Kid-friendly? *SPOILERS*

[Xiagan]

It is not all about blood, sex and violence. The game creates a certain mood that may be spooky enough at some places to give nightmares to children.

[Cruxx]

 Thats right. A game isn't always judged by those factors, but actually, ESRB only looks at those 3 things. Whenever you see a rating higher then "For all ages" Its usually for mild violence, language or nudity but in Aquaria theres the scare factor, dark caves, scary monsters and that blob all over the cathedral which is just nasty IMHO .

[Glamador]

Yea I know my sister is 15 now and she's still scared of creepy environments in games.  She doesn't even like to fight bosses in Zelda ffs.  That's why I'd say Aquaria is for 12 and up, because any younger and you won't understand the story and perhaps not have the skill to complete the game.  And also 9 or 10 year olds might understand the story but still be scared by it and that's sometimes worse than not understanding it at all.

[Cruxx]

 I swear, when your in the sunken city and that booming creepy laugh comes..its enough to make anyone piss in their pants.

[Allayna]

i'd have to say that naija's fears about the energy form corrupting her (expecially in the Mithalas Cathedral) might scare younger children, and defiantly the ending would! (both the normal and secret endings). And as someone said, it does depend on the maturity of the child.

[DSProgrammer]

I still disagree, unless you are talking 4 or 5 year-olds or something (at which they probably wouldn't make it very far anyways).  It's not like a horror movie, with it getting dark and quiet and something jumping out, making loud noise and trying to scare people.  A "spooky" atmosphere isn't bad for kids at all.  And as I said, when I was 8 games were WAY harder than this one (just try the original Metroid!), yet I played through them and had a very fun time.

And how could Najia's fears about being corrupted scare a child?  Would the child even understand?

[Cruxx]

 Whats the point in squabbling about whether a child would get scared or not? It depends on the kid totally. Some are more mature then others. Some aren't Thats it. We should really let a kid play it and see properly.

[IceD]

ESRB looks onto certain aspects of a game, to see if it fits with their standards. We can't just relay on them and their judgements can be sometimes incorrect.

I don't think this game shouldn't be played by youngsters. I would rather say this game was meant to be created for people from age 9-99 - it has everything that would attract both kids and mature people. It's obvious that there are some things, that might be perceived as not suitable for youngest kids, but it merely bases on things like the ingame atmosphere or simple elements, which can be treated as nasty or horrible (the tissues in cathedral, coating all the walls and things can be seen as really disgusting), but it mostly depends on a kid, which is playing the game. Some might be afraid, some will be rather amused. It's a fact that small kids won't take much from the game and they won't understand everything, but this is not the thing we're talking about. Small kids are playing games mostly for fun, so we shouldn't be concerned about this - only the older ones will start focusing on story a bit depper, and they will propably ask us about things that might amused them  . It's normal way, as for kids.

If I'd had a kid, I would firmly put him besides the pc and turn Aquaria for him. Furthermore, I would play the game with him, so it could understand everything. In my opinion Aquaria has a beautiful story and it brings many morals and ideals. It can teach many things, especially the children. When I finished the game, I realized once again that the true substance of our existence lies within us and above all, love is one of the most important things in our life, although we still forget about it, lost in disorder of our everyday lifes...

[RobertWalker]

Here's a very thorough parental review for Aquaria. Rather than just stating a recommended age, I have tried to enumerate everything that might be found objectionable or otherwise problematic in allowing children to play Aquaria. This will allow parents to gauge the suitablility of the game based on their own values and the maturity of their children. Please point out any errors.

Summary: (Scale: None, Minimal, Mild, Moderate, Substantial, Heavy, Extreme)

Alcohol, Smoking or Drugs: Minimal
Attention Span: Moderate
Attitude, Behavior and Ethics: Mild
Blood and Gore: Mild
Difficulty: Moderate to Hard (depending on gaming experience)
Imitative Behavior: Minimal
Profanity and Vulgarity: None
Relationship Tension: Moderate
Religion and Spirituality: Mild
Scary Scenes and Music: Moderate
Sex and Nudity: Mild
Violence/Guns/Weapons: Moderate

Detailed Parental Review (ÜBER-SPOILERS ABOUND)

Alcohol, Smoking or Drugs

• An ingredient in the game (Rainbow Mushrooms) can be used to prepare food which causes a psychedelic reaction when consumed. Naija then starts giggling, then apparently reacts in pain or discomfort before it finally wears off. This is a gag and is not central to the game; players might not encounter it.
• As in many other games, the player will frequently need to use food items to enhance their abilities. It is treated in a quite innocuous fashion--food is supposed to be beneficial, after all--but a few people might draw comparisons to performance-enhancing substances in sports.

Attention Span

• As Naija gains new abilities, areas that were previously inaccessible become available, and as such a fair amount of backtracking is required, especially if you are going for "completeness." This may test the patience of some children (or adults, for that matter). ("We've already been here!")

Attitude, Behavior and Ethics

• Naija is lonely, and sometimes feels that her depression is more than she can bear. She may be perceived as feeling suicidal, although she never expresses the sentiment directly.
• Naija will sometimes laugh in a somewhat sinister fashion when firing rapidly while in energy form.
• During the Mithalan Cathedral segment, Naija comments that she finds herself starting to enjoy killing creatures, although the observation disturbs her.
• The Mithalan god has been corrupted against his will. When he is defeated, he thanks Naija for killing him, since he views it as being freed from bondage.
• Late in the game, Naija becomes consumed with the desire for revenge against an entity which has taken Li away from her. This desire does not appear to be lessened when they are reunited. In the end, however, she renounces her violent tendencies.
• In the ending cinematic, Naija states that she never again felt the desire to explore new places, then as the scene slowly fades, she can be seen frowning, as if she is dissatisfied with her lot in life.

Blood and Gore

• The Mithalan Cathedral has been overgrown with strange blobs of flesh, some of which pulse rhythmically. However, the player cannot interact with it and it is all done in a bloodless fashion.
• Some enemies make a gooshing sound when they are defeated, especially when Naija devours them with her beast form. However, no blood is seen.
• The final area of the game takes place inside a gigantic living organism. As such, some biological structures are present, but are not done in a bloody or gory fashion.
• Some bosses are somewhat grotesque in appearance.
• Defeating the final boss requires the player to knock off part of what appears to be his skull, then remove his eye. A strange, mouth-like structure sprouts from his abdomen, inside of which another head can sometimes be seen. When defeated, his jaw falls off, followed by the rest of him. All of this is done bloodlessly.

Difficulty

• Aquaria requires some dexterity, critical thinking and puzzle-solving ability, (especially in boss fights) which may be too difficult for young children.

Imitative Behavior

• The game is about underwater exploration, so some children might be tempted to "explore" in water without supervision.

Profanity and Vulgarity

• None

Relationship Tension

• Naija feels alone and abandoned during much of the game due to memory loss.
• Naija is forcibly separated from Li twice during the game, which upsets her.
• Naija sees Li trapped inside a large bubble. It is unknown at the time whether he is dead or just unconscious. Later, Naija is able to free him, and he is shown to be alive.
• A young boy is the only survivor of a disaster. When he obtains the power to create beings, he tries to recreate his parents, but never fully succeeds.
• If the player discovers all three of Naija's lost memories, they see an additional scene at the end of the game where Naija is reunited with her mother, Mia. Unfortunately, she turns out to be a malevolent being who desires to conquer the world, and who wiped Naija's memories as part of her plan. Naija refuses to help Mia, who retaliates by removing her consciousness and trapping her inside a crystal. Naija's son is shown touching this crystal to access her memories, presumably with the intention of freeing her. The game ends with Naija still trapped inside the crystal.

Religion and Spirituality

• Civilizations are portrayed worshipping animal-like gods, the sun, nature, etc. Naija has to fight some of these gods.
• Late in the game, the player encounters and interacts with ghosts.
• The final boss asserts that he is the creator of Naija's world and everything in it, including Naija herself. He demands that Naija bow before him, which she refuses to do. It is later revealed that he is actually a young boy who has been posessed by a powerful, malevolent spirit.

Scary Scenes and Music

• Some areas of the game have a definite "creepy" feel, such as the Mithalan Cathedral, the Abyss, the Sunken City and the Body. This is achieved through darkness, creepy sounds, voices or music, or Naija's emotions as narrated by herself. The presense of ghosts, biological structures and unsettling-looking enemies enhances the creepy feel of these areas.
• Some enemies attack suddenly and rapidly, which may startle the player.
• Bosses tend to be quite large in comparison to Naija, and may be intimidating in appearance and behavior.
• One phase of the final boss fight requires Naija to swim around in a darkened cavern, searching for the boss. She may stumble across him suddenly and he has a rather startling appearance in this phase.

Sex and Nudity

• Naija's various forms (and optional costumes) tend to be modelled after swimwear, as would be expected for a character that lives underwater. Several of these outfits expose the midriff or some cleavage. One collectible outfit is a bikini, and she wears a different bikini in the ending cinematic. Li is also shown to be wearing something akin to a "speedo" in the end sequence, and a cutscene shows others wearing similar outfits. None of this appears to be done with the intention of being provocative.
• One boss takes the form of a large female face in a tree, and a small amount of cleavage is visible below the face. This is not totally obvious, however, due to the gnarled form of the tree.
• When Naija sees Li for the first time in the game, they kiss each other. This is partly to impart to him the ability to breathe underwater, as Li would otherwise drown. A scene that the player may not encounter shows that Naija and Li had met before, though how well they knew each other is unknown. Due to her memory loss, Naija has only a vague impression that she has met him before.
• The final boss sometimes appears as a humanoid male which does not seem to be wearing clothing. However, he does not appear to have any "naughty bits" and it is not done provocatively.
• The ending shows Naija and Li's child (possibly more than one, though this is unclear), thus implying that they had sex.

Violence/Guns/Weapons

• Naija has several different forms, some of which have offensive capabilities, including: 1) energy bolts; 2) the ability to bite creatures, and in some cases devour them whole, temporarily granting her their projectile attacks; 3) a projectile which causes a cactus-like plant to sprout rapidly, causing injury to creatures that touch it; 4) (with a food item) poisonous clouds; 5) missile clusters; and 6) a powerful sonic attack.
• Naija can use her powers to pick up a rock, then drag it into other creatures as a weapon.
• Naija is sometimes accompanied by Li, who has a projectile attack similar to her energy bolts.
• Naija, if directed to do so by the player, can attack, destroy and sometimes eat creatures who are passive or pose no threat to her, some of which may be considered "cute." While the player is not strictly required to do so, it can be difficult to accumulate ingredients needed to create many food items for healing or special abilities without doing so.
• Naija can attack and kill some humanoid creatures, though they are in all cases clearly hostile.
• Many other creatures encountered in the game have attacks which can harm Naija by touch, bite or via projectile attack.
• A cutscene shows two Krotite warriors in ceremonial combat, and later a Krotite kills an individual of a different race that appears to be trying to defend itself.
• In cutscenes, Naija explains in a general fashion that an angry god destroyed several underwater civilizations. Some of these exterminations are shown in a bloodless fashion: they just sort of wink out in a puff of vapor.
• Naija destroys the final boss, which turns out to be a small boy who had been possessed by a malevolent spirit. She expresses some regret at this, but would clearly have been destroyed herself if she did not.

[Allayna]

*whistles in awe* i think that just about points out every thing that might not be "Kid-friendly" in Aquaria

[Alphasoldier]

Wait, why exactly was this made?

[RobertWalker]

Wait, why exactly was this made?

To inform parents who are saying, "Okay, so my kid's really interested in this Aquaria game. Am I okay with them playing it?"

Maybe I could list each of the categories at the top with their levels so that you can get a non-spoilerific yet still fairly detailed parental review. EDIT: Done.

[Alphasoldier]

Thanks, anyway, alot of games nowadays besides the very kiddy games like "Winnie The Poo" games are really for small kids. Between the very kiddy and possible for adult games is a very VERY small area. There aren't much games that score high AND are for small kids. Even though in my opinion this one comes pretty close, closer then UT3, WoW, Crysis or even Runescape... Blegh..
All I'm trying to say is that this game isn't especially designed for kids and that ALOT of games that kids like lately are also mostly aimed for adults. I know enough 12 y/o's that talk about GTA games or other FPS, while FPS most of the time include bullets and blood.
But, this parental review is really good and very explained, which will be needed for the more... watching parents.

[IceD]

I agree.

But it's somehow needed. Thanks for the great review, it might be seen as a very detailed and useful one.

[RobertWalker]

Glad to oblige. I know that a lot of parents worry about the content in the games their kids are playing, so I hope that this will help them decide whether Aquaria is right for them. Personally, I think it's far more appropriate for kids than most of the stuff out on the shelves these days. (Seriously, when I visit the local Wal-Mart, about 2/3 of the games there are rated M. Does a game have to be full of sex and violence to be fun? I don't think so.)

Anyway, I hope adding the more general ratings makes it more useful for parents who are interested in playing the games themselves (or even better, with their kids) so that it isn't spoiled for them. As for the detailed review, I want to make sure that it's very complete, so that nobody can say there were any "surprises" when playing Aquaria with their kids. ("Hey! It didn't say anything about that!") So if you can think of any changes that should be made, let me know. I'm also interested in any way that I could reword things so that they're less spoilertastic, while still being complete about content's suitability for kids.