first impressions

[eric monk]

Hi.
I Just played the game and wanted to open a topic to give a little feedback.
It's beatiful.  I love it.
The atmospheres sucks you in and you forget about the world above the surface...
The control and movement is so smooth and intuitive...
I didn't watch the final teaser and 7 minutes of aquaria not to spoil any of the amzing features - so that I can explore them on my own... and you totally blew me away with the "things" that you collect that pimp up najas cave...  great Idea and very lovely ^^
I allready saw Nautilus prime - and man, she gave me the creeps cause I don't have any spells to fight her XD

Spoiler!!! ()
the only thing that bothered me was that (in the intro) you could see (too) clearly that the person on the bridge was naja in human form...
or am I wrong ? no, don't tell - wanna find out myself

so - alec and derek: Great work - I'm absolutely impressed

[Lim-Dul]

Yep - this game is a masterpiece. I'm so glad that it didn't turn out to be overhyped - no amount of hype would do this title justice. =)

P.S. Now we're waiting for a nude mod. :-D
Just kidding - I remember a post from long, long ago in which someone joked about such a possibility. I've registered a couple of minutes ago but have been following the forums ever since Aquaria won the Seamus McNally grand prize...

[affliction]

I spent some time with the demo before buying it (downloading now), and so far, I'm completely floored.  I've played up through the first major boss fight, which was very exciting.  I shamefully admit that I was worried that the boss fights were all going to be wail-on-him-till-he-dies fights, but I was pleasantly surprised.  The fight played out almost like something I'd expect to see in a Zelda game. 

I don't think I've ever been more impressed with the artwork in a 2d game than I am with this game.  Oh, yeah, the music is nice too .

A few minor gripes:
  - I'd like to have a legend on the world map (what's that little green line icon that appears in Naija's home?).
  - I'd like to be able to rearrange the food items in my inventory.
  - Naija's animation has been harped on, I personally love it, very fluid, except for the little hand jerk when firing in energy form.

Could that list be any more minor?

I'm kinda at a loss for words to describe how much fun I'm having with this.  Can I pay $50 instead?  Alec, Derek, you deserve my money.

[Ian]

Well, being alec's brother, I played the game back when it was in development. And I've gotta say, I'm super impressed by the final version. I may be a bit biased, but playing the game is a lot of fun. The gameplay is great, and the story and atmosphere really keeps you interested. It's really quite epic at parts (and I'm still probably not past the part that the demo entails yet!)

I can't wait to start blowing shit up in the energy form. I gotta say, good stuff.

[illithid235]

Videos only do so much, so I wanted to let you guys know what I thought of the game after spending about half an hour playing it.

Visuals: Absolutely brilliant. The backgrounds are just fantastic, you've done a great job of making me feel like I'm in a 2-D world that still has depth. I don't notice any repetition in the environments, either, I feel like I'm really exploring a physical location. Naija's sprite is absolutely adorable! Fits very well with the rest of the game. Energy effects look great too. My only tiny complaint is with the minimap in the bottom right corner. It's a little fuzzy, and sometimes it can be hard to read. But hey, double click, and you get a crystal clear map. So not a big deal.

Controls: Bravo. Naija swims so fluidly to the movements of my mouse. And the controls you picked are extremely intuitive. The singing interface is great, as well. The energy blasts are fantastic. Also, controlling Naija is a breeze, and you really notice it in combat situations. I love being able to dart between enemies and pummel them with energy blasts. Bravo!

Sound: The only track I was lukewarm on was the Energy Temple track, but I still think it worked well. The other songs I've encountered so far are brilliant, they really complement the atmosphere set by the visuals. Jenna's voice acting is top notch. Even the expressions of pain and surprise. Often, those are the only voice bits that irritate me in otherwise flawless voice acting, but here they sound great.

Gameplay: The only non-positive comment I can make here is that I can see someone wary of this game playing for 15 minutes and throwing it down, claiming that nothing happens. The first 15 minutes of simple exploring could be a turnoff to some, but I enjoyed seeing all the new sea life and examining the backgrounds. After your first big power upgrade, though, the pace really picks up.

Story: This obviously is the least developed point, but I'll speak to it, anyway. I am left wondering about a lot, but I have enough to go on so that I have some structure to my wondering. I think you balanced knowing and not knowing wonderfully.

So that's it for now. As I come across new things to say, I'll post them. Fantastic job, guys! Well worth my purchase!

[Zaratus]

I have to agree that it sucks you in - seeing some of the graphical quirks some widescreen users were having, I decided to download the demo first - just to see if it runs ok.  Not only does it run perfectly, I ended up playing about an hour into the demo, even though I just wanted to check real quick. =P  I'm very impressed so far.  I figured out how to ride a seahorse too, after a short time of wondering, ok, I can grab on to the thing, but WHY WON'T IT MOVE!!!!  Then I figured it out and was zooming around the ocean in no time. =P  

I'm definitely going to put off playing it more until I can get a proper mouse on this thing - it's playable with the touch pad, but it requires too much precision for long-term use.  It's more than adequate for MMORPG's, but not for this.  I've been intending to get a real mouse anyway, I just keep forgetting. =/

Still, now that I see it runs great, I'm currently in the process of downloading the full version, since Plimus is cooperating now.  Plimus's confirmation email went into my normal mail, but the mail with the download link went into my spam folder.  Silly Gmail.   Oy, this is downloading kind of slow.  Only 64 KB/sec currently, still at 23%.  Says I got 41 minutes to go. =/  Heh, though I remember when I'd kill to be able to download a 200 MB file even this speed.  

[gunsakimbo]

I just found out about this game today on the 1UP msg boards - so glad I did!  After watching the trailer I knew I had to play the demo, and after playing the demo I knew I had to buy it!  It's really awesome so far.  Gonna share the word with all my friends.  Thanks for a great game!

[Alec]

Wow thanks, guys! And thanks for spreading the word.

[Quemaqua]

What can I say that hasn't been said?  I'm in love.   I won't bother saying more because I can't be arsed to stop playing right now (just finished setting up my fresh XP installation, so will now be diving back in).  Great job, guys.  The internet is aflame with Aquaria-love, let there be no doubt.

[Sniffzilla]

Can't really say much that hasn't been said already, but really, you guys are an inspiration to one working his way into the video game industry. Incredible game here, can't wait to see more from Bit Blot. 

[nestor]

Derek, I can remember you saying something about picking up where 2D games left off.  That at some point in the 90's when everything went to 3D, 2D was forgotten and stopped evolving and that a lot of possibilities in 2D-games just haven't been realized.  I think I walked away from that scratching my head.  I got what you were saying, but I didn't really understand it all the way.

Now that I've finally played Aquaria I get it.  Its a great 2D experience that would make original 2D game designers proud, but at the same time its fresh and offers a whole bunch of new eye-candy and an original art style that doesn't just look "retro" and derivative.  Aquaria strives to be its own beast and does a hell of a job.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention a whole slew of new, previously un-tried game mechanics.  Hell, the whole game is based around a couple startlingly original game mechanics.

Great execution fellahs.  Excellent game.  Just what I was yearning to play back in March when some googling led me to find it. 

Can I pay $50 instead?  Alec, Derek, you deserve my money.

Naw, instead of paying extra I'll just buy a couple more copies for friends and family.

Congratulations on an excellent achievement!

[sirsteveman]

I've finally managed to take a short break to post my thoughts so far [a few hours of play.]

This is probably the best game I've ever played.  I haven't felt this way about a game since the era of Super Nintendo.  I hope you two get rich off this, if you don't, it's a sad world.  Thanks Derek, Alec, Jenna, and everyone else who had a part in this, this is just fantastic.

Well I'm heading back in!

[facewon]

I'll second third and fourth what's been said. Excellent all round. Couple of hitches at the start with the install, and screen sizing, but you guys got on it and now I'm playing a top notch game.

It really is a joy to look at, and the best thing is that the hi res stills I looked at were an accurate indication, rather than leading me to a let down.

Just a pleasant experience all round so far.

[twinkiboy]

Awesome game guys!  Just finished the demo and I'm definitely going to buy it. 

I have to say cudos for the in game music.  I loved how your spell system is all based on the basic notes of the main Aquaria theme.  Did anyone other than me start "playing" spells to the music just to see what variations on the melody you could make?  I never had a game's sound so entrance me so much that I would just stand there and listen (and play along with) the theme.

[realyst]

I already said this in another topic and I hate repeating myself....but I think I probably should have said it in this thread in the first place

It really feels like gliding through an elaborate painting.  Very nice.