Several of the helpful positive reviews used the word Metroidvania to describe this game, and that set a certain expectation. I was very quickly disappointed, as the gameplay is basically "exploring" empty cooridors with the occassional environmental hazard or upgrade until you reach the next boss. What these reviewers meant by "Metroidvania" was true in only the barest sense: get new weaponry -> use to open path to next boss.

Well, nevermind my expectations, this isn't the game I thought it was. However, it's quite a good game for what it is: a challenging Boss Rush Mode similar to the structure of Shadow of the Colossus. In that regard, it's a pretty great game.

Pros
+ great pixel art
+ great music and sound
+ great boss design
+ fun setting and style

Cons
- boss fights devolve into bullet hell towards the end (I suppose they're very well done, if you like bullet hell)
- "exploration" that feels more like "aimless wandering" due to a lack of threats, direction, and frame of reference
- has some frustrating one-hit-kills that blend into the background or come from nowhere

It's a title fitting for an amazing film, and to be frank, this lives up to that. Let me explain why:

1. The Music:
   TAAofLH uses masterful music right off the bat. It captures the feeling of amazement of the underwater world as soon as you enter, filling one up with a feeling of curiosity, exploration, and gusto. The timing of the music could not be understated when one stumbles upon some amazing things, or a boss-battle, or other events in the world. When there are vast expanses of the open ocean, the music can really capture that wide, open feeling. When confined into tight spaces, the music races like my heart did. It's great. The only problem one could even find with it is that there's only one track that loops endlessly in most areas, which is unfortunate.
   
   
2. The Setting and Story
   This game has a gorgeous setting, filled with tidbits of what happened to humanity. The writing, although with a couple of typos, is superb and sets a feeling of futility as humanity struggles outwards with a rapidly changing world, and inwards with shifting demographics, differing ideologies, and desperation (I did find all the holotapes). The story and setting are flawless, and it I can say anything good about this game, it would be that the writing in this game is one of my favorites of all time.
   
   
3. Exploration/Environment
   Living up to the vein of the Metroidvania genre, this game has wide-reaching environments with lots fo explore. If someone wants to just take it easy and explore, they can do that. It's calming to coast through the ocean and find nifty things hidden away, or to see the sights the developers have left us. It's a nice experience. Even the darker sides of the world have an eerie and unsettling vibe. From beautiful colors, to dark, forboding drab, this game has it all. Even the wildlife in the background or in the foreground are just great. Beautiful and fun to watch. The game even uses certain animals to supplement the world (in some very interesting ways.) Overall, the environment feels alive, and that, readers, is impressive.

Now you've heard the great parts of this game. I think it's time that I go ahead and highlight the bad:

1. Gameplay
   As beautiful and as well-driven the story of TAAotLH is, it feels squandered on a rather poor chassis for gameplay. I'm playing on a pretty decent rig and, unless you disable particles, this game will suffer MASSIVE frame drops at random times. And for no good reason. Though, that can be overlooked the moment you turn off particles.
   
   The gameplay itself feels slow, and although it can capture the feeling of being a small sub in a big ocean, it just feels like you're a clunky thing. I've gotten through most of the game, and I can say that the array of weapons is disappointing and through most of the game, you'll be stuck with a measely harpoon gun that, quite frankly, feels underwhelming at all stages of the game, despite upgrades. Spoiler: Even with the secret upgrades such as the triple-shot the Harpoon feels atrocious. The other weapons you gain access to are practically impossible to use, and one of those clunky and inaccurate weapons is necessary to beat certain bosses. Spoiler on what weapon it is: The Torpedo Upgrade .
   
   Another spoiler on one of the upgrades: The upgrade, the dodging mechanic, that allows you to dodge damage is very wonky. It can quite literally break the game as I've used it to get inside bosses our outside of maps. This can occur especially around bosses with "arms" such as the Tranquil and the Guardian.
   
   There aren't any real dangers outside the bosses. The other entites that are a danger in the game are pretty much immobile and it's pretty hard to actually die to them. The rest of the time, is spent gliding through pretty, though empty, spaces on the map, backtracking back and forth because the save stations are far and few between. There's also no use of visual cues to guide a player through the labyrinth of different biomes and where a player should go and to which boss.
   
   And here's the big part that I think alot of people wanted to read about.
   
   
2. Bosses
   
   Where do I begin?
   
   The bosses are all extraordinarily unique (aside from The Guardian . Each one has its own quirks and takes getting used to and are very nice to look at (when they're not tearing your sub apart.) I can't say that one fight felt like another, with each presenting its own challenges and traits, timing that had to be learned, etc. They even utilize or have environmental hazards which just skyrockets the challenge even more. I think there was only one boss that I can say that wasn't difficult (though that boss did scare the EVER LIVING HELL OUT OF ME.)
   
   Now, being special snowflakes, there are quite a few bosses who seem to have insta-kill or near instant-kill attacks. Here's a list (Spoilering it so that people who haven't played the game won't have to see this if they still get the game.):
   
   1. The Worm (Can just straight up eat the player, that probably won't happen. Still a possibility.)
   2. The Fathers (Shooting waves at you so you hit the clams on the wall and die.)
   3. The Forgotten One (When he's sucking things in, his gass bubbles, and his ghost form).
   4. The Tranquil (His tentacles can bug you and get you stuck inside of him where you die, or he can just hit you with a spray).
   5. The False Light (Can just eat you)
   6. The Chain Gang (Instakill bite, mines that explode and can instakill you)
   7. The Defiler (Just a straight-up instakill)
   8. The Experiment (Laser beam, blood clouds)
   9. The Guardian (Laser Beam)
   
   So out of the 11 bosses, 9 of them have instakills or near-instant kills. That's kind of stupid and makes for already challenging bullet hells or run-and-guns ridiculously hard. That difficulty, coupled with the freedom to pick and choose your fights (which boss you want to fight and when) can make the game very frustrating. I couldn't count how many times I got fed-up with throwing myself at a boss that I picked another boss and fought them instead for an upgrade that wouldn't even help with the last boss I had been fighting.
   
   These bosses are the only substance to the game. They're the only enemies and they're also very unique and fun. However, there's one boss that I've spent 3 out of my current 8.1 hours on: The Guardian . Even with all the uber upgrades, even with exploiting the broken mechanics, this boss is probably the straw that broke my back and why I'm going to give a thumbs down to the game. This boss, and the achievement of beating him, I feel like only 10% or less have actually beaten. This guy is ridiculous.
   
   One last thing, sort of an afterthought:
   
   
3. Runtime
   The game is painfully short. I'm at the last boss in under 5 hours. Most the rest of that time is spent on a particular boss. For the amount the devs are asking for seems a bit high. I think I bought the game at a discount, but for $15? That's a bit high.

The game is fun for the first hour or two, and is a challenging experience that can make a Dark Souls fan weep into a corner. It's beautiful, with a great setting but is ultimately tied to a lethargic and slow gameplay chassis. For some, particularly Metroidvania fans, this game may seem pretty good; but to those who are not into the genre, it might be best to look the other way.

The game seems to hedge its bets on the journey, not the destination, and the journey was just a bit too bland for me.

PS: I love the game. I'm not saying anything here out of spite. Just honest criticism that hopefully the developers will see and continue forward with.

I don't know about other people but pretty visuals will only get me so far with a game, I need substance there too.

This game is really lacking in depth (parden the pun) and really had me more frustrated then anything else in the long run.

There's no encounters with enemies, only bosses, which would be fine but when you don't know where to go and you spend 2 hours back-tracking in circles to places you've already been too, you start wishing it was more interesting.

The hazards that ARE there are mostly stationary and don't really do much besides stop your incredably slow-moving sub to a complete halt. A few times I ran into hazards only cause they blended into the background so much, the slight flash isn't enough to decern the BOMBS THAT ONE HIT KILL YOU sometimes.

When you aren't lost or slowly moving to where you need to go, you're fighting a boss of some sort.
I regret to tell you that none of these are really interesting and a few are just frustrating. You'll never do much more then move slowly and shoot slowly, a good deal of the bosses are easy to figure out but have a lot of health to knock out with a very slow rate of fire, but a few bosses have this mantra of just being hard rather then interesting.

Few spoilers here, but the Chain Gang boss is literally a big shark with a million little sharks alongside it, which was frustrating because not only would they occassionally bump me into one another and kill me instantly, the sharks also blend in with the background too much to see them coming most of the time. The Heart of the City boss is annoyingly filled with projectiles, some of which are way too small to see learly to dodge properly.

I'm really not feeling this game here, it's so frustratingly slow and frustratingly difficult. I assumed it would be a calming ride under the ocean, but when the game remembers it needs gameplay it pulls from a twinstick shooter with bosses that want you to bob and weave between their attacks which is impossible in the slow little sub you pilot.

It's pretty on the surface, but empty under all of that.

To sum it up:
The chainsaw in this game is useless.

From the haunting melodies by Karl Flodin, to the wonderous seascapes of post-apocalyptic Earth, The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human is an audiovisual treat. I'm not much of an art-critic, but to me, this is a game that feels...significant. I'm overcome with this feeling of inspiration. At any moment, I could sit down at my desk, turn on the PC, and write something really powerful. Anyone who read it would also become inspired, and the cycle would continue until the entire world became just a little bit grander.

Well, maybe I'll do that tomorrow. For now, let's focus on the game itself. Some of the first videogames I ever reviewed originated in the arcades, so I tend to pay more attention to basic qualities like controls and design. My approach to reviewing this game is to strip away all of the extraneous elements. The visuals are lovely, and the soundtrack is excellent, but right now I'm tuning all of that out. All I see are lines, dots, and rectangles. If I open my ears enough, I'm sure I'll hear some bleeps and bloops. With this scenario in mind, do I still consider The Aquatic* a good game? Yes!

Aside from light exploration elements, this is a game that revolves entirely around boss-fights. As a Darius fan, I've always been a sucker for oceanic-themed adversaries. While that series operates under the basic trappings of a 2D shooter, The Aquatic goes in another direction. Each of the 12 bosses are approached differently. Aside from each boss having a unique look, they also have their own patterns, weaknesses, attacks, and environment. Not only do you have to pay attention to the projectiles the boss might fire, but also your immediate area, and the following action the boss is liable to take.

This is not a game to approach lightly. You're going to die, possibly a large number of times. In my view, all of these deaths will be fair. The sub, even at its default speed, is fast enough to avoid every attack, it's just a matter of understanding movement. Yes, it will seem slow at first, but there will be cases where you can avoid attacks entirely with a little fore-thought. The first boss (a giant worm) has an attack where it spits several smaller worms at the player. The player can attempt to hang back and dodge every single worm, or they can work their way around the giant one. By doing this, the player avoids the entire attack, and gets a nice opportunity to do a lot of damage to the boss. Unless you're after a specific achievement, the sub can also take quite a bit of damage through the acquisition of hull and auto-repair upgrades.

The most important weapon you'll have for the boss-fights is your harpoon. In order to get the most out of this tool, you have to grasp the basics of risk vs reward. The harpoon can be charged to hit distant targets, or the button can be mashed repeatedly if an enemy is close. Naturally, the closer you get to the boss, the more dangerous they become, but they can be destroyed more quickly. As you develop strategies to defeat these bosses quickly, you'll discover the real depth found in this game. It's almost entirely boss-fights, but it does them justice.

Since the game delivers in terms of the more important qualities, I feel more comfortable talking about its artistic side. Videogames that take place in or around large bodies of water have always intrigued me. When most other games have the obligatory water stage, I can't stand them. I think it's because nobody really appreciates the ocean, they just want to have some harebrained swimming mechanics, in order to pad things out. Videogames that embrace the ocean and the life that inhabits it, such as the Ecco the Dolphin series, are just incredible. The Aquatic really captures those immersive moments, where you're blown away by all that's happening around you. The world's surface (and humanity) is long dead, but the seas are as lively as ever. The minor visual details like the remnants of human architecture and various types of marine life bring everything together.

The soundtrack can not be praised enough. This is a short game, so it's welcome to have a unique track for every part of it. I've always said that good music can elevate any game, and this is as appropriate an example as any. The boss themes in particular are superb. You're the last human in existence, fighting off an abomination, for reasons you can't quite grasp. The music in these tense and disturbing situations really preys upon the game's sense of hopelessness.

While The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human isn't lacking in quality art and sound, it also holds up well purely as a videogame. There is some entertainment in poking around a small yet visually dense world for upgrades and other secrets. However, most of the fun and challenge is in learning, defeating, and then mastering the myriad of bosses. Overall, this is a unique experience that's definitely worth checking out.

*Sorry, but I can not write out that title every time.

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Most games have a good middle and a beginning that you have to work past. Some games have a phenomenal intro, but quickly lose steam afterwards. The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human starts strong and keeps that momentum for the entire game. It's tough in places, but it is always fair when you lose. Once you get into a rythym, expect to be thrown for a loop. Expect to die and get frustrated and probably curse at the screen, but when you're done with this game, don't expect to forget it.

I came, I saw, I contemplated my life choices.

This game's a load of fun with varied gameplay that encourages replayability. Anytime someone asks me about this game, I liken it to Megaman, but underwater. The boss fights feel very similar, the upgrades feel similar, and some of the boss strategies feel exactly like something I'd expect playing a Megaman game. Now, that's not to sell the game short and say that it's a rehash of an old formula or anything like that, the game does a very good job of making its own space in the action/adventure genre, but the similarities scratch that nostalgia itch in just the right way.

Be forewarned that some of the boss fights can be outright rage inducing, but they are challenging in a very fair way. There isn't a fight in the game that I'd consider overly influenced by luck or requires this upgrade or that upgrade, in fact there's an achievement for beating the game with no upgrades at all which adds yet another layer of challenge to a game that already has a fair bit of replayability.

TL;DR: If you like challenging boss fights, environment-driven narrative and beautiful pixel art with a great and ominous soundtrack, you've come to the right place.

If you'd like to watch some gameplay, check out my Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human playlist.

The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human is, as the name suggests an underwater metroidvania about the last living human exploring the submerged ruins of their civilization after millenia away in the desolation of space.

Set in a now frozen Earth and armed only with a mounted harpoon, torpedo, saw, and a pitifully slow spaceship/submarine hybrid the player invades the homes of the new denziens of Earth, brutally killing them for no apparent reason. All the while gaining silvers of information pertaining to the human race's demise and collecting shiny upgrades for your vessel.



Pros:

• Sounds: The music is wonderfully done, and with the visuals it sets the game's atmosphere nicely. Though some of the more common tracks do get old after you've been to an area multiple times for backtracking or exploration, but the boss tracks all fit the mood and visuals of the bosses. The ambient sound and sounds of the bosses all make the bosses and environment feel alive.
  
  
• Visuals: Both the backgrounds and foregrounds are stunning, and help sets the atmosphere of the game. Ruined buildings co-mingling with massive fish and stalks of seaweed or masses of coral help emphasize the feeling solitude and petiteness the game conveys. All the bosses look very nice (even if their fights aren't that great).
  

Cons:

• Gameplay: While I'm sure many people think that metroidvanias are overdone, I'm personally indifferent to the game style, and I am usually a fan of SoTC-esque (only bosses) gameplay. However when most bosses have instant kill attacks that (due to how slow the ship is) can be incredibly difficult to avoid, when some are so easy that they are easily forgotten, and when the majority of fights devolve into kiting the boss around the arena taking potshots at it with a fully charged harpoon until it dies, I am not a fan of the gameplay style. As I said the ship is slow, making the treks between bosses or backtracking to find that upgrade/secret you missed a painful chore, I find this surprising for a game that encourages exploration. The non-harpoon weapons were not that useful in most stituations, apart from where they are used to clear paths or when you are forced to use them in battle, I found myself using the harpoon 90% of the time.
  
  
• Technical Issues: The game was made using Game Maker: Studio, so the technical issues I have are most likely due to the engine's limitations, but I feel that the devs should have taken more steps in decreasing these issues. The biggest issue for me are vertex buffer crashes, which occur when (I assume) too many things are happening on screen, thankfully turning off particles fixes this (but not for the final boss, though the dev's fix to vertex buffer crashes worked it for me). Memory leaks, causing crashes and freezing also happen a fair amount, less occur with particles off. This last issue isn't game breaking, but I find it odd, either the game is periodically sped up (by around 150% or so) at random intervals or during most of my run of the game was slowed down. I found the game to much more fun during the sped up periods.
  
  
• Story: The bits of exposition you find lying around the game's map (unless you're writing it all down) are difficult to follow, with no way to view holo-tapes you've previously found. Though with the simplicity of the game's story it barely matters, the story being the mash of two lazy tropes; "Humans destroyed the world, because climate change" and "Out of control AI destroys all humans, because they are the true cancer of the world". I realize that the deluxe edition has a digital booklet that provides more story, but I'm not keen on buying information that should already be in the base game.
  

Buy the game if you want a short experience that looks and sounds nice, but has little to give in any other department. Otherwise I'd give this one a pass.

I didn't hear about this game until about a week before launch, but I'm glad it did get pointed out to me. It's short, but sweet. My first run through took me a bit over 4 hours, with some getting lost but not finding every upgrade.

The Metroidvania style exploring is fun, although a better map would be nice. Toward the end of the game you get an upgrade which lets you see more details on your mini-map, but it would have been nice to have something like that from the start. Or at least let it apply once you've explored each area of the map.

For the most part, the boss battles hit a perfect level of challenge for me. A couple of them were pretty easy, but most of them required a number of tries, sometimes dying very quickly, but generally learning a bit more about their patterns each time. Some of them have definitely got some bullet hell going on, so hopefully you're into that kind of thing.

I found the music generally pretty suitable. The pixel art on some of the non-hostile fish was a bit blurry, but everything else looked quite good. I think a good job was done on the sound design, too. Especially the squelching noises.

If you're easily frustrated this might not be for you, but if you're up to throwing yourself into a grinder to get a little bit better at a fight each time, there's fun to be had here. Just try not to curse too much when you get trapped between an enemy and a wall and torn apart in a second.

Wet Dream

Full disclosure: review copy provided by developer/publisher!

The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human, in addition to having the least marketable video game name since GOLF Magazine Presents 36 Great Holes Starring Fred Couples, also tells you everything you need to know about it: you are, in fact, the last human... having an aquatic adventure.

Unlike GOLF Magazine Presents 36 Great Holes Starring Fred Couples, which had maybe 20 great holes total.

It is the very distant future and humanity has royally screwed the pooch – as it is wont to do. At some point in the past we sought a future amongst the stars and that, presumably, did not work out... so you've returned to an Earth reclaimed by the sea to discover, adventure, and generally faff about in your little submersible until you die from toxic fart buildup.

It won't be long into your faffing before you learn that, in the absence of hungry, hungry humans, some underwater creatures have grown to enormous, Captain's Platter™ proportions – with tempers to match. Fortunately, because this is a Metroidvania-y kind of title, you'll also find various upgrades with which to kill all the giant oceanic critters that give you trouble. You'll pick most of these upgrades up, ironically enough, after killing one of the dozen-or-so bosses – though there are more passive upgrades (improved hull, speed, etc.) to find while exploring. Besides helping you better kill enemies, in true Metroidvania fashion some upgrades will help open the world up to explore.

The boss fights are great, generally. There were one or two I could have done without but they were for the most part fun. Every enemy has their own range of attacks and patterns and you'll seldom “nail it” on the first encounter. With each kill you'll fill out a bestiary for the respective boss to learn a little bit about it, and when you complete the main game there's a boss rush mode and a hardcore mode.

While there are a few hazards here and there (and boss battles, of course), this is a very laid back, lonely, peaceful kind of title – very akin to Shadow of the Colossus... not because of the titanic boss battles per se, but because of the soft ambaince, the wandering, and the unavoidable feeling of being an incredible douchebag for murdering unsuspecting giants. The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human has a world I got lost in for hours. The backgrounds are some of the most beautiful and haunting I've seen in this pixel art style – and the music definitely does its part.

That's not to say this one is perfect! There are hologram messages in every hub with bits of exposition and... at its BEST it was uninteresting, at its worst it was preachy. “The forest offered us plentiful bounty, and we wiped our asses with it.” Well what did you want me to do devs, use a bidet like some kind of European or something? Also, the dinosaurs didn't live for 65 millions years, they died 65 million years ago... they actually lasted closer to 200 million years! Just a minor nitpick. Oh, and there's no map function, really. You have a mini map you can refer to while traveling but it's just for the immediate area you're in. There are save points in each section that have a world map you can refer to but I found myself backtracking and getting lost to the point of frustration near the very end.

I still really enjoyed this one in spite of those minor quibbles. It's peaceful and pretty, like a walking sim but with boss fights sprinkled in to keep it interesting. Every environment is unique and lovingly crafted, every boss fight is singular and special (and the names for each one... excellent), the music accents the loneliness perfectly – it's a great little experience overall, and a wonderful way to start off your 2016 Gaming Year.

Plus. it's just better down where it's wetter – take it from me.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ChjVcijZOM

I was initially really impressed with the game, but it lost me with the difficulty changes in the boss fights. I really fell in love with the game at first. Light levels that go up and down, camera zooms, music matching the environment, and then the environment.. wow.. so much detail in the backgrounds. The pictures tell the story, and the soundtrack captures your interest. You feel pulled into this watery world. I was playing a game Aquaria and this game is what I wanted that game to be, but it wasn't. This feels murky, dark, and aquatic.

It was fascinating to explore but there was the spectre of lethal trouble. All the fights are boss monsters, and the boss fights are all brutally challenging. From the store page, "Polarized gameplay: It's pretty chill until you've gotta fight for your life!"

Yeah, I fought the third boss literally dozens of times, before I beat him, even after looking up walkthroughs and secret upgrades. At some point, it stops being fun for me. If you are looking for tough boss fights and don't mind slowly cutting through seaweed to do it, then maybe this is a good game for you. I can say that it ran great on ubuntu linux 16.04 with radeon mesa drivers, at least.