Plasmarift's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[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. :)

[Dead Hell]

Pretty cool, though it would have been cool of you to mention me in the credits for testing it out months ago. You added a good number of new enemies and boss (many with different movement and attack patterns), a very fitting soundtrack, and an interesting system for the throwing weapons and health gaining. The speed that the enemies arrive with definitely keeps the player on their feet because it makes them think about their next move (ex: if I kill this enemy and leave the tougher one, its possible another tough enemy will take its place) and the fast movement keeps the player from simply slaying through the on coming enemies with ease.

I'm usually not a fan of these types of games, but for some reason, the blend of the many different characteristics and challenges that you put in the game make it addicting and, for myself, made me feel like I was the one who messed up and could definitely do better. I look forward to your next release and hope this game will receive the attention it deserves.

x-SemAn responds:

thank)
As concerns the credits, there was very little room for all, sorry
everything was in a hurry

[Barriers]

The game is okay and touching in a way, but the sharp contrast between the characters and everything else really does not work well (they are the most detailed thing in the game and, although I've commented to someone before saying that the controlled character deserves a great detail of attention and detail, when the environment is minimalistic, the characters should probably be as well). It may have been better if you made the boy just blue and the girl pink (or you could have had both of them black with the girl wearing a bow).

The puzzles are pretty simple (a little too linear in a number of the levels as you just go from switch to button), but some of the challenges that you put in would definitely be difficult for two people to do together.

Some things I would consider adding in the future though would be:
- after having touched, little heart would float into the air from them.
- Maybe a quick transition from level to level, and after deaths.
- A way to restart the game after reaching the end.
- Put the instructions in the description or in the game itself.

Good job on your first game. I wish you luck on being a game creator.

FSt-Germain responds:

Thanks for the response. I like your idea of simplifying the characters. I will put some more thought into it and it might happen :) Lots of people have been suggesting more levels so I might try to add less linear levels. I will certainly add a way to restart the game. It never crossed my mind that someone would want to play more than once (it is a puzzle game after all, and it's no fun if you already know the puzzles). Thanks for the excellent points.

[Hope]

The game is pretty interesting, but the control need some work. I got stuck on the four or fifth level, the one where you start out in a pit and need to double jump and wall jump to get out. I'd suggest adding more options for controls, like the arrow keys and maybe the space bar to jump because there are right and left handed players that may prefer one over the other. Also, the wall jumping in very difficult since you need to hold a direction button against the wall in order to perform it and since you are holding it, when you jump, you aren't launched as far as you'd like to the opposite direction because you are still holding the key that placed you against the wall (even if you let go directly after doing this, this is extremely difficult timing and something that is easy to mess up on, as well as the fact that performing a second wall jump in a row is made even more difficult.

Still, I like the idea and I look forward to your next game. Good luck.

[Elsa x Jack Frost - Don't let it go!]

Pretty interesting match-up. I'd imagine lat least one person on the web have done this, but I bet very few if any have made a great visual novel of it like this. Great job and keep up the good work.

By the way, I found a small mistake.
- When Jack Frost introduces himself, he says "I got a lost and this is how...". You might want to fix that.

[Decimated]

The game is okay, but it has some flaws.
- after a game over, the game over screen comes up so fast that you can easily press the button that brings you back to the menu if your mouse happened to be in that spot shooting and when that happens, all your progress is lost and you have to start the game again.
- the cutscenes are unskippable, which becomes annoying after having to play the same level over and over when you fail. Please make them skippable because a number of people do not like to wait through story.
- There's not really much skill to the game. In the beginning (after the tutorial), it is just going forward, prompting the enemies to come after you, backing up, and shooting them and then repeating the process with the next group until you reach the end of the area. There's really no strategy or difficulty in that, especially since there is no way to avoid some enemy attacks, like the first big infected you encounter and the mercenaries, where it is near impossible to dodge their gunfire (and it doesn't help that your bullets disappear before hitting the enemy when you try to shoot them off screen, but I'm pretty sure that the mercenaries can shoot you when their off screen.

Still, I do like the graphics, sounds, and music you put into the game. Good luck with your future projects.

[Decepticide]

I like the game though there are a few problems
- With the checkpoint system you just put in: if you make the elevator go up and jump off it, you can't get it to come back down. Even if you try to avoid this, your checkpoint system may set the character down one floor where the elevator will be on the floor above, forcing the player to restart the whole game. Whenever you put in an update like this, I'd suggest playing the game for an hour to make sure it works right.
- Although I don't think you can do much about it, my game freezes if I play the game for over 15 minutes so I have to keep refreshing the page to avoid this.
- For the code, do you only get one attempt before it won't allow you to do it again because when I first found the input code floor, I tried (without having seen the right code) and I couldn't input anything more)
- Some of the flowers you put right by some of the doors, forcing the player to either roll (usually into another enemy or seed pod plant or forced to stand on a yellow plant that hurts them) or take the hit and kill it, so either way, the player gets hit.

Good luck in the contest. I like having found a game that actually challenges me!

Joben7 responds:

I'm glad you like it! I'll try to answer your points as best I can.

-The checkpoints should be in a place were you always start at the top of an elevator if I placed them right, however jumping off while it goes up is a big flaw. The way it's set up it would be difficult to put in a switch on the bottom however I have an idea on how to stop people jumping out, I'll try and fix that.
-The freeze, I have no idea, hasn't happened to me yet so I have no idea on how to fix that, sorry!
-Yeah it's one attempt for the code, I need to think of a way to make it more obvious.
-Not all rooms but most with an enemy near the door are designed that if you move in just the right way you should be able to avoid getting hit. Some tips are that the seeds that chase you can't hurt you while you're rolling and the yellow bulb plants only release the poison gas if you shoot next to them.

Thanks for taking the time to review and I'll try and get on fixing some of the problems! :)

*Edit* I hopefully just fixed the elevator problem with the latest patch :)