Megaquarium: Freshwater Frenzy, the first full expansion for the aquarium building game Megaquarium is a worthy addition to a game that was already wonderful. Note: Key provided by Evolve.
When Megaquarium itself released back in 2018 it was pure joy. Putting a great twist on the usual building sim, that often feels like a tired genre full of lots of the same. Building an aquarium isn't something we saw much of at all and it was a good game. Megaquarium: Freshwater Frenzy takes everything good and just gives you a whole lot more, a proper expansion like we used to see before miniature DLC became the norm.
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Building and expanding in Megaquarium is quite a meditative experience. I ended up completely engrossing in the building, ensuring everything matched up and looked good. It's quite sublime when you really dig into it, adding all these little (and sometimes big) fishies into their very own tank, sometimes mixing and matching fish that can get along.
The new campaign is a nice walk-through of the new mechanics but like with any good creative building game, it's the sandbox mode that continues to shine. With the addition of 30 new freshwater species, it's a whole new world of possibilities and enjoyment. That time you spent making the perfect aquarium? Prepare to spend a whole lot more time doing it again, only this time with a much bigger variety. Along with all the new species and their requirements, there's also plenty of new accessories to build and pretty-up your aquarium. Add to that all the new tanks you can make, like mixed element tanks that have both land and water for creatures like turtles it all becomes so much more interesting and rewarding to build and play.
While it has quite a lot new features, some of which are free for everyone in the latest update like the very handy animals ledger, Megaquarium: Freshwater Frenzy hasn't lost the big selling point: accessibility. It's still an incredibly friendly and focused game that's easy to get into and enjoy spending time with. However, thanks to all the additions you can make everything a lot more complex too that I think would satisfy many different types of gamers.
Like the base game features, Freshwater Frenzy can be modded too. It has Steam Workshop support and if you have the DLC, features like Breeding can open up another world there too.
Some of what else to expect from it:
- The ability to become a breeder and rear baby animals
- Selective breeding to create hybrids with unique color and pattern combinations
- A new five-level freshwater campaign designed to challenge players to make the most of the latest additions and explore the game in new ways
- Dozens of new objects including plants, equipment, seven new tanks, four new accessories to equip staff with and four new paints to keep the aquarium looking fresh
If, like me, you played titles including Zoo Tycoon in the past then Megaquarium and the new DLC Freshwater Frenzy are what I would consider an essential purchase. No problems found while playing through the Linux version, it performs well and looks great. My favourite feature is the ability to zoom right in, as if you're one of the visitors and really take in your creation and all the lovely aquatic life. I can see myself spending a great many more hours with it.
You can buy Megaquarium now on GOG, Humble Store and Steam.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Draconicrose Jun 9, 2020
I really like Megaquarium but I had to stop my let's play of it because of waning interest. The expansion brought it back though so now I get to play both the original campaign and the expansion campaign at the same time. XD It's here if anyone is interested: let's play Megaquarium: freshwater frenzy.
Thanks - Added to my 'watch later' list. I'll check it out
Philadelphus Jun 11, 2020
The intro and tutorial are well presented which I think is important in a sim/builder. The graphics aren't fancy, but it looks good and so far I'm enjoying it.Yeah, I think the campaign does a very good job of easing you into the game's systems, which are quite complex and intricate when you're finally playing with everything in the final scenario (or in the free-play mode). I'm playing the new Freshwater Frenzy campaign and it's doing a similar job of slowly teaching all the (many!) new features.
When I first started playing I didn't think building would get so complex. I've looked at some screenshots on the Steam community page and they are amazing. The new DLC looks very meaty. I'll be picking it up when I finish the first campaign.The intro and tutorial are well presented which I think is important in a sim/builder. The graphics aren't fancy, but it looks good and so far I'm enjoying it.Yeah, I think the campaign does a very good job of easing you into the game's systems, which are quite complex and intricate when you're finally playing with everything in the final scenario (or in the free-play mode). I'm playing the new Freshwater Frenzy campaign and it's doing a similar job of slowly teaching all the (many!) new features.
One aspect I like about building strategies is how you can choose to build natural style or use more tech/pumps. There is a lot of diversity to building.
Philadelphus Jun 13, 2020
Pumps in particular offer some really interesting strategies, like chaining tanks together to allow you to put all your heaters/coolers/filters/etc. in a single maintenance room so your mechanics don't have to go running all over your aquarium (though it's less efficient since you'll need more filters to maintain water quality).I'm trying to reduce my mechanical filter needs with habitat buffs.
Do you balance Nature and Science point gains or have you found a better ratio?
Philadelphus Jun 13, 2020
I'm trying to reduce my mechanical filter needs with habitat buffs.Ah, yeah, that's also quite useful.
Do you balance Nature and Science point gains or have you found a better ratio?
I don't pay too much attention to the ratio for the most part. Unless you're really trying to maximize one I think it tends to be fairly balanced over time, though I admittedly haven't paid enough attention to confirm this. If you play long enough you'll eventually run out of things to research for both, so it's mainly down to whatever you want to unlock quicker at the time. Like if you have a bunch of modded animals (as I do), they'll require more ecology points to unlock.
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