Aquaria (PC) 2D Metroidvania Goodness!

[dairugger]

I just discovered this awesome game for the PC called Aquaria. Its a 2D Metroidvania with a dash of Ecco the dolphin, with puzzles based around songs and sounds. It has very lush beautiful visuals and a beautiful soundtrack, im not sure how just a couple guys made it.

Has anyone else played this?

[Cornelius]

This was in one of the Humble Indie Bundles, probably the first. I played the game quite a bit when I first got it. I remember getting to a point where I didn't know where to go or even quite why I needed to go anywhere. That's when I put it down and never got back into it. Clearly the handholding of newer games has spoiled me, but I'm not sure what to do about it now.

The game is beautiful and plays well. They had this concept that you could do everything with just the mouse. It mostly works well, but I found it got too difficult for me to use those casual controls. It seemed like they got the mix wrong on casual play versus game difficulty.

I probably sound like I'm being hard on Aquaria, though I don't really mean to be. What I played was fun, and it is gorgeous, but it goes in the pile of games I've played but never finished.

[Kitsune Sniper]

And speaking of stuff I never finished...

I play it with a combination of mouse and gamepad analog stick. I found moving with the mouse was pretty difficult.

[Jorpho]

You can actually switch forms using the numbers on your keyboard if you grow weary of the intricate mouse movements. It's arguably necessary in some of the trickier bits.
Has anyone else played this?We actually have a thread about it already.
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=97062

I would put this game in my top 20, or maybe even my top 10.

It's a bit of a shame it's still $20 on Steam most of the time. Yes, it's probably worth that much, but a lot of people are going to be discouraged by that price point.

By the way, the source code (but not the level data, of course!) was released after its inclusion in the HIB, so you can play it on Mac or Linux once you get the level data from the Steam version.

[dairugger]

ive heard now with the source code it can be played on the psp.

[exit]

Got this game off of one of the Steam sales last year, played it for a while and enjoyed it a lot, but it ended up going on the back burner after I got a few more games. I've been meaning to go back to it, it's just I have a feeling I'll have no idea what the hell I'm supposed to do.

[Fontaine Le Funk]

Congratulations on your discovery!... Inn't the natural step to research your favorite, interesting hobby and find out about all the thousands of games you missed? Ideas and concepts you never knew existed? \\^_^/

[Berserker]

Now available for the iPad as of a few days ago:

http://itunes.apple.com/app/aquaria/id469372252

Five bucks.

[Jorpho]

And five bucks on Steam this weekend, too. Looks like they lowered the price to $9.99, which makes sense if the iPad version is priced so low.

[dairugger]

i wish i could play the psp version, but you have to compile it or something.. its beyond my reach.

[calthaer]

I'm getting close to the end on this one - finally picking it up to play after purchasing it a year or two ago. Using the XBox 360 controller instead of the mouse; I prefer it that way, because you can analog-control both the movement and the aiming simultaneously. The downside is that you can't switch between forms with the numbers; will have to see if I can play with the bindings to change that. But anyways...really enjoying this one; it's a real shame the developers didn't stick together. Would have liked to see a sequel that had a bit more polish - some of the forms aren't all that fun / useful, and the "air-hopping" occasionally required is an exercise in frustration. Still, though - overall it's very enjoyable.