with various effects via singing - carry certain objects, projectile shield, etc.) - no rhythm requirement though (good when re-using songs since it's faster and the game doesn't pause while singing but it takes most of the musicality out of it; rhythm could've been a factor for certain parts with no immediate threat)
Can look around by holding the middle mouse button/assigned button (similar to Boktai, less smooth with a controller)
Good map feature (mini-map, shows doors/found save points (before the latter are found the direction they're in is shown on the mini-map)/teleporters and turtles/beaten boss locations, you can insert your own markers (two colors, nameable), can scroll it with the RMB)
Does a fairly good job at creating a mysterious setting and a sense of loneliness
Pretty good voice acting
Quick travel/teleportation via blue plant portals and giant turtles (need to find a turtle to travel to its location - not the case with plant portals) - not quite enough of them though
On the fly transformations (energy form - homing attack+charged homing attack/spread attack (can hover the mouse over a specific enemy or object to target it, can't sing in this form), nature form - open the blue plant portals+red plants (sometimes contain pearls/keys) and plant large thorned plants which block movement and can help with travel on land by letting you super jump (charge attack; generally you can just hop around somewhat clumsily while on land similar to clinging to walls and dashing underwater)+immunity to thorns and anemones, beast form - travel against stronger currents+jump higher out of water+dash attack enemies and eat some of them while doing so (can eat fish and certain jellyfish for health, eating enemies that shoot projectiles lets you use this projectile for a bit afterwards), fish form - move faster+avoid being attacked by some enemies+enter tiny paths+can trap some creatures in the bubbles you shoot and then bind them and carry them with you in default form (glowing jellyfishes), beat form, sun form - light dark areas and lamps (small flash light while moving and the charged spell lights up a whole screen)+see the mini-map in dark areas, spirit form - move between blue crystals+if you move close to an enemy projectile and right-click it it'll be neutralized and every 5th projectile you do this to will give you a small increase in health, dual form - merge with Li and switch between the two by rolling (Li has a new charge attack and absorbs energy which the new Naija form can then use for a strong smart bomb-like attack - nice way of showing the bond between them via gameplay mechanics); switch between forms on the fly with a button press)
Recipes let you create beneficial items with collected ingredients (healing, speed boost, etc.; similar to Wiz 'n Liz or Flink)
Good boss fights overall (5 phase final boss, they tend to incorporate some puzzle solving involving song abilities)
Dynamic auto-zoom feature (similar to Samurai Shodown) - zooms out when moving faster
Control and sound options (you can play using either a mouse or keyboard or controller however the tutorial messages assume that you're using the mouse)
Cpu-controlled pet allies (similar to mascots in MW3 or SotN) as well as a human NPC ally (Li - can order him to shoot or not, can make him stay at his home cave, love interest?)
Short in-game manual (? button in the menu)
Decent art direction (somewhat unpolished shading overall and flash animation is often used (the kind where limbs are rotating or bobbing back and forth in an artificial manner, nice artwork stills for some scenes)
Sometimes overly segmented/separated background elements)
Mini-bosses
Various neutral creatures (helps the world feel like an actual place)
Number hotkeys for the transformation songs
Some huge sprites (gigantic final boss)
Some optional bosses (these start appearing already in the first area)
Alternate ending (collect all "lost memories" hidden throughout the world)
Combine ingredients to cook/craft more effective food as well as temporary stat buffs and one use weapons (you'll find recepies scattered across the world, some foods give you temporary attacks for certain forms)
Some good puzzles (fish cave, urchin armor, whale)
Includes a level editor
Large world
Optional auto-aim (energy form shots)
Can turn while dashing
Fairly unique backstory for the villain
Some memorable locations (the body, the veil, forest, abyss)
Save point and giant turtle right before the final boss
Some sequence breaking opportunities (early spirit form - push a dark jelly fish in Mithalas city to pass through a stream, unintuitive: switch to spirit form during an area transition to make it go fast enough to pass through streams (can then save and reload at a certain save point in Mithalas city after getting spirit form to skip ahead to the beast form boss, can also pass through the heart blockades in the body in boosted spirit form), advanced: can reach the veil earlier by combining bind/pick up stone with the thorn ability of the nature form - put the thorn on a stone and carry it to ride it through the stream, super duper jump by turning from nature to fish form on land while planting a thorn beneath you - lets you enter the sun temple from above, )
+/-
A bit more non-linear than Super Metroid for example (some soft gating in the form of tougher enemies and less frequent save points, the game sometimes warns you via the narrator if you move into an area that would be tougher to do early on, )
Part of the intro and its narration tone is kind of a rip off of the Dune movie (the verse=the spice) - also an amnesia story though it's executed pretty well
Fairly frequent save points (32 save slots per game and in total (shows current location and time taken) which also heal you, sometimes placed a bit far from boss encounters though)
No direct form of attack early on (need the energy form)
Generally small sprites/zoomed out view since the game encourages moving quickly
Carried objects (and seahorses) disappear when moving between areas
Can use the singing tool to play proper melodies (8 different notes, can sustain notes) which is kinda fun and sometimes produces a visual effect on creatures but it has no effect on gameplay when not singing the various jingles you can learn
Can't access the map screen in certain parts of areas despite them being drawn on the map before entering them (each area's basic layout is drawn in when entering a new one - this is generally good and there are still surprises but it also lessens the sense of discovery a bit)
Some skippable cutscenes
Diary-style narration by the (female) protagonist - also acts as a guide at times
Fire projectiles won't light up dark rooms
Dashing/boosting takes some getting used to as you have to click away from Naija rather than double click anywhere (can also press space though)
Treasure generally has no gameplay use (just minor lore and decoration in Naija's home; one important exception is some of the armor (some have stat bonuses and one lets you ride seahorses faster and travel against currents while on them, one has a regen effect when your health dips below 50%; a few others spawn ingredients in the home cave and one gives you a third cooking slot but it's a late game item)
Minor loading time between areas
Fairly big focus on ingredient collecting (takes a bit too long to make just a 2 hp healing item or a heal poison item but the temporary stat buffs and attacks are generally good)
No penalty for killing friendly creatures
Features a made up written language (it isn't learned by the player though sadly, can change it to english in some settings file but it looks bad)
So-so mid-air control when dashing/jumping (much better underwater)
Can't lock onto more than one enemy with charge shots (see Panzer Dragoon for example)
Can't teleport from your current location to for example found save points (could've been unlocked for an area once you've beaten all bosses in it)
Can't carry pearls between areas (would screw up one or two puzzles however they could've ended up at the door between areas you last used like the glowing stone in the sun temple - the one in the whale can even disappear? charges also cancel when moving between areas)
Race mini-game (couldn't activate it?)
No shops (would've been good to trade ingredients)
Some food becomes redundant over the course of the game
No bestiary or artwork gallery
Can make the bosses quite a bit easier with patience to find the right ingredients and cook the right foods since you can hold 8 of each one
-
Some cheap hits (can get stuck inside the mini-boss in the frozen veil area (taking damage until you die), shots from off screen - can look around but it's a bit awkward to do while moving and in some situations you're shot at from multiple angles, small dark path in sun temple (plus you can get stuck bouncing off of the red crystals near the boss over and over when the tide lowers because of the short invincibility time), )
Can kill various enemies from afar without them reacting to you
Plenty of dead space (riding a seahorse helps but they're somewhat rare and can't move between areas which sucks, fish form helps a lot though it takes a few hours to get to)
Various control/interface issues (the thorn-driven super jump in nature form is too finicky about timing and placement, a bit annoying how your avatar does a loop if you keep boosting quickly (slowing you down slightly) - you can keep a higher tempo by clinging to walls and "bouncing" off of them but it's not always convenient to do so, can't "throw" a carried stone/shell, no hotkeys for the song notes? (transform songs and the first two songs have hotkeys though), can't scroll the map screen nor re-view learned songs with an XB360 controller, can't speed up dialogue on a per sentence basis, can't play or move around while viewing the zoomed out map - see Diablo etc., sometimes can't use escape or enter to confirm or go back one sub menu respectively (also can't press start to unpause with a controller), can't really aim at specific units or pearls with a controller and singing in diagonals gets annoying (XB360 pad) - projectiles also tend to prioritize the nearest target even if you do aim using the mouse but it's generally a minor issue (however if you're near a seahorse (can't fight while riding them) it might get killed and then you have to re-enter the area and backtrack to where you found it), would've been useful to be able to zoom in further on the map screen at times (home, overlapping maps), over the top audiovisual effect+slow motion when taking damage near death (can throw off your timing and is a bit distracting), somewhat sloppy hit detection when picking between areas to highlight on the map screen and somewhat unforgiving hit detection when jumping between bubbles in mid-air, can't quit using Alt+F4, can't load a game from the in-game menu (have to quit and load from the main menu), can't use the cook button with a controller?, water currents could've been pre-drawn on the map as there are a lot of them and it takes hours to get the form that lets you pass through them), can't pause Naija's monologues)
Some enemies and creatures seem to not drop anything period (even some miniboss-like ones)
Many enemies take too many hits to kill (enemies also take a bit too long to kill by dropping stones on them, ) - breaks flow
Some backtracking (can only cook/craft 3 ingredient items at stoves and they're not that common, the game doesn't change the hazards/enemies while doing it)
Some trial & error (final phase of the last boss - no clue as to how you can damage its eye after revealing it, the sunken city boss is too fast to dodge when it jumps without speed boosting food, pretty vague puzzle before the sunken city boss - have to get the kid to the door first (use nature form to lure the girl with flowers or the kid won't follow you past her - why? at least there are some flowers near her but there are no text hints), frozen veil mini-boss - no hint that you need to lure it down by throwing plants at it (which doesn't even make sense since they tend to end up next to it instead of below it), sitting/resting/riding mechanic? - right click on your avatar/the seahorse while at the right spot, some forms aren't fully explained by the game, boss patterns, )
Ingredients are a bit too scarce/spread out
Ingredient drops fall down (can fall several screens down, hp drops don't) - breaks flow a bit
The opening red plants ability of the nature form is kind of redundant (basically a variation on opening buds with song which is in itself a basic lock and key-style obstacle)
Sometimes uneven difficulty (easy parts: the second mini-boss protecting a cpu ally (the blaster) is easier than the first one, the "the veil" area besides the optional boss, the crystal cave area, )
Some music tracks are too samey
No reward for getting to the top left of the frozen veil area (similar jumping puzzle to the one at the top of the sun temple)
The "bullies" that turn into enemies before the sunken city boss respawn after beating the boss (looks like it wasn't intended)
Respawning heart blockades in the final area (a bit tedious) and the area is bit too big as well
The glowing pet ally is pretty much useless and so is ice cream (only used to make a different kind which lights up an area for a minute and a couple of weak healing items)
Naija's mother being evil was kind of a lame twist for a "good" ending and her voice actor is bad (it's also prefaced by an overly long interactive epilogue part where you just move through a long spiral shaped tunnel; after this there's a also cliffhanger scene followed by "to be continued" - lame!, this ending does kind of explain why the protagonist seems to have a darker side at least)
Tedious third phase of the final boss (just runs away from you in a dark cave and occasionally attacks ineffectively a few times)
Can't interact with the turtle king/queen nor the long-legged turtle-like creature
Bugs:
-If you sequence break to the top right of the sun temple (skip raising the water) and then go back you're teleported to the bottom right where the floating blue crystal is
-Using an XB360 controller doesn't quite work (overly touchy when singing, can't remap certain moves, see above),
Notes:
-https://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Aquaria#Essential_improvements