This is a game I desperately want to love, but due to a myriad of technical and performance issues, Megaquarium is a game that ends up being more of just a fun concept than a fun game.
Megaquarium is a simulation or "tycoon" style of game. If you ever played games like Zoo Tycoon back in the day, you can expect a similar style of gameplay from this. It's a genre I've always personallyThis is a game I desperately want to love, but due to a myriad of technical and performance issues, Megaquarium is a game that ends up being more of just a fun concept than a fun game.
Megaquarium is a simulation or "tycoon" style of game. If you ever played games like Zoo Tycoon back in the day, you can expect a similar style of gameplay from this. It's a genre I've always personally enjoyed, and was immediately interested when I found out about this game, and even more pleased when I saw it was heading to consoles, considering my PCs aren't fit to run most games that aren't 2D 16-bit indie games or anything newer than 2008.
Initially, I had a lot of fun with Megaquarium. It's very simplistic, maybe a tad too much for some. You won't be able to create amazing and intricate looking aquariums like you might be able to in Zoo Tycoon or Planet Zoo. The graphics style is very basic, which gives it an extra nostalgic touch for me personally, though it may not please those that would prefer more realism.
It's overall a game that's very easy and quick to understand if you're already familiar with the genre, and if you're not, it's a good starting point. Fish require food, space, filtration and heat/chilling depending on their species. Some can't be housed with other species that may devour them, whereas others may not be able to be in the same tank as their own species. Each animal has its own needs and requirements, very similar to other games in this genre.
Guests also have needs, such as water, food, rest areas and toilets... And that's about it. The animals don't really do much and don't have any complex interactions between each other, but the guests are perhaps even worse. They wander about aimlessly and their AI doesn't seem to be programmed to have them follow a set path without floor arrows or walls forcing them down a strict area. Perhaps one of the main issues with Megaquarium is the fact you can't create paths like you can in similar games, which guests will usually strictly adhere to. Instead, you're forced to use the finicky floor arrows or design your aquarium in such a way that guests are funnelled down certain paths.
The game has a campaign which consists of 10 levels. As you might except, the earlier levels are designed as tutorials to help you come to gripes with how the game works. The main issue, for me at least, is that as the levels advance, you're once again forced to unlock ranks you already unlocked in the previous levels. The ranks act as milestones where you unlock new items and animals as you progress through each rank. You rank up by raking up a certain number of points based on how much guests view each aquarium and how much they like it, as well as some other factors.
Due to the ranking system, it often feels like you're just repeating the same steps over and over in each level. Which, while enjoyable at first, can get very tedious very quickly. The real issues though come in just how poorly this game performs.
I am not sure how it is for other systems, but I played this game on PS4, post patch 1.04. The game worked perfectly fine in the earlier levels aside from some slow down (usually when the day was changing), but once it hit level 7, the game randomly crashed on me for the first time. This was only a sign of things to come, as now, on the final level, the game crashes every 5 to 15 minutes, and the game runs insanely slowly. The game allows for a fast forward mode, which when used on the last level, seems to make no difference at all as the guests and staff will wander around at 1fps, speeding up every now and then, before quickly going back to a crawl again.
The issue seems to be that the larger an aquarium gets, the more unstable it gets. If I had to guess, the constant crashing is likely due to memory leak, as a lot of issues seem to pile up until the game just can't handle it any more. There are various other issues such as audio glitches, pop-up boxes that occasionally won't go away until you reload the level, staff doors being left open, etc.
Sadly, the constant crashing is what ruined this game for me. It has become basically unplayable, and I've never had a game crash so frequently before in my 20+ years of gaming. I only wish I could get a refund.
Also on a final note, the music in this game is bad. Real bad, I had to mute it in the first level. It doesn't really fit a tycoon style game and is just distracting more than anything.
Overall, I would give Megaquarium a 6 or a 6.5/10 if it wasn't for all the massive issues the game had. It is a fun little game, but even with the issues aside, I don't think it would be addictive for very long due to just how basic it is. I sometimes still find myself returning to Zoo Tycoon nearly 20 years later, whereas I don't see that ever happening for Megaquarium for me personally. It's fun, cute and good way to unwind and relax (if it weren't for all the issues), but it is sadly ultimately forgettable.… Expand
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