My quest for Ecco-like games continues with this ethereal vaporwave-inspired indie allegory.
Seaquest (as I will call it for simplicity) was created for the Jam for Leelah, a 2015 game jam in support of trans charities/activism, and to promote trans positivity by creating games about gender identity. Its creator Elliwoods aka Elise Duran has stated that it is about the experience of transitioning. This is told through a story about a merperson with legs who dreams of swimming freely with a fish tail, and undergoes transformative experiences towards that over the course of the game.
The interstitial text cutscenes with the fishfolk’s inner monologue about their feelings are moving and relevant to the transgender theme, but the transformations come with gameplay changes too. As your legs become more tail-like, you gain a faster dash (allowing for higher breaches) and a sonar ability to help you navigate dark spaces in the later portion of the game. Sounds like Ecco, yeah? The theme of a creature being granted new powers by a big mystical crystal was familiar too, although the goal was more self-discovery than stopping an alien invasion.
The couple of hours I spent clearing Seaquest were mixed. The aesthetic is strong, with intentionally low-poly geometry and characters flatly shaded in bold colours, and a fisheye view that pulses in time with the excellent and moody soundtrack. (Check out vaporwave if you’re not familiar, as it’s the key to this game’s presentation.) Character control is not dissimilar to Aquaria, with the option on launch of keyboard or mouse; both are functional but awkward, and caused me some frustration in certain more difficult sections. I settled on mapping the keys to a controller using third-party software, but not without losing some progress by having to restart to change my choice.
But putting aside the difficulties of play control, I found Seaquest really excellent. It’s a slightly more arcadey take on an Ecco-style formula (an acknowledged inspiration), but it’s still a transporting adventure. There’s even a couple of boss fights, against an angry shark and a giant angler fish. For a brief game created in a short time for a jam, it’s surprisingly well-done and poignant. And its look and sound are on-point. You can get it here, either for free or you can pay what you think is fair.
