Plasmarift's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Castle Of Horror S01]

This game could have been pretty good, but it suffers from a few things:
- From what I could tell, collecting the coins does nothing. The best incentive for collecting things in games is when you feel like you've accomplished something by doing so, whether it's through an actual award, such as unlocking a new level or feature, getting a medal here on Newgrounds, or unlocking a different ending, or even if there was no award, having the coins disappear when you collect them and seeing the counter go up tells the player they're accomplishing something. However, the coin counter resets once it reaches a certain number so this made me feel like I was wasting my time (you could program it so when you get a certain number of coins, you receive more health or your health refills if it isn't full).
- the sword attack: why is there a cool down feature on the attack button? Many of these enemies appear one after another so this forces the player to wait until the meter goes back before they can attack again. What's worse is that if you hit the button too early when you are waiting for the meter to go up, nothing happens and the meter still goes down. I understand the idea behind a cool down feature for a weapon, but this isn't the game to use it in.
- controls. I read the previous comment so I understand the setup. However, I would suggest before the game begins that you either give players a choice between a few control setups and/or tell them to customize the controls themselves if they are unhappy with them.
- I'm guessing you didn't play the game a second time in a row when you tested it, did you? (or at least not without shutting down the program and starting the game up again). You should always do this because after I beat the game and pressed the play button again, the game restarted, but the main character was invisible. He could still take damage though and when he died, you could see he was wearing the knight outfit.
- Keys again? I understood the need for keys when you go through the game once, but why do you make the player get them again when they are backtracking through the level to kill enemies? The whole point to getting a key is to unlock an area, the award being that that area is now available to you and yet you undo this.

There were good things about the game though. Being allowed to go back and kill the enemies that were a pain in the butt is a nice feeling. Other than the one glitch I mentioned, I didn't find any others. It was also a nice touch to have the ghosts constantly look at you whatever side of them you were on.

Still, the game needs more content, specifically new enemies and new challenges in platforming and perhaps other things that can be destroyed like boxes.

I wish you luck in your future of game design!

[Supermuzhik 2]

The game is fun, but for some reason, it keeps slowing down on me at certain moments, like right before I've beaten a level and other moments that are a little more critical like when I take serious damage. I haven't had any trouble like this with other games in a long while so I don't think it is me. Regardless, the game certainly offers a lot in options (with the many different weapons) and it seems like this sequel can get even more frantic with the speed at which you can pick up people and objects to throw them (I also like how you made tossing enemies unable to the player. This makes it much tougher).

I hope others will enjoy this game as well (though please look into the slowing down issue).

[Sneak Attack]

Whenever I press and hold the spacebar, the page just suddenly scrolls down (I've clicked on the game to try and center it to prevent this, but it doesn't work. It happens every time). I'd suggest adding a different button to use for the "search" feature or to fix this problem.

endernoobz responds:

Thank you! I will definitely change the search key.

[Skullbreaker II]

I couldn't tell you if the game is good or not because I can't start it. Some computers don't have F1 -F9 keys or they don't function the same way (my computer does have them, but they have different functions that control the computer like screen lighting so I can't use them to interact with the game).

VassilisKa responds:

Hi there bud. Thanks for your feedback. Ironically I have the same problem with my laptop, which made the development process a pain in the butt. There is a few ways to fix this problem, your (fn) lock is on, either hold the (fn) key while pressing F1 or take the (fn) Lock off, usually (fn) + esc. If this doesn't work, you can find numerous other ways to do it if you research. I'm sorry your experience was bad, hopefully my advice can help change your experience.

[Sanguine 2]

I managed to complete the game and found your "here lies" little thing. At times, I really liked the game and, looking back on it now, if I were to go through it again, I'd probably look like a pro gamer. However, I did find some problems with it.
- It's good you included the key configuration function though I think you should have made it more clear and explained it in that menu that popped up. I went in there hoping to change a key and left thinking it was only there to test them (I know the menu said key configuration, but I've played a number of games that had functions that were miss leading or didn't work). Also, why did you set the buttons the way they are? Having the main functions (jump, attack, chain) on the same line of the keyboard seems like a good idea. If this is due to having a keyboard that has the letters in different places, you could always have more than one button for a function to cover your bases.
- Although I'll agree that having a tutorial every 5 steps is annoying and I like the idea of gamers figuring things out on their own, it would be a good idea to design the game in a way that fosters the learning of the game (I notice in one of the early levels, you have two checkpoint straight up and down the map to ensure the player touched them. This is a good idea. I believe you also showed the player breakable walls and, if the player was paying attention, you could follow a little monster at the beginning to where you can get blood and extra lives). However, it took me a while to find out how to use the hit-able objects to propel myself up. The first ones I came across were knobs that turned when you hit them so I first thought I had to hit them to unveil a platform or something. The way some levels were set up, it definitely clicked in me that "somehow these things are supposed to help keep me in the air", but it wasn't until I died and had to maneuver in the underground, where there were a bunch of objects, that I finally got that I needed to hold down jump.
- It's true that slippery controls are in other popular games and that they can add something. However, the games you listed off in Hylarn's comment are games where you jump on enemy's heads to kill them, if there are any. In this game, you need to approach enemies and press the attack button, but since the controls are slippery and you need to be pretty close to land a hit, you're extremely likely to slide into the enemy. If exact positioning in this game wasn't required, I'd agree with you, but with the enemies and the chain hook thing, it made the game frustrating, especially for the bosses.
- the chain was probably the hardest thing I had to learn, not because the concept of using it was tough, but because there was a delay to it being thrown out, meaning you had to time it correctly to make sure it hit the target. This goes back to the slippery controls, but it also has to do with a specific challenge, namely this:
|
fall from here |
| the ledge
|_________
^
place chain here after falling

Trying to do this is frustrating, especially when you keep going back and forth between a slow speed at 0 health and faster one with health. To me, I could never fully get the timing down. I also had this probably with swinging the sword since I believe the swing speed goes down when you don't have any more blood (I just can't switch between those modes of timing in my head).
- The fact that humans could shoot through the walls was annoying, but it could argued that it made getting caught more treacherous and undesirable. The only thing I would have liked would have been a gauge on how far the humans could view (and the fact that when they stop changes their view would have been nice to know).
- Why did you only introduce the "special button" near the end of the game? On the first or second world seems more appropriate. I know the player could have always pressed it, but the tombstone that said to do it seemed very strange.
- Why not make the character automatically grab ledges and have the down button let the player slide down the ledge?

However, there were a lot of things in the game that I did like:
- The enemy designs and attack patterns were all unique and interesting. You had to strategize to take down some of the tougher ones.
- Although there weren't too many collectables, there were still rewards for exploring, namely rest spots for blood, extra lives, and the bonus weapon (the bonus weapon was pretty cool and the fact that it took a hit for the player made it that much more important to have).
- Throughout the entire game, you continued to add new challenges, whether by combining old ones or introducing new mechanics. It was interesting that you made finding secret passages mandatory by the end of the game (or at least for some levels).
- I think my favorite level was near the end, where there were 3 hidden passages that each led to a different challenge (one with poles, one with people, one with chain). It was probably the most difficult for me too. The word puzzle was also cool.
- The fact that you could use humans as shields against gun fire was pretty interesting (I actually didn't figure that out until after I started writing this comment and went back to check). It comes back to the strategy, making sure you grab the person who shoots twice instead of the gun next to them that only shoots once.
- Although I found the weakened state when you are out of blood to be annoying, it definitely added a feeling of vulnerability to the playing experience, making health that much more important.

There was probably more stuff I liked, but right now, I'm tired and it's time to go to bed soon for me. Despite the hardship and frustration, it definitely was an experience, which is not something I can say about a lot of games I've played. I look forward to your future work.

RayBeckham responds:

Awesome review, thank you for taking the time to go into detail!

I put the input keys the way they are because I have a few old keyboards laying around and setting up the buttons in a line was causing ghosting on those. It was a guess that it might reduce issues for people. I'll add some instructions about the key config in the menu.

I'll add in some more tutorial stones in a future update, for both grabbing ledges and bouncing off objects. Holding jump to rise higher just feels like something imbedded in my brain from most platformers ... but I can't expect players to know that.

The sliding stays. Git gud.

I threw the special key tombstone into world 3 so that there would be something just for fun in an otherwise 100% raw challenge zone. I'm not committed to it having to be there, though.

Having to manually grab a ledge means you have the possibility of not grabbing the ledge. A possibility of failure means there's risk... A game without risk isn't as fun, in my opinion.

I'm glad there were many other things you liked. Again, thank you for the review and i'll try adding some things that make the game easier to learn.

[Praying Simulator]

It's definitely an interesting game that presents a challenge (I feel like a lot of your other games before didn't present much of a challenge gameplay wise) and it also has a message though I'm not sure everyone will agree with it or understand what exactly your trying to say. Nevertheless, it certainly is artistic.

If you don't mind me asking, I'm curious. Do you hate religion? That's kind of what I'm taking from this.

JackAstral responds:

Thank you, I really appreciate that :)

It's complicated- I grew up Catholic, but have very mixed feelings on it now

[10 Seconds]

I like the game and I've beaten it in the past, but I'm pretty sure it's broken now. After the level with the cannons and moving platforms, I get a level that has a row of moving spikes and whenever I die on that level, my character and the spikes don't respawn so I'm left with a timer that won't count down, the weird trophy thing, and the music.

If you want more details, you can send me a message.

MrNannings responds:

thanks for your relpy. The game is crashing because there is something wrong with the newgrounds api for the medal intergration. I hope there will be a new api plugin soon.

[Arise 2]

The game is okay, but it honestly seems kind of boring and less difficult compared to the original. I reached over 2000m, got bored, and killed the bird on purpose. The only incentive I have to go further would be for the medals (which I had completely forgotten about when I killed the bird). I think what made the original so good was that it put the player on edge, perhaps by making the lava rise quicker.

I also don't really understand the point of the other birds since they barely impede the player (and I don't think them making a pinball sound really matches with the game).

Still, it was a pretty cool game and I liked the other birds' designs and the abilities you gave them. I look forward to your next game.

I do have two questions though:
- What are those red flying thing that kill you if you touch them? Are they birds? If so, then shouldn't the fire bird also kill them since its description says it kills other birds.
- Who is the girl with the chainsaw suppose to be?

Mantis1 responds:

The lava speed in the original was actually slower if you can believe it! But you're right, the original was more engaging and so the player was on more of an edge.

My theory is that Abyss 2 plays better and is much more polished, but the original is *the better game* because it was very enigmatic. I didn't know how to make a game at the time, so I was coming up with stuff on the fly. The end result was something very unique. By comparison, the sequel is more safe, familiar, and commercial and I think that's what killed it. I consider Abyss 2 a lesson on how I should NOT make a game and I'm going to keep it in mind for the future.

For the pinball sound effect of the birds, I made it intentionally jarring to make it funny. See this:
https://youtu.be/XczKQAAVbaA?t=4m47s
It made me laugh, but I should have tested the actual potency of that joke with real players, unfortunately, it's hard to get play-testers for a free mobile game.

Thanks for your feedback! It certainly opened me on more stuff to think about!

As for your questions:
- They're actually bats with skulls. And logically yes, the fire bird *should* be able to kill them. Unfortunately, that would make the game too easy. I could have fixed it if I made the bats breathe fire or leave a poisonous substance, but too late ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- The game was planned to have between 20-50 characters, not just birds. Other humans and even a dragon as protagonists. So I took the girl, Bunny, from another prototype game I was working on with the hope that I'll add more human characters later. But I stopped once I felt I added enough characters for an initial release.

[Hard as hell demo]

I'm not seeing the super difficulty here. I beat the game in less than 2 minutes. It just takes a little control and light pressing to get through it.

I will say that:
- The hit boxes are a little big.
- better and more diverse artwork can go a long way.
- more levels are needed since many of the ones in the game now can be beaten in less than 10 seconds (I'm not saying to make them longer. Just make more of them, though I guess you could make them a little longer).
- Don't forget to put in a mute button for people that want to play it and listen to their own music.

As for the good:
- I think the music is a good fit.
- The character sprite is cool and funny.
- The game is challenging because of the controls. Usually this is a bad thing, but in this case, I feel it offers a different experience to the player. I would suggest putting in a level where you have to run to pick up speed to get over something, with the character moving so fast already.

If you need any help with the artwork and sprites, let me know and I'd be happy to help.

WolaLand responds:

This is a demo, so i'm working on it.
And thank you for your petition but I don't need more sprites, thank you a lot :D.

[HEL VS HELL]

The game has some problems:
- in world three with the guy who looks like he's throwing swords, he kept backing up and I'm pretty sure he backed up so much he went through the locked gate and disappeared so now I'm stuck, unable to unlock the gate.
- You don't explain what the "weapons" do. I'm guessing the spear looking one make your bullet go straight instead of arching and the sword one just increases damage. You should explain this because the sword one isn't easy to figure out. Also, I'm not able to drop them or heal myself while I'm holding them.
- I ended up with over 1000 ammo so maybe reset the amount after heading to the next area.

For suggestions,
- Add a reset level button
- Even if the controls are explained in game, it couldn't hurt to explain them in the description.
- Maybe make the enemies shoot in patterns or make enemies that float so they shoot in star patterns. Just having enemies that spawn fire that moves toward you is kind of boring.
- Maybe give the player a jetpack that runs on the ammo later in the game so that they can attack enemies in the air (in those parts, maybe have it so you can gather more ammo by pressing down in front of station that you have turned blue, but they need to recharge overtime).
- Maybe add other weapons like actual swords and spears where you can ram enemies and red stations. Other ideas for weapons.
-- Weapon that shoots bigger ice to hit things easier
-- Machine gun, rapid fire
-- Ice that can be aimed as if you were throwing it or aiming a gun

I did enjoy playing the game. I wish you luck in your future creations.

Cyoses responds:

I'm really glad you enjoyed the game and played through it so extensively!\

As for the fight you got stuck in I'm afraid that's a bug I've never seen before, I'm really not sure what happened, and I'm really sorry that happened to you. The weapons really weren't implemented as well as I had hoped. I completely agree that more explanation was needed, although you got both the names and abilities correct. Your 1000+ ammo is a bit of an anomaly, I've had quite a few players who find them selves running low so I'm not sure how it could be better handled. Some sort of balancing mechanic that only comes into effect 500+ or so might work.

As for your suggestions, a reset button would be great, allowing player to reset if they have a problem is something I'll definitely start implementing. Putting the controls in the description is something I can definitely do, I didn't really see a point but it wouldn't hurt anyone to have them there.

For all your other suggestions, they're great! I feel like more weapons, tools, or enemies would have made the game a lot more fun. I'll keep that in mind when designing my next games!

Thank you for all your feedback,
~ Cyoses