I love this game

[Malidictus]

I realise it might feel silly for me to register an account basically just to post this, but it's been a while, and I feel I really need to say it: I love Aquaria. For my money, it's one of the best games I've ever played, and easily better than the big-name money black holes that still end up mediocre, at best.

I played Aquaria quite a while ago and managed to finish it, but because it is a large, lengthy game, I've been putting off replaying it since. Playing it over again over the last few days, I was just reminded of what I was missing. As I've been telling practically anyone who will listen (along with a bunch of people who wouldn't), this game is an experience like practically no other. I really enjoy the atmosphere, the utter, striking beauty of the ocean and the truly breath-taking music that ties it all together. While I could be a jerk and pick on specific subsystems or design decisions (I hate resource gathering in games - my own thing), when I actually sit down to play Aquaria, none of those things seem to matter. The game just takes my breath away no matter where I go and what I do. It's just a remarkable experience, and one that, quite a bit time down the road, I realise has actually affected me and the way I write my own fiction.

It is said that if a good game is one that you play and enjoy, then a great game is one which changes you when you are done with it. A good game entertains, but a great game inspires. And Aquaria is, without a doubt, a truly great game, especially in this regard. I figured out pretty much all of the puzzles the last time I played it, and even so the game clocked me at 16 hours and 24 minutes right at the last crystal, and I STILL loved every minuted of it, even the heedless backtracking clear across the world just to have a look in that one secret area I needed light to see in. Yeah, I'll admit that, as I battled my way through the final gauntlet, I kept thinking "Good God! How much more is there?!?" but even so, as soon as I was done with the big bad, I almost started it all over again. And, in my humble opinion, any game which can eat up A FULL THREE DAYS of my life and have me itching to just do it all over again can't be anything less than amazing.

There's only one thing in the entire game that really, really bugs me, and it can be expressed in three simple words: "To Be Continued." Argh! I checked, and I didn't see a sequel for sale. And it's eating at me! I love the story of Aquaria, I love the settings, I love the attention to detail, the staggeringly huge world and the breath-taking atmosphere (no pun intended). I can only imagine how wondrous a sequel to this story would be... But it doesn't exist. Not yet, anyway. But I'm a patient man. I can wait. If I could wait for, like, 20 years for Soul Reaver 2 to be released, I can wait for a sequel to a game as great as this one. But I'm definitely looking forward to it.

As far as a point to this... I'm not really sure. It's just something I wanted to share.

[Chibi]

I get a warm, fuzzy feeling when I read this kind of review.  Sorry to disappoint you, but a sequel does not appear very likely. Alec and Derek are already up to their elbows in other projects. Alec joined/founded a developer team called InfiniteAmmo. They're making a three-dimensional game named Marian that Alec considers to be a spiritual successor to Aquaria in many ways.

[Malidictus]

Yeah, I was kind of afraid of that. It's been what... A year now? I didn't really think as much about Aquaria the first time I played it, because I play a lot of games once, and this was one of the better ones. Very, VERY few games, however, do I play twice, and reminding myself what kind of emotional experience this was kind made me wish for more. I don't suppose there are any extra mods to sort of close things off at the end? I'm generally very reluctant to try user-made mods as a rule of thumb after getting soured on the sheer mass of bad stuff people made for the original Half-Life, but I keep thinking back to Portal's Flash Portal mod which, in some ways, outperformed the actual game, and that was player-made. I had a brief look through the available mods and I did spot a prequel which sounded cool, but I didn't see a sequel. And, to be honest, I have a hard time imagining someone presuming to write one, but that's just idle speculation on my part.

For what it's worth, though, I still love Aquaria. Even with a cliffhanger ending, I can kind of fudge some closure out of the ending we do get. I don't want to drop any spoilers for no reason, so suffice it to say that I can spin the ending we got as the boy learning vital information that would help him later on and call that a decisive resolution. See, that's the sign of a great game - when I can look at something I may not necessarily like as much as I could and try to think of reasons why I should like it anyway. If I like the game too much to let any one single thing sour me on it, that's the sign of a good title.

I don't really want to turn myself into a pariah by presuming here, but hearing about a 3D spiritual successor to Aquaria puts me in an odd position. One of the great things I feel Aquaria has going for it is its striking simplicity both in design and gameplay, as well as the utter beauty of its matte backgrounds. Now, I'm well aware that 3D can be made to look gorgeous, and even though it will always lack the certain feel of drawn artwork, it can make up the difference. But any time you add three-dimensional movement, and free-range movement, no less, you add a ton of extra complication, from complex controls to the need for camera control, and that just elevates these projects to a whole other level that doesn't always pan out. Of course, Aquaria as a basic concept is a game that was behind the 8ball all the way and that turned out GRRRATE! so I really don't know if I should be worrying.

In any event, I'll definitely be replaying Aquaria in the time to come. At some point when I get more free time, because it REALLY tends to eat into my work hours when I get going, and that can be potentially hazardous to my job

[Nava]

As someone extremely close to the project of Marian, I have to say....
I'm really stoked about Marian because I think it has immense potential to surpass Aquaria in every way.... which I'm sure we all realize is a difficult thing to do.
I don't know if I'm allowed to say this, but it will not have free-range 3-D movement. We're still on an indie budget and aren't trying to do anything beyond our scope
And it will (and already does) have amazing artwork, please have no fears about that!

Short form: have faith! It may not be Aquaria 2, but it is a beautiful, ornate, fascinating story in an amazing world. Think Aquaria's prettier and more mature older sister. 

[Malidictus]

Hmm... You know, that actually sounds pretty exciting. About the biggest monkey in 3D games is free-range 3D movement, and sticking to 2D movement in a 3D world actually sounds like a really good idea. Practically every game I've seen that does this has been pretty good, and I'm even going to quite simplistic ones like Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project. That was about as base as such games get, and it was still pretty good. Any game that harkens back to the glory days of side scrollers earns my vote of confidence just on basic concept. Will look forward to this one, then, definitely.

As far as Aquaria goes, it still saddens me that a sequel isn't coming. It generally bugs me when a game ends on a "To be continued" note, specifically since I'm never sure if it will be. A trilogy that's already being made, like say Lord of the Rings, or a TV series, that I can deal with, but a standalone game... I don't know. It's kind of the F.E.A.R. phenomenon - a cliffhanger ending when no only did Monolith not know if they'll make a sequel, but ended up losing the rights to the franchise. Oops! And you'd think F.E.A.R. 2 would actually end, but no! They pull pretty much the exact same ending. And I'd bet dollars to doughnuts we won't see a F.E.A.R. 3, because that concept was expended mid-way through the sequel, and all the terrible expansion packs only served to highlight the problem.

It saddens me that the game ends on a cliffhanger, but again - I won't let that ruin it for me. As I said, a large part of the game is a spiritual experience and that alone is enough to sell it to me. Plot is more than welcome, and I must admit that what plot there is is great, but that really isn't the central point, not from what I can tell. Beautiful scenery, amazing ambience and both literal and metaphorical immersion make this game so great, and that's what I really want out of it. To be honest, I think game developers in general just miss a massive opportunity by not exploring games set in entirely underwater worlds. And I don't mean human stories that just happen to be placed underwater like Finding Nemo. I mean something on the order of James Cameron's The Abyss, that kind of alien world full of wonder and mystery, so unfamiliar and even frightening. That's actually a lot of what sells your basic Fantasy setting - the notion that just beyond that mountain in the distance or deep beneath the earth, strange and wonderful secrets may lie. The ocean is the last place left on Earth where we can find that, and no-one ever bothers with it. I can count the games and movies that even explore the concept at all on the fingers of one hand, and even then if I go 15 years back or more.

Modern day gaming lacks this sense of mystery and scenery. Everything is always either totally badass or total bloody gory horror. Even something like Silent Hill and Resident Evil, which originally sold on their creepy atmosphere have been turned into hack-n-slash shooters, and that's a disservice to gaming in general. In this regard, I'm glad that indie game designers, and especially the folks behind Aquaria, are able to see this and seize the opportunity to make a truly meaningful game, rather than following suit with soulless corporations like EA and just tossing manours in the same recycled themes. I love Aquaria for what it represents - that you can make a great game even if you don't have the budget of a small country, and that creativity, imagination and hard work matter more than established franchises or big-name backing. I know big gaming companies are still too busy making BloodGun 4 and The Return of the Revenge of the Popular Racing game and Yet Another Fifa Like We Didn't Have Enough and they won't change. But that's OK. I don't need a hundred mediocre games that seem to have been made by robots. All I want is ONE good game that I can keep replaying, and Aquaria is that game.

And again, I'm sorry if I keep on rambling like this, but I really love this game, and I'd REALLY love to see more of it

[Chibi]

Couldn't agree with you more, but if I quoted you for truth I'd have to start a new page...  Valve makes the best first-person shooters, BTW. The quality of the games is the icing on a bloody, witty, and/or nonexistent cake. 

That last point is a reference to Portal's "The cake is a lie" meme.

[Malidictus]

Interestingly, having replayed Aquaria, I'm starting to notice how other games really tried to get a good, emotional atmosphere going and really, REALLY failed through a collection of problems. Just today, I finished Metro 2033, and while I could tell it was supposed to be a surreal experience of desperation and disillusionment, it really didn't end up that way. Just the mere fact that sticking the nazi in any game not taking place during WW2 basically discredits your setting just on its face is working against it, but by and large, it's just a linear "by the nose" driven shooter with monsters and some psychedelic visions. Now, ghosts and visions can make a good game great. As it stands, it just makes a bad game pretentious. And, thinking back to my experiences with Aquaria, it occurs to me why that is.

Let's look at a couple of games that do settings and feel right - Aquaria (obviously) and Half-Life 2. In both games, you have a set, established world that has a lot of philosophical and psychological messages to say, and the bulk of the game basically puts you alone against that world for you to explore, observe and experience it. In Half-Life 2, you spend much of Freeman's career alone, just seeing what has become of the world, and though you do have a lot more personal interaction with established characters than in the original, those are still specific scenes and they end up sending you out on your own once again, anyway. Aquaria is an even more extreme example. It basically gives you a vast world and tells you "Go ahead! Explore! Feel your environment." Neither game expressly describes the world or tells you what you should feel. It just shows you, and lets you make the decision. And this is where they succeed. A great environment, expertly crafted and NOT interrupted by guided tours is what makes a world come alive. This doesn't have to mean sandbox, mind you. Even a linear path through the environment counts, as long as you don't have someone yelling at you to go do this, go do that and stop wasting your time looking at rocks!

It is, to some extent, the outdoor experience, for those who've camped out. It's not a movie, it's not a museum, it's not a park. You are out on your own, alone with nature. There's nothing to distract you, nothing to occupy your attention. Only then can you really notice the true beauty, and indeed the true harshness of nature as it really is. Just as the lights of the city hide the stars in the night sky, so the commotion of modern life steal your attention away from the little things.

I'm looking forward to any sequels, spiritual or otherwise, which might recapture the same feel that Aquaria has.

[Alec]

I'm looking forward to any sequels, spiritual or otherwise, which might recapture the same feel that Aquaria has.

Haha, wow... I agree with pretty much everything you said - and the "nature experience" is an interesting metaphor to use. (I know a lot of Miyamoto's game designs were inspired by his boyhood experiences with nature)

I think you'll be happy to see what we come up with next.

[zdain]

So.. yeah.  Created an account to say "me too"

Beautiful game.  First time I recall where I felt inspired by a video game.

Thanks.  Looking forward to your future productions.

[Zoko]

There are very many inspiring games out there, it's a shame they so seldom get discovered. Damn mainstream media.
 
And on that note, Welcome to the forum.

I think you'll be happy to see what we come up with next.

I mentioned Aquaria at Spiderweb forums the other day, and I was surprised at how many have played it. They seemed a little disappointed with the cliffhanger ending, but I copy n' pasted them what Nava said in this thread which seemed to have them convinced that they were going to get something more, even if it isn't a sequel. In conclusion: great job on spreading your fanbase! 

[AhKi]

I saw the topic and it's basically the sole reason I joined the forum. It's been over a year since I first played Aquaria but I happened upon the OST recently and I forgot how much I love this game. I just wanted the community and creators to know that this is one of the most beautiful games I've ever played. And I write journalistic game reviews  every week so I've played quite a few. The scenery and the music are used so well that I couldn't leave it be. I really just had to find this place and spread the word. If I can convince my editors of it, I'll try to put a mention of the game into the online paper.

[PsiPiper]

Add on one more person who had to register here just to say how much this game rocks!

[icarus99]

I will put a +1 to this list.

Thanks for a great game and a port to Linux!

[bluehawk]

Me too!

Bummer about there not being an official sequel, but looking forward to Marian as well.

[Zoko]

I actually prefer Alec making Marian to another Aquaria, since if he does decide to make a sequel it will allow him to come back with new ideas.