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Underwater wonders to wander on your own terms.

<span class="bold">Aquaria</span>, a metroidvania underwater adventure, is available now on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux, DRM-free on GOG.com with a 50% launch discount.

We hardly think about it daily, but the mysteries of the deep sea right beneath our feet remain just as alien to us as the farthest reaches of our solar system. And where the unknown begins, our imagination starts to wander, and the world of Aquaria begin to fascinate.
Aquaria is a game about exploring both the deepest, darkest recesses of the sea and the sunlit expanses of underwater havens. Equal parts game and audio-visual experience, it's a critically acclaimed adventure that's out to challenge, delight you with a beautiful wide world to explore, and treat you with respect by letting you do so on your own terms. Aside from gamers' hearts, Aquaria stole the show during the prestigious 2007 Independent Games Festival where it was awarded first place for Excellence in Audio, Excellence in Visual Art, Design Innovation as well as the big grand prize as best of show. As one most acclaimed indie productions in recent years, there's no better place for Aquaria than a digital shelf on GOG.com.

Experience an underwater metroidvania with <span class="bold">Aquaria</span>, available now, DRM-free on GOG.com. You can take advantage of the 50% launch discount for the first week, until Tuesday, August 11, 12:59 PM GMT.
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Majnun: Definetly worth $5 (and I'm cheap).
You love me long time? ;)
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tinyE: Are there any RPG or adventure elements because it does look like a standard platformer, meaning racing through each level, face boss, next level, face boss repeat...
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Luned: It's not a "race through each level", it's more "explore each level and find secrets". The storyline is pretty good. If you race through it, it would be a mistake.
I played this back when it first appeared in a Humble Bundle. I suppose I'd better chip in with my personal experience with it, as some may find it useful.

The game is very impressively made. It's beautiful, it's atmospheric, it controls well, and it's quite entertaining... for a while. A couple of hours in, it kind of deteriorates, and rather than exploring new caves full of enemies, the game starts to make you swim through the same caves, now empty, that you've already been through before. It goes something like this:

Game: "This door is locked. You will need to pull a lever to open it."

Me: "Okay. Where's the lever then?"

Game: "About 35 kilometers in that direction."

Me: "What, back where I came from? But there's nothing there anymore!"

Game: "Well, tough luck. Have a nice trip."

Me: *sigh* "Okay, so what do I do after I pull the lever?"

Game: "Then you swim the 35 kilometers back here again."

Me: "Through the same empty caves?"

Game: "Through the same empty caves. See you in a couple of hours."

Me: "There'd better be something incredibly interesting and action-filled on the other side of this door."

There wasn't, and that's about the point where I uninstalled the game. It was a pity, because up to that point, I was really enjoying it.
The grumpy fellow above me is partially right, Aquaria has a lot of backtracking and dead ends... but only in the first hours of the game.

As you learn new powers (which are obtained by beating bosses) you'll be able to unlock those previously unreacheable zones, and you'll also be introduced to new ways to travel quickly; there's a 'travel form' that makes you swim faster, there are shortcuts you can unlock with a certain power, and eventually you'll be able to teleport between regions by riding giant tortoises.

So here's a tip, based on personal experience: when you see a gate you can't open, a passage too narrow, or some other kind of obstacle you can't pass, mark it on your map so that when you finally have the means to cross it you won't have to spend half an hour trying to find it again, like, uhm, someone I know (OMGWTF I'm SURE it was right there, stupid gaem, muh eidetic memory never failz).

The somewhat slow start and the difficulty spike near endgame (some bosses are very hard to beat without a good amount of healing food, which you have to farm) are the only bad things I can say about Aquaria. It's a beautiful, atmospheric, well written experience, and has an absolutely a-m-a-z-i-n-g music. The soundtrack alone is worth the full 10$.
Love the amazing score. The song "The Traveller" is so nice ... can hear it again and again.
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Wishbone: Game: "This door is locked. You will need to pull a lever to open it."

Me: "Okay. Where's the lever then?"

Game: "About 35 kilometers in that direction."

Me: "What, back where I came from? But there's nothing there anymore!"

Game: "Well, tough luck. Have a nice trip."

Me: *sigh* "Okay, so what do I do after I pull the lever?"

Game: "Then you swim the 35 kilometers back here again."

Me: "Through the same empty caves?"

Game: "Through the same empty caves. See you in a couple of hours."

Me: "There'd better be something incredibly interesting and action-filled on the other side of this door."

There wasn't, and that's about the point where I uninstalled the game. It was a pity, because up to that point, I was really enjoying it.
We all know this problem from various games like Gothic 1+2, Zelda WW and many more:
The moment you get the teleport gadgets, progress is way faster and less tedious but the time before is often too long and many people stop right before they would have gotten it.
I'm glad to have endured this phase in Gothic 1+2 and Aquaria and wish I hadn't in Wind Waker (what a terrible game...).
Post edited August 05, 2015 by Klumpen0815
I hope someday goes into the business of selling game soundtracks. I was fortunate enough to buy the soundtrack not long after the game was released, but most people would miss out on having Aquaria's sound on the go.
stop trying to get me to buy stuff I already own. you're pretty much the only one who can do this to me so please stop.

nice job on the release. I played this on my phone and I got stuck.
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eiii: Thanks! I was afraid that some kind of platformer is hidden behind the "Metroidvania". Tagging it as platformer would have made it easier for me. :P
I... worded that poorly. I meant that a typical metroidvania is that, not that this game in particular is.

From my vague recollection of the demo that I played ages ago, you swim around, so CharlesGrey is correct that it doesn't really qualify as a platformer.
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Nesoo: From my vague recollection of the demo that I played ages ago, you swim around, so CharlesGrey is correct that it doesn't really qualify as a platformer.
Yes it is, the platforms have different rules though. I remember playing Ecco the Dolphin years and years ago, sometimes you had to jump from one open water pocket to another, sometimes you had to push large rocks and move behind them in the water to go down deeper when the water was pushing up hard...

It's still platforming, just a little different thinking than heavy gravity as always pushing you down.
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SeduceMePlz: Does this game support the Xbox 360 controller? (Got Xpadder if not, just wanting to know.)
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Grargar: It does. Just make sure to run the game's config executable beforehands, in order to enable it.
Cool, thanks!
I always wondered why this wasn't on GOG from the very announcement that they would start stocking indie games.

It just seems like such a natural move for the site and what they stock.
Wait wait wait. This got released? And I missed it? When?

It's too late for an instabuy now, but I probably will tomorrow.
By Poseidon! FINALLY! Wonderful, just dandy GOG, good show! I'll leave the praise here so I can go buy this beauty.
d(^-^)b
Derek Yu: "Thanks to everyone who voted for Aquaria on GOG and supported the idea of getting it on there: http://www.gog.com/wishlist/games/aquaria … It definitely helped!"

https://twitter.com/mossmouth/status/628590710908809217

Vote for some indies:

1001 Spikes
Antichamber
Axiom Verge
BattleBlock Theater
The Binding Of Isaac: Rebirth
Bit.Trip Runner
Bit.Trip Runner 2: Future Legend Of Rhythm Alien
Braid
Breath Of Death VII: The Beginning
Brothers: A Tale Of Two Sons
Bunny Must Die! Chelsea And The 7 Devils
Castle Crashers
Castle In The Darkness
The Cave
Cave Story+
Closure
Costume Quest 2
Cthulhu Saves The World
Deadlight
DeathSpank
DeathSpank 2: Thongs Of Virtue
DeathSpank 3: The Baconing
Defy Gravity Extended
Divekick
The Dream Machine
Dungeons Of Dredmor
Electronic Super Joy
Electronic Super Joy: Groove City
Finding Teddy
Finding Teddy 2
The Floor Is Jelly
Frozen Synapse
Grow Home
Gunpoint
Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet
Intrusion 2
Jamestown: Legend Of The Lost Colony
Kero Blaster
Limbo
Lisa
Little Inferno
The Misadventures Of P.B. Winterbottom
Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna)
Offspring Fling!
Oniken
Orcs Must Die!
Orcs Must Die! 2
Ori And The Blind Forest
Our Darker Purpose
Outland
Papo &amp; Yo
Rex Rocket
Rochard
Roundabout
Shank
Shank 2
Shantae And The Pirate's Curse
Shantae: Risky's Revenge: Director's Cut
Skullgirls
The Stanley Parable
Super House Of Dead Ninjas
Super Meat Boy
Superbrothers: Sword &amp; Sworcery EP
The Talos Principle
They Bleed Pixels
Thomas Was Alone
Toki Tori
Toki Tori 2+
Torchlight II
Valiant Hearts: The Great War
Vanguard Princess
Vessel
Wings Of Vi
A Wizard's Lizard
Xeodrifter
Post edited August 05, 2015 by Barry_Woodward
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shmerl: Good to see a Linux release on GOG from day one. That's the way to do it. Kudos to developers.
Well...it was WITH linux version back then..in Humble Indie Bundle 1 or 2. So, basically, its not new port.