The Gauntlet, or how to ruin a very enjoyable game

[Yachmenev]

Ok. So I bought Aquaria not really knowing what to espect. I tried the demo, and the production values seemed so good that I thought I would have to give this a go.

It turned out to be a very enjoyable game, especially in Kelp Forest and the Open Waters part.

But from time to time, I got to sections of the game where I thought the challenges weren´t suited to the game´s control scheme, like the battle with Mergog and the Frozen Vale.

Beat I skipped the optional parts, and battled through the rest of the game to try to finish it. And then I got the The Gauntlet.

A whole section based on the worst parts of Aquaria, time 10. Where they expect you to battle with the strange controls of dual form, while hurling loads of enemies on you, and doing this three times.

I have two things to say.

1. Please tell me that there is a cheat for this part, or I will never beat this game.
2. To the developers of this game, in the future when you design challenges, design those so that they are suited for the control scheme. Do  not ruin your games like this. 

[JEV3]

First thing's first, the mouse controls give you FAR more control than the keyboard controls will... additionally, unless you're using energy form, you have to aim forward anyway. Now I'll admit to bias here, this was my favorite part of the game and constantly reminded me of Touhou from the epic music to the flood of bullets.

There's no need to cheat through it, its really just a matter of getting used to the area and knowing when to charge and went to use Naija's attack. Generally, you want to save Naija's attack for areas when its really dangerous or for those wall things. It's easier (and safer) to charge Li in some situations than others. Using R to spin, you can shift between the two really easily. Lastly, it sounds like you avoided the more difficult encounters and if that includes the Jelly King, then it'll bite you in the rear. If you had defeated him, you should have earned a jellyfish costume. If you have it, then whenever you run into trouble, you press X to revert to your normal form and simply evade until you auto heal back up to 50%.

This isn't actually that far removed from some of the stuff you had to do for the bosses and enemy encounters, so you should have enough experience to survive it. If you expected this game to be a more mellow run with simple difficulty, I would think that illusion should have been broken in the Cathedral. (for me, it was the nightmare scene) I know this sounds crazy, but its generally normal for games to get really difficult near the end. The games I admire most are those that force me to really pour some effort into some of its encounters, especially the endgame.
Also, if you had trouble with that, there are a few attacks in the final boss that you're gonna hate... most of which are in his first two forms.

[Align]

I think the most important question is, what control scheme are you using? For me and my gamepad it was fairly straightforward to dodge in one direction while firing in another, but I'm pretty sure mouse+keyboard can do that as well.

[Alphasoldier]

Even IF the controls are horrible, you should have enough food by now to stroll through the gauntlet with just one hand. If you don't, go back and gather some more.

Second to that, if you were to tell me what version you have, it might be possible for me to make a trainer for the health, so you don't die.

[Zoko]

Even IF my controls are horrible, I should have enough food by now to stroll through the gauntlet with just one hand. If I don't, I just go back and gather some more.

FYT

Sounds like you've been using the keyboard. I think you would find the mouse easier to use in these kind of situations. The jelly suit is completely optional, I beat the game without it, but if you would like to get it you can. The Jelly King dies with about three dual form screams, so you should be alright. Also, you can use Nature Form cucumbers to charge the screams, which is what I did in the gauntlet when I ran into a quiet spot. Don't solely rely on screams though, energy form is just as efficient at killing enemies.

[Alphasoldier]

My sentence was just fine Zoko, thank you.

[calebj]

I played the whole game using only the keyboard controls.  The only time the mouse was good was for wall-jumping.  It did get annoying to have to move the mouse to re-aim the energy shots but i figured out if you keep it just above Naija's head than it will almost always auto-aim and hit something.  Plus, if you take one of the +2 speed soups along with a good defensive something you can do the whole thing rather quickly (except when you get stopped by the things blocking the way...)

[Zoko]

FYT = Fixed Your Typo

Frequently used as a sarcastic way of saying "This is what you really meant, right?"

Could also be read as "For Your Thoughts", since the implication is frequently interchangeable.

[Joey245]

Speaking as someone who completed the Gauntlet no less than five minutes ago, I can honestly say I had no difficulties whatsoever. Then again, I spent over a week training with Dual Form, plus I watched videos on YouTube, so that helped.

I used the Mouse/Keyboard combo, sprouted cacti in quiet areas to charge Dual Form, and used the screams sparingly, and I made it through on the first go. Granted, I probably consumed a whole Grocer's worth of food items to heal myself, but I still made it through.

 And you know what? Those twenty minutes romping through the Gauntlet was probably the best 20 minutes I had with the game. It was really enjoyable! Heck, I might go through it again! I dunno, I might.

BTW, I also found the Mutant costume! Just in case you're wondering...

Joey245 out.

[Chibi]

But from time to time, I got to sections of the game where I thought the challenges weren´t suited to the game´s control scheme, like the battle with Mergog and the Frozen Vale.

And then I got the The Gauntlet.

A whole section based on the worst parts of Aquaria, time 10. Where they expect you to battle with the strange controls of dual form, while hurling loads of enemies on you, and doing this three times.

I have two things to say.

1. Please tell me that there is a cheat for this part, or I will never beat this game.
2. To the developers of this game, in the future when you design challenges, design those so that they are suited for the control scheme. Do  not ruin your games like this. 

With all due respect, I too have two things to say:

1. Aquaria is perfectly suited to the mouse, keyboard, and/or gamepad. Though it may be painful, try to master the controls and learn to adapt to what Alec and Derek throw at you. 

2. There are many here who enjoyed the Gauntlet. A game is not ruined just because one group finds twenty minutes out of twenty hours too difficult. 

[El Bastarde]

I was looking at the discussion on the controls here and I had a question. I'm a bit confused as to how to aim my shots. I use a gamepad and it's great for movement. However, when I sit still and just fire my weapon, it always shoots from Naija's back and doesn't auto-aim at any enemies. If I slowly move the curser towards the enemy, Naija will fire the shots at the enemy normally and they auto-aim and everything but it's a lil annoying since I still have to actually MOVE Naija a little closer to the enemy which is the same direction as where I'm shooting since it seems like moving is the same as aiming. No big deal but it's a lil annoying in some rare occurances, especially when there's little room to move.

As for the difficulty discussion, I'm just glad I use a gamepad and I'm pleased that this game didn't dumb-down the difficulty to cater to the control scheme. There's too many easy Wii and DS games that are that easy because the controls are too simplistic to do any evasive manuevers and such. I'm sure many here are perfectly happy with the mouse but I can't ever imagine using a mouse when I could use a gamepad...that's just me Those not using one are missing out since the movement is SO smooth with a gamepad and avoiding enemies is definitely easier.  You don't even need a computer gamepad...just get an adapter to plug a PS or XBox controller to a USB port...they're real cheap.

[Align]

If your gamepad has 2 sticks, the second should let you aim manually.
Shots not autoaiming while still is a bug, think Alec knows of it already.

[El Bastarde]

Ah, that would explain the problem. I'm playing with an N64 controller which only has one analog stick so I'll bet it mapped the aiming and the controls to the same stick. Overall, I'll probably just play it as is and just move in the direction I want to shoot...it's not that bad at all, especially with the auto-aiming. Thanks for the help.

[Echolocating]

I spent a large portion of the early game using only the mouse. I didn't know there were keyboard controls at the time. Once I realized you could use the CTRL key, my life got a whole lot better. Seriously, spamming the right-click while double left-clicking and holding left-click to move while in energy form was a chore. I went all the way to the final boss without even knowing about the song shortcut keys (the crab thing in the bubble cave was murderous).

That said, I would have appreciated if the game additionally explained the alternate control schemes with the in-game tutorials.

I suspect the game plays very differently with a control pad. It might be worth picking one up and trying out the game again in a future play through.

[PsiPiper]

Running the gauntlet is simple if you rely on one very simple trick: use the look-around option.

IE, hold down the middle mouse button, and pan the screen over to see what's coming up ahead of you. Most creatures will not attack you until you physically come into their range, and you can pick them off at a distance with energy or dual form shots without taking a scratch.

The only foes you'll actually have to worry about are the mutants who can see you at longer-than-normal range, but there aren't that many of them through the entire gauntlet run, and you'll have time to avoid their initial shots.