Plasmarift's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[You are the cube]

I usually don't feel the need to comment as much as I used to, but seeing that the commenter below me does not understand how the game works, I feel it is my duty to point it out.

You are a cube that cubes moving until you hit something. That is how it is supposed to work and that's what adds the difficulty.

As for what I think of the game, I do like it and I won't fault it much for the simpleness of the graphics (especially since it is your first on here and it seems like you were trying to create a fun challenging game and not a visual masterpiece). It certainly is challenging, but I found some problems with it:
- It seems like the level design could have been done better. There are too many loopholes that you can take to get around challenges, especially early on. It's both good and bad because a lot of puzzle games will only give you one option, but I have the feeling that this wasn't what you had in mind.
- If you fall off a ledge without jumping, you can still jump while in the air. I don't if you intended for that to be the case.
- I don't know why, but playing the game forces my computer to work pretty hard, which doesn't seem to make sense. I've played tons of games with a lot more going on both in visuals and in action. What's going on in the game that's causing this?
- Although it is a minor detail, try to make things like counters and level select screens more diverse and not just with plain text: this creates a type of disconnect where it makes it seem like I'm interacting with an application when I should be immersed in the game (also, it just comes off as laziness to some people, no offense).

Still, I had fun playing it and that's good. I look forward to your next game.

ShadowScout responds:

Hi Plasmarift,

thank you for your Feedback.

This game is indeed the very first one I publish.

The double jump feature is an intended one and allows you to find different ways solving a level.

I tried to make it possible to solve each level, after the first five, over at least three paths and maybe got kind of lost in that idea, which lead to the apperently weird level design.

I will look further into the described performance issues and improve it more.

[The Night Henry Allen Died]

The game is alright, but there are some problems:
- the painting option does not work. Whenever I select it when speaking to someone, it will only bring up their picture and the menu will remain (pressing the s button again will let me choose another option)
- Add a button that will let you leave a conversation instantly instead of having to scroll down through a long list of stuff to do so.
- Why not have two columns of things to ask? It would be easier for the player to quickly select one of the options (and to see more of them without scrolling). Maybe enabling the mouse so that a player can select the option by mouse if they would like would also be good.
- Perhaps make it so if you press up while on the top option, you go to the direct bottom of the list. This may help the player save time.

Other than the tedious thing with the list selecting, the game was okay. I wish the options would change after having found out new information (like when Henry's sister tells you the truth about what happened to Barbacus, the dialogue for everyone else doesn't change when you talk to them about his death). Other things:
- Where did Henry hang himself? There are no other rooms in the house? Where are all these people sleeping?
- Why doesn't another dialogue option come up when you realize that the water next to Dana's bed is drugged?

[Sacred Chikin]

The game has an interestingly, weird concept (I'm guessing the main character is a bone duck. It looked cool) and having different ways or spots to get each or most flowers was pretty cool, but my problem is with the health system. You say the game is hard, but that's because you make the player restart to level 1 when they die when you could just restart them at the level they were on. To me, it seems like a cheap way to add difficulty, as it doesn't make the game itself hard, it just makes you be more careful, but even that is not enough. It only takes four mistakes, which are very easy to make (one mistake if you fall off a cliff), to cause a complete restart. I was actual interested to see the ending, but I'm not going through it again because it's not worth it. Maybe add in a function where successfully completing a level will grant one heart if the player had damage or have health packs in the level (or just remove the reset system altogether). Also, having to cut off the chicken's head and draw the star for the third time in a row got annoying so I'd suggest a skip button after the first time you do it. I wish you luck in your next project!

Psyduckfreak responds:

thanks for the feed back. I also thought of making a skip button but the them was Ritual so i thought making it repetitive would fit that. If i re pick up this project ill add.

[Welcome to Winkletown]

The game is an interesting detective game, but it has some flaws:
- I've found characters who have matched the descriptions perfectly and yet they are found not guilty. One in particular was a suspect:
-- they were buff
-- had a tubular head
-- were starting to feel old
-- didn't ask for anything in return
The only one that was hard for me to pin down was the "starting to feel old". At what point in the aging process of Winkles do they start to feel old? It's different for humans and everyone has there own interpretation of whether someone or something should be describe as old. The guy was 61. When I compared it with the ones that were in their 70's and 80's, and the only attribute he had was the generosity, I figure it would have to be him. I would gladly check out the other suspects, but you penalize the player for that.
- The level difficulty bounces up and down. Sometimes you'll provide eye witness testimony that has nothing, but physical characteristics and when you get up into the upper levels, there are a lot of the same people with the same appearances and since the attributes won't help, you still have to waste AP in order to get the clothing hints, but, in one example for me, it wasn't enough because I was left with two potential suspects that had the same hat which was the most likely to be right (and the age problem I mentioned above comes into play because one was slightly older than the other) so I had to waste another three AP to get the exact clothing hints.
- Going off of the above comment about unfair difficulty, it takes just one choice that turns out to be wrong to undo all of your hard work up to that point, which is really upsetting.
- You've said that you are going to make a strategy guide. I think you should have included it in the game when it was released because there are way too many things that can be taken more than one way, like "they like to eat" could have been taken to mean they have the food attribute, but it actually means that they are fat. Things to have included in this guide would be the different definitions for each age, such as what age range "is appropriate for settling down or having a family", "not old, but not young", "too tired", "looks back on his long life", and other stuff like that. The ambiguity in this comments leaves to much to guessing.
- I would suggest putting in an option at the end of the game over where in the window where the guilty person is that it say what the guy's attributes were and maybe even re-list what the eye-witnesses said, as this would help people learn how the game was them to interpret information.

Still, I enjoyed playing it. Good luck on your next game.

[Space Llama]

Since the game is getting a pretty backlash from reviewers, I wanted to say something. Although the game can be improved on many fronts already listed, I like how powerful you allowed the player to upgrade the llama. I collected so many upgrades that not only did my number of lives go off the screen, but so did my rainbow meter and my attack was so strong that I defeated the final boss with one blow (the objective saying :you need to defeat the boss" was still up on the screen when the "mission complete" came up). It made me feel so powerful yet you still had to be careful as you could never get to a point where enemies couldn't harm you. Also, although it seemed annoying at the time that you couldn't pick up upgrades when you were injured or if the shield was up, in retrospect, it was pretty smart, because if you wanted to improve, you needed to find a way to defeat and circumvent what was in front of you and it kept the games from becoming too easy.

[Basket & Ball]

The game is both unique and very difficult at times, especially if you are trying to get all the stars (level 28 took me the longest time to get all the stars). The only thing I would suggest is for the free shooter levels (where you have to launch yourself to the basket) to make the period that the ball is in play longer (I consider the ball out of play when it gets that annoyed look on its face). It seems like this happens way too early, especially when there is still a chance for the ball to go in and when I still have an hour glass launch token thingy. Other than that, great job!

suntemple responds:

Thanks for the feedback! I might add a manual restart button to the shootouts and extend the waiting time.

[TRANSGRESSION]

I wish I could give this a better score, but the biggest problem that I find with it is that the environment is way too dark; I can barely see the floors and walls in the game, if I'm able to see them at all (I've literally had to feel around, running into walls and jumping to find the right path). I'm sad to say this because I see the bright colors and backgrounds you used and I really like them, but not being able to see where I'm going is a big problem.
Other things that might need fixed/improved:
- the life bar, ammo, and whatever it is that is beneath it (it is never explained in game) should probably have a more decorated appearance, as they look like something you'd find in game based on keyboard letters and symbols (I've seen games that only use keyboard letters and symbols that were good, but it just doesn't fit in with the art style of the game)
- It makes it even tougher to navigate when the two characters behave strangely whenever they come into contact (if you run into clone 2, clone 2 will slide away as if he is on ice). It also doesn't help that there hit boxes are so big that one clone can be standing on top of the other without actually being in contact with them.
- I really think you should have put in an option to just play with one character as there is no challenge or benefit to having the second; it just comes off as annoying, having to traverse the same obstacles twice.
- This is just an idea, but you mention in the story that the police force is now disposable since they are all clones. Why not have it when one dies, the number for the clone goes from 201811420 to 201811421 to indicate that a new clone has taken his place.

The other comments seem to have covered similar points and I really hope to see the changes you mentioned in the other comments. I wish you good luck in your game developing.

AlexVsCoding responds:

This is a really really awesome piece of feedback and I appreciate your time taken to write this up. Literally as I write this the build is getting an update including:

- B to Toggle Brightness (Lightens the background slightly, enough to differentiate, let me know if it doesn't).
- Pause menu now has full list of controls available
- Players no longer collide with one another - This might cause some unforseen issues in the design of the game, but dealing with the sliding is priority (I can always pick up on smaller issues later on). Enemies will still be able to push you, but it'll take a good number of them to really have as much impact as the players did.

As for your other suggestions:
- Regarding single player option, unfortunately in this game the presence of 2 players is critical to the plot (Give the press kit a read for more details)
- Regarding the numbers as well, they need to remain those numbers specifically as they have subtle significance in the plot.

I'd strongly suggest you grab someone to give this game a go with - It's how the game was meant to be played! Thanks again for your comments!

[Famine]

I'm sorry to tell you, but I think there's something wrong with your game. Now before you start thinking its my fault, read what I have to say:
- I've acquired many different tools and key items. Twice I've found a spot where the game gives me a hint to use one, saying "you could dig here", I tried to use the shovel and the game wouldn't let me use it. Another similar problem is with the bandage. The game tells me that I'm bleeding or need one, yet when I try to equip one, it doesn't let me.
- There's also an area in a house where you can jump down through a hole, which will give you access to the sewer. The problem is that, even though there is a ladder on the other end of the sewer, the game won't allow me to use it, nor am I able to do anything else since I can't get back up to the ground floor.
- Near the beach, where you can access another sewer tunnel, you can get a gun, but it doesn't appear in your inventory. Should this happen? Also, whenever I am injured, it says I should use a bandage, yet when I do so, it doesn't let me, giving me the sound effect that means no.
- I also found out that leaving an area and coming back allows you to get as much food as you want? Was this intentional?
- The sanity idea is okay, but after reading or seeing something once, sanity should not take another hit from reading or seeing an object again. Another thing that bothers me about the sanity idea is that it's pretty much trial and error because you don't know what some objects will contain until you examine them, meaning you could potential harm yourself in doing so. I don't feel like a game based on survival should be set up like this. Something else I feel should have been added is reading positive things increases your sanity.
- I am basically stuck. I have four different tools: shovel, tools, pickaxe, and rope (multiple of them). I also have a solid stick which I don't know what to do with. Please tell me if I'm missing something because I know that I can't go west without getting shot and there's no passage way on the beach other than the one I mentioned. I'd really like to play this further, but I'm not seeing any way to advance.