Bit Blot Forum
Aquaria => Gameplay => Topic started by: Zeke on June 30, 2009, 12:38:46 am
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What was it like for you when you first broke through The Veil? I remember Alec mentioning somewhere that he was particularly touched at what some players have told him about their Veil moments, but I can't seem to find that sort of thing compiled anywhere.
For me, it was just wonderfully lightening (in several ways). I had just come from trying to explore The Abyss without the Sun Form, and I had been feeling the weight of darkness and the uncountable fathoms of water and rock above me; when I entered this area, full of life and light, and saw that huge flat border on the minimap, I rushed for the surface. Naija's own experience, and my thrill of discovery and exploration, made that instant my favorite part of the game.
Incidentally, I started this thread as kind of a pet petition. See, the first time I broke through, Naija did a backflip diving up out of the water, in slow motion. On subsequent playthroughs, I was surprised to see that this wasn't a default action. Most times, you just sort of slump back into the water; it's actually really hard to do a backflip on purpose, I found. The idea of Naija bursting through into the air, arms upreached, to fall carefree into the water on her back, just strikes me as so much more in keeping with the theme of the moment. So you tell me: did you backflip, that first time? Does it make a difference? I would like to see something that makes it so if you're X degrees within being vertical when you first break the Veil, it automatically has you backflip. Since I bet most players rush at the surface head on the first time anyhow. Thoughts?
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As I watch this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LSJGBqKmGA&fmt=22), I'm reminded of how once I realized the surface was up there somewhere, I was constantly striving towards it, ever going upwards with rising...hope? And then, Naija broke through.
Didn't backflip but it was very memorable, even emotional.
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Crossing the veil is a euphemism for enlightenment, seeing the light (literally, in Naija's case); breaking through all the things that hold you back from becoming who you truly are.
Align, thank you for the link; I didn't get either cutscene when I crossed the veil (rode up with Ekkrit; didn't have beast then), so it was great to see them. I wish all the cutscenes were available on YouTube.
I especially love that beast form gives you such height in jumping out of the water, and that in turn gives such a feeling of freedom and joy. The second time I went up to the veil was best for that reason. It feels like flying, and I secretly believe that we all have flying dreams because we have forgotten how to fly; some part of us knows this. Some of the other achievements in the game involve a lot of practice, such as briar-jumping and wall-jumping. Breaking through the veil doesn't; it is instinctive; it is our natural state. Yahoo.
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Sadly my veil moment was pretty dull. Mostly just a "Neat, I reached the surface of the ocean." moment.
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I was in fish form when I went out of the water the first time. And I was not going so fast either, because I slowed down when I reached the surface (For no reason...).
So I restarted the game and jumped out of the water in normal form after that.
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Even though you kind of bumped a year old thread, I must respond myself for this is a nice thread.
My veil moment was exactly as how Naija experienced it.
The first time I went up and actually and saw that after all those everlasting never-ending depths I had swum to the surface was amazing, I jumped out gracefully and a better moment could not have been, I even got shivers at that slow-motion moment.
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I bring up this thread in my storytelling talk. (which I've had a chance to do about 3-4 times in various different places now)
:)
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Yay, we're in Alec's storytelling! ;D
I'm proud to say that I did a back flip my first time, and I was likewise awed by the moment. I was actually expecting the surface to be all the way at the top of the map, so when I jumped out it took me unexpectedly. I think this kind of added to the experience, because Naija didn't know what was going to be up there and neither did I, so we were kind of in sync like that.
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The topic title sums it up very good. The fact that there actually is a "Veil Moment" shows how special this experience is.
First kiss, first time, first own room, first earned money, Veil Moment, ... ;)
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I was rather shocked and surprised. i figured that yes, somewhere there was the surface of the ocean but i really did not expect to leap out of it the way i did. it was... refreshing, not only in the context of the story itself, but also in a wider view comparing it to other games. Lots of games have transformations or turning points, but only some have the impact and effectiveness of the "veil moment"
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I had read something about tricky jumping in the Veil while I was lurking the forums, so when I saw the name of the area I thought, "this is it." But then at first I thought the top of the map would be the surface of the water, since it was flat--so at first I was heading for that save crystal past the island to the left, following the minimap (I crash a lot, and save as much as I possibly can). So I'm swimming and swimming, hoping to get to the point, when I bump into a wall. "Okay," I thought (the surface was still just past my screen) so I did what came naturally: I swam up and to the left. In a fraction of a second I found myself breaking through the veil, going into slow motion as I was flying over the island. It made the cutscene make a little more sense because she was literally staring at a stretch of ground as she was saying it. ;)
It was so beautiful I almost cried. ^///^
And then I landed smoothly into the turtle. Ouch. ;D
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And then I landed smoothly into the turtle. Ouch. ;D
Sounds like a blooper. xD
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Too bad I didn't think to record it. The veil moment itself was quite record worthy.
eyra
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To be honest, I was too scared to do it at first. I was swimming up and suddenly see the surface line and go, "Wooooah, wait a sec, I'm not sure I want to go through there yet. I don't know if Naija breathes air. O_O;" So I chickened out for a bit, busying myself with a bit more exploration. Eventually, seeing that there was a crystal across land, I figured I had to come up sooner or later. And so I dash up and enter that flying cutscene thing, subsequently getting so giddy that I shout, "HOLY S*** THERE'S A SURFACE! THERE'S A SURFACE!!! AND THERE ARE MONKEYS!!! AND I CAN EAT THEM!!!" like a moron... xD Seriously though, it was just one of the many moments in this game that totally floored me.
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Even just making up to the large bay-style area was quite pleasing to me, although I found one on the right-side of the sun temple first. Everything was so pretty and peaceful - at least until the great big shark turned up. I think it was just after that I broke the surface - initially swimming just under and then decided to try it to see what would happen ("fish jump out - surely nothing bad"). That first break plus the next few minutes was certainly one of the more memorable moments in the game :)
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Mine kinda sucked. :(
As I entered the zone, I saw on the map that there was a surface approaching. I had a feeling it was supposed to be some awesome and beautiful breakthrough moment... only thing was, I had one hit point left and the screen was blaring deep red from all sides. I approached cautiously, reassuring myself that "there's no way they would spoil a moment like this, there's gotta be a save nearby..." and "crap crap crap I'm gonna die!" So, my breakthrough moment had me seeing red, literally. My heart sank when I saw the slow motion and everything, I could just think "damn, I totally ruined that by being all freaked out about my health, that should have been all emotional."
So yeah. I guess it was emotional, just the wrong emotions. I'm really sad I missed out, I envy you guys.
The rest of the game was awesome, though! (Except for it crashing on the final form of the last boss. :p Other than that, great!)
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I was missing sound as I entered the veil so.... :'(
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At least you saw the words on the bottom? ^^
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Justme8800, solution: Play the game again! ;)
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kornairia, solution: read above post. ^^
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My veil moment was kind of weird. I went up to the big open area and swam around for a while and then I went up. When I saw the surface I was cautious and didn't break through. I was thinking I didn't know what was up there and wasn't sure if Naija could survive out of water. I crept up to the surface and broke through and realized it was okay. Then naturally I switched to beast form and had fun jumping around all over the place.
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Justme8800, solution: Play the game again! ;)
Way ahead of you. :D
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Hmm... My Veil moment was a bit disappointing. First, I was playing on a computer that did not have speakers. Second, from past experiences, the computer's graphics suck (can play L4D on low graphics at around 10 FPS, but can't play any other Source games). Basically I was somewhat distracted, and managed to break out of the Veil by accident. I think I was more focused on what exactly the map was displaying rather than concentrating on the water level. Still, I wonder about how Naija could breath out of water (her lungs, if she had any, would be filled with water, so that wouldn't work out properly). Going further, I don't know why Li is constrained by the water level, while Naija can just still cling to a wall.
(Actually, I was sort of afraid to go into that map, as Naija previously warned of doom and gloom. Well, so much for that.)
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Once Naija waterfizes Li he's afraid of the air ^^
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The reason it's such a great storytelling moment for me is it elicits an immediate "wow" outside of a cutscene. It's sort of a "player-invented cutscene" in a way, and it works perfectly.
Just as an area for improvement, I think the area could have been planned a little around that first moment. ie; no enemies in your way towards the surface (but they come back afterwards), before the first break there's a bright light above you that gets brighter as you go higher, etc.
I wouldn't say it's up there with Braid's switch-up ending, but it was definitely cool.
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I was headed for the save point, following the bottom, figuring the surface was higher. I knew breaking through was part of the game as its in the trailers Id seen. But it was closer than I expected, surprising, and gave me a bit of a shiver. Then as I was following the bottom, I landed on dry land.
Definitely a high point in the game.
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I see this thread has been necroed before but I just had to share mine, I hope you guys don't mind it.
So I reach the veil, notice the flat part of the map and decide I have to reach it believe it to be the water level, I'm in beastform, my default from the moment I unlocked it.
I head for the save as I've reached a milestone being near the surface which leads to me breaching the surface, it slows down as the land below me starts taking up the screen, suddenly I'm fearing land may be an instant death due to the low health slow-mo I had seen many times before this point. Naija starts talking and the fear is replaced by a relaxed joy as the water becomes visible again. I take in all there is to see during this moment knowing my fears were of nothing. Sadly such a unique experience can't be recreated in new playthroughs as my fear for Naija's safety can't just come back when I reach this point again each time.
It's always a magical moment, but the first time is once in a life time.
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I don't think I was actually expecting to break through the veil. I was a little concerned about Naija being able to breathe out of the water, but I think somewhere in the back of my mind I was either expecting her to stop before she hit it, or was actually just chasing a fish that had gotten close to the surface. When she jumped out, that was definitely a "Whoa" moment for me.
Then of course, I spent a lot of time jumping all over the surface and copying the purplish-pink metaray. ^-^ After beating the game, I went over to the Ice Veil to swim around with the otters and dolphins. I have to admit, I'm a little sad the Ice Veil has so little surface area, since that big blot of land is in the middle, but it's still one of the most beautiful places in Aquaria in my opinion.
I'll admit I do have a little something for ice.
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So I'm really late and far behind everyone else but I still wanted post. There are people still discovering this really awesome game like myself and this is for just in case anymore latecomers wanted to post too.
I discovered this as an iPad app. I have beat the game and it is pretty awesome even though, from some of the posts, it seems like some of the controls are much better on a computer.
Anyway, as far as my veil moment, I saw the veil in the map and was excited about getting there so I hurried. I was excited to see what was there when I saw that it was cut off and flat at the top. But when i got there, at first I was scared and thought something might happen like she couldn't breathe out of water or she would get attacked immediately so I only approached it cautiously a few times, but then I finally decided to just go for it and I rushed to the surface. She jumped high and it was exhilarating and so cute how she did it to. It was an emotional thrill for me when I actually broke through. Loved it.
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I had actually read in a review that you could reach the surface, so I knew it was coming (even just reading in a review that the world wasn't made entirely of water was a cool moment), I just didn't know when. When I first entered the area, I noticed the flat top of the map, and thought to myself 'this must be it.' I was a bit disappointed at not being able to have that impactful surprise in my game experience, so I tried to get into the mindset of how I would think if I were being surprised and considering how this shifted the worldview of the game. So I was trying to think of this, swimming upward and regularly checking the map as I got close to the surface. However, I assumed that the top of the skybox was the surface of the water, so I thought I was a ways away from it. So even though I was expecting to hit the surface soon, I wasn't expecting it when it came into my view. When it did, everything I was thinking about went out the window and I thought 'there it is!' And then I swam to it and jumped, and while I was in the air I relaxed and just enjoyed it. I hadn't known about the slow-motion part, which was a great aspect of it, and honestly made it one of the best moments I've ever experienced in a video game.
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Haha, I totally didn't expect anything from seeing the flat top of the map @ranapuer. I'm glad your moment wasn't ruined, either way. It's definitely one of the coolest part of the game, although on my second playthrough it was slightly ruined by the fact I was jumping out onto land so it didn't have the awesome splash.
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Agree with Moons Glory. ;)
I found about existence of this game while searching "something cool to play" on Recommended Games Wiki. So i haven't read any guides/reviews/whateverelse. However, the game hasn't excited me first two hours of playing.
Yea, i expected something like a surface if i continue swam up. But i couldn't went there right after entering Open Waters (y'know, it's blocked by strong flow and steam), so i had to explore the Mithalas first. Once i gained beast form, i rushed on the full speed from this Lovecrafts nightmare to the Bright Waters. "This game can't be so brutal to send player to battle with radioactive mutants right after the Dracula's Castle. So it had to be something good", i was thinking.
My suspicions fully confirmed when i saw flat top of the map, so i was swimming as much fast as i can, avoiding freaking stars and sharks. And i jumped. And feelings of Naija became mine. And i truly loved Aquaria at this moment. I was so excited that i was leaping outta the water like a dolphin for some time.
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It's been 4 years or whatever since I ~ broke through the veil ~ and just thinking about it gave me waves of goosebumps. Yep still going on. One of the single most amazing moments in any game I've played.