TheReviewTrickster's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Grave Greed]

So, it was a pretty cool concept and I like the graphics, but that's not enough. the movement is slidy and the gameplay isn't very fun. You can get shot the moment you enter the boss rooms, and all thebosses are the same. The enemies are also not very varied, and taking them out is either a slow grind or very easy. I didn't even use the shield because I played with WASD. Only now do I see that RMB is for that. Can't really fault you for that, except because the description has controls arranged with the mouse separate and listed by controller instead of actual move. I just don't get the speel system, I never managed to cast a single spell. Also, in the end we don't get to see the final treasure, which is a cop-out, and it ends the game, meaning the well guy doesn't een have anything to do. Unless you're supposed to backtrack to him periodically or go to him instead of touching the chest at the end. That secret box puzzle was just annoying because of the slidy movement and the fact you can phase through the box. In fact, the hitboxes are off throughout the whole thing.
Overall, the game just isn't very fun or fair, but you can do better, I'm sure!

[Bloodborne NES]

The graphics are cool and the music is repetitive but pretty cool. However, the contros feel pointlessly convoluted adn the gameplay is slow. Let's start with the controls. Why couldn't youmake W the jump button? It's right there and you actually use it, but you combine it with another button. That's something you should try to avoid when the other button you have to press is an attack that freezes you in place for a very long time. Why not make W the jump button and then have K be attack and L shoot?
Anyways, let's get to the gameplay. It is not fun. Enemies come at you quickly and it's hard to time your attacks right. The sprites are misleadingly big, so you don't expect to be able to jump over the enemies, even though your hitbox is actually much smaller. This can also be annoying when attacking enemies. The gameplay becomes memorizing enemy locations and waiting for your gun to recharge to get past them safely. This is not fun, and the dark level is just annoying. Enemies pop up and you're supposed to immediately react. I mean, they cna fall off platforms and right in your face. There's also the fact that you get on slightly elevated blocks just by walking into them. It makes platforming hard sometimes.
Overall, a nice concept, but just like the Bio Evil 4 game, this suffers from a lot of problems, though these are almost the opposite of Bio Evil 4's. Remember to not make the controls needlessly convoluted and also remember that, if you are forced to tip-toe through a platformer trying to avoid any sort of risk, it's probably not very fun or exciting.

[Outpost Horizon Station]

The graphics and music are really great, and the concept is really cool too. The story is really neat as well, and I love the way it's delivered in the descriptions. The gameplay is difficult, and I like how it seems to adjust to the gun you're using/the level you're at. I really like the fact that exploding enemies kill other enemies. That makes the gameplay very satisfying and reasonable. The shotgun and Juggernaut upgrades do feel very useful. However, there are some big flaws that lower my enjoyment of the game. Namely, the bug that makes the invincibility powerup not work if you get it after coming off another invincibility powerup. This has ruined plenty of my attempts to survive 2 minutes. Next is the fact that, if you reach the center of the platforms, the screen starts spinning out of control in a very annoying way. Maybe this makes you consider where you're going, but it just doesn't work. And finally, we have the fact that the game doesn't save your progress, which would be okay if this wasn't a game where you get upgrades (through very difficult challenges, might I add).
Overall, you've got a great concept and a cool game on your hands, but you should really polish it up some more.

[Paranoid Kid & The Shadow - Rowan Reed]

I don't get this game. It's supposed to show mental illness but it portrays it wrong. Paranoid people aren't afraid of fear, the thing the black woman represents. If she is a metaphor for his mental illness, it's not a very good metaphor, since it ca basically work for anything and is not subject-specific. We are also never shown him being paranoid outside of imagining a paranormal entity. That feels a bit more like schizophrenia to me. I mean, that could actually work, considering the absolutely pointless best friend who never shows up past the five thing. The black thing laso apparently had an agreement with him, which doesn't feel that paranoid, and he wasn't that scared of it at first. In the ending where you die, it seems like it's implied it was all real, so where was the paranoia? And the student ending is achieved by going backwards? What's the meaning of that and how does it work? Rowan as a student was, in fact, not telling the story, since he can't remember it. And he really didn't seem to have a lurking fear or be paranoid. And if he is, he does a good job of controlling it. I guess if he becomes like his mom, that's a thing, but this whole thing seems like an inconsistent and confusing metaphor. That student part was also glitchy since I could go back on its first screen, therefore confusing myself, because I wanted to get to the start, but it just kept looping. I also wasn't a fan of that pointless 4th wall break in five, because it never connects to anything. Maybe he was talking to his therapist? But he was definitely not a kid at that point and it was clearly directed at someone playing a game. Was it all in his head? But that feels like schizophrenia too. At least he aesthetic and music are pretty cool. Also, forwarding and rewinding are inconsistent.
Sorry, but I really didn't like the story. I appreciate the effort, but you can do better.

[A Hat on Time]

The graphics are okay, and I like the humor, though I've never played the original. The music is quite cool. The controls, however, feel a bit too sensitive and the gameplay is very annoying. The hit detection feels off, and it's unclear what you can and can't touch. Like, I think you can touch the ash from one side, but only to a certain point. Basically, it's very confusing. You've got decent mechanics though. Just work on making sure it's clear what can be touched and try to make the controls better in your future games.

platformalist responds:

Hi Thegamingtrickster! Thanks for the feedback!

Yeah, the hit detection could have been tighter on the ash clouds in particular, as you mentioned. I’ll be sure to tighten my hit detection in future games, even if it’s a lot more calculations per frame!

Thanks for playing! :)

[EVOLUTION]

Absolutely horrifying. The graphics are great and I like the concept. It's short and not really difficult, though to finish it quicker you do have to be efficient. Like I said, the art is great. It was pretty creepy even at the beginning, and it only got creepier. It's interesting how the planet tried to keep smiling. It's also cool how you can reverse the effects but you can never technically finish the game that way. The ending when the planet blew up honestly felt like a relief compared to the horrors that came before. Maybe make it a bit more horrific, with some floods or something that wash the skin away. The coughing and baby sounds added to the horror. The lightning storms and everything were very climactic (no pun intended). One thing that I didn't like though, is that the game was huge and, for some reason, the far left parts couldn't fit on my monitor, so I couldn't see my money or anything cool that might have been there. Just an all around horrific game. Good job! Great for a jam entry!

[Five Freddys at Night]

The graphics are certainly very cool and I like the concept. It's pretty fun and funny, though not very intuitive. It's nice that there are medals, because finding some of these things is hard. It's mostly clicking in the most random parts of the screen and combining things for no obvious reason. I haven't been able to find all the Freddys or all the secrets. I like the atmosphere, it's very weird and cool. The sounds can be very annoying if repeated a lot. And you have to repeat things a lot to find some things in the game, so naturally, you try this as much as you can. That's another problem. You use the same trick multiple times. It can be pretty amusing to stack up characters on the screen, so I'll give you that. Overall, it's a weird and fun game, but very unintuitive. Maybe if it wasn't for a jam, you could have made some puzzles that make sense, and maybe you could carry items over or something. Kinda like that game GNOG.

[Super Responsible Parent]

The graphics are fun, and I like the concept. The voice acting is not great, but I do like the intro and ending. The mechanics were cool, but the platforming was kinda awkward. It really did feel like I was running out of space. Maybe the somewhat slow performance on my computer contributed to that. I started out thinking the game was gonna be easy, but it was a decent challenge in the end. It felt hectic and you had to be precise, efficient and, in some levels, have strategy. The music was pretty epic, but repetitive too. I know you had time constraints though, so I can't really judge you. Overall, it had some cool mechanics and an interesting concept, as well as a charmingly silly sense of humor. A fun game to pass the time. I wish it was a bit longer though. Maybe you'll revisit it now that the Ludum Dare is over.

[Huggernaut]

The graphics are very nice and fun with the colors and lines you leave behind. I like the grappling hook mechanic, too. The mechanics are very cool and there are some levels where you have to think of using them to your advantage, which I find cool. It's not that hard or anything, but you have to think about mechanics affecting the physics, like when you have to counter the pull of the diamonds, or you have to use your hook only because the other character will die if they move too much. I like howa lot of levels force you to be as efficient as possible. With a mechanic like this there's some really cool experimenting you can do to figure out the quickest way to complete the level. That final one, though, was too much. I only got it done thanks to luck. The guy is so close to both the ceiling and the wall, and the entire level is done by swinging. Like, maybe if you just made the walkable area a bit bigger and/or moved it down a bit. Also, in regards to the menu and stuff, I think the levels shouldn't be presented as primarily just times. It looks more like a scoreboard and not that enticing. The music is okay, and I get you had to use copyright-free stuff,but it's a bit repetitive.
Overall, the game has some very cool mechanics and level design, but also some minor flaws. Oh, also, I'm not doing the speedrun mode, but it's a cool addition for whomever wants to speedrun the game.

[Game 2 - Timing]

I like the graphics, the style feels sort of...metallic, I guess. The sound effects when you hit something add to that feel. They're pretty satisfying. The style really gives you a sense of a different world, like your own little strange place. Also, props to you for having voice acting. It's pretty good too! One problem is that sometimes the characters don't have a break between lines, so the moment one finishes, the other starts. Occasionally they even overlap a bit. The main "campaign" is a nice way to pass a bit of time, while endless mode is nice because it's longer, but could be a bit more difficult. The foxes don't show up very often so you're mostly facing frogs and squirrels, which can get kind of boring. Even the squirrels take a while to show up. Maybe increase the challenge and ramp up the pace a bit. Considering the movement speed making the shots cursor-guided was a good idea. There's one thing you should tweak. The enemies shouldn't be able to hit you when you shoot them. So squirrels shouldn't be able to shoot, and others shouldn't directly hit you, though it might actually be better if the squirrels can still hit you to add some challenge since they usually miss anyways. Maybe make their homing better, at least in endless mode. Maybe also add some medals and leaderboards as extra reward and incentive. One thing that annoys me is that in endless mode, you don't move your hand around to shoot. It's a small detail, but it just annoys me as an inconsistency. Overall, it's a simple but pretty fun game that might need more challenge and some slight tweaks. I quite like the style.