Developer: Twice Circled
Publisher: Twice Circled
Platform: PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC, Mac
Tested on: PS4
Megaquarium + Freshwater Frenzy DLC – Review
Over three years ago we already took a look at the base game of Megaquarium, Twice Circled’s aquarium tycoon game that lets you run your very own Sea World type business. Back then, the game was released on PC, which is where the bulk of tycoon games end up. The result is that some console players have a chronic lack of tycoon titles to play and it’s a niche that many devs aim to fill. However, they forget there’s a very good reason why these games don’t make it to console in the first place. Megaquarium illustrates why, though the game certainly has its upsides too, including a whole bunch of new content in the form of the Freshwater Frenzy DLC.
Story
As you’d expect from a tycoon game, there’s not that much story content to explore. The campaign is as close as you can get to a storyline, and it’s more so a series of tutorials and challenges you can aim to complete, to go from a complete nobody to a successful aquarium owner. A lack of cutscenes or world-building is hardly something to make a fuzz about when it comes to an aquarium tycoon though.
Graphics
Megaquarium looks rather cute, albeit fairly simplistic. The style doesn’t allow too many details, and you can’t expect to get an up-close look at all the animals or people in your aquarium to find them portrayed realistically. The character models remind us of Mii characters, and the fish themselves often aren’t more than colored blobs floating in the water. Luckily, the tanks have sufficient decorations, and the UI (which is far more important in a tycoon title) is clean and easily navigable.
Sound
The soundtrack on the other hand might annoy you with its simplicity. There’s just not enough diversity in the music, meaning you’ll quickly get annoyed listening to the same track over and over again. The sound effects are average at best and there’s no voice acting either.
Gameplay
Overall we’ve discussed a lot of things that were mediocre or absent in Megaquarium, but now we’re moving on to the heart of any tycoon game: the actual gameplay. In this game you build and run your own aquarium, taking care of everything from the tanks that house the fish themselves, to the technical matters behind the scenes, staff to keep everything in order, and guest facilities that will keep the money rolling in. It sounds like a lot, but Megaquarium actually manages to have rather easy-to-learn mechanics that keep things from getting overwhelming and make it a fun game even for people who are just getting into the genre.
Any aquarium needs fish, so that’s where we’ll start. Adding fish to your aquarium is as simple as putting down a tank and filling it. If you want to keep your fish healthy and alive, there’s a bit more than that to it, however. All species have their own requirements when it comes to temperatures, food, water quality, and what other types of fish they can share a tank with. The size of the tank also matters, with bigger fish taking up more room. Investing in research to keep technology evolving is a good idea too.
Aside from research, you’ll also need staff to clean and take care of the fish, and deal with guests. These guests themselves also aren’t satisfied just walking around looking at fish alone. They might want to have food or drinks, or need to use the toilet. They’ll also care if the aquarium looks nicely decorated and want to learn something while visiting, meaning you can put down informational signs or other forms of guest education.
To help everything run smoothly – literally – you do have a series of floor arrows you can use to lead guests around a designated route. This is where the convenience ends though. Megaquarium is a fun game, but we need to address the elephant in the room. A lot of tycoon games don’t release on consoles because the controls aren’t ideal without a mouse and keyboard. Sadly, this game is not an exception. By far the biggest gripe we had with the game is how finicky the controls were and how it slowed the whole process down.
The game can be played in the campaign mode, where you complete in-game days and challenges, trying to keep your prestige high through it all. Or you can tackle a more relaxed sandbox mode that focuses solely on you building the aquarium of your dreams. The Freshwater Frenzy DLC adds mostly additional species and decor items to play around with, though it also adds the gameplay element of breeding, meaning you can have your own baby fish. Not only does this mean you can now acquire fish without buying them, but you can also actually crossbreed to get interesting new fish with unique colors and patterns. It definitely adds a little more depth to the game.
Conclusion
Megaquarium is a fun tycoon game that got very decent ratings on PC. It won’t surprise anybody that this console port has the same relaxing and easy gameplay but with about 25% added frustration due to awkward controls. If you’re a big tycoon fan and really can’t get this on another platform, this game is probably worth a buy. As a whole, we’d recommend going for the PC version, especially considering the DLC is also available there. Even so, this one managed to entertain us quite a bit, and we enjoyed seeing our aquarium grow and flourish.
Megaquarium + Freshwater Frenzy DLC - Review,
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