Trilby: The Art of Theft
Aquaria is a 2D sidescrolling computer game by independent game company Bit Blot. It won the Seumas McNally grand prize from the Independent Games Festival in March 2007.<ref>http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=13039</ref> It was released on the 7th of December, 2007<ref>http://www.bit-blot.com/?p=27</ref> and a Mac port is due in the near future, courtesy of Ambrosia Software.
Overview
Aquaria is about Naija, a lone underwater dweller, who is in search of her family. She explores a massive ocean world, teeming with life and filled with ancient secrets. In her journey she encounters various underwater creatures, travels from hidden caves to sunlit oases, solves mysterious quests in underwater ruins and long forgotten cities of ancient civilizations.
It is an action adventure game, heavily focused on exploration and puzzle-solving, with non-linear gameplay. There are many lifeforms which Naija can interact with. Some of them are hostile, while others are friendly, and some pay no notice to her. Interaction is accomplished by singing songs, which have various effects on Naija (shield, transformation into another form, etc) and her surroundings (lifting heavy objects, opening plants, cracking eggs, etc). It is also possible for Naija to obtain offensive powers to protect herself from some of the more hostile creatures in the game, and key battles against certain ancient foes are essential to progressing the storyline.
The game begins initially at a sedate pace with much emphasis on exploration, but as Naija's repertiore of abilities slowly increases the player's options branch out greatly, so they may concentrate more on exploration and accumulation of needed ingredients or more on aggression and the defeating of foes, or a mix of the two. Many areas of the game open up after the initial tutorial phase and the player is free to explore the world as they wish, with minor restrictions based upon the current range of abilities. Or the presence of the previously mentioned ancient foes.
Forms
In the course of the game, Naija learns new songs that allow her to transform into different forms. Each of the forms is capable of providing her with unique abilities. Template:-
Normal form: This is her default appearence. Only in this form it is possible to sing and wear costumes.
Energy form: The basic offensive form, obtained from defeated energy god. Allows Naija to shoot projectiles to attack enemy creatures and open doors.
Beast form: In Beast forms, Naija's powerfull legs allow her to swim through powerfull currents. She can also consume other creatures and obtain their shooting capabilities.
Nature form: This form allows Naija to plant giant spikes that hurts living creatures, and she can also open specific plants. In this form, many of dangerous sea flora doesn't hurt her.
Fish form: By entering the fish form, Naija can swim past small passageways and some of hostile creatures doesn't pay attention to her.
Spirit form: After singing the song of the spirit form, Naija detach from her physical body, and her soul can freely travel for brief distances. If there is a blue crystal nearby, the spirit form can be used to teleport Naija to this crystal.
Popularity
The game was extremely popular upon releaseTemplate:Fact, causing the official website to go downTemplate:Fact.
The site was actually taken down due to the company, Bit-Blot, switching servers.
References
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