RaIix's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Desolation: The Beginning]

It is a good game as usual, but I'm still missing some kind of deeper story that would connect the individual chapters together. Background of the protagonist, his motivation, stuff like that. You hint something in the description, but nothing from that really shows in the game.
The music is fine (could be longer so it doesn't repeat as often though), puzzles are interesting - not too easy, not too hard.
It just might be good idea to update the clothes hanger a bit, because both its in-game model and its icon in inventory are quite hard to see. Then, it would be really helpful if the map showed not just the rooms, but locked doors and their colours as well, so we can locate them more easily after finding a new key.

I've also encountered a bug which made me start the game over - if you don't get the jewel in the toilet room ("A") during your first visit, you have to restart the game, because trying to enter the room for the second time sends you to the Dues Ox screen ("C") instead.

And I think by now you must have already taken a photo of every deserted building in the country. :)

selfdefiant responds:

Thanks!! The game has been updated. :)

[Wheel Clicker]

This kind of games serve just as an achievement and are neither funny nor enjoyable. I can't imagine anyone playing your "hard difficulty" because I doubt the reward in the end would be worth completely destroying your left mouse button.
If you don't want your game to fall into oblivion after leaving Under Judgement section, add medals. That might make some people want to play it, otherwise I would recommend you to create something that feels more like a game and less like a Tamago Egg app.

[Hypersphere]

An interesting mechanic with diverse modes, it would just be neat if there was a bigger tolerance for changing directions - because when you return to the centre of the cross, you must be really precise to be able to change direction, which can't be done at high speed. And perhaps not every bullet should follow the white line, so you can avoid it by going left/right or up/down and not just by changing directions. Also, the order in which the bullets appear is not random, so it can be memorised.

AlbymaioDev responds:

Thanks for reviewing!
Well...I Realized after the first level was finished that it's a little hard but I also saw that if you press the two arrow keys at the same time everything'll be ok.
About the random order... If it was random the levels couldn't be in the right difficulty order...But I'll try to implement that.
And I know player can also use just two arrows to win but I'm also working on something like wrap so if the player reaches the end of the screen it respawns on the other edge.

Again thanks!

[Red Balls]

Not so easy as it would seem from the first couple of levels. You also have some pretty interesting ideas, so every level has something new in it. The graphics might use some tweaking (sometimes the ball overlaps) and the "punch" sound when you die can get annoying quickly. Aside from that, it's a good, enjoyable game.

About medals, if it helps, there's a guide in NG wiki (http://www.newgrounds.com/wiki/creator-resources/flash-api/adding-medals-to-your-game) and a slightly outdated here (http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/549612). They can be accessed in Project System/your game/API tools.

[The Death Crypt]

Seems like a nice game, but unfortunately I didn't get too far. I got to the third screen with the FLF_ locked door with no items left. The only interactive thing there seems to be the door (which is locked) and I can't go back to look for something that would help (like a second lockpick). I tried restarting the game a few times to end with the same result, so unless I am missing something, it might be a bug.

Although I don't know how many items you have in the game and how they are connected to the puzzles, from what I have seen I'd recommend to trust your players more and don't tell us when we should or shouldn't use an item and when we need or needn't to revisit a location. Of course you know when, but I doubt the game protagonist you play would know and about the players - well, it's part of fun in point-and-click adventures to devise a dozen of crazy ways to use an item and see which one of them works, or to explore a vastly open area instead of just the room that we are supposed to be in right now. We don't need the game to think instead of us.

And sorry for the possibly unfair rating in case I am actually missing something.

[SNAKE ORIGINAL]

A good nostalgia trip. I just missed a way to return to level choice screen and there's also a problem that you can crash into yourself when you make a U-turn (try pressing down and left arrow key really fast in slug level). And the levels are just different speeds, it's a pity there aren't any levels with obstacles, or one without the outer wall (so you can go through right side of screen and continue on the left).

DaniBellidoPrez responds:

hola

he revivifo el clasico,en la proxima actualizacion se añadiran mas modalidades

gracias

[Epic Hard Jump]

Pretty enjoyable. The difficulty is gradually rising, movement speed is fine (really no need for a sprint button suggested below), so is jump distance. It would just be neat if the mouse cursor didn't escape the screen (fullscreen mode, perhaps?) and if you reconsidered some invisible stuff. It's nice if it's used to catch you (the ledge in level 1; I actually enjoyed that one - some sort of 'leap of faith'), not so nice if it's supposed to block you mid-air (because we don't know about it the moment we decide to jump (also level 1)) and quite annoying if it's done as and obstacle, because it depends solely on your luck. There's generally nothing wrong with obstacles depending on luck, but they should be as close to the checkpoint as possible (which is definitely not the case of level 1). It would be fine if there was a way to tell where it starts and where it ends (possibly "hint" blocks above/below) other than trial and error.

Also, having no checkpoints doesn't "add" any difficulty. You already passed the obstacles, so constantly repeating them in order to reach the one you are falling from doesn't test your manoeuvrability, but rather your patience before you decide to rage-quit (imagine constantly reprogramming the game from scratch every time you encounter a bug). Nobody says there has to be a checkpoint after every obstacle, but two a level seem reasonable enough, especially in later stages of the game. And if you don't want to add textures, that's fine, but consider adding at least those basic colours, that would add some diversity to your black-white-blue world.
Hm, and lastly, you seem to keep everything in the same height - well, try shuffling things a bit. Steep stairs, slides and long falls are fun, too. :)

ColChope responds:

Thank you so much !
"really no need for a sprint button suggested below"
I totaly agree with you.

"the mouse cursor didn't escape the screen"
I'm working on it ;)

"not so nice if it's supposed to block you mid-air"
I don't understand what you say. Invisibles stuffs aren't difficult to dodge, but the first time, you don't know there is invisible wall, or invisible platform. So you die. But you come back, and pass without any problems. It's a die&retry.
Invisible stuffs are traps, you have to dodge them.

"having no checkpoints doesn't "add" any difficulty"
I understand, but yes, having no checkpoints add difficulty, because if you die, you have to restart the level, and then you have to make no errors on one more great distance. So it's more difficult than with checkpoints.
I know it's frustrating, it's like unfair games like Unfair Mario or else, but a little more fair :p

"consider adding at least those basic colours"
You're right, I'll think about that.

"Hm, and lastly, you seem to keep everything in the same height - well, try shuffling things a bit. Steep stairs, slides and long falls are fun, too. :)"
Propably in next levels :p

[CRE8TVT]

It's original and nicely done for a beginner, with beautiful music and graphics (even fullscreen), but unfortunately veeeery short. Maybe it could use some tweaks and additions.
- On the first screen ("In the beginning, there was a mess"), I got stuck after going down and the game failed to advance to the next screen. I had to reload the page twice before it worked properly. Perhaps make a restart button (key) at least?
- The ball is quite slow, so it takes a while when you decide to change direction and therefore the movement seems a little stiff
- If two or more puzzle pieces lay on top of each other, you drag all of them with your mouse instead of just the topmost one
- Even if you put the puzzle piece at the right place, you have to tinker with it to move it few pixels up/down/right/left, so it's accepted as 'correctly placed'. Perhaps add a slightly higher toleration.
And by the way, an excellent choice of picture. So inspiring and full of colours.
- What is the second puzzle meant to represent? I moved the shapes around until they stopped moving and created something like "a mess of randomly overlapping shapes on stripy background" and suddenly, game completed. Isn't it a bug of some sort?

And about additions, I would just recommend you to make the game longer. We roll the floor, jump, solve a puzzle and build things from shapes, but all just in one (two) level(s). We see it, and it's nice, but we can't even enjoy it, because it's soon over. Even the story would benefit from a longer game, because now it's like "everything was a mess", "brain cell went to fix cracks", "everything was ok", which quite isn't the story about bringing creativity to this world I've hoped for.
But as I said, for your first game it's very nice, very 'cre8tv'.

[gone]

It could be interesting once you complete it, but now there's no gameplay, so I can't tell you much.
So far, there's an oddly coloured border around and the music stops playing after a while. I also had to reload the game several times because it got stuck on the loading screen and in the menu. Perhaps I didn't even reach the proper end of the demo; the background with a tree and a hill is the furthest I've gotten into.
Also, the music is from LIMBO, the graphics resemble LIMBO and LIMBO's story goes like "a boy gets separated from his sister so he searches for her", so please make sure your final game will be different.

quintenplague responds:

yeah this was my first game so i was expecting some issues. thanks for pointing out some of the flaws i will be sure to look into them. as far as the long loading time goes i am not sure i can fix that all to much because of this stupid program i am making it on. i made the game in like 24 hours so yeah. :) i am interested in the "oddly colored boulder". and as far as the "full game". this game was a mood demo for certain sections of the game. the art is supposed to look sorta like limbo but towards the end some things are in color *flowers and small stuff*. anyways i am going to go look into some of the bugs you listed. hopefully i can fix them

[Magic Quest]

Well, this game is missing something to aim for. We win gold, but there's nothing we can do with it. We can't buy new equipment, or at least upgrade the abilities. The statistically safest way to win is to mash the second ability. What does the tenth arena fight offer that wasn't already in the first one?