Plasmarift's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[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. :(

[Aurorae]

I thought the story was good though it did remind me of Exit Path. The neon design was a nice touch. I didn't have any trouble with the controls or any lagging (although I am using a newish computer). I don't think this game should be given bad ratings if your computer is at fault though.

semaphor responds:

Thanks, I think the lag issues are more likely to be due to some compatibility issue because my cheap laptop runs it fine.

[Seb's Adventure 2]

Thanks for the shoutout, man! I see you've made some improvements. The music at the beginning was a good touch and the text running away mechanic was good as well (I'd suggest reading bcunderscore's comment about four comments below mine. He's got a lot to say). As for suggestions, try this.
- If you can't change the mechanic where if you go above the ceiling, you have to restart, try placing a small amount of platform near the ceiling that covers it, so that the character will just bounce off of it.
- If you're looking for more music, you can go through the audio portal on newgrounds for some. You're allowed to use it as long as you give credit to the artist, just make sure it fits the game.
- I like that you made Seb smaller. It made navigation a little tougher so it was good, but try using a smaller writing tool for the mouth next time so it doesn't look like a black blob from far away.
- On the last level, I didn't think I was going anywhere since the background didn't change at all. I'd suggest creating some kind of indication of movement (however, this may just be due to stupidity on my own part so don't worry about it too much :)
- On the next game, try creating a few more difficult jumps or perhaps a section of the game where the screen is slowly moving upper and if you don't stay above it, you have to start over. (Just an idea).

If I get the time, I'm going to start looking into the Stencyl program more to see what it is cable of. That way, I can give better reviews. I look forward to your next game!

sebastian4ester responds:

OK THX 4 DA REVIEW

[2nd Cycle]

This is a very good game, despite what others might say. There were no glitches and the controls, although differently set up, were solid in performance. From the beginning, I was expecting a very boring and unchallenging game (much like some of the stuff submitted by people who use Stencyl for the first time). However, as the game went on, the landscape slowly got more uneven and the eventually gaps appeared between building, posing a threat to my character. I wasn't expecting the sinking platforms and managed to get through the game by taking my time for some parts instead of trying to rush through it all. (And thank you for putting in respawn points. I probably would have quit if I had to start all over).

I understand that this was one of your first real game programming challenges so I'd expect a few things to be missing or for everyone not to like it. Music would have definitely helped to build up a mood. Perhaps a few spots of text here and there and maybe a few more animations for the buildings, but the game was good and even after reading the medal (which gives you a hint of what the ending is), I didn't expect rebirth to be quite like that. Does second cycle mean that in the story, this is the next step after death for humans or is it a willing change on the part of the main character in the game?

Very good job and I hope to see more from you in the future. If you need any help, let me know. By the way, what program did you use to make this?

Gazp responds:

Glad you enjoyed it! And yes, even if it is a very short game, without checkpoints this would be just way to frustrating for the players that are finding it to hard.
I mentioned earlier to another user, music is something that I would have loved to have on this game, but time wasn't on my side unfortunately.
One of the the goals I set to myself was to try and convey a full simple story without using any text besides the game's own title. But in some points, yes, maybe a few text would have been useful.
As for the ending, I'll explain it over PM :)
About the program I used, just Flashdevelop with Flixel as the game engine.

Thanks for playing and reviewing!

[Just A Trim Please]

You managed to make grass cutting fun. Congratulations! What did you use to make this?

WixGames responds:

Thanks! Adobe flash and actionscript

[C.O.R.E]

This was actually more indepth then I was expecting and this could be so far one of your greatest games. It shows a real life problem and how you can make it worse by trying to break down the materials. There are a few problems though. I start with the big ones.
- I remember going through over 20 circuit boards at an acid barrel and getting nothing in return and not being able to use the broken circuit boards in it.
- I don't know how to repair myself even though I know what I can use to do it.
- Sometimes, you can't always reach everything in the game because the character can't fit into small places.
- The attack system is a little off in direction (I had to position myself a little to the side of the enemy to land an attack), but it still works.
- You should probably have a scrambling feature for the items to make each gameplay different.
- I'm never exactly sure when the game will end when I go around a corner. I expected it to go on longer when I saw more robots in the inner area.

Still, don't let this stuff take away from the good. The music is good (you might want to fix the sudden stop in the music before it loops) and the main character reminds me of a rogue discarded iPhone so it is cool. The concept is good. The last piece of advice I have is to add a return to menu button at the end of the game. Really, really great game!

kcazingy responds:

Thanks for the feedback I worked on this game for quite a while and I'm glad to hear you liked it as for the music I noticed that to when I tested it right before I published it. But whenever I play the game as a .swf on my desktop it doesn't do it, so I am really stumped on why it suddenly stops like it does in browser. What I have been doing is taking ideas that I had for games making kinda mini flash games and seeing what people want then expanding on them as need. So I will be making, and expanding C.O.R.E so it feels a little less like a mini game and more like a full flash game. Thanks for the idea of a scrambling feature I planned to just make more maps but if I could just have 2 or 3 maps and have the items randomly generate that sounds much easier.

[Leaker]

The level design is good, but the difficulty of the game does not result from the level designs being hard to navigate: it is because the left and right movement controls are very stiff and the character does not interact with the environment like he should. What I mean by the last point can be shown in level 9. When I try to jump and go through the small hole, the character refuses to do so unless his falling and upward velocity are almost at 0 when you are lined up with the hole, which is very difficult. Even when I made it through on one occasion, I couldn't get pass the spikes because you can't control the height of your double jump (looking back, you need expert timing to get pas the spikes at the ending). The fact that I can touch sideway spikes on their sides and still die is also annoying when they could have been used as platforms.

A difficult game is not just when it is hard to beat: it has to be when the failure of a player to beat it is due to a lack of their skill, not in the limited coding of a game making program like Stencyl. Still, I don't think you have to worry about this game passing judgment. I've scene a lot of bad stuff get passed into the game portal that this should be there in no time at all! Good luck on your future projects.

snakep responds:

Hi,

maybe you are just annoyed because you didnt make it too far. Dont blame me because of it ;)

cheers
J

[Stick Jumper]

First off, do not ask people not to blam your submission. It doesn't matter how hard you worked to make it. If it isn't good enough, it shouldn't make it onto Newgrounds. Alright?

As for the game itself, you offer no instructions other than "Get to the bottom by jumping on platforms". You failed to tell players the controls, that the character could double jump, wall slide, and wall jump. There was also no backstory (though for a game like this, I can't imagine a back story running too deep so I'll let you slide).

The main character was a very good stickman drawing. His movements and jumping were very precise and his animated steps were good, but the enemy characters (if I should even consider them that) were not good. They also had a long line sticking out of their heads for no reason that couldn't be jumped on or interacted with and looked like baby fetuses. They couldn't hurt you and gave no apparent purpose to the game other than being stepping stools for the character to jump on. I also did as your one instruction commanded and jumped to the bottom platforms only to find no exit. The bottom is just a bottomless pit that restarts you if you fall into it. If I am missing something, please tell me. I'd also suggest adding music to your game or sound effects at least. You can find music to use in the Audio Portal and Stencyl probably has sound effects available for use (if not, you can probably look online for sound effects)

Right now, I don't think this game deserves to pass judgment, especially since I have come across no end to the game (although it just might for what has been passing these days). You said in the comment that you will "make better games" if we rate highly. I shouldn't have to bride you with ratings you don't deserve to get you to make better games. If you can make better games now, then do so if you wish. Earn good ratings and your own fan base if you want.

I hope you don't give up on making games though because I'd like to see what your "better games" will look like. Good luck with your future.

sebastian4ester responds:

This was my first real game and I'm only 10 yrs old and I see that I've made some mistakes. The bad guys are skeletons and they are supposed to have "health bars" above their heads. The bottom platform is supposed to be the end but I haven't figured out how to make the "WIN" ending on Stencyl yet. I'm sorry I didn't put the controls in the description and I'll fix that. I know I have made a lot of mistakes but I'm kind of learning on my own. Also, I'm hoping I don't get "Blam"med because I worked hard on this game. Thank you for your criticisms (my parents told me that you were being honest and fair).