Topic: Aquaria 1.1.1 for Windows is out! New version now only $20!

[idolminds]

You get an ability to use them later.

[Quemaqua]

Yeah, they represent those bulbous blue plant things that kinda' don't look like plants.

[sirean_syan]

Woo. Finished the game just now. Pretty great stuff there. While I didn't gather all the objects, the only one I'd really care to find is the last pet, but I'm not sure I'm really going to head back and look for it.

I'm sure Que will get more in depth, but the game is pretty freaking special. It's just one of those games that seem to ooze out the love that was put into it and makes you feel all happy and warm playing it. On top of that, it's a pretty close to perfect example of the Metroidvania style of games. I don't really think it's worth missing if you like those games at all.

[Quemaqua]

Just beat it tonight.  My save was clocked in at a little over 25 hours, which is probably about accurate since I left the game running a few times for like 20 minutes to a half hour, but it obviously doesn't account for all the times I died and did stuff over again, nor the last bit of the game after the last save, which is actually pretty extensive.

What a game.  What a fucking game.  Sy's little synopsis there sums it up pretty nicely, but obviously there's much more to be said.  And I'll say it with a 5 page review tomorrow.  Would post it tonight but I'm just too tired to polish it up before posting.

So yeah, in about 25 hours or so I got all 4 pets, all but 6 or 7 treasures (out of 32), and all three of Naija's lost memories (which unlock an extended ending).  That's a really good chunk of game for the price, and everything that's there is awesome.  Some great boss fights, beautiful visuals with only a few weak spots, fantastic music, pretty great story (if a little convoluted at points... you really can't go wrong here unless there's something hideously wrong with you.

Anyway, yes, in-depth review to follow.  Just wish I had a real place to post it so somebody other than you guys could read it.

EDIT - The review is up!  It just isn't at Overwritten.net.  Check my site out for several links on the main page and the menu.  I wanted to do this up right, and posting it on a forum somewhere seemed a waste, so I did what I had to.

Anyway, I sincerely love this game and wanted to help contribute to its media presence, not to mention give it the detailed review I knew it deserved but probably wouldn't get from more than a couple publications, if any.  So this is a long, detailed, hopefully professional and unbiased review of the game for anyone that's interested (screens included).

I want the Bit Blot guys to get more exposure and make more sales.  In a world where this game is going to get pirated like mad, I want to let everyone that I can know about who made it and why they should buy a copy.  I'll likely end up as militantly adamant and annoying about it as I was with Psychonauts.

So go buy it.  Or I'll cut you.

[gpw11]

The further I get the more I like the game.  To be perfectly honest, I had a feeling it was going to get old, but the pacing with gaining new abilities and thus opening new areas is just about perfect.  Arguably the best I've seen in a game like this (including the big 2: Metroid and Castlevania).  I'm very happy with the purchase, and hope that this gets picked up for Steam, Xbox Live Arcade, and the Sony equivalent.  It really needs that kind of exposure. 

I have wondered a few times what direction games would have taken if developers had stuck to 2-d gameplay styles on the Playstation instead of poorly executed 3d platformers.  This is pretty much it, nothing all that new, but essentially a genre perfected. 

I just have one question for those who have passed the cathedral:

(click to show/hide)

Upon leaving the cathedral I came face to face with one of the hooded creatures whom we met at the start of the game (and eventually caused us to take this journey).  The thing is nothing happened at all, we just stared at each other for about 5 seconds before he/she disappeared.  Is that what's supposed to happen?

[idolminds]

Yeah, thats all thats supposed to happen.

[gpw11]

Ah, thanks.  Oh, and WE HAVE A TRAITOR

[Quemaqua]

What?  I posted it here too!

[gpw11]

Why don't you just go hang out with your new friends over there.

[Quemaqua]

FINE MAYBE I WILL

EDIT - They have cake.

[sirean_syan]

You're not allowed to use that joke.

[Quemaqua]

Cake did exist before Portal, you know.

[gpw11]

You know, I probably would have played through portal for a second time by now if it wasn't for the fact that everywhere you go on the internet (except here for the most part) people weren't beating the Cake and Weighted Companion Cube jokes into the ground.

[Quemaqua]

New stuff happening with Aquaria still, it seems.  If you head over to Bit Blot's site you'll see they're still working on version 1.1.0, which has some tweaks to the food creation stuff and also widescreen support!  I guess a lot of this work is happening because they're working on the official Mac version and so they'll be getting new stuff around for everyone soon.  Also, new beautiful map screen that lets you "check your progress in other areas, as well as letting you see the names of all the areas you’ve visited. There’s also a new hint system built into the world map".  Sounds like good shit to me.  I'll probably be giving this another go around before too long to check out all that new stuff.  The main thing is I really wish I could find a way to play it on the bigscreen.  I guess all I can do is get a video card that'll output to the TV somehow.  I'd love to see the game in big, gorgeous widescreen.

[idolminds]

Heh...I remembered to backup the game but I think I forgot my saves. Good excuse to play again (and finish this time).

[scottws]

Widescreen... nice.  I'll buy it when widescreen support comes out.

[gpw11]

New stuff happening with Aquaria still, it seems.  If you head over to Bit Blot's site you'll see they're still working on version 1.1.0, which has some tweaks to the food creation stuff and also widescreen support!  I guess a lot of this work is happening because they're working on the official Mac version and so they'll be getting new stuff around for everyone soon.  Also, new beautiful map screen that lets you "check your progress in other areas, as well as letting you see the names of all the areas you’ve visited. There’s also a new hint system built into the world map".  Sounds like good shit to me.  I'll probably be giving this another go around before too long to check out all that new stuff.  The main thing is I really wish I could find a way to play it on the bigscreen.  I guess all I can do is get a video card that'll output to the TV somehow.  I'd love to see the game in big, gorgeous widescreen.

I haven't touched this game since I last posted about it. This is for two reasons: 1.) The main character moves just fast enough to make a tiny, tiny bit of ghosting appear on the widescreen LCD I bought.  Coming off of a CRT this threw me off and 2.) The map thing.  I no longer could remember what to do or where to go. 

I think I'm immune to the LCD thing now and if they fix the map in the next version I'll be all over it.

[gpw11]

So Que, are you still kind of in over there?  I'm wondering when this 1.1.0 is coming out.  I'd like the play the game again, but figure I might as well wait for the widescreen support and (especially) new map.

[scottws]

I'd forgotten about this game.  Did the developers abandon it or something?

[Quemaqua]

No, they were working hard on the Mac version.  That one's actually got all the improvements that the next Win patch will have, but I don't know what the timeline is.  Alec's said they're testing it (two guys, mind you... work is slow), but I'm not sure if that means he's got people working on it or what.  I signed up to beta it if they wanted, but I don't know if they already got those people going and I didn't get picked or what.  So who knows.  But no, it isn't abandoned.  Work is just slow for them, particularly since Alec helps a lot of people with support issues, game keys, registration stuff, etc.  The boards are still active and people are still digging the game.  And the Mac version is pretty much brand-new, so there's a resurgence of interest, but also of shit to distract them.

[gpw11]

Interesting.  I guess I'll have to hold off for a bit longer.  Great game by the way.

[Ghandi]

Awesome game - I never had time to get into it. But I may buy it now. It's one of the few [good] games out there that run on my rig.

[Quemaqua]

In some ways it's obviously an indy effort, but not in the ways you'd think.  There are things it does that I think are important, or should at least be noted by people.  There's something different about the mentality they went into it with, and it shows.

From a thread on the Bit Blot boards:

Two notes:

Derek, you raise an interesting point about what makes Naija such a fascinating character.  While obviously Lara and Samus are entirely different beasts spawned from vastly different creative centers, one being an oversexed adventure cliche and the other being a near-silent agent of contextually emotive storytelling (can you guess which one I prefer?), Naija's innocence and -- most extraordinarily -- her sense of wonder set her apart in alarmingly unique ways.  My sense of alarm, I think, stems from the sheer lack of this sense in other characters around the gaming spectrum.  When Naija offers a soft gasp of surprise, or a quiet little "wow" of fascination, I'm awestruck at the power it has to help convey the physicality of the world, the inherent (if sometimes merely implied) nature of it.  And that's cool.  As hell.

Which brings me to my second note.  I think that sense of grandeur is what made me feel, when playing Aquaria, similar to how I felt playing ICO and SotC.  Not because the gameplay is at all similar, but because there was that sense of something wondrous.  The games all achieved it in different ways given the different storytelling methods and natures of the protagonists, but all 3 games were palpably wondrous to me.  I keep using that word because I can't seem to find anything that better describes the feeling.  What Aquaria may have lacked in terms of dimensional depth or raw GPU-pushing technology, it made up for in art, sound, and a pervading sense of carefully meted mystery.  Of obfuscation, even, but only when that lead to making something more interesting or intriguing instead of merely more obscure.  All 3 games excelled in that regard, and the sense of wonder was present as a result.  But in Aquaria's case, it was most uniquely expressed where it seemed to emanate from the heroin herself, and that made a huge impression on me.  Identifying with her was easy because of that, and the sort of humility present in that attitude is what makes her so heartbreakingly fragile, so disarmingly endearing.

I wrote a long review of the game when it came out, just so I had a link on my own site to throw at people that I thought would like the game and because I really wanted to see it succeed, but I don't know if I'd exactly realized how far the emotional connection with the game extended until I had some more time for reflection.  I knew partly why I was connected, but I don't think I quite understood how Naija's connection to her own world affected my own connection to it; and not just because she was there swimming in it, but because she and I were both equally stimulated by it.

Also, I note with some dismay that someone in the very same thread makes vague reference to the fact that they're testing the Windows patch now, so I guess they did give it out to some folks in beta form.  Hopefully that means the real deal comes soon.  Though I'm mad that they asked for fans and longer-running forum members to participate, and this person had 28 posts compared to my 295 and yet I never got an email with the magical beta patch...

I'd be mad, but it's too much effort.

[idolminds]

Update: Aquaria 1.1.1 comes out this weekend! Plus the site has a new trailer to check out, and they mention along with the patch the price will change.

[Quemaqua]

Nice!

[gpw11]

Nooooo....too many games.

[Quemaqua]

Aquaria 1.1.1 is out, and it's only 20 bucks!  Seriously, there's no excuse whatsoever not to buy it now if you haven't already.   And if you have, email: zaphire at gmail dot com (that would be Alec) with your order numbers, etc. from the original purchase, and you'll get yourself a download link for the new version.  Bit of a round about way to do it, but I guess they decided to forego actual patching in favor of just releasing a new package.  So he'll take care of it for you.

But seriously, if you haven't gotten a chance to play this yet, $20 is a steal, and the new version has widescreen support, interface improvements, and some extra additions over the original.  Go get it!

Idol also notes that this version is completely DRM free.  You don't even have to punch in a reg code or anything.  Another slightly odd choice, but I'm sure they have their reasons.  I'm just happy to finally have it.  I've been wanting to play this again for quite a while now.

[gpw11]

Got it.  Miles above the old version and the upscale blurriness isn't a factor at all now - it looks fantastic in native.  The only problem I'm all of a sudden running across is very minor - but I get a 'crackling' sound kind of thing on higher notes.  I don't remember it from before, but I wonder if it's something they did to the encoding of the audio files.  I don't get it on anything else and it's not the headphones. 

I guess a PC setting may have gotten changed some time in the past.

EDIT:  Solved.  Onboard sound settings.

[Cobra951]

I was going to say: overdriving the audio electronics.  Lower the gain at the earliest stage possible.  Glad you fixed it.  I may end up getting this sometime when I can afford it.

[gpw11]

Yeah, I don't remember messing with any of the audio settings, and have no need to since I'm currently running straight out to headphones rather than my sub and speakers, but I guess I did at some point.  I also highly suggest checking this out when you get a chance.  I don't know if you tried the demo or not, but at $20 this is a pretty big steal.  I probably dropped 6-8 hours into it before (very rough estimation) and I don't even think I was anywhere close to being finished with it.  It's like an expanded, underwater Super Metroid.

This time I think I'm going to sit way back and go at it with the gamepad instead of a mouse.

[Xessive]

This looks pretty good! I might consider going for it. I'm downloading the demo right now.

[Quemaqua]

I'm having some minor issues with it, but hopefully can get them resolved before long.  Alec's on the case, and there are some other community members on the thread.  I'm about to reinstall the old demo and see if the problem persists (I have a sinking feeling that the issue is with my video card and not the game).

[Ghandi]

Got it. Love it. Get it if you don't have it.

[Xessive]

Just had a bit of fun with the demo. It reminds me a lot of Ecco The Dolphin!

I definitely enjoyed it and I'll likely pick it up soon.

I wish it was on PSP though!

[idolminds]

Well, its on Steam now. $15.99 until Dec 31st, and it has achievements if you're into that sort of thing.

[Ghandi]

....it's cheaper on Steam? I'm so confused.

[idolminds]

Thats how Valve hooks you into their bullshit.

[Ghandi]

It doesn't make much sense to me. The devs make $20 from the direct download from their site. Then they put it on Steam for $15. So either they are losing $5 on each purchase or Steam is paying them the difference. Which makes no sense either way.

Maybe I'm just missing something here.

[idolminds]

Valve seems to do this with all new releases. Though usually its only 10% off, and only for a week. Beats me why it is the way it is.

[Quemaqua]

*sigh*