Core reason you like Aquaria

[Nericor]

  So I was thinking about why I like different games and came to Aquaria (not a bad place to go).  It's got solid game play, good story, beautiful graphics, nice music, obvious polish.....but I've played many other games with these qualities to greater or lesser degrees that I haven't liked nearly as much.  I think it's the base personality of the game that really gets me, it's pleasant (relaxing and charming were other contenders for here).  The game never really gets dark or heavy, and even when it does it doesn't go that far before coming back to it's base charm.  It always feels upbeat and kind of happy (except when you lose Li, that was kind of depressing and lonely for a time....great job at crafting the moment Alec!).

  I think most games I really like have this similar quality/personality.

  So what do other people think?  WHY do you like Aquaria?  (other game examples are welcome too)

[GMMan]

Well, I guess for me is how everything just work together wonderfully. If you study the part right after Naija gives the long speech (it's actually not that long...) when you start the game, you'll notice that the music perfectly corresponds with what goes on on-screen. That little pause in the music about 15-30 seconds in corresponds with when Naija gets off the rock. I just find that really well planned out. Upon listening to the piece again and again you won't find that it is designed just for the first bit, as it still flows and works wherever you go.

Second thing I like about Aquaria: you get to go wherever you want. Unlike traditional side scrollers where you're either bound to the ground by gravity or can move only on one axis (like in space shooters), you can move in whichever direction you want in Aquaria.

Third thing: It has no physics. Actually, I'm tired of all the physics/music based games that seems to be popular in these last couple of years. Aquaria is just different, in that it doesn't try to similate things realistically. Of course, I did just discover it in the Humble Indie Bundle, so it's not really a game from "these last couple of years." But I still like it.

Fourth thing: It runs on my crappy 2004 Intel integrated graphics. Not that it runs fast or anything (it goes to an acceptable frame rate at 640x480, anything higher than that is too slow), but at least I can play it, as opposed to a lot of other games that stubbornly refuse to work.

[Pelar]

What's not to like?

I feel like it is a successful blend of old and new concepts, wrapped in a unique art style and driving music.

There are a lot of side-scroller elements present in the game that are coupled with near free exploration, which are reminiscent of Metroid and Castlevania games. Those elements are well executed, and I like how the story is pushed along in a way relevant to your exploration. Add the fact that you are exploring in a different style of environment than most games (underwater) with a unique control mechanic and you have a pretty stand-out game already. Next, add in the song system and you have another uncommon element that was well thought-out and implemented.

Low requirements are nice too- if a more minor point.

The only problem I have is that we might not get a sequel.

Marian looks like it's coming along nicely though.

[Xiagan]

Core reason is that you see and feel and experience all the love and work and time and detail that Alec and Derek put into it.

[Alphasoldier]

There is no core reason, everything just fits well together and every thing is made professionally and with love. Period. :3

[Katana]

There's a lot of polish and everything feels pretty much as it should. So far as I've played, I've run into only one bug; and it was more funny than annoying or harmful. Plus, all the game's mechanics fit together pretty well even if they're not so complex. So many games, meanwhile, forget about the simple stuff.

[ClagiusClanlor]

Three words:  Sense of wonder.

[Arsynth]

And this game reminds me good old "Maze of galious" and "Threasure of USAS". The plot is very dynamic, full of mysteries in general ... there is something to break my head:) Of course, ending a bitter, but it's better than the typical good-looking Happy End. However, I even thought the story short, I have not played enough)
PS
Sorry for my bad English, I used a translator

[Mariofan09]

I like it because of how well made it is as well and the challenge it brings

[Xiagan]

The post makes sense but the sig is spammity spam. So.. are you a bot or a jackass?

[Align]

Does it matter if it's a spam bot or spam human?

[GMMan]

Maybe it's both. I bet there are people who get paid to make spam accounts and write something that make slight sense. The account creation could be automated.
(BTW, doesn't registering require CAPTCHAs?)

[Alphasoldier]

Not here GMMan, and if they have commercialized links, just remove their posts.

[Senorctenophore]

I'm very interested in marine biology so for me the ocean setting was the best part.  I particularly enjoyed the fact that Alec and Derek obviously put in a lot of time and effort looking up marine life.  I never imagined I'd see a video game featuring predatory tunicates, parasitic tongue isopods (there's a blue fish in the kelp forest that has one in its mouth), upside-down Cassiopeia jellyfish, mantis-shrimp (the Frozen Veil boss) and even-- I think-- a parasitic sacculinid barnacle (I think that's what that weird face on the bottom of the Arnassi crab boss is supposed to be).
   Plus, I'm fond of games with female protagonists.

[Aristobulus]

The core reason for me will pretty much always be just how immersive the game was, and this was due to the incredible soundtrack that managed to be all of chill, upbeat, and even somber at times. Totally helped give the game a sense of awe, at the right times, too. The atmosphere and environments were also incredibly well done - everything just really helped give the game life. The ocean actually felt alive, and I came to actually care about Naija, as opposed to castlevania where the castle just feels like an inorganic place to fight, and I never cared about the avatar beyond gameplay terms, there was so much more here.

On that topic, Naija is surprisingly an incredibly strong character, and more than that she's got to be one of the strongest female characters I've seen in a game, and that's impressive. She manages to fulfill almost none of the stereotypical cliche female lead roles - she's strong without being a femme fatale or something overdone like that, but also doesn't fall into the trap of being TOO weakly feminine as happened to Samus in Metroid Other M. It's quite the feat, what was done for a character I was originally expecting to be little more than a shallow avatar for the gameplay, like in most metroidvanias where the gameplay is the main focus.

This sounds like I'm not picking a core reason I liked Aquaria, but I really am - all of that ties strongly into making the game incredibly immersive and just real, and so it all needs to be mentioned. It was the immersion that was the core reason, not solely the soundtrack, or the writing, or the atmosphere, so I can't name just one of those.