Down where it's Wetter! Down where it's Better!

So among my new acquisitions the other day was an absolute gem called Aquaria. Aquaria is the story of a young girl (who happens to be a fish) who can alter reality through song. She has the ability to feel the "verse" of the universe which flows through all living things, and she can sing in harmony with it to achieve various effects like telekinesis and laser beams. She's also extremely nimble and can flip around like nobody's business. So basically, she's like a singing jedi. Who is also a fish; that part's kind of important.

The game is 2D with 3D graphics, cell-shaded, and nothing that will tax your PC. In fact, I bet my old PC could have run this. All the same, the artwork is astounding, and the level design is fascinating. The music is top-notch as well.

In terms of gameplay, it's like a cross between Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Ecco the Dolphin. Being underwater, you can swim in any direction, and you can get speed boosts by kicking off of walls (this comes heavily into play in combat). To sing, you have to stop moving and actually hit the various notes. It takes no musical talent and is extremely easy if you can remember the note combinations, but it can get difficult to perform some of the more complex melodies in the middle of a fight. When a lot of attacks are coming at you at once, dropping what your doing, holding still, and inputting the musical combination for a shield spell takes a fast and steady mousehand.

The story is good. The graphical design makes me feel like I'm swimming through a painting. The music is soothing and encourages exploration (try to imagine the underwater levels in Metroid). The voice actor for the main character does an excellent job. The gameplay is different from anything I've ever played. I guess what I'm saying is I really like this game.

The game does tend to suffer from a common indie-title condition, known as "we worked really hard making a big beautiful world for you to explore, and now damn you, you're going to freaking explore it," which is to say that you are given virtually no hints regarding where to go at the start of the game, and will wander the ocean for quite some time, running into various dead ends, most of which will actually become passageways to later areas, once you obtain the necessary skills to overcome the obstructions. One VERY important suggestion to anyone playing this game: Your (surprisingly well-done) map system allows you to drop map markers, and it also lets you tag those markers with text of your choosing. Whenever you encounter something that seems unusual, especially at what seems to be a dead end, take a couple of seconds to mark the position on your map, and leave a brief description of what you found there. Chances are that at some point, you'll want to return later when you've acquired some new skills.

At $20, Aquaria is a little steep for a 2D adventure, but I think I got my money's worth.

[EDIT: So, apparently Aquaria actually came out in 2007. It was recently (I think) placed on Steam, leading me to believe that it was a new title. But no, year and a half old.]