Plasmarift's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Cartesian]

This game is very good and definitely deserves more attention. It is challenging in a fair way (you don't have to die to learn how to complete the level if you use the test laser first. The only battles you'd have to do over are maybe the boss battles). There's a lot I want to commend you on:
- The puzzle set ups were good and very challenging as well. When I solved one, I felt that feeling of "Yes! I did it". A lot of games don't make you feel that because they are unfair so the victory feels meaningless, because the levels are too easy, or because they are too short (there are probably other reasons, but I can't think of many now).
- The way the levels were present helped you learn mechanics before putting you in danger, like the way you had to go by the blue laser eye after you got the color change, showing you that the changed color protected you from those of the same color OR when the player falls through what we learned were solid blocks, showing that not all the blocks are solid and can be walked through OR when you put a laser in the room after the latter to show that your laser can help you identify false blocks. The game doesn't always do this, but you drop subtle hints every now to assist the player while not making the player feel stupid by holding their hand, frustrated by getting killed by something they couldn't have know, or bored by having to go through a tutorial, which is good game design.
- Throughout the game, you continued to introduce new objects and mechanics (even the last boss had the interesting way of defeating him).
- The game is long, which does mean a lot to a player. A lot of flash games end within 10 minutes of playing them (unless they are endless runners, but these get boring quickly). You managed to pack a lot of stuff into this game without making it boring.
- I liked how you kept with the theme of refraction for the bosses. You even made it more challenging with the same boss by making small changes to future mechanics the level and boss used.
- this is a small point, but I like the sound that is made when Sibro is damaged. It reminds me of old school computer game sound effects.

As for drawbacks:
- There really needs to be a reset button. Although a quick death is sometimes only a few steps away, this isn't always the case and having to go back to the entrance to reset the level is a little bothersome.
- The screen scrolling needs work. It refused to scroll up for me sometimes and the fact that I had to keep moving the mouse to scroll up so I could see where I was aiming before I shot the laser did get kind of old. Perhaps make it so you can also scroll the screen with the arrow keys.
- Some of the solutions to the puzzle require EXTREMELY specific laser placement, to the point where only edges of the spheres are being touched. I understand that you don't want to allow for the player to stumble upon an easy solution you overlooked, but this goes a little too far in some puzzles because one slight movement of the mouse and the laser will hit the player (even the laser guided system doesn't solve this as just going from the left to right mouse button could shift it. Also, it is extra hard when you are using a track pad). Basically, the target shouldn't be so small or the laser should have such a high chance of coming back and hitting the player.
- I can see influences from the Portal series here. This isn't actually a bad thing, but I felt like pointing it out as the plot does resemble it.
- For the last boss, it seems like the line up for the last hit is kind of random (the boss may take a long time to go over the red block). Also, the boss' hand often times blocked me from doing this last shot, but it is possible.
- Sibro may have been a little too simple in design in my opinion.

There may be more things I forgot to mention, but it is late and I wanted to to let you know how well you did with this. Great job! If this is your first game then I expect great things from you (but don't put pressure on yourself. Just keep improving yourself and it swill come naturally). Let me know if you ever need a tester, voice actor, or level designer (I've always wanted to help out with great projects like these and I do have experience in these areas). I wish you the best of luck in your future of game design!

th3shark responds:

Thanks for the thorough review! This feedback means a lot to me as I do try to make the best game I can. While developing I focused on level design the most, but it appears I should also put more effort into aesthetics and features. Your review was eye-opening and encouraging and that makes me feel great.

Not my first game, just my first completed game that's any good. A bunch of game jams and failed projects came before this.

[Yet Another World]

I'd give the game a better score, but your "lose to the boss" has a major flaw; I had to lose to him nearly 8 to 10 times (or more. I lost count) in order to move on. Is that normal? Even if it is, that's just annoying. Also, I had to start from level 1 in order to reach him again. After the fourth or fifth time, it began letting me start at level 2 and 3 and kept moving up from there, but I finally managed to reach the sixth level.

What problems did I find with this?
- Well, I'm sorry to say, but it was a bit boring. And before you say it gets better later, that's no excuse. I'm not the only person who has stated this so the fact stands that the game is boring early on. There are thousands of games out there so you shouldn't expect a player to hang around with a game, hoping for it to get better. It is your job to hook them in and be grateful that they took the time to try your game. If you want to solve this problem, move the interesting stuff up, so that it occurs earlier.
- There was no real challenging platforming necessary since you give the player an extremely powerful jump to where they can reach places that allow them to skip parts of the level. There's also no real drive to get all the objects (except out of curiosity, but even this got old after a few levels as they are shown to do nothing for the player. No unlockable content or levels or abilities).
- It was kind of cool that in order to get them all, you had to go off the screen to get to places and use clever jumps to reach portals, but the teleportation into the confined tunnel spaces is just mundane as it is literally "get from point A to point B" and the controls are way too touchy and slide too much for a game that places you in a confined space with spikes that you have to double jump to get over because the ceiling is so low (as well as the fact that in such a space, a jump can basically launch you into spikes, forcing you to sometimes hit your head on the ceiling to get around objects. Basically, you gave the player too much power in a world where it does not match the difficulty or space required to truly enjoy it.
- the spikes and falling blocks are also cheap deaths as they blend into the environment too much. You have the normal speed of the character moving very fast, making players inclined to try and blaze through the levels, where this will just lead to death since you probably can't see the subtle details that give away the traps while you are moving (unless you already know where they are).
- the level design looks so similar everywhere that when I come out of a portal, I don't know if I'm near a familiar part of the level (the only things that give it off are the rings.
- Some of your tunnels go pretty close to the bottom of the screen, which wouldn't be too bad if touching it didn't kill you. You're tunnels are already confined so why not give the player a little leeway and only have the death occur if they are completely off screen?
- Losing a ring and having it placed where you were last killed forces the player to backtrack, which is a bane to many players. You could think of it as a punishment for dying, but isn't having to start back from the beginning of the level and go all the way back to the new locations that you were near before punishment enough than making the player lose one of their rings. There's also major problem with this since if you fall off a ledge into an abyss, the ring will sometimes appear in places that will be unreachable without killing yourself in the process, making completing the level with all rings impossible.
- What do the apples really do for the player during the first few levels other than the boss battle? I know you use them later with the fish (which is pretty cool), but other than that, do they have another function?
- Maybe this isn't the case for everyone, but the sound doesn't work for me (I'm playing on Safari. Can that have something to do with it)?
- You can't tell where a fall will lead because you can't move the camera to see it so you have to take a leap, which usually results in death, either by falling into an abyss or onto a spike.
- the signs you put up are very vague. when I saw it on the water level, I thought it might be for the water as you had no picture indicating what the danger was (before that levels, I didn't see any reason to have them since the only dangers were falling blocks, spikes, and the abyss, which all could have had signs in the first few levels).
- What's the story of the game? Why is the player moving from portal to portal. Why should we collect rings?
- In level 18, the number for the counter for the rings disappeared, leaving just a ring up in the corner.
- Some of the traps in the game seems almost unavoidable.

I want to say I like the underwater level portions because they fix the speed problem and force you to think out your next move carefully when faced with traps. The only thing it doesn't fix is the jump speed.

My suggestions:
- someone suggested a checkpoint system in one of the other comments
- Hide a few rings in the level while other you have to get through missions that the player needs to figure out like "kill all the fish" and after doing so, the ring will appear on the pedestal. This will force the player to experiment with the environment and explore the world you created.
- Create more diverse level objects.
- Reduced the speed of the character, but add a run button that makes the player move faster when the player chooses.
- Make traps move noticeable, especially the spikes.
- Fix the problems I mentioned.

I wish you good luck on your game's release on Steam.

hostagetest responds:

WOW! Thank for GREAT feedback!

Some comments.
-Boring. Yes I know about this and I try to solve this problem. For me it is important to understand at what level the player gets bored. New traps appear after every 10 levels.
-The more the player will collect the rings - the easier it is to pass the last level of chapter. In some levels there is places for located unloсkable content. I do not force the player to collect all the rings on the level.
-Bottom of the screen. It's a good idea, I'll do this.
-Losing rings. I just got feedback other players who want a full restart level. Die - and restart level with rocks and 0 rings. how to be? )))
Yes, sometimes a player dies in the place from where it is almost impossible to pick up the ring. But I do not make the easy game.
-Apples. Apples allowed to fart gases. Gases, in turn, affect some traps. For example, is converted into a stream of cold fire.
Tubers are allowed to fart blasts. explosions collapsing stones, kindle fire from the cold jet, killing fish, and more.
I will not list all the possible explosion and gas farts (in the game there is also another kind of fart, but the demo version it is not, it appears in future missions).
Fart - an optional feature. The game can go without using farting
-Game in development and part of the sound effects is not have. And those that are - the time and should be replaced.
-More often, on a safe place trees and shrubs. if you can not see the surface, where it is necessary to fall, and can not see vegetation - can produce intelligence - jump down and immediately jump to the top. maybee, need to add a function to squat down - camera will move down.
-In on the water shows two icons - the skull and then fish. I think here it is clear that death is a fish.
-The game's story is supplied gradually. At the beginning of each chapter is displayed in order. where are the rings. what are they doing. In the end the player will have a very unusual interchange.
-18 lvl - its a bug. I'll check it constant or intermittent.

Your suggestions:
-No, checkpoints in the game will not (except for two chapters)
-It good idea, I'll try to do this, and I'll think about it.
-I have some objects,which I have not yet used in the game.
-run/walk, need to think about it.

Great feedback, I'll think about all what you told me and try to do better for all players.

[Pageturner: Not Home]

I'm sorry I can't give a better review, but there are too many problems and annoyances with the game.
- There's no save feature so you can't leave and come back to it at a later time without starting over or if you running a serious problem.
- Many areas of the mansion seem to lead in circles, with doors taking you where it seems like they shouldn't.
- With the three step inspection mini game, it doesn't give the player enough time to look through the options before it tells you you lost. Also, some of the "conclusions" that you reach don't make much sense. How can you scratch the knuckles of your hand on the splinter on a shovel handle? (you'd scratch the palm of your hand before you'd scratch your knuckles). And how is the player suppose to know that Keller buried his father and not some random person he murdered? There'd been no mention of his father before.
- the clicking areas for the doors sometimes shifted to the right or left, preventing me from clicking on them and leaving the room.
- the extremely hard to drag red handle of the clock in the dream sequence made me almost give up on the game as it seemed like I couldn't move it.
- Is the only reason that May hates Keller is because he took credit for thinking of where to look for her teacher? That seems pretty petty to me, unless there is more.
- And probably worst of all, after getting al the clues in the kitchen, the magnify glass in the top right corner just disappeared. I don't know if this was intended to happen or not, but when I clicked on the question mark, it just told me to click on clues to see what happened (or something to that effect). I opened the backpack and clicked the items, but nothing happened and I couldn't progress in the game because there was nothing I could do.

The music and sounds of the game were pretty good and I greatly appreciated the ? button for hints. The game is okay, but I don't think I'll ever play it again if there's the chance of it glitching out on me like that.

LockedOnAnimations responds:

Thanks for taking the time to review the game.
- I wish there was a save feature too, but the program I used to code the game doesn't support one, (maybe I could devise some sort of password system though. Might seem too clunky).
- Good point about the induction game, I'll consider removing the time limit altogether since the tension isn't too great to begin with. It's true that a lot of the answers are a bit of a stretch to say the least. I'll work on a way to improve them.
- Not sure what you mean about the shifting doors, the idea is that the highlights appear in the door frame. Are you saying that they sometimes moved away from your mouse?
- I might be able to do something about the clock handle. The problem is that the game is actually supposed to be played in full screen, but full screen on Newgrounds seems to work differently than on Scratch.
- I was thinking it was more like the first incident in a long chain of them occurring when they worked together.
- At that point in the game you talk to May to get out of the kitchen, so no glitch, just forgot to add a hint there explaining that.

Great feedback, I'll see what I can do to make playing the game more enjoyable.

-- LockedOn.

[Anna and Bruno's Birthday Run]

Dude, I didn't even check to see who made this! I think this is a very sweet gesture (I hope she liked it). I like the art style and it's music and sound effects. Here are some problems/suggestions though.
- For some reason, the double jump feature seems to be unresponsive at times. It may be my computer since it seems to act up for newgrounds whenever I play games on Safari.
- Sometimes, it is impossible to proceed because of thorns blocking all path ways. Perhaps some code to allow one path way open at all times or something.
- I have to agree with the guy below me even though I thought he was kind of harsh, the kids get pretty annoying after a while and can block the screen at times. Having them come up at the end if you get a high score is cool and maybe have like one or two of them show up whenever you collect something, but not all of them.
- The balloon bouncing would have been cooler if there was more room to bounce, like making the play area bigger and letting the screen scroll up to climb higher platformers or making everything smaller (though this last option would take away from the charm and character detail so it wouldn't be the best option.

It does seem like some of the platforms do get faster as time progresses. By the way, what's with the gruesome bloody death in a game life this? :)

Good job and I hope you don't mind if I make a video of this.

SeethingSwarm responds:

Thanks for the review, suggestions and kind words! She liked it a lot, It was a little bit hard to hide this from her while making it, since we live in a tiny apartment. I was working around 16 hours per day, mostly at night... but the surprise on her face was worth it when she got this on Friday morning :)

I pretty much agree with all your suggestions and feedback. Would have been nice to add even more stuff to the game as well, but unfortunately I have to get back on the Earth Taken 3 wagon. I only gave myself 4 days, and to be honest I'm just happy that the game is actually playable :)

Oh and of course I won't mind if you make a video of this! Would be awesome.

[They Live: The Game]

To those that say you are having trouble getting money, keep these tips in mind:
- leaving the bank before getting killed removes the death sentence point subtraction
- putting on the sunglasses and killing guys builds up the combo meter
- the enemies cannot go all the way up the available space for you to move, meaning you can camp out at the top of the screen and wait for the enemies to get close, shoot them, and then quickly move back to safety.
- the resistance upgrade allows you to wear the sunglasses for a longer time period, giving you the chance to build up a bigger combo.

And to you Deathink, very well done. Once I figured out how the game worked, I had a good time. It was small and simple, but effective. I only wish that there was more content available or that it was side-scrolling platformer. I also liked the control setup (not too many games have such a control scheme. It was also smart to have the "use glasses" option at W instead of the other buttons, as the others are ones you'll need for instant combat and dodging, while the glasses can be put on in safety before charging out. I also liked the spacey, retro music and sound effects. Really looking forward to your next release and again, great job!

[Grandpa Sleeping]

It's an okay physics game, but levels 13 through 20 are just the same level layout each time with no variation (level 12 has the same layout, but you wake up two old guys instead of one).

[The Munchers]

Well, you have a problem with your medals because I beat the game on hard and scored over 20000 and the medals didn't unlock (pmr).

Besides that, the game was pretty fun, though it got a little repetitive after a while with no new challenges coming with the new levels; they were the same format, but with different sprite animations. It would have been cool if there was a "Moon Cheese Barrage" level where there was no food other than moon cheese. Other suggestions:
- A chain score would be cool, where you get some kind of multiplier for the amount of food you eat without eating moon cheese or a bonus at the end of the level for eating no moon cheese.
- I think the later levels should get super fast.
- A pause button would also be nice.

Still, I did enjoy the sounds and gameplay of the game. I look forward to your next.

renegadegamez responds:

The Medals Should be fixed now those are some good suggestions
I like the Level ideal Moon Cheese Barrage I will see what I can do
Thanks for the compliments

[Tainted Olive - Chapter 2]

I don't know why this game got only three stars coming out of judgement. It is just as good as the first one and has many new types of puzzles. It definitely deserves a better score and I hope it will go up. The only suggestion is that maybe have some different music next time or a variation of it as you don't want people feeling like they played this game before (however, the music is still good).

BlackOlive responds:

I guess we'll have to listen to your advice for the next chapter ;)

I hope one shouldn't look into the initial ratings too much, as the same thing happened to Chapter 1 - low ratings which steadily increased afterwards. Until then all we can do is bite our fingernails.

[Letter for Mimi 2]

I did like the game for its cuteness and dialogue (you made it a little less diabetic cute and weird, which is good in my tastes).
- I also liked that you could see other areas, but couldn't reach them (this actually made me a little upset as it felt like they were secrets that were out of reach, but it made it so even after you finished the game, it still contained some mystery and unexplored adventure.
- Your choice in missions in this game were pretty fun and definitely weren't always easy to figure out like the hide and seek boulder one (though repeating the boulder pushing puzzle from the first was pretty lame, sorry).
- I like the character development you did from the first game to this one for some of the characters (it is very subtle, but still noticeable).
- Thank you for including medals. That is one way to draw people to play your game (because not only do I get to have fun, but I rack up points at the same time).

Things I suggest improving on:
- Try making the next game longer and more expansive.
- the fact that the items from the previous game were carried over and not used (except for the keys) was a little disappointing (it was like getting a cool weapon and not getting the chance to use it).
- You reused a few things from your previous game, like the main character sprite and other characters (this is understandable and okay), but you made the main mission to gather huge pencils, the first thing you picked up in the first game and you used the daisy sprite from the first game for Clara (or at least I think it is the same. It looks similar). I know you made other new ones, but it is best to walk a fine line when reusing stuff because some players may get turned off by this if they feel like they are playing a rehashing of the original one.
- I'd take a look at Reaching Finality before you implement the battle system, as I think it would be a good fit for your game.

I can't think of much else to say, but that I hope your next release and this one go well. Let me know if you'd like any help with game design and sprite creations (I just started making some and have gotten decent at doing so).

kcnh responds:

Thank you for your extensive review. You were one of the first people to find the secret, good job!

The idea behind the road you could see when walking on the right part of the island was, as you mentioned, to create a feeling that there is more in the world than you can walk to at the moment. The same goes for the monsters you can see walking on Route 1. It is also good to hear that the character development came across as intended.

If I had used the same items as in the first game for the puzzles and quests, they would also have been the same (more or less): using the pickaxe to break rocks, the axe to chop trees, etc.
But you're right that they should have had at least some function in the game.

The Daisy sprite was the same as used by Clara. I decided to re-use that once since I assumed not a lot of people had found the secret in the first game.
You make a valid point about the Huge Pencils, but I think it would not have mattered much if it would say, 10 strawberries instead. The Huge Pencils allowed me to put in some jokes and it is a reference to the first game as you mentioned.

Reaching Finality has a zelda-esque combat system, my plan is to make it turn-based as in Final Fantasy 1.
Having a turn-based system will allow for a party to fight and thus create a more interaction between the player and his environment: imagine Hannah joining your party to help find her sister.
But nothing is in stone yet, so I will definitely take other systems in consideration.

For this game I tried to continue the story which was established in Letter for Mimi 1, but as that game had a bit of a lousy story, I had to make some choices about parts which I wanted to re-use.
This lead to some inconsistencies, such as that Daisy cannot be found in this game even though she mentions she will be there in Letter for Mimi 1. So, I decided to apply her sprite to a different character.

I will use your feedback for the next games I will make. :)