Aquillanto

Great platformer, chock full of fun and adventure! Pay attention while completing the Tutorial Missions which teach you all that you need including [i]how[/i] you might use one method over another to achieve success. IE, running low on ink during [b]Crates-A-Crashing[/b]? Shooting them may not be the best way to go. With the variety in challenge ahead, the lessons learned will serve you well! The Graphics and Play are [b]amazing[/b], and the classic Controls are intuitive and easy to learn so you can dive right into the adventure, which i recommend that you do very soon!

Great gameplay and feel, super fun. Fantastic controller integration is a super plus for a game like this as well! And the secrets and hidden objects just keeps on giving me these "ah, so I WAS correct!"-moments. Haven't come super far into the game yet, but I will keep on playing! ..and maybe hoping for a level editor in the future!

Just started going thought the levels and i really enjoy the retro feeling of the game with a few newer and refurbished aspects of the pen customization. will definitely continue playing and going on the hunt for the good pen! I do recommend the game for people who would like that classic mario kind of game. Hope my comment was helpful👍

[b]GAMEPLAY [/b] "Aquillanto" is a charming old school platformer that really tests your reflexes and sense of timing. [b]CONTROLS[/b] - The controls are simple. You can run, jump, climb and shoot. - As far as movement is concerned, everything feels really smooth and you can move around effortlessly. - The smooth controls makes the game fun to play. - You aren't knocked back when you're hit by an enemy but instead will just stand there losing health until you press the controls to move away. This can complicate things for the player but IMO the benefit is that when you take a hit, you wont be knocked off a platform or towards a greater danger as usually happens in games of this genre. [b]VISUALS[/b] - Visuals are an interesting combination of hand-drawn art (backgrounds and tilesets) and 3D models (game objects like enemies, traps and collectibles). I felt this combination really works well. - A minor issue is that the same background and tiles are recycled across several levels. Would have been nice to see more variety in background art, I guess. [b]SOUND[/b] - Has crisp SFX and a nice background score that isn't too distracting. But there should have been more background tracks. [b]ENEMY DESIGN[/b] - The enemies you'll be fighting are giant insects, strange animals and other weird monsters. They are nicely rendered in 3D and feel alive. [b]LEVEL & OBJECT DESIGN[/b] - There are around 40 levels. And each level is of the right size and length, neither too long nor short. So the game has a fairly long playtime and is worth the money. - When you beat a level, it becomes unlocked permanently and you can revisit it anytime you wish (unless you delete your save file). - Although the levels are linear, there are sometimes multiple paths to make it to the level exits. Other areas are hidden and contain collectibles and health or serve as useful shortcuts. - There are lots of spike traps, stationary and otherwise that you'll need to get past. Timing and reflexes matter when it comes to overcoming them. - Sometimes walls of spikes block your way and can be removed if you kill certain enemies that carry a key. This adds variation to the level design. - There are numerous types of moving platforms each with it's own mechanism. Some move in a set pattern. Others descend when you stand on them. Yet others can be controlled by the player. Still others have spikey contraptions attached to them, so if you aren't careful, the platform becomes a death trap. - There's a good balance between platforming and combat. Enemies, traps and platforms are all strategically placed so as to create a challenge for the player. In this regard, the level layouts are very well done. - More save points would have been useful, especially in the later levels. [b]WEAPONS & ITEMS[/b] - Instead of a gun, you use a magic pen that squirts ink. The "pen-gun" can be upgraded and enhanced with different types of pen parts. - There are various things you get to collect in each level: gold coins (used to play special missions), crowns, fruits (restores health) etc. - There are also power ups that temporarily enhance your abilities (air jumps, stop time, extra damage etc). IMO, those could have been permanent upgrades for the player. [b]FINAL THOUGHTS[/b] As someone who grew up playing platformers, "Aquillanto" immediately caught my attention the moment I saw the first gameplay video on twiter. After an hour or so into the game, I feel this was a good purchase. If you're a fan of 2D platformers, "Aquillanto" would definitely make a fine addition to your game library. Highly recommended. (End of Review)

[h2] Aquillanto [/h2] [h1]The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword[/h1] I am sure everyone heard that saying before. Well, this game takes it to another level by implementing a fountain pen as the main and only weapon in it. The ink in it is the ammo. So yes, the concept is pretty unique. I entered the game with no expectations and luckily, it didn’t disappoint me as much. The developer made this game to relive the Amiga500 days and they didn’t fail in achieving that! [h1]About This Game [/h1] [h2]Storyline [/h2] Does this game have a storyline? I am not quite sure. There isn’t really any narration apart from the tutorials in-game. I also don’t see anything related to the game’s plot on the Steam Store Page. So yeah, I guess it’s just an arcade game with no actual plot that it follows. Would have been cool if they did include a short synopsis on why the Aquillanto dude is on this perilous journey armed with nothing but a fountain pen since it allows the players to get an idea on why the main character is undergoing all this. They do have a short excerpt of some random plot when you select the main level of each stage. That excerpt is made up of literal blocks of text which aren’t fun to read. This may be a side feature of the game so that’s probably why the developer took a simple approach to implement it. It would be nice if they took a VN-like approach since it is simple and way better than forcing your players to read huge paragraphs. [h2]Gameplay Mechanics [/h2] Surprisingly enough, this game has some rather simple mechanics involved. It’s like every other 2d platformer. There’s the basic movement and one key dedicated to attacking, which is shooting ink from his fountain pen in this case. So, what’s unique in this game? Well, the game has a huge variety of enemies. Each and every one of these enemies has its own characteristics and attacks. This makes it so the gameplay experience stays dynamic till the end which is expected in games. They use a lot of boxes/crates in-game. They range from weak to indestructible. Standing on the weaker boxes, shooting them, jumping on them & hitting them with your head will break them. The amount of hits they can take depends on how strong they are. This is a good replacement for destructible platforms. I mean, they do have a variety of platforms too, but this was kinda unique. The game has 5 difficulties to choose from in the Game Settings as follows: [olist] [*] Relaxing [*] Casual [*] Gamers [*] Hardcore! [*] Finger Ninjas! [/olist] The level of difficulty is obvious from the mode’s name. Changing these will only affect the damage you can inflict on enemies and how much you can damage the enemies. Would be cool if it affected the number of enemies you face, the number of obstacles, etc. The most unique feature of this game is the pen. You can collect parts for the pen and fully customize each and every part of the pen in the Pen Creator. You can change and modify the Base-band, Grip, Nib, Tank, Mid-band, and Tip-band to your preference. According to the developer, there are over 11 billion unique pens you can make. You can test out the pen you made in the range. This is a pretty interesting addition! As of now, there are three worlds with 15 levels in the first 2 and 10 levels in World 3. This is actually a lot since each level has the main level and three other missions. If I am right, the missions are optional, and completing the main level is sufficient to unlock the next one. If you want to complete the missions, you are forced to re-play that level with the mission objectives active. Would be cool if they allowed us to complete missions through just one playthrough of that level. [h2]Visuals & Audio[/h2] I have a lot of mixed feelings about this segment of this game. The art style is probably inspired by old-school arcade games with a touch of modern 3d looks and vibrant colors. But for some reason, the visuals of this game do not appeal to me. It looks so weird. Would be cool if they just used an 8-bit style or a simple cartoony art style. But this is what the developer wanted so I guess it is fine. Aquillanto looks pretty in the game banner on the library page but he looks so cursed in-game. I have no complaints about the sounds used in the game. I would just recommend muting the in-game music since it eventually gets annoying. There was this one thing I disliked, the game has a separate Main Menu and a separate Start Menu. A start menu usually just consists of Play or Quit, not settings. This actually confused me since I was unable to find the Pen Creation menu. It would be cool if they combined both of these menus into one. [h1]Pros[/h1] [list] [*] The game has several unique mechanics which are not common in the 2d Platformer genre. [*] I am a big fan of the “Make your own Pen” feature they added. This is probably the most unique aspect of this title. [*] There’s a huge variety of enemies and bosses you will have to face. This adds to the dynamic gameplay. [*] The game does have a decent number of levels. It also has a replayability factor since you have missions to complete which require you to re-play the whole level 3 times. [/list] [h1]Cons[/h1] [list] [*] I am not a fan of the art style they used. [*] The game doesn’t have a proper plot. Whatever story elements it has are displayed through blocks of text which I am sure most of the players don’t have the motivation to read. [/list] [h1]Conclusion[/h1] The game promised a unique experience and it did deliver it. The overall gameplay is perfectly fine and I am sure you might have fun while playing it. Do I recommend it? Yes, I do. The price tag is reasonable too. But I do recommend waiting for a sale so you can grab it at a price that’s under $10 at least. [b]Reviewer:[/b] Midplayz Imagine if squirting ink on people actually disintegrated them. Pens would actually become lethal weapons. [b]Rating:[/b] 8/10 [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/38888018-United-Critics/] Please follow [b]United Critics[/b] for more quality reviews.[/url]

Great playability. Simple and bags of fun platform game. Good for the whole family, my kids liked it as much as I did!

Ladies and gentlemen, Aquillanto! Released 13 October. While I'm not in love with the art style and it needs some more polish, I have a lot of nice things to say about it. Huge, 40 well-designed levels with multiple missions each, tons of variety, interesting baddies and traps. Aquillanto is a 2d platformer that definitely needs some more polish but the underlying game is actually very solid. Range of enemies with interesting mechanics, strong focus on traps, tons of secrets. For more niche curation, follow me at: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/27440015-CSH-Picone/

This game is a modern gaming masterpiece i love this game so much its better than any other game on the market THIS IS A MUST PURCHASE (this is not a bot comment)

Si.