Art Style: Aquia

Genre: Match-3 Puzzle

Players: 1

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Review:

Art Style: Aquia is a Match-3 Puzzle game released on the Nintendo DSi via the DSiWare service in 2009 and then grandfathered into the Nintendo 3DS eShop when that system was released. This game has players shoving multicolored blocks into a tall column of blocks trying to make a match of like-colored pieces.

The presentation in this game is decent, but somewhat limited by the low resolution of the platform on which it was first introduced. The blocks in Aquia are brightly-colored, and the background behind them depicts various placid scenes, generally underwater scenes. However, these underwater scenes are somewhat low-resolution and lacking detail, and seem a bit washed out. These visuals are then backed by a relaxed synthesized soundtrack that works well to produce a placid tone for the game.

The gameplay in Aquia takes some getting used to, but it’s fairly straightforward – shoving blocks in one side pushes those rows over, causing blocks to come out the other side, which becomes the next piece you have to place. As such, you’re alternating shoving blocks into the left and right sides of the column, trying to get three to line up.

This gameplay is made a bit more interesting by a few other mechanics in this game. As you play, darkness gradually descends from the top of the screen, and can only be pushed back by making matches, with your match ending when the darkness engulfs the entire column. This darkness doesn’t stop you from playing in the darkened area, but of course when color-matching there’s not much you can do if you can’t see the colors. Occasionally, you’ll occasionally see special flashing blocks that can be matched to lift the darkness completely. You’ll also have to contend with X blocks that cannot be matched, but making matches around them causes them to transform into normal blocks

When it comes to complaints, I don’t think it’s quite as easy to wrap your head around the strategy of this game as I tend to like from Puzzle games. Also, this game feels like it really needs a multiplayer mode, and it doesn’t have one.

However, as a $5 addition to your Puzzle Game collection, Aquia is a solid choice. The gameplay is fairly unique within the genre, and I can definitely see this as an enjoyable way to pass a few minutes at a time between other games.

tl;dr – Art Style: Aquia is a Puzzle game that has players pushing colored tiles into a column looking to make matches of 3. The gameplay takes some getting used to, but overall this is a fairly unique and enjoyable entry in the genre, well worth the $5 price tag.

Grade: B

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