I have found a word describing Aquaria's ending

[Alec]

I wouldn't change much, and I don't think Derek would either. We both worked really hard to get the game to a point where it was something that we both really liked.

That said, its a company and we're trying to "sell products" - we have to go the distance to make sure that our audience is entertained.

The intersection of those two things is what can make it confusing sometimes, at least for me.

Ultimately if Derek and I can't make the games we want, then we might as well get regular industry jobs - so I think I'm going to stick to what I think works.

[Derek]

When someone gives this game 9/10, stop worrying about what you could do to make it 10/10. Instead, be proud of your job at getting the 9.

I think this is pretty sage.  We (as in, developers, all of them)  need to enjoy what we've got going for us.  Not put a deaf ear to people's criticisms, by any means, but... at this point I'm happy with the game, I love it, we've won the most prestigious award in independent gaming, we've gotten some great reviews.  I think we can be convinced that we did something good.

And if people are nitpicking the game, then it means the game is significant to them.  I'd much rather people either loved or hated (or loved and hated) the game, rather then the alternative!

[Gotcha!]

Ultimately if Derek and I can't make the games we want, then we might as well get regular industry jobs - so I think I'm going to stick to what I think works.

*thumbs up* 

[Alec]

Yeah, that means its nearly time for the Mac beta then. Yay.

[Alec]

Also, here's a new world map screen with new art from Derek:

[Glamador]

Ooooo...me likey.  I'd make the map stand out slightly more from the backdrop however...I can see some things getting confused.

[RobertWalker]

I'm with Glamador: It's pretty schweet, but I'd increase the opacity.

Actually, it'd be dang cool if you could apply a blur effect to the in-game screen while the map is overlaid over it! Say what you want about Windows Vista, the "glass" effect is translucency in a user interface done right.

[Xiagan]

Awesome!

Mac beta? Awesome too! Seeing that I gave my brother a gift certificate for Christmas for it.

[Fearless Son]

I enjoyed the secret ending.  I love it when a game throws you a "curveball element" like that.  I like the way that the strange opening cutscene seems like a non-sequitor until you reach the endboss, and I certainly appreciate the hints of a sequel. 

If there was anything that I would ask for, it would simply be a gamma/brightness adjustment option.  I play on an older CRT moniter and its brightness is not what it used to be, so I need some software-side aids to get it to look as nice as it is meant to. 

But do you know the real reason why I enjoy this game so much?  Because of love.  With a game like this, it is clear that a lot of love went into its creation, and that makes it beautiful in my eyes.  So many games out there feel like they were tailored to fit the lowest common demoninator, try to appeal to too much of the maket at a time, and in the end feel all the more bland and souless because of it.  But a game that is built not on the basis of market demand but on the basis of the developer's love for it, well when such love is apparent that love tends to become infectious.  When the creators of a title put their love into a game, I am inclined to love it as well, and that is certainly the case with Aquaria. 

[Zixinus]

Regarding the left/right brain thing:

Mental abilities are absolutely separated into the left and right cerebral hemispheres: Some mental functions such as speech and language (cf. Broca's area, Wernicke's area) tend to be localized to specific areas in one hemisphere. If one hemisphere is damaged at a very early age however, these functions can often be recovered in part or even in full by the other hemisphere. Other abilities such as motor control, memory, and general reasoning are spread equally across the two hemispheres. See lateralization of brain function.

[ncd]

Well, finally finished the game with both endings. And I bought it pretty much when it came out

My reaction is.... so when's the sequel? I LOVED it! A perfect game if there ever was one.

However, I don't have any of the peeves that you mentioned except I do have one thing to say -  it would nice to be able to see the endings again without having to fight the Creator all over again. I could understand most of the things that was going on, but by the time you get to Mia, it all happens so fast.

One thing that I wondered, after the fist ending, when you are going down the spiral cave, if you die from bumping into those spiky vine things, do you die and get a game over and have to fight the boss again to get there again? I wasn't really willing to try this.

[Alphasoldier]

I think you do. :p
Seeing you have to continue from a saved game, and there are no save games after the boss.

[Aërendyll]

Maybe someone can record the ending and put it up for download? Of course there'll be impatient gamers that'll misuse this, but it's nice for people who've played through the game fully to see the ending again. I'm sure there are pieces of the puzzle that'll fit better like this.

Saying that, I might even try to record the ending myself, once I get to it.

[Ubik]

As much as I love this game, I have to admit that the secret ending hit me like a lead pipe to the stomach. You don't get a whole lot of implications of Mia's true nature before finally meeting her, and after overcoming the epic scale and conflict of the rest of the game it's like a needle pricking a balloon - the exhiliration and accomplishment of the ending just suddenly gets deflated.

HOWEVER, only a game that's engrossing, well-designed and emotionally powerful can instill that kind of reaction in the first place, and it's a testament to Aquaria's quality that the ending instills such passionate reactions in people. I think it's a wonderful accomplishment to be able to do that, and I wouldn't ask the creators to change a thing about it. Hell, it's their creation - who am I to say how their vision should have turned out?

As for the negative feedback mentioned earlier in the thread, there's no way any creator can satisfy every last request and dissatisfaction in the user base: Everybody has different tastes, and looks for different things in their games and other experiences. Looking for general, overall trends in feedback is the best way to gauge people's reactions to the game, and even then I wouldn't ask developers to betray their original vision just because a bunch of 12 year-olds want another Halo or something. As important as it is to create a great experience for the audience, you can't be entirely subordinate to them, and I think that part of indie gaming is to make something that satisfies you just as much as it does your audience.

Some of the feedback listed was pretty egregiously misguided and impolite, as well. One specific one that irritated me was #14, IGN's dismissal of the game's music. As somebody who's part of the game remixing community and knows several musicians within the game industry itself, it's pretty much a universally accepted point that no mainstream video game site knows or cares a damn thing about music within games. It's entirely a peripheral thing to them, and most reviewers only mention the music grudgingly or condescendingly. Except possibly for more indie game sites, I wouldn't take a damn thing they say about video game music seriously. I actually thought Aquaria's soundtrack was a wonderful change of pace from the generic nü-metal of FPS games and JRPG soundtracks that may as well have been cloned from a vat. Besides, IGN and the like are subordinate to the ad revenue of their sponsors - we're not.

[Alec]

As much as I love this game, I have to admit that the secret ending hit me like a lead pipe to the stomach. You don't get a whole lot of implications of Mia's true nature before finally meeting her, and after overcoming the epic scale and conflict of the rest of the game it's like a needle pricking a balloon - the exhiliration and accomplishment of the ending just suddenly gets deflated.

Yeah, I think that was the intent.

I'm a fan of Battlestar Galactica, so I guess I like harsh twists that surprise and/or mess with you a bit... as long as they're believable, fit within the context of the world and don't cop out. (i.e. don't do something interesting and then pull the "its all a dream BS")

For example, there's one part in BSG where the whole story jumps ahead a year. Instead of returning to normal, the format of the whole show changes and all the characters change because they've lived a year that you haven't seen.

It was always the plan that Mia had ulterior motives. As mentioned above, we had little scenes with her planned that didn't make it to the final version.

So yeah, the ending of Aquaria is a kick to the nuts, a kick to the nuts that is setting up the next game which would continue the story in an awesome way.