Plasmarift's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[B-Lock]

This game is definitely pretty challenging and seems to control well. I did find some problems/things missing from the game.
- if you press space a bunch of times to restart after you have died, a white screen with text will pop up with like an error message (something about Hero). you can x out of it, but things in the level will be messed up (saws will have multiplied on the specific path they take, the time lags, etc.)
- a quick restart feature would be nice.
- The fact it takes a good 3 to 5 seconds for it to go to the game over screen is annoying
- Having the character just disappears after dying is kind of cheap in a way. It takes away from the realness of the game (probably not the best way to phrase it, but it just doesn't look good in my opinion.

curtisscifres responds:

We will look into these things. We expect to update the game in a day or two to fix anything. Thanks.

[Romper (TEST DEMO)]

It's okay, but it does have problems. It seems like the jump button only works 85% of the time (either that, or the time and space when the dog no longer is considered to be on a platform to allow a jump is very deceitful). I found the part after the bacon on level 2 near impossible to complete as the space was so inclosed that the dog would just bounce off the walls and head back the way it came, which gets very annoying and repetitive over time. Also, I'd suggest whenever starting a level (and perhaps also restarting after death) that the dog remain still until the player presses the z-button, at which point the dog will start moving. Although I like games with quick restarts, being just thrown back into it isn't exactly comfortable. (I'd also highly suggest checkpoint, unless you are thinking of adding an easy and hard mode, in which case, this would work well for hard).

I look forward to the full version.

WayneAdams responds:

Thanks for that suggestion about hitting Z to start a level. I dig that.

[The Infrantryman]

I like the game. I'd give you more points if you changed the control setup because it is very bad, especially for Macbook users
- the F5 key does not work for resetting so I'd suggest making it spacebar+q
- For equipping, you chose to use the w key, which is also what moves the character. (Another button would be better, like o or something, even if it does not make sense).
- For the inventory viewing option, you allow the user to change the - next to items to a + which I assume means that you can equip things with this option, but you don't mention this or how to make these changes stay (I exit with the enter button and go back to see that nothing has changed). You also don't instruct the player on how to exit the inventory (or food menu).
- Why aren't the arrows keys an option for playing?
- the < and > are very confusing in which one ascends and descends. It seems more intuitive that > should make the player ascend since its alignment on the keyboard is right of the < (I think most people would consider this going forward) and > is pointing right. (this is just my personal preferences).

I really hope you'll make these changes before this game gets approved as I hope it does well, but as it is, I believe it will at the most be sub-par.

coderchick94 responds:

Thanks for the feedback, the controls (the wield and wear buttons) are fixed as the inventory. The changing inventory isn't supposed to be for this game.

[Swapblocks]

I must admit that this is a pretty unique puzzle game (minimalist, but unique none the less) which seems pretty hard to do now a days. I managed to beat it and one of my only complaints would be is that I feel that I found ways around the conventional ways of beating the levels (or at least the ways you had planned out as I didn't always need to use all the books you set up). I don't know how I feel about levels in a game like this having more than one way of beating them; it takes away the challenge of finding that difficult "correct answer", but then again, life often presents us with more than one way of solving a problem if we're smart enough so I'm just not sure (I'm probably just not use to this sort of thing). My last complaint is that the game seems to jump around in difficulty, which seems to be caused in some cases by poor level design (I mean no offense). I really like the game and I think that if any puzzle game deserved an award, it is this one. Perhaps try shifting this game to mobile if you haven't already. this appears as it would be a perfect fit for that. Good luck on your next game.

flori9 responds:

Thank you very much for your review! I fully agree with most of the points you mention and will try to improve on my next games. About the multiple solutions: that's partly intentional, but there might be solutions that are too easy that I didn't notice on some levels.
And great job completing the game!

[Racing planet 2]

I urge you to please finish this. I'm having fun just messing around on this obstacle course (when you do make the full game, please include a few obstacle course like this to mess around on). the sounds, the burning rubber effect, and the mechanics and speed of the car are all great. I look forward to the finish product (would you mind if I did a video review of your game?)

netherboss123 responds:

Thank you and yes, you can do a video review. just make sure you give me credit and tell me what your youtube / vimeo name is

[Jetbak Startroopers]

The game was definitely interesting though I do have complaints (and praise) to write of:
- At the beginning, it is never shown what these objects I need to collect are so I spent a good amount of time ramming into objects hoping they were the things I needed to collect.
- You need to make it perfectly clear what the player can touch and what they can't (for example, I thought the black and yellow striped blocks were safe places to land at one point. Since I was able to sit on the beginning platform, I saw no reason why I couldn't sit on them). I also that the other animals could be interacted with and that the place where you are supposed to put the objects was a place I could enter (since it had an arrow).
- Why is it that only one block appears at a time? Why not have all of them appear and let the player decide which one they want to pick up first? (also, how is a player suppose to know where the next one will appear? There's no indicator so it forces the player to explore parts of the game where there was nothing before to see if something is there now. That's more annoying than fun.
- The game is kind of short.

Now for the good:
- I liked the controls. they were solid and provided for a somewhat challenging games.
- I liked that you added in the warning lights for the different hazards, that way, the player isn't forced to wait for the traps themselves to go off to ensure they would have enough time to cross safely.
- the square piece were fun to pick up. The player can sit on them and move left or right (at times, it looked like the character was doing skateboard tricks with them).

Still, it was a pretty good game. I look forward to your future projects.

Satyre responds:

Thanks for your detailed review. Here are my direct answers.
- I wanted to add a radar or arrows that appear after the spawning and after utilising a part, that's still on my to do list :)
- I have to think about how to realize this, because everything except the collectible parts and the start platform harms the player. Also added to the to do list.
- Blocks only appear after another, because the coding was very complex for the transporting. If all blocks are present, then they will be all attracted in the moment you are transporting one of them. Therefore I prevented this bug, by only letting one spawn at one time. I'll look into this for future updates, but it's time consuming.
- Yeah it's short, but also made in a week ;)
-----
- Thanks, that was the most important part of the gameplay.
- Warning lights were very important to add, to not let the game be too unfair by random obstacles. It's hard enough :D
- Yeah, that's also one of the helping aspects. When you got a piece then it helps you to get to machine faster.

[Flappy Race]

The game is okay, but the game relies on other people playing to make it difficult (I am guessing that the ghost birds of other people having played in the past), which usually doesn't work out unless the game is well-known and very well made. There are two things I'd like to comment on as well.
- The music is relaxing.
- the game starts too suddenly. There needs to be a ready set go after the "matching..." happens to prepare the player.

digiKhel responds:

Thanks Plasmarift!

Yes, I'm experimenting with the idea that people just need each other, to make life more difficult.
With regard to the game being well-known, maybe this will be that game? I don't know. People know Flappy Bird... so they may atleast try it out.

Regarding your comments, did you mean to say that the music went well with the game? Or did it seem out of place?

The suggestion about Ready,Set,Go! is pretty cool. I'll look into that.

[McLaren P1 Simulator]

I have to agree with newname1. the mechanics are cool (though I hope you will fix that bug he mentioned. It does get annoying). I had fun just going up to 140 mph and going off a ramp. You could make a racing game, make a game of car tag; you ram into a car and that car is it and must tag another car. Or you could make something like the Extreme Driving Test, which has outrageous things you have to do to pass a test like parking a car onto of an unfinished building, driving on a highway during an alien attack. Or you could create a world of ramps and high places to jump off from. So many options. I look forward to your next release.

derikvlog responds:

Hello, how good it tastes. This is just a beta. I hope to post something better.

[Nothing You Have Done.]

Seems interesting though I came across a glitch on the level that wants you to move fast; you can keep moving right off the platform until you begin falling and eventually, the character falls out of range of the screen, leaving only a blank tannish screen.

It's very linear in that you can't even die or mess up (the path is completely set) so takes away from the game aspect and does make it feel more like an interactive movie, however, the message of the game is what really makes it stand out as I've yet to come across a game or movie for that matter that address this concept of praise. I applaud you and wish to encourage you to keep making games. (though I do have some suggestions)
- Try experimenting, especially with player interaction in the game. I could imagine this game being taken in a direction where there are different things a player can do in each level, but it always brings them to the same place (just like an addition).
- the eeriness of the game, especially in the strange things you included like the things that follow the character around, would be a good in creating a unique horror game. If you haven't played Gyossait or Vox Populi Vox Dei, check them out; you may like the interesting elements that are included in them.

heliopod responds:

Thanks for the suggestions Plasmarift. I think you are exactly right, it could use more non-linear and branching interactive directions. You might like some of my less linear work... digitalcreatures.net
Do spread to anyone and everyone. How do works make it to the front page by the way?

[DarkDungeon]

The game seems like an interesting survival game, but there seems to be a major problem: since damage is taken away when attacking an enemy, you are reliant on health potions and enemies produce very few (I receive a lot of food, but I've gone through several games without getting any health potions) so there's an imbalance. It also doesn't feel good that this game is based on luck; hoping you'll get an item you'll need. There's definitely decision making to be made, such as avoiding more powerful enemies until you are stronger, but the primary mechanic of receiving items is still random and makes the game a game of chance. Without receiving any health potions, you won't go far in the game.

zzulian responds:

I agree, thank you for this constructive review.