Aquaria
Metroidvania/Adventure/Exploration
Steam Link

So in this game you play some sort of water sprite. You swim around and it's really comfy and cozy.

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Ecco the Dolphin vibes happen pretty much right from the start.

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You can learn songs (Ocarina of Time style), which you can then sing to accomplish varying things, such as giving yourself a shield or moving rocks around in order to explore new areas.

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Speaking of exploration, I feel like that's a pretty big part of the game. A story starts to unfold, but frankly all I want to do is clear out every unexplored area on the map (the map lets you know where you haven't been to yet.)

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There are a lot of little things to do, like collect food ingredients so you can cook them, find magical artifacts, and so on.

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But come on, the point of this game is exploring in a comfy and relaxing environment.

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It's pretty metroidvania, and I have a feeling that this game is going to ramp up in difficulty at some point if it truly is as Ecco-ish as it feels. But frankly I'm in no rush to get there because just swimming around is nice.

THE VERDICT:

  • Comfy
  • Relaxing
  • Cute British Girl (another one)
  • I feel like this style of game was meant to be played with a controller but the UI is not built for one
  • You can use a controller anyway, it's just awkward
  • Overall good and fun to play