This game is well loved, but I just don't get it. Pros: the art is fantastic, and the world-building is lovely. The controls feel great, and the skill development system is interesting. Cons: the world is large and non-linear, which should be fantastic but unfortunately just leads to a lot of wandering in circles. Your objectives are unclear, you often have to return to places you visited previously to make use of new skills (but there is no indication or method of tracking these sites). You die quickly and die often. The death mechanic is the part of this game I really don't understand: you respawn in a weakened state. forced to return from your last save checkpoint to the spot you died. This means a lot of re-treading the same route to either a) face the same enemy who just beat you, but in a weaker state or b) to immediately turn around again and re-re-tread the route in reverse to get back to the nearest save point. Maybe I just suck at these sorts of games, but I found myself loving the first few hours and then putting it away in frustration just at the point where the game should be richest.
Megaquarium is just a few details short of being my new favourite "theme" management sim. The theme is plenty of fun and there's a surprising amount of depth in balancing the ecosystems of your tanks. The number of ways that your various creatures demand to be served is varied and extensive. I only wish that it was a bit easier to see what fish you have in what tanks, and what their needs and restrictions are. The designers are walking a fine line here, as puzzling out these combinations is part of what makes the game exciting--you don't want the UI to simply give it all away. But the presentation of information seems a bit too far on the murky side for my tastes. It doesn't help that, when playing on my laptop, the font is tiny and very difficult to read... I couldn't find a setting to rectify that issue, although maybe I'm just blind? The graphics overall are cute, professional and engaging. I'm willing to bet that after an update or two this game will stand up next to all-time classics like Theme Hospital and RollerCoaster Tycoon!
The first half-hour of this game is absolutely unforgettable. I was delighted to find myself in an apartment in Toronto, digging through cupboards looking for my meds. As the story unfolds, and the uncomfortable tension gave way to well-exectued horror--well, this game scared me like I haven't been scared by a game since, let's say, XCom circa 1992. Kudos! I love that the player uses brains rather than brawn to sequence through the story. The puzzles are well done and the ambiance is fabulous. It's not perfect: sometimes the "sneak and run" mechanic gets a bit tired, and the voice acting leaves things to be desired. The undersea setting occasionally feels a bit like a Bioshock re-run. But at the end of the day, this is a great experience from a cool company--and it even runs on Linux! Thanks guys!
Perhaps I haven't played far enough along, but about 10 hours in I'm not sure what the buzz is about! Graphics are very nice indeed, although I wasn't as blown away as I was prepared to be... But the world itself feels stiff and artificial. The alchemy, crafting, and leveling systems are hard to interface with (again, maybe because I'm a Witcher-world newb?). The combat is flat. The storyline isn't grabbing my attention. The dialogue is... odd. Why do I only speak in sentence fragments? Most cutscenes offer very few interesting choices (and/or it's unclear how my choices influence the storyline)--I feel like I'm just clicking my way through a movie. I'm plugging away, waiting to be amazed. Still hoping I'll find the game matches the hype around the next corner!
