Messages

1

Support / Re: New patch this weekend! :D

« on: December 14, 2008, 07:04:17 am »

1.1...1?! What's different from OSX 1.1.0? i.e. what do I have to be jealous about now? =(

Also: dang man, I totally volunteer for patch testing, especially if it'll get us the map system for mods.

2

Gameplay / Re: Index of Treasures?

« on: December 09, 2008, 11:15:12 pm »

I'd love videos of the Veil (normal and icy) treasures, at the very least. I can stare at the maps all day, I still don't know how to get the cake at the top left of the veil (it's the first page of the PDF maps file). Even when I know TECHNICALLY what I need to do, seeing someone else run it would be fun.

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Gameplay / Re: Aquaria Boss Strategies

« on: December 07, 2008, 10:14:27 pm »

Bump.

4

Gameplay / Re: Miscellaneous questions

« on: December 07, 2008, 04:19:10 am »

The ironic part is that once I knew how to escape the grasp.. I fought him and didn't even need it. -.-

5

Gameplay / Re: Miscellaneous questions

« on: December 06, 2008, 02:48:19 am »

Oh my god am I pissed off. =(

Last boss, second form (standing, face off): he grabs you and I CANNOT ESCAPE. I beat him once without this happening, but then died at the final form. Now I cannot get past this second form again because he grabs, poisons, and I cannot get away. Charged shots in energy and sun form do nothing, nature form does nothing, can't get away in fish or beast form. How are you supposed to get free again?

So mad.

(Have died 3 times in a row due to just this thing. sigh.)

EDIT: Nevermind, I forgot about the boss strategies thread, which kindly points out exactly this. ;p

6

General / Re: Is this a girl game?

« on: December 04, 2008, 07:32:28 am »

Actually,  I think it's a fairly valid question.  One of my older friends who played the demo sort of wrote it off initially because he didn't get very far and was just kind of swimming around looking at pretty things.  I later expanded his view a bit, and he realized he didn't get what it was about at all.  The game gets more... severe, let's say, later on.  It maintains the same general feeling throughout, but there's plenty of action and crazy fun stuff in there, too.  Certainly a game that could appeal to females, but not prohibitively so in any capacity.  I never felt like I was playing a "chick game" at all.  I equate it more to the experiences I had playing, say, ICO or Shadow of the Colossus.  It was a very different experience.  It felt a little foreign (in a good way), and not in a sense that had anything to do with gender.

Depends on a person's gaming history, I guess. When I first booted up the demo I was thrilled; I thought it was going to be an underwater Knytt Stories. Then I got the Energy Form, and started to hope it'd be SOTC (all bosses)...

So that was a little bit of a downer; it went from pure-atmospheric exploration game, to a kind of Metroidvania shoot'em-up (see: energy form, Gradius "Option"-like pets). But on the upside there's built-in level creator, so I can still put together pure-atmospheric exploration levels if I want (and hope others do the same).

But again, I think the initial "girl game" sentiment comes from the avatar combined with the narrative, rather than the gameplay elements.

7

General / Re: Is this a girl game?

« on: December 04, 2008, 01:56:02 am »

Honestly, I got a bit of the girl-game vibe as well. This has zero to do with the gameplay and everything to do with the characterisation. No one would say Metroid's a girl game, even though the main character is female; it's just a good game. Likewise, Tomb Raider's not a girl game, but it's pretty clearly a guy game (and a terrible game, at that, mwahaha). Naija's portrayed as.. I'm not sure what age, but probably <20. The dialogue and the performance are really solidly female-oriented, probably adolescent female at that. So, I'm not talking about "girl game" in the sense of a Barbie game, or a baby-raising or horse-training game, just a game that feels like it's skewed towards a particular demographic due to both the story, and how that story is told.

This is not a bad thing! It is just a thing. The base game mechanics are pretty good, and if you took out all the dialogue it'd still be a great game (I'd say it might even be better than now .

To sum up to the original poster: I get where you're coming from and I'm inclined to agree. However! Aquaria is a very well put-together game and can and should be enjoyed by anyone, regardless of age and gender.

8

Gameplay / Re: Miscellaneous questions

« on: December 04, 2008, 12:48:20 am »

I got the sea cake recipe from getting a sea cake pretty early in the game - maybe you missed one of those bulbs where you sing to get the goods?

I had to use the treasure maps for this; turns out it's under a rock in the NW tunnels of Home Waters. I'd mapped it out before I got the Bind Song, and must not've even noticed the glow. I also don't think Sea Cake is SUPPOSED to be that rare, considering how many cake recipes there are, but.. I also think that's the only one in the whole game. -.-

I totally love the Jellyfish armor... it's not just a life saver, it's beautimous.  My favorite outfit in the entire game .  I actually really like the Jellyfish boss fight, because I just switch between beast and energy form, and eat all those baby jellies - just like someone else said.  It's like you don't ever really get hurt badly because you're always healing .

This has not been my experience. I just don't heal enough from the jellyfish to offset the constant damage. =/

Ah well. I did manage to find all the memories on my own, and even got a rukh egg.. but Frozen Veil is irritating, so now it's on to the last couple areas. =p
[/quote]

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Gameplay / Re: Simon Says Boss

« on: December 03, 2008, 05:51:49 am »

Do you get anything for beating him more than once?

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Gameplay / Re: Miscellaneous questions

« on: December 03, 2008, 02:39:17 am »

Yeah, found it. I hadn't been through that stretch of Open Waters for a long time, and had neglected to mark the current on my map. Easiest boss so far. Now to go back exploring and seeing where I can use nature and fish forms...

9) There are a bunch of yellow, spikey, jumping plants(?) in the Kelp Forest. What is their significance? They're super-easy to avoid, they don't shoot anything at you, you can't eat them (or I get hurt every time I try, at least), and they never appear to drop any items.

10) Tadpole-thingies. I found one of these in a house in Mithalas, and it attached to me and gave me constant life regeneration until I moved to the next zone. I found a small cave with more of them in the Kelp Forest, but they wouldn't attach to me in any form, and singing didn't seem to help either. Anyone know what I'm talking about? How do you get them to attach?

11) Where the heck do you find a Sea Cake?! I have five or six cake recipes. ALL of them require sea cake as a base ingredient. I have every form up to the fish now (which, incidentally, answers my question about whether or not you can have a creature form!) and have yet to find a single sea cake anywhere.

11

Gameplay / Re: Miscellaneous questions

« on: December 02, 2008, 03:16:59 am »

I don't think I've even found a Kelp Forest yet.

I'm pretty sure I've poked all around the Abyss but.. maybe not. I'm just glad I can skip the dang jellyfish; that brightens my mood considerably. =p Maybe I'll come back towards the end of the game when I've got more stuff.

Question!

"Rotten" food: is there some way to de-toxify these?

12

Gameplay / Re: Miscellaneous questions

« on: December 01, 2008, 03:41:19 pm »

You can pass steam with the spirit form you find in Mithalas.

...er? I got a Beast Form in Mithalas. Is there something else around there?

There are more things to find in the abyss besides the Jellyfish boss. You do have sun form, right?

Yes. King Jellyfish is the only thing I've found, apart from some steam-blocked areas, and some tunnels that are too small for me to go through. And I've mapped out everything else I can.

If King Jellyfish is a required boss, I think I may quit the game right now and say to hell with it. This is ridiculously hard, and I'm sick and tired of having to swim the same damn stretch over and over to get back there.

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Gameplay / Re: Miscellaneous questions

« on: December 01, 2008, 04:50:10 am »

...okay, some more.

4) What's the point of Li? When I first found him, there was a bit where it suggested he'd be used in some puzzles, but.. I've found exactly nothing so far (am now in the Abyss).

5) Is there a land or air form or costume? Two or three times now I've managed some ridiculous wall/platform jumping that.. I think I probably shouldn't have been able to. Plus I wind up finding a song plant, stuff comes out, but I can't -get- any of it because I wind up leaping halfway across the screen (and sometimes more than that, and by the time I get back UP THERE it's freaking gone.. so mad!)

6) King Jellyfish?! What the hell, man. =( It's the only objective-like thing I've found in the whole damn Abyss (aside from a place I can't pass due to steam) and he spits out a billion jellyfish and I die arghahrgahrgahrgharg.

7) How do you ride seahorses? I can interact with them, but they don't go anywhere. Costume?

14

Gameplay / Costumes

« on: November 30, 2008, 10:17:39 pm »

1) Do all costumes have effects (hidden or obvious)? I'm thinking specifically of the princess costume; I wore it around Mithalas City hoping it'd do something extra, but never seemed to.

2) If a costume says something like it provides more defense, like the crab costume, does that mean in all forms, or only in regular form when you can see the costume?

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Gameplay / Re: Miscellaneous questions

« on: November 30, 2008, 07:35:40 am »

Thanks a bunch! =D