RaIix's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[TicTacToe Noughts & Crosses HTML Edition v1]

Well, I understand if you're just testing OpenFL, but there's little need to publish it at this stage (when there's Preview available), let alone each version separately.

It doesn't really qualify as a game; it's just alternating "O / X" in 3×3 grid which you for some reason felt it needs to be in 1920×1080 resolution.
All user interface is blurry because of the size, the game doesn't tell you whose turn it currently is, it also doesn't tell you if there's a winner, you can continue even after winning/losing, and you have to restart the game manually. Also, there's no computer AI and not many people want to play TicTacToe as a two-player hot-seat game…

Good if you needed a test, very insufficient as a game.

[First Game]

For a first game, it's really good, although there are definitely some ways in which it could be improved. I'll just rattle them off quickly – but it's your game and your decision if the feedback has any merit and can make your game better.

Gameplay:
– It's pretty repetitive. I don't think it's very interesting to have to level up every archer again from scratch and by using a shared experience pool.
Then you're forced to make a decision between many average-levelled archers, or a single overpowered one and – as you said – the balancing isn't the strongest aspect of the game.
– Players probably shouldn't be in charge of advancing the waves by themselves. Leave some breathing space between the waves, but advance the waves automatically. Don't put the player in the position of "nothing dangerous happens, unless you voluntarily choose to" because a known phenomenon is that many players tend to choose the safe, anti-fun ways to stroll through a game without risk – which isn't very enjoyable in the end.
– The Restart button right in front of the castle is pure evil. If you need to shoot the enemies close to your gates, you could accidentally misclick and restart the game. Why don't you hide the restart button until the castle gets destroyed?
– Why are the enemies always spawned in a single giant cluster? Wouldn't it be better if they came in small groups in some order (for example start with 1, then send a group of 3, etc.)
– Are there different types of enemies later on? Not just with larger health, but with different abilities (for example enemy archers, or giants).

Also, if you don't know the game already, I heartily recommend you to take a look and perhaps inspiration from Defend Your Castle: https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/102209

Bugs:
– Enemies only harm the castle on the initial impact, then they just stand awkwardly until you shoot them. They should probably attack like every three seconds or so.
– You shoot arrows even when you click on buttons (which shouldn't happen).
– The arrow does crazy things as it passes through the ground.

Graphics & UI:
– It's a bit simplistic, but that's okay.
– The UI is somewhat chaotic and unaligned. The plus buttons don't have the same distance between them, there are different font sizes (and some are too small)
– Consider using icons for damage, speed and accuracy instead of text. Just a thought.
– If you can, avoid using the defaults because they are too recognisable and placeholder-ish. Default Unity buttons, default dropdown, default 2D scene blue background…
– Why doesn't the ground go all the way to the bottom of the screen? The castle and the thin ledge now look like it's floating.

Still, a good game, especially if it's your first one. Good luck if you decide to continue working on this one, or with your next one. And welcome to Newgrounds!

CBernal responds:

Thanks for reviewing my game!
I will be working in some new updates and fixes for this week. (hopefully i can finish this for the weekend)

[Coinbag]

Quite good game, I liked it.
It would be nice to see an indicator of how many keys and coin bags you have (and need to collect) so you can plan better and don't run out of keys.
You can cheat a bit on the ground floor by going around the edge of the screen instead of unlocking the door to save a key, although there's a substantial risk of death if you miss a jump and fall. If this isn't intended, you could simply block us from going behind the edge of the screen.

GalefreeGames2 responds:

Thanks, I just added walls there because I like that the player can fall to their death XD

[The Merciless Deep]

It's pretty good and well-made, but it needs some new elements introduced later in the game, at specific depth milestones.
Because now, what makes you want to go further down? The joy of seeing a number get higher? You don't actually get to see new backgrounds, animals, hazards or (!) new gameplay mechanics – and there's no target either, so sooner or later, you'll probably let yourself drown out of boredom.

[Kill the Ice Age Baby Adventure The Game]

I mean, there comes a point when something is so silly and stupid that it goes full circle and is creative and original again.
This is inherently silly, but I love the sheer randomness and couldn't wait to see what's behind the next corner. It's a pity the game doesn't actually end, and your character then has to spend an eternity locked in the execution chamber.
But by all means, well done. Great game.

[Campo Afuera]

There's a surprising lack of laughing dogs. :)

I love the pixel art, but the gameplay is too simple to be enjoyable.
I probably can't avoid comparing this to Duck Hunt.
https://youtu.be/x-daxzVxrQI
Notice that in that game, the ducks come in waves, you have to react quickly and their fly trajectory is unpredictable. It keeps you on your toes.

Here, the ducks follow completely predictable straight lines, there's a lot of them and you can take as much time as you need. I don't even need to move the crosshair and just wait for the ducks to come in the line of fire. And it is a full line, so you're almost guaranteed to hit something as your bullet moves across the screen.
I wouldn't say it's boring, but certainly very casual.

Also, there's no animation for shooting the ducks (they just blink out of existence), the crosshair should be pixel art, too (since everything else is) and the score panel (and the score count itself) isn't aligned properly (outside of full-screen).

Be7ruvio responds:

Sure, I know I still have a lot to do, like making the ducks follow a certain trajectory and adding more animations. The crosshair is actually pixel art but it turned out to be a lot smaller than I tought so it doesn’t seem like it is. And yes, I always loved duck hunt so I tried to make something similar lol. I will definitely improve it, thank you for all the advice :D

[Party Hat]

It ends quite abruptly, doesn't it?

Right off the bat, it's pretty annoying that each death sends you all the way back to the menu. I don't care much about Health, because 100% of the time I lost, it was because I missed a jump and fell into a chasm or lava (blood?) pool. It would be far better if the game made you repeat only the current level, or (at least) if the lethal drops only subtracted 1 from your Health.

But I kept on trying because I wanted to see where you're going with it, especially after seeing "I should probably stop shooting people".
Did it evolve into a commentary about morality, or pointed out the differences between going the easy way (shooting) or the hard way (avoiding conflict)? Nah. Not only it didn't do that, in the end, the game just *stops*. Without even "You Win" or something, you're thrown back to the main menu again. That always feels a bit like a big middle finger whenever a game does that. Imagine winning a race and being awarded a free ticket to restart the race. It doesn't exactly reflect the effort it took.
I also quickly ran through the game to see if anything changes if you don't shoot anybody at all (because your health is large enough to allow just running through everyone) and no, it doesn't, the character still talks about not shooting people anymore.

I know I might want too much from an otherwise simple game, but these kinds of details or hidden meanings are what instantly kicks a game from "okay" to "wow!".

Okay, it is then. I love the rising particle effect from the lava pools, the rest is a fine game with reasonable character controller; with fluent movement, jumping and shooting. I like that the enemy characters look just like you, only with frowns. The rest of the environment is kinda bland and lacks variety, but I like the clouds in the background.

Definitely not bad, even somewhat fun, but the instant game-overs from *falling* in a *platformer* game make it more frustrating than it needs to be.

[Portfolio 01 - 2D Platformer]

Graphically, this game is very nice; gorgeous pixel art, great animations. The music track is okay. And every gameplay element (e.g. movement, enemies) is well-made and bug-free.

The problem is, there isn't a lot to do and the game areas can feel empty. There's a lot of coins to collect, but they don't show on the screen and don't do anything (or anything noticeable). The number of lives you have left also doesn't show on the screen. And the rest of the game is mostly about walking and climbing ladders.
The level design should provide more challenge. The levels are long, the gameplay is quite casual. At one point, I thought I simply ran out of content, but you're supposed to continue outside (above) the game border. The last level gets more creative overall but I don't really like having to choose between a death trap and path forward at random, especially if your lives are limited.
And I definitely wouldn't have the same Game Over screen for running out of lives and for winning the game.

A visually stunning game, pretty well-made, but not the most fun.
Good luck!

[zigzag-t]

It's alright, but I've seen this template used here before and the problems are similar.
Mainly, in endless games, you want to add something to keep players engaged, even though the gameplay is repetitive. That usually means introducing new elements and altering the gameplay whenever you reach a certain (score) threshold.
This game so far has only a single gameplay mechanic which can be fun for two, three minutes… but personally, it doesn't matter to me that much whether my score is 20 or 200 – there's nothing new to see behind the next corner, no NG medals to be won, no scoreboard to compete with other players etc. The speed increases, so eventually, the game ends.
The best improvement would be adding new gameplay elements, i.e. obstacles to jump over, going up/down (not just left/right), gaps, different kinds of surfaces etc.

Restarting the game is broken, though. The high score doesn't carry over and the block random generator doesn't start, so when you fall off, you have to reload the page to be able to try again.
Also, the character starts floating when you're close to the edge.

[Sarah]

Really incredible.
It's quite short – completely understandable for a game jam – but not without a proper (and pretty interesting) conclusion. I like the art style, too.

Figuring out the phone combination was the hardest part. I knew it had to do something with Sam, I just didn't know what exactly. Their dinner date (time/month/day), West Side fair date, birthdays, team shirt number…
I like the subtle clues leading you to the right direction of the solution though. The lock screen picture was a heart – great. You also know the date format should be MM/DD (and not DD/MM) because that's how it was written in the diary (and the newspapers), and the phone also didn't have a zero digit button (nor visible letters) which did eventually help to narrow the selection down. Kudos, if these were intentional.

It's a pity there are no sounds or music. It'd make the game instantly better and help set up the mood. Especially the sounds (taking items, phone digits, lights on/off, the rustling of paper…); you're not as immersed into the game as you would be otherwise.

Some way to determine which part of the background is interactive would be nice too – for example by showing the object's name as you hover over it, or gentle outer glow, or changing the mouse cursor. Now you have to click on every single cupboard and drawer in the kitchen just to determine they're, in fact, not interactable. I also didn't notice the electricity plug for a long time because it's simply not very noticeable.

A neat little piece for a game jam – and the ending is great.

JinxSpell responds:

Hey Rallyx! The consistent date format and lack of zero was intentional, thanks for noticing!! Yeah I agree that it's unfortunate we didn't have time for music or sound effects. We barely got it in time for the jam. Changing the mouse on hover is a great idea. Originally, everything was going to be clickable, and did some useless action, but we ran out of time completely. Agreed on the electricity plug point as well. Thanks for your thorough review!