Ezlo
Level: Smitemaster

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SEVEN DAYS. SEVEN DAYS.

After passing it's expected Spring 2007 release date by a few days the first game made by the company Bit Blot is finally about to be released.

A beautiful, hand-crafted 2D adventure

Lonely, restless Naija has spent her entire life wrestling with questions about her identity. We join her as she takes her first steps away from the comfort of home and into new, potentially dangerous waters. Through exploration and magical combat, Naija will unearth the history of Aquaria and connect with beings lost in the depths of time. On the search to discover the fate of her people, her destiny and that of Aquaria's will be forever altered.

A massive, underwater fantasy world to explore

Aquaria is an action-oriented, non-linear 2D side-scrolling game. Using an intuitive and fluid mouse control system, Naija can deftly swim through and explore a massive, handcrafted world that is teeming with undersea life. Along the way, she will encounter literally hundreds of different types of plants and animals and explore many ingame miles of hidden caves, lost ruins, and other strange places.

As kids, we grew up playing the brilliant 2D action and roleplaying games of the time. With Aquaria, we've aimed to capture the excitement of those games in a new way, using updated technology, controls, and visuals. This is a game with a very personal touch, from the characters and story to the creature interaction and expansive environments.

Seamless, non-linear gameplay

In order to make the experience as engaging as possible, we created an interface that lets the player easily control Naija with just a two-button mouse. The HUD is minimal (restricted to only a minimap in the lower-right corner of the screen). In place of textual dialogue that most games rely on we used voice acting to drive the story without interrupting the gameplay.

Through a realtime interface, Naija can sing songs and cast spells without going to a menu screen. With practice, these spells can be cast easily to interact with the environment, solve puzzles, or combine them for strategic effect during combat. Certain spells will allow you to change form, creating new ways of playing the game depending on the form chosen.

Needless to say I am excited for this game, how 'bout you?

lakibuk
Level: Delver

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Being an indie developer myself and a fan of Metroid i am interested and will definitely download a demo as soon as it's available. Judging from the videos the game looks very professional. Curious what the gameplay will be like.

____________________________
Karl
Blueskied Games (main site) - Gratis Spiele (german site)

Dex Stewart
Level: Smiter
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Oh, I've been watching this for quite a while. I'm excited .

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

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Whoo, yeah! This game looks awesome!

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

Mattcrampy
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Ooh, it's a Metroidvania? I was going to check it out before, but now I shall pay special attention.

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Maurog
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I especially like how she shoots fireballs underwater in the trailer.

Just kidding, looks like an awesome game... just in time for my birthday too.

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Slay the living! Raise the dead!
Paint the sky in crimson red!

Jacob
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So, will this be freeware/shareware/to buy only/downloadable/just in shops?

I very very rarely buy games anymore, but this does look worth getting.

____________________________
New to DROD? You may want to read this.
My Holds and Levels:

Znirk
Level: Smitemaster

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According to their website, "a downloadable demo and $30 full version will be released".

Jacob
Level: Smitemaster
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Oh thanks, I couldn't find that bit.

____________________________
New to DROD? You may want to read this.
My Holds and Levels:

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

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Without having played anything of this game yet myself, it nevertheless looks like the mouse-only UI would be a natural fit for a Wii game. (Hmm...I can say that for just about any mouse-driven game, can't I?)

I liked today's final teaser trailer. The music in this game is beautiful. It makes me want to cry each time I've listened to it so far. Hope the whole experience is just as beautiful. I can't wait!


____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

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[Last edited by mrimer at 12-06-2007 10:59 PM]

Doom
Level: Smitemaster

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Looks good, indeed.

Downloading the demo...

Penumbra
Level: Smiter

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I noticed last night, that there was a patch fixing a small issue on some computers. I unfortunately have the issue the patch fixed, but bit-blot.com is down and I can not find a mirror.

Old, now unnecessary question...


-- Edit

The site is back up, I have the patch, and everything is great. Thanks all!

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[Last edited by Penumbra at 12-10-2007 01:41 AM]

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

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I just finished the demo -- it lasted over two hours and I enjoyed it. I neglected to download the patch too, so I might wait till their site's back up before buying it so I don't break things if I encounter the same problem. [Edit: -- it's back up! Time to go buy it!]

I wonder if they had the same problems Caravel did when we started selling JtRH and TCB...

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

---

[Last edited by mrimer at 12-09-2007 11:00 PM]

roach strangler
Level: Delver
Rank Points: 57
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This game is... I'm speechless. It's a work of art.

Maurog
Level: Smitemaster

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Well, I bought it right away, because supporting indie games is a hobby of mine, and this one looked promising. After playing it for several hours, there are a lot of things I like about the game:

* The graphics are very pretty. I will avoid using the term "beautiful", and there is some minor nitpicking on how some of the monsters move and turn, but it's really really well done. Especially the backgrounds. Also, seamless zooming in and out is pure win - you get dramatic closeups in story sequences, and you get huge bosses that totally dwarf you.

*The music is soothing and fitting an underwater theme. It doesn't get on your nerves when listening to it for hours, and it is sufficiently dramatic in boss fights. And you will be listening to it for hours - see next point.

*The world is huuuuuge. I mean it. The maps just go on and on and on... fortunately, the backgrounds are very varied so you don't get bored. Also, there are several means to transport yourself from place to place faster than swimming (that I haven't unlocked the right stuff for yet, but they are there).

*The interface is ingenious. One mouse to rule them all... although I do intend to switch to keys for moving and mouse for aiming on boss fights. But you don't even need to configure anything for that.

*To lump everything else into one point, the story is nice, the cooking system is very fun to mess around with, and there is an editor included, which allows you to make new maps and even design new monsters. There is a lot of play value in this one. Four thumbs up!

Really. Go buy it.

____________________________
Slay the living! Raise the dead!
Paint the sky in crimson red!

lakibuk
Level: Delver

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Finished the demo,too.
It's a great game.
Can't buy it right now or i won't get any work done before christmas.

____________________________
Karl
Blueskied Games (main site) - Gratis Spiele (german site)

NiroZ
Level: Smitemaster
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Well it appears that the site is back up now.
http://www.bit-blot.com/aquaria/index.html

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[Last edited by NiroZ at 12-09-2007 11:53 AM]

Syntax
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Purchased full version and downloading. I'll post my thoughts once I've played through some of it.

[EDIT]

Just a quick note... the Plimus interface seems a lot more integrated into the site itself. Maybe something to consider with the DROD purchases...

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[Last edited by Syntax at 12-09-2007 12:55 PM]

Sergenth
Level: Master Delver
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I've got about 6 hours of game time, and gosh it's a good time! It progresses like a Metroidvania game, but doesn't ever explicitly tell you what to do next.

For instance, the second BOSS fight...

At one point, you are given a GIGANTIC expanse of sea to explore before you can find the path. "Open Ocean" indeed.

And the "dungeon" music has been really compelling.

I know I'm going to have trouble picking a favorite from all of the music tracks.

roach strangler
Level: Delver
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Bought the game today and it's amazing. A big thumbs up and a recommendation from me.

Mattcrampy
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I have some difficulties with the second boss, the one at the bottom of the Energy Temple. In particular, I can't seem to damage him, and my cunning plan for damaging him via the scenery is frustrated by his unwillingness to get in the right position. Any advice?

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Beef Row
Level: Smiter
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Mattcrampy wrote:
I have some difficulties with the second boss, the one at the bottom of the Energy Temple. In particular, I can't seem to damage him, and my cunning plan for damaging him via the scenery is frustrated by his unwillingness to get in the right position. Any advice?

You can't get him to *stay* in the right posistion. How can you get him into it for a little while?

____________________________
"Now I will repeatedly apply the happy-face rule"

Maurog
Level: Smitemaster

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I bet Matt got it right after posting here, as usual...

____________________________
Slay the living! Raise the dead!
Paint the sky in crimson red!

Syntax
Level: Smitemaster
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I did struggle delivering the final blow. I either timed a paw swipe correctly, or I missed something... He's dead now anyway.

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

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You must damage him three times

I liked the "mini-boss" at the entrance to the temple -- an inventive battle that manages to have a fresh combat style -- since you can't actually attack anything yet.

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

---

[Last edited by mrimer at 12-10-2007 05:32 PM]

Syntax
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mrimer wrote:
I liked the "mini-boss" at the entrance to the temple -- an inventive battle that manages to have a fresh combat style -- since you can't actually attack anything yet.

By the way, where did the demo end?

mrimer
Level: Legendary Smitemaster

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Syntax wrote:

mrimer wrote:
I liked the "mini-boss" at the entrance to the temple -- an inventive battle that manages to have a fresh combat style -- since you can't actually attack anything yet.

By the way, where did the demo end?

The demo ends

____________________________
Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me.
Gandalf the Grey. That was my name.
I am Gandalf the White.
And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide.

Snacko
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Is it long enough to justify a $30 purchase?

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Director of the Department of Orderly Disruptions

Syntax
Level: Smitemaster
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Well, I've played 3 hours so far and it seems very early on bearing in mind you can tell how many recipes are available to collect for example, and I've only collected a small proportion.

Mattcrampy
Level: Smitemaster

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Maurog wrote:
I bet Matt got it right after posting here, as usual...

Nope, looks like that only works for DROD.



____________________________
What do you call an elephant at the North Pole?