Plasmarift's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Ninja Warrior 4: PR]

The game is pretty cool, but there are some problems:
- the control set up is awkward. Can you make it so the player can set up the controls? At least make the arrow keys a possible replace for the AWSD keys.
- No explanation is given to show how you are supposed to go about solving these stages once you reach them. I will admit; most of them are extremely simple, but for the Jump Hang, you don't say what is the best strategy for this. Should I just run up to it? Should I jump onto the pad while running? Do I need to press the jump button when I hit the pad to go farther? Do I need to jump on the pad in a certain place? I've tried that stage nearly 10 times and I've only succeeded in getting across it once. All of these failures force me to restart, which gets annoying and tedious. Why not have a training center where the player can interact with each one independently. That way, they can learn what to do and when they get to the test course, it is all a matter of putting it together and being fast. (in the real ninja warrior, i'm pretty sure the players are shown how to get through the course so why not do so with this game?)
- Having to wait three seconds to restart also gets annoying. Just have something that says "hit spacebar when you're ready".
- For the second obstacle where you are hanging from something that has holes in it, why does it take so long to start moving sometimes?

Still, like I said, I do like the game, but it gets frustrating after a while. It would be different if it was my own fault for not pressing the buttons in time, but a lack of knowledge on how to proceed is what's keeping me back. I will happily beta test and help you with your future games (I love being involved in the game making process). Good luck with your next release.

[Metal Mission]

The game is okay, but there are some major flaws. *Spoilers* for anyone who hasn't beaten it.
- When I beat the game, the "victory" text was overlapped by the "Metal Mission play"
- when I got to the pick/purplish boss, I didn't have to beat him/her to get the key. If you just walk over the boss, you get the key.
- Why is there a guy hiding in the library out of sight? I was unable to hit him.
- Was I suppose to kill those two guys in the north part of the game to get the tank to come out so I could ride it later? Because I killed those guys with the tank.
- Why was the tank moving forward constantly? Couldn't I just move it forward myself. The constantly moving forward just led to me dying a lot and it took me a while to figure out why. (I was also under the impression that if I'm in a tank then doors should be a problem since I can just run them over. Not the case here.
- I didn't consider trying to follow the road back to exit the base, but I thought "there's no way the tank could fit in that narrow corridor near the library". I thought I'd just die and end up back to where I started the tank from.
- Why does the game allow me to save it sometimes and other times it doesn't?
- Also, why could a tank jump across that gap in the bridge?
- There is no guidance as to what to do. Why couldn't I just return to the point where they dropped me off after I got the prisoner to beat the game?
- This one is more about curiosity, but was it possible to go through the door south of the prison cells?

Before you think I hate the game, I wanted to say I did like it. For me, sneaking didn't do well since shooting seemed more effective. I liked the challenge it presented and the sound effects from mgs were pretty fitting (just make sure you give credit where you got them from). My suggestions would be if you do another game like this is to:
- fix a lot of the things I mentioned at the top.
- make the game longer
- add some music
- maybe add some more weapons next time, like a guided missile launcher.
- Also, if you want to make sneaking a big part of the game, you need to make the consequences of getting caught more sever, like instead of all the enemies on screen being alerted to your presence, why not have four or five more guys come onto the screen.
- I'd also suggest letting the player choose between the ASWD and the arrow keys for controls.

I look forward to your next release and good luck!

[Poop Dog]

I really don't know what everyone's complaining about. (it's possible there was an update to this game), but the poop stays long enough to ascend and the gameplay is pretty fun. It is sometimes hard to dodge the bees when falling in the first bonus level, but just because you can't beat the level, doesn't make it the game's fault. That being said, with the first level being so long, I really don't want to play the rest of the game. The second level was kind of the same thing and I can imagine this getting boring after awhile. Each level should present something new, a different challenge. It would also help to know what I'm working toward (and if the bones gave me some kind of bonus feature or something). Also, I agree with the others that the music can get very irritating.

Wiesi responds:

Thanks for the great review!

[Urban Survival Escape 3]

I definitely like these series your putting out. I think your next one should be something involving like escaping a prison instead of just surviving, a five day planning and setting up of it. Or maybe a soldier on the battle field trying to survive. Keep it up and good luck on your future games!

selfdefiant responds:

Thanks! I just did surviving an asylum, of all things!

[Alone: Meditate Existence]

The game's definitely interesting, but it has some major flaws. I don't know if this one counts, but once the seizure inducing segment is done, and I have traversed myself to the second screen, I couldn't get passed the two block high wall (at first). It's like this.

__ /\_____
| |
\_____|

(I'm now stuck in a similar situation with a tall hill and a pointed top)

__ _____
|__ |
|_____|

The wall seemed too high to scale yet after enough trial and error (which gets annoying, seeing as I can only do a few high jumps before collapsing), I somehow managed to make it over (The wall itself, if too close, may be keeping me from reaching high enough). If there's a better way to get over it, that leads into my second point: the game does not explain enough. I know that art games are suppose to leave aspects of the game for the player to determine and I appreciate including the instructions in the description, but things like "what does the shift key do other than make the green boxes disappear" are pretty hard to determine in this game since every movement comes with the price of having to wait for the character to recover which discourages experimenting with the controls (whenever I'm waiting for the character to recover, I scroll down and type this. It's also annoying for the high jump parts that once I try 3 times, I have to fall down three times, each time either failing at high jumps or wasting time with normal jumps until the characters tired and falls over to regain health). Also, I don't understand the "battery" that seems to drain when I try to rest and in generally whenever I'm injured. Does the battery hold some sort of significance because once it ran out, nothing bad happened.

(I'd really encourage lessing the waiting time though the day counter is just fine though you may want to increase the possible interval to 1000. I maxed it out over 999 and it went back to 0 on the next screen and it never counted up again).

Also, I think you should include the seizure warning at the top of the description because those were the most potent lights I've ever seen in a game (they made my eyes hurt just looking at them).

Also, would it be possible to include a fast forward of skip feature to the opening. It seemed to drag on a little too long.

sorry about nagging so much. I definitely like the solitude of the game and I'm interested in seeing where it's leading, but if the game is frustrating to the players then they are unlikely to finish it.

[Pride and Punishment]

*Bug*
I don't know if everyone else is having this problem, but once I reach the end of the last room before the boss and I try to go to the right off screen to trigger the green flash to take me to the boss room, I just fall off the edge and get a game over screen. Then, when I press retry, I end up in the boss room and the boss isn't moving (he's in like a standing animation) and my arrows go right through him without damaging him. I can also walk through the wooden gate in the boss room on the far right and I (again) will get a game over screen. Then, when I press retry, I get a screen where my three hearts are flashing, a brown background, a grey floor, and an arrow meter in the upper right corner filled to capacity (with no hero insight).

I like the game (even though it is probably pretty short). I really hope this gets fixed. I want to see how this ends.

glitchs2d responds:

Don't worry it's not a bug, its just not finished. I'm balancing the boss fight at the moment trying to make it beatable for the average player. I will probably release the update tonight, more than likely.

[It's All Your Fault!]

There are many problems with the game and since the others aren't being specific enough, I will be.

Glitches
- The description says the game should end on day 7, yet I made it to Day 9 and I can continue going.
- Every single day, I end up in debt and yet there has been no game over (I never could seem to get enough money)

Problems
- I think it is good that you added a tutorial, but it doesn't properly explain everything.
- It does not for who and when I should hit the emergency button to bring the security bots.
- It does not state what to do when a robots says it "forgot its card" or "is at the wrong desk"\
- The goals and objectives should be stated at the beginning of the tutorial, not the end.
- A video demonstration of what needs to be done in the tutorial would also be helpful.
- What's the point of having two sides to the card (not to mention the robots always handing it to you so you have to flip it)? With this set up, whenever I try to compare the facts on the card and on the computer screen readout, I have to move the screen, flip the card, and then hover my mouse over it to physical compare them. This is tedious and could have been made simpler.
- the mail system also suffers from problems. When I click on the mail icon when there is new stuff, the mail should pop open. Instead, a hexagon pops up with a small mail icon.
- The text with the robots trying to convince you to let their corrupted friends through should be skippable because I really don't care what they have to say.
- You should make the manual that you can click on and activate smaller because I keep accidentally clicking on it. Also, I don't think it is necessary to have it pop up after every level.
- Like others have pointed out, the game is repetitive and boring. You could have made this thing fast paced and made it so you have to do a certain number of robots a day (even though that technically is an option in this case, how it is now feels more sluggish). Even the loading speed is sluggish.
- Although I haven't played the game they are referring to, even if this game has a different story, if it has many of the same qualities of the game they are mentioning and you didn't bother mentioning that game as inspiration or a guide then yes, this is a rip off and plagiarism. You need to give credit, where credit is due.

Still, the game does seem interested. I hoped you'll keep making games in the future.

[Orange Roulette]

Why did you change the gun to a banana shooter?! It was a lot scarier with the blue revolver design and a lot more real, which is why I found this game scary and testing my nerves. It still does this to a point, but why?!

Also, the amount of guys you had before was fine. Why did you add more.

Still, I should have written a review when I first played it long ago. Although this game is essentially (if not completely) luck, it keeps you on the edge of your seat and the story is both funny and a little disturbing with an orange in the seat of what would be a human. It also shows a psychological change as the game progresses as what this kind of thing can do to a person (though I'm not sure if you were planning on going this deep). Great game, but I prefer the older design.

[FASTBACK]

Definitely agree with what darkstorm207. Also, I find it hard to use the run button (I end up having to hold it down with my pinky finger, which feel awkward and is hard to control. Automatic running would be cool. Still, very good games. I hope you make a longer version in the future.

[Perdition]

I'm a little sad because this game really has the potential to be something great, but with the game problems and level layout, it is taking away from that, but before I go into specifics, I want to point something out. This is extremely similar to Gyossait in graphics and presentation, and the game Loved slightly by the storyline, especially at the beginning, but I am mainly concerned with the game problems (I'll go into the similarities last).

For the actual problems (like others have pointed out):
- The game freezes frequently, especially when shooting the gun.
- If you pause while floating back to a respawn point, you will remain in the spot you paused at after unpausing.
- The autosave pushes you too far back when freezes occurs so often. A manual save probably would have been better.
- Multiple endings are cool, but I think
- *Spoilers* I am right now trying to ascend the tower to face the deity that referred to me as a slave. I have found a way to reach the switch on the right, but not the one on the left because I can't get passed the part where there is a large cliff I would need to reach in order to make my way to the switch. I went up to the top level and there is a giant floating halo thing, but collecting it doesn't seem to do anything except transport me back to the beginning of the tower. Am I doing something wrong or is this a bug of some kind?

Still, the game is good and I'd love to play it through all four endings. I just don't want to have to refresh the page every 5 minutes to do it.

Now for the extreme similarities:
(Forgive me if you are the creator of Gyossait under a different account though if you are a different person extending the game yourself into a similar story, you should give credit where credit is due in the description or Credits page, which I haven't seen yet).
- The opening animation, though different, bares a striking resemblance to the other game, especially with the slow movement.
- The blinking collectable gun.
- The shaking and demonic sounds when you are killed.
- The fact it was made with Stencyl
- The main character's white, alien like appearance.
- The red, blinking text.
- The shooting enemies all look like the main character from Gyossait when he gets his gun (and they shoot the same bullets).
- Both games have more than one ending (with this game and other both giving the option to kill what is assumed to be a deity).

Carrill responds:

I am not Amon26 on a different account. I was merely inspired by the visual aesthetic of Gyossait. That being said, I think that a lot of the similarities you point out are merely surface level. For example, lots of characters in indie games are the color white. Gomez from FEZ is an example. Screen shakes are a common tool used to create satisfaction when the player performs an action. Other than this, there's a lot about this game that's my own. That being said, I've added Amon26 as an inspiration.

As for ascending the tower, once you've collected the cross Gomadi tells you to return underground. You must head to the lowest level of the area.