Aquaria - "It's basically Ecco the Dolphin mixed with Metroid"
 

YouTube Video

Official site (down at the moment because of traffic):
http://www.bit-blot.com/aquaria/

Here's some download urls for the demo (around 65 mb)
http://zaphire.ca/aqdemo/AquariaDemo.2007.12.07.exe
http://derekyu.com/aqdemo/AquariaDemo.2007.12.07.exe
MEGAUPLOAD - The leading online storage and file delivery service
http://www.flashbangstudios.com/mirr...2007.12.07.exe
http://www.ninj4comic.com/aquaria/Aq...2007.12.07.exe
http://www.battleforthecity.com/aqua...2007.12.07.exe

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I found a topic for this today at another board that I visit, and felt the need to spread the news here. I am quite amazed at how the game looks (yes, I can actually say that based on a trailer, finally) both from a gameplay standpoint and visually. The 2D is gorgeous. The "Ecco + Metroid" description seems spot on. I haven't downloaded the demo yet, but I felt word spreading would take priority over that. The fact it seems like a shooter is very good also, as I have a weakness for shoot em ups.

Oh man! 2-D Metroid-esque goodness? Nice graphics and smooth gameplay? I need to brainstorm stuff like this!

COUNT ME IN

I've heard of the game, but I had no idea they released a demo. Awesome!

There's a lot of things in this game that make me think of Odin Sphere. The cooking, the exposition, the look of the game, and even some of the music. I find the gameplay and story exposition (gameplay exposition if you're confused) a bit grating, I just attribute it to the fact that my tastes are just a bit different than what this game provides. I like the mouse control scheme, even though I'm using a laptop touch pad. Thinking of switching over to pad so it hurts my hand less, as this is far from ergonomic.

Interesting, I thought this one was coming as another "downloadable" ps3 game (Just like Everyday Shooter)

Oh well, probably misread the article... Anyways, I'll pay a visit when the page is up.

What the hell.

Can I get the soundtrack.

OMG, the music, the smooth 2d gameplay. When does it come out? when you quit the game, it says buy now for 30dollars.. but as you said, site down. I want to buy

=O what regions are getting this?

Actually, the Windows version came out yesterday!

It's an Indie game that won the grand prize at the Independent Games Festival back in March. You can get it from the official site for $30.00 US, or the equivalent in several other forms of currency.

thx nall! I just finished the game demo and it was so awesome that I'll probably buy the full game!

And wow I read that this game was made only by 2 people! that's amazing, they have done an excellent work!

the demo took me almost 2 hours to complete so i really hope that the full game is a lot longer (it would be bad if the whole game was like 4-5h when I just did 2h in the demo :\ )

I'll probably wait a little to buy it but I'll surely check it out ^^

Yea, thats another thing. If the full game is only 5hours long.. then its really not worth 30bucks, despite how awesome it is.

atleast 15ish would be ok.

That is the worst rationale I've ever heard in my entire life. Just admit you're a fucking cheapskate and wouldn't buy it, regardless. At least the people asking for torrents don't dance around the issue.

This demo is awesome though. Might have to buy this after my exams are done.

To people wanting a soundtrack, the FAQ states that the soundtrack will out in the future.

This game looks interesting, gonna try out the demo later.

well I had so much fun with the demo that I bought the game like 10min after I posted that I wanted wait XD

as for now I already have 5h hour into the game (the full version let you load your save from the demo!) and it still as fun as it was!

the game really become more action after the demo, there's enemy almost everywhere! and they really meant the non-linear thing, because I was doing a dungeon and I think it was one of the last one and she said something like: I could continue to discover the truth or explore more.

so I decided to come back and explore more. I discovered a lot of place now, with big map and still I think I didn't see half of the environment that I saw in the trailer, so I'm pretty sure the game must be around 10h or so. ( I think I saw someone with a final playtime of 15hours)

For me it's worth 30$ if not only to encourage the people who made it, because really it's the best independent game I ever played and it doesn't really feel like a "cheap" game.

Will probably buy in the new year, and probably for research purposes.

Oh dear god do I love my Comp Media major

There are torrents now out for the full game (No I won't post them) if you are so inclined to go download it. However I will be buying this at some point in the future, as others have said, I want to offer my support for Indie Game development, and play a cool game.

I did not even have to play the demo to know this was worth the 30 dollar price tag.

Purchased. Registered. Going to enjoy every hour I sink into this, and then some!

Just finished the demo, which took me about an hour or so. However, the game rocks <3

I'm probably going to pick this up tomorrow. Having a blast with the demo, I love how there's other stuff you can open with new powers. Currently employing a scorched-water theory for fighting against monsters, it's fairly effective except for sea spikes. But one day...

It's basically a game I'll never play. Only PC? Come on. WiiWare? Xbox Live? Either of the two will be a perfect fit for mass distribution.

The forums state that there's good possibilities the game will go to other platforms. At that, it's not a real hardware intensive game and the mouse controls are the real draw of innovation here. Pretentious as that is to say, it's a fun romp and I couldn't really think of a huge reason to tell anyone not to try the game.

Mouse controls?

My only means of playing PC games are on my MacBook.

:-)

It's definitely going to the Mac, Clever Dan.

That's right! Ambrosia Software is handling the Mac OS X port, and say it will available "in the near future". Still no word on how it will be distributed exactly, but I'd guess a direct download option will probably happen either way.

I haven't bought the full version yet, but the demo is really cool. The gameplay really has a lot of polish, and the animation is very fluid, no pun intended. It's a step above any indie game I've seen, with a certain level of professionalism just about everywhere.

the full version is definitely worth 30$, I'm 10h into the games and I didn't discovered half of the hidden treasure. I have a good chunk of the map discovered though. Now I,m going deeper into the water, where it's darker (kind of scary XD) I think I have good 5hours more if not more to finish the game. It's really not just a little game that feel more like a overall demo.

I'm really having a blast and with all the different form the game really become a lot more interesting ^^

played 3 hours into the game and Im getting tired of it. hmmm. maybe its just not my type. Wandering around in circles bugs me. :P

That's what I hated about Ecco

Development on a PC has a far lower barrier of entry than development on any console. That's the whole reason why most independent games come out on PCs.

I'm not dumb, I know the issues inherited with being a member of an underground art form of form of expression.

Doesn't change the fact that it being PC only keeps me from playing it.

Since Ambrosia's doing it, I guarantee it'll be a direct download, 30-day demo until you enter a registration code.

I also guarantee it'll be as hottastic as the PC version, because Ambrosia is a damn good porting company. I installed the demo version on a lab machine, and I can't wait until Ambrosia finishes so I can play the full thing on my own computer.

Sounds good.

Still hope to see it on the Wii or 360. I finally caved and bought Geometry Wars last night for Live Arcade.

I can also do something about that music taste problem you have. ;-)

You could just use paralells to play it.

35 hours and 37 minutes later (in-game time, real life time is probably about 60 or so) after having done pretty much everything there was to do:

• Obtained all 32 Treasures
• Created all 50 Recipes (Alec said there were no more despite there being two blank spots on the last page)
• Acquired all 4 Pets
• Mapped out the entire world of Aquaria
• Found the 3 special things that are really special

I finally beat the game. I will admit in the beginning the game started out a bit shaky. Little fish girl is tired of swimming in her lovely home and wants to go exploring elsewhere.

However, once you leave the calm comfort of Home Waters and reach the Open Waters, things start to pick up a little. The story hits on two themes throughout the entire game, and these two specific themes will probably manage to affect the player's emotions and compel them to play longer than they might intend.

The music in this game is amazing. I really, really love what they did with a particular Verse. The boss music is very suitable too, it puts one in the mood to not only actually fight but to finish it as well. The pace of the boss fight theme actually goes with the pace you will be scampering about and dodging like a madman. The voices were great, and it's kind of neat that the developers managed to do a little voice work for things here and there. Jenna Sharpe (who does the voice of Naija) really manages to bring out the character well. I honestly could not tell that this was her first real gig doing voice work. There were a few moments where the voice was overshadowed by the music, but overall it was very nice.

I know it will be done eventually, but I'm just glad no one ever did a walk through while I was going through the game. For me it really added to the experience, since I was just as confused and dumbfounded as Naija at times.

Honestly. The fact that two guys could create something of this caliber is breathtaking. I'm saddened that the bigger companies out there can't even come close to matching what these two men (and one woman) accomplished in only a two year period.

All I really need is a soundtrack for this game. Get the Flash Player to play this audio file:

I couldn't had resume that game better than what Lacerta just said XD

The final boss was amazing too and so epic! I just can't wait to see what those two guy will come next ^^

What the hell. I'm definitely buying this, the demo was really superb and I felt really bad for downloading it because the quality of it is just..so great. I'm loving the music too, can't wait for the soundtrack to come out. <3

Has this been posted? Aquaria being controlled via Wii Remote.

YouTube - Aquaria with Wii Remote - Raw test video

I played about 20 minutes into the demo and I'm already in love with this game. There's supposed to be a Mac port coming out in the near future as well and they're thinking of making a boxed set as well. If it becomes a proper box game, I'll pick it up for sure. Either way, I'm gonna see how far the demo goes and I'm pretty sure I'll end up buying this game regardless. <3

The new 1UP Show has a segment on it. Check it out. Looks very interesting. Some Metroid talk as well.

I wasn't going to pay for it originally, but after trying it out I felt it was worth it. I'd actually feel bad playing such a good game and not supporting them for making it. :(

Edit: My only gripe with this game is for now it doesn't really support any widescreen resolutions. I hope they change that, since yeah, I don't have any standard 4:3 screens in this house anymore.