Kid-friendly? *SPOILERS*

[Quemaqua]

So I feel like the game so far has been pretty darn kid-friendly on the whole, but I haven't completed it yet.  My question is whether or not the first hours of the game are indicative of the latter parts?  The story seems like it has the potential to be quite dark, which is a plus in my book, but depending on how that goes as the story progresses, I can see it taking some twists that might be a bit much for some younger folks.

So what's the scoop on this?  Any particular age range that you think the game might be considered unsuitable for, or does it mostly maintain its initial sensibilities?  It has the potential to be a great Christmas present, so I figured I'd ask now in case work or other such obnoxious responsibilities keep me from finishing it as soon as I'd like.


[Alec: added spoiler tag]

[dhakkel]

It certainly gets darker. I haven't beat it yet, but I believe I am at the physical bottom of the world right now and it's a pretty creepy story. Nothing amazingly traumatizing, but I don't know if I'd let a 5-8 year old play unsupervized, for instance.


Spoilers for two of the levels, don't read unless you are really really far:




One level takes you into a bastardized cathedral with living growths all over the walls with mutated enemies and a generally really depressing and disgusting vibe going on. The main character remarks on her disgust a few times  during the level. You end up fighting the betrayed God of the race, and the main character explains his downfall and mutation in a cutscene afterwards.


Uber spoilers for an even later level, seriously don't read unless you want it ruined:




Another takes you to the pitch black Abyss, which is amazingly atmospheric and claustrophobic. The enemies are your basic razor fanged angler fish, and once you get even deeper ghosts of humans show up. This is where I am now, so I'm unsure how this story part will end but it isn't looking too happy.

[p3ter_st0ry]

oooohhh...

Spooky 

[fieari]

She discusses her fears a lot.  She's afraid of getting lost in the kelp forest, losing her sapience, and going completely feral.  She's afraid the "energy form" will corrupt her soul.  She's afraid of herself, because she's starting to enjoy killing ancient beings.  The plot of the game involves a number of gods committing genocide, wars between races, and the lust for power leading to deep corruption.

I'd say 8 or so is the youngest that could understand it, and even then, I'd play it WITH them, and discuss the story as you go along.  It covers some pretty deep stuff.  There are intestines growing in the cathedral and the pulsing blobs of flesh... but in my experience, kids can handle that sort of thing pretty well (YMMV).  What will probably cause problems is the fact that your avatar character is worried about becoming evil.

Kids like violence, to a certain degree... so long as its good triumphing over evil.  Moral ambiguity and heroes who aren't so heroic?  That's what gets scary.

[Don Andy]

Well, looking at the last dungeon, I wouldn't suggest this for anyone below 12. Around that.
Up till then, it should be playable for younger audiences (well, except for the insane difficulty in some areas), but I wouldn't let any kid play the last dungeon alone.

[Quemaqua]

Thanks much for the info, guys.  I appreciate it.

[Cruxx]

 Aquaria is dark in aspects yeah..and you need a certain age to understand it..but its nothing really horrifying..and im close to the end...10 and above should be suitable to understand fully...

[gemlin]

I have just read this threat - and will agree that it should be ok from about 10 -12 years old. That is the age of my daughter and I have no problem lettíng her play it - but I would play with her as well in the more scary areas. Would have to anyway since she doesn't speak english

She is the age where a Harry Potter movie og the Golden Compass isn't too much with adults nearby - so she can play Aquaria as well.

[Alec]

Just popping in to say that I find this thread really interesting.

I'm all for parents playing games with their kids. I think that's really cool.

If there are parents here playing through with their kids I'm curious to hear their experiences and what the kids thought!

[Upthorn]

Considering some of the things revealed in the ending sequence, 12 or 13 might be a better minimum age than 8...

[FaeDyne]

I'm almost 30 and I find some of it too creepy, like the cut-scene pictures of the monsters. the Sun Temple monster coming out of that guy's head, or Mithalas/Mithalan sucking the energy out of the other. (I can't tell which is which)
and the last boss? with body parts falling off. ew.

[Zixinus]

I would recommend the game for ages 10-14. Below 10 I am not sure that the child would understand completely what is going on.

[Glamador]

I say 12.  Just my 2 cents.

[Alec]

I think it'd depend a lot on the kid and how mature they are.

[DSProgrammer]

I just finished the game (for the expanded ending), and I saw no content unsuitable to a kid.  There's no blood and guts violence, no guns, no sex/nudity, and the only "drug" is rainbow soup   The only thing that might disturb some kids is the ability to kill (and eat) some really cute sea creatures.  Whether some kids would understand the story or not, is a different matter, but you don't need to understand every detail of the story to have fun playing the game.  The game has some rather challenging parts, but then when I was eight I was playing games WAY harder than this on the NES.  If this were to be ranked by the ESRB, I don't think it would even get an E10+, probably just an E.