Aquarist Reviews

v

Yes

I HATE this game! It says I've played this game for 8 hours...Nope not even, it's been running but 90% of this time is fighting the controls in this sad excuse of a game. You can't move forward in the tutorial if you miss a step, you have to start over. The saved file that I have just have me washing tanks (right after the tutorial. I've tried giving this game some time to get better and it has not. Got a bunch of DLC's but the core mechanics of this game is terrible. I thought it was me but when you have a tutorial that you 1. have to go through (no opting out), 2. Can not save (during tutorial) if you get stuck 3. Too darn long (tutorial), 4. You can't switch between controller and KB/Mouse while the game is running (I even tried turning off the controller), 5. you aren't really able to decorate, just dropping stuff in the tank and hoping it sticks and 6. I've got 8 hours in this game and I'm still in the tutorial. How in the heck is that even possible? Truthfully, I don't know if I got out of the tutorial or not, I just know I didn't buy the game to clean tanks and that is all it gives me to do. I have 2 tanks for sale but no ones buying them. Heck I don't even see how you even get customers??? The only thing good about this game is that the tanks and fish are beautiful.

The game itself is great, but missions and dlc stuff are pretty annoying and makes you do alot of stuff that dont really want to. In the missions you have to do alot of unnecessary stuff for excample: Building a whole house and a dock that doesnt really have to do anything with the game. Getting the fish and corals and plants is ok, but I didnt buy a building simulator. It takes over halv an hour before I get to even build the aquarium. And when I get the dlc maps, I want to make them my own, but missions make me put alot of stuff and use aquariums for fish I dont want to put in and then it takes time to replace them again with the fish I want. Atleast give me one massive place with aquariums where I can full do my own stuff too and not always what the mission wants. Half of my aquarium maps are filled with fish I had to put in to unlock more stuff. The game is good, but if you want to fully freely build your aquarium exhibit then its not that good, cuz alot of the maps missions are that you have to fill alot of aquariums with the fish the game wants. I understand it is to show you the fish and to unlock them, but in that case it would be better to make a button to fully just clear one aquarium of fish/plants/decorations to make it as what you want, without going trough all the hassle.

I would absolutely recommend Aquarist. It's like 10 games in one. On top of the gameplay, each area brings with it a mission to build the personal dream aquarium for someone. I do wish there were more of these missions. Are a couple of the missions adverts for their other games? Sure, but you still have a good time playing the mission and you get stuff you can use in your main aquariums, including fish and decorations. I love how big each level is. There are so many opportunities to display what feels like 100s of types of fish, including sharks, sea turtles, and jellyfish. With the developer actively adding more! There's enough realism to keep casual simmers hooked, pun intended. You have to adjust the pH level of the water, clean the tanks, and create little (and massive) aquarium homes for all types of fish. As you progress, you unlock more decorations and fish types. Make sure your plants can survive at the same temp as your fishes! And the graphics! I can't say much about the people. They are pretty generic models with generic stiff-legged animations, but they make up for that by having quite a few distinct customers who come into your store. And their outfits always make me chuckle, but it keeps it interesting. But these fish? So realistic. I am terrified of sharks and they are so real in this game, I had my partner make sure they didn't react before I hopped in the water. You heard me right - hopped in the water. If you love the serene underwater world and have always wanted to explore some, this is the game for you, too. Now let's talk about the devs for a moment. I am not a person to browse steam forums for answers. But for this game? I go nowhere else. The devs are hands down the most responsive and active dev team I've ever experienced. They respond everywhere, helping people play their game, giving hints, taking feedback like never seen before. They've even implemented suggestions from their players! To sum it up: The game is fun, the DLCs are inexpensive for the amount of content you get and worth it if you don't own another game of theirs that already unlocks it (owning Aquatic Store Simulator unlocks the Aquatic Supermarket DLC - no paying twice to play both games in one convenient place), the devs are amazing, and the community has been great. 10/10 recommend

I just beat this game and I loved the ride, there are some small changes i think could be added to make it even better such as better swim animations and collision or some animal emotes like morays hiding under rocks, but if more DLC come out i'll be grabbing them for sure.

one of the most beautiful games i have tried and it has a deep reality for lovers of making fish ponds and it will make you gain experience in the field of making fish ponds

As a "cozy games" and "simulation games" fanatic, I have to say this is one of the best ones I've played! It is absolutely amazing the amount of activities they added for us to do, the collab with other games was a genius idea! I am only at my second location and I already loveee this game! Chef's kiss!

This is going to be such a conflicting review, but I'll do my best to keep things short. As far as game play goes, this game is actually so addictive and fun. It is a truly cozy game in the sense that I can chill for hours after work tending to my aquarium without the stress of being good/bad at a silly little simulator game. However, it isn't the type of cozy game that gets boring after 8 hours of play time. They introduce so many elements in terms of DLC as well as regular game play to keep the game feeling fresh, even if you're farther along. The character models are pretty ugly, but are easily ignored for the stellar artwork design of the fish themselves. You genuinely want to find a way to make new tanks just to experience the new fish and plant life that leveling up within the game provides. The tanks can be positively stunning, I find myself just sitting to watch my fish float around at times while playing. All this being said, the glitches in the game inevitably make it unplayable. It started with a small issue within the Japanese garden DLC where I couldn't finish a lantern lighting quest despite having visited each lantern. This issue was honestly easy to get over, however the more persistent issue that I have noticed is that the game randomly (and with no warning) will reset. You will be transported back to the filthy basement dwelling that you start the game in, with far less money than you had, and all of your tanks gone. The first time this happened, I stopped playing the game for a week after having lost an immense amount of progress. I tried everything to get the save back to its original state, but to no avail. So, I tossed the save, and gave myself a week to mourn my digital fish before jumping back in. I played for one evening, saved my newly made game file on my supposedly non-corrupted game, and was shocked to find that yet again my progress was reset. At this point I am at a loss, I want to recommend this game, but ultimately cannot due to repetitive issues like these. If the devs fixed these issues, I could see myself jumping right back in again. As it stands, I'm looking to refund everything including the DLC packs that I bought.