Plasmarift's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[That Guy]

As much as I like the gameplay and suspense that you created in this game, it has some flaws:

- Forcing the player to stare at the hints each time after you die gets very annoying. A skip button would be nice.
- It feels like the checkpoints are placed too far apart in a game where there is uncertainty around every corner. It also gets annoying having to replay parts after dying.
- Upon reading the walkthrough, I learned that for the intruder to leave you alone when he's chasing you, you have to go into another room then come back. You didn't specify an amount of time to stay away. In the hallway note part, I stunned him, and exited, then came back only to have the intruder kill me.
- I'd also suggest changing the after death description of "you can throw the ladder with space" to "you can drop the ladder with space" because throw makes it sound like you can throw the ladder at the intruder and knock him out.
- When I was carrying the ladder up to the second floor, I dropped the ladder before the intruder entered and he didn't come in. After I picked the ladder back up, he appeared.

These are only the problems that I came across. Some of the other users also experienced other problems.

Still, I don't want this to discourage you in making games. Putting aside the problems I mentioned, the game was very good. It gave me a feeling of hopelessness and vulnerability only wielding a flashlight for protection. Creating that feeling in a game with an bird's eye perspective is a very big accomplishment. I really look forward to your future games and let me know if you need any help in testing them.

[Video Memories]

I thought it was pretty cool although I don't really get the meaning behind it. I'm guessing that the husband got so wrapped up in the videotaping (just like the box said) that his wife left him and that was why he was living in a motel. I don't know who the guy at the end is though. Is he another person who received the same gift? Can you explain more of the plot to me because I don't feel like the ending explained itself well enough. Still, a very unique game.

(I was always expecting something to jump out on the screen to scare me while playing it.)

[Final Charge]

Extremely well done! This may very well be your greatest game to date (not to put down your other games though). I was expecting the game to be short, but I'm glad it was as long as it was. The mechanics of the controls were solid and the dangers of the environment were very unique and challenging. I will admit, it was annoying backtracking to get the last one (I had to go through at least five different rooms to get it), but it wasn't impossible and the entire experience was enjoyable. Having a backstory after the game is beaten would also be nice; I'd like to know who this robot is, who or what launched the robot, why do the beacons get rid of the radiation, and why the Earth is filled with radiation? Still, a great game worthy of five stars in my opinion. I hope to see more from you in the future! Good luck!

[ImmorTall]

You can take a lot from this game in many ways, although you will have to look at it deeper instead of just saying at the end of it "I don't get it". Let's start off with the setting. What is definitely true is that the alien comes to Earth and befriends a family of four. After which, tanks and soldiers show up. They may have assembled because of the alien or the area the family is in may be in the middle of war since war is a repeated event in humanity. The soldiers do not always shoot at the alien, they sometimes shoot toward the family, either alluding to the fact that there is a war going on or that the family is considered an enemy for befriending the alien.

I found it interesting that not only could the alien be used as a shield, but the family could be as well. You could let the family take the bullets and then move on, but you would eventually die. The alien always dies at the end. If a family member dies then the members cry over the dead one. However, the only time that the family cries over the alien's death is when none of them die, otherwise, they just leave as if nothing had happened. It also makes me wonder if the family only cared about the alien for the protection it could give them.

For the meaning behind the story, the only thing I can come up with is that we all will die, but our actions live on, even when there's no one to speak of the actions. The actions, whether good or bad, are immortal, never changing.

Whether the story makes any sense to some or not, the well done programming and art still make the game appealing enough to play. Very good job.

[Candy Match]

This is the first time I've ever seen one of these games made in Stencyl. This is pretty good. My only complaints are:
- no scoreboard (although I understand your limitations)
- the strange sudden stop in the background (although I must congratulate you on making this background, even with the stop)
- I reached a score of 98900 before I ran out of moves. There was nothing that came up that said "Out of Moves". This might have been too difficult to do in Stencyl, but you could include a reset button.

Good job.

[Cyber Chaser]

The game has great mechanics, art, and style, but there are a few things that really bug me. I don't like the fact that the missions or quests that come up usually only apply when they are on the board. For example, I have collected over 3000 cans of fuel and a mission that came up wanted to me to collect 300 more. Why couldn't everything get unlocked as I complete these instead of only allowing to me to unlock them three at a time? I ended up beating the last episode with the gatling gun and had to go back to unlock everything else, which was just plain annoying when I completed many of the tasks 10 times over. You also didn't allow the player to view all of the quests to see what was going to come next.
Another thing that bugged me when the availability of some abilities. The armored shirt was unlocked in the upper thirties, by which time I could already destroy the first boss within a moments of facing it. It would have been useful had it been available sooner. Other examples are the force field, ion strike, and airplane.
Lastly, trying to do the survival mode is frustrating. With all of the movement on screen, it can cause the game to lag. The large amount of coins and items also crowd the screen, making it hard to tell what is coming next, usually leading me to lose.
Unless I'm missing something with this game which would alleviate these problems, I do believe these problems should be taken care of, especially the quest problem that i mentioned.

[Lusfod]

Honestly, I think the reviews of this game are being too harsh, especially the one below me. Avoiding IS gameplay and if you look around, other popular games will have this as part of gameplay as well. Also, it says right at the bottom of the screen before you press play "collect animals and avoid enemies" so those who say they didn't know what they were doing did not look hard for instructions. And with the firing rate, if level one isn't good enough for you, get a better ship and it will shoot faster. The firing power helped me out more than a few times in the game. Besides, you don't absolutely need firepower anyway. And the prices are fair if you are good at staying alive in the game, thereby earning more money.

However, the other reviewers have brought up good points that need to be addressed and I would also like to commend you and suggest on a few things of my own.

Problems
- PLACE A WARNING IN THE GAME! Out of all the games I have ever played, this game has to be the most likely to cause a person to have seizure. I'd suggest placing a warning the description and an in-game box where the person has to acknowledge that you warned them about the lights (to avoid lawsuits if any could occur. Even if you are not prone to getting seizures, the lights will probably hurt your eyes.
- The box in the lower right corner that would stop the flashing in the game was not working for me or at least not stopping the rainbow flashes from the alligator and flower items. Perhaps it was working for the not as noticeable flashes.
- I was also upset, like many others when I realized I had to buy the new ships in order. If I knew that was the case, I would have bought the next upgrade instead of saving up. Had I bought them sooner, I would have gained more money sooner. Like other have said, you should probably just make ships available automatically if the player has no choice, but to buy the stuff in order or you should alert the player to this.
- There is no indication other than your ship blinking for a moment to tell you that you lost a life. When you're actively trying to avoid stuff, you don't really have time to notice a small blink. (then again, I suppose you don't need to know that you lost a life except to figure out how close you can get to an enemy without taking damage).
- As Lanner said, "aside from crediting ocularnebula as the composer, I think the track title should either be in the game or game description."

Good
- I liked the uniqueness of this avoid game. As horribly annoying as the flashing is, it was a unique touch.
- I liked the funny different ships, including the Harry Potter one.
- The music was cool! Very free, adventurous, and fun at the same time.
- The LSD and UFO combination was an interesting mix (though I probably wouldn't have connected the dots on that one had I not read the comments).
- The gameplay was solid so I have no complaints about it.

I wish you luck in your future games and please (I make this capital so you won't miss it), TONE DOWN THE RAINBOW LIGHTS OR ADD A WARNING!

[Never Born]

Like others, I'm not sure what to think of this game. For one, the movement is very limited and slow, especially the jumping mechanism. I understand gameplay was not what you were focusing on though. The graphics are also minimalistic in some parts, but I have a feeling this is intentional. Without more of an explanation, this is more like just watching someone get killed than a story or even a message to be given. I have my own interpretations, but I had to work at it to come up with one and it is pretty far out there.
I think the part where the character is standing on clouds is limbo (an place between heaven and hell). The character could have willingly stayed on the platforms, but not understanding where he was, decided to venture off and entered hell, where he could not return to limbo. There was straight path set before him sand not knowing any better and having no where else to go, followed it and ended up in his own version of hell, which seemed to represent his life well. He was alone when he died and he never calls out to anyone for help. From here, the voice cuts down the character both physically and mentally, taking away the only person this boy ever had: himself. Making him believe he should have never been born.
My other interpretation is that this may have to do with abortion although I mainly take this impression away due to the title and ending location, which reminded me of a womb, where an undeveloped child could still be destroyed. The speaker is the mother, either truly considering the child terrible for having to go through getting rid of the child or those words are being told to her by people around her and the child is hearing them. However, I can't explain the house or fire with this idea. The only other idea I've come up with is the thought that dying young and alone is not much different than never being born. I'm not saying I agree with all these interpretations, but this is what I take from this game
Even with the possibility of interpretation, it is important for games like this to be polished in order to emphasize the points or story that it is trying to convey. Without more content or better explanation, people will dismiss the game as being poorly made or "just stupid" as others might say. Abstract concepts and realism need to be need to be effectively used to get points across to an audience. I hope my review doesn't heed your work. I'm sure you will improve with time so do not give up.

PoshRaven responds:

Thanks, I always love it when i get reviews that dig a little deeper (I don't know how to say it, but you were in the range of what i was going for). As for the presentation, yeah I know I should spend more time on getting it cleaned up, I don't really have an excuse for it really. :(

[The Gestation:The Demo]

The game was good, but it froze up on me twice when I tried to beat survival mode, forcing me to close the game and halting me from finishing it so I'm not very happy about that. This game reminds me of the Binding of Isaac. It would be cool if you could explore although I understand that there might not be much room for exploring inside a womb. Good luck on the full game!