FutureCopLGF's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Dogs++]

Cute little game! It didn't exactly blow me away or anything, as I felt like the game ended before it did anything really crazy interesting with the mechanics it introduced, but it was fun while it lasted with some decent puzzles and a cool music tune so I can't complain too much (and I ended up getting really addicted to stacking all of the dogs in the end screen, haha).

[Teeter Hero]

I really want to like this game, and in the end I kind of did, but man, the game overall felt very janky and, if you pardon the pun, unstable.

On one hand, I thought the concept of the game was very interesting, and once I got to terms with the controls, the improvisational combat as you switch back and forth between battling enemies while balancing a bus made for some really chaotic, high-energy fun. All of it leading up to a crazy boss fight at the end was great as well, so overall it was, or could've, been a nice experience.

But man, the game did not make a good first impression on me as I died almost instantly at the start before learning anything. Maybe it's my fault, but I wasted so much time thinking the goal was to balance the bus by distributing weight on both sides by using your own body and punching suitcases/enemies to sides equally (or just eliminating them with punches to reduce variables on the scale, so to speak). I think it makes sense to think that, no? But eventually I learned that it was just about unnaturally punching the bus on the sides to adjust it: simple once I realized it, but I found it very unintuitive to reach that conclusion. And even once I came to terms with the controls and such (in which I didn't realize you could double-jump for a long time), the game still had an overwhelming janky and unpolished feel to it as my character moved about unnaturally, got stuck, got hit when it didn't make sense, pushed the bus when it didn't make sense like landing from a tiny jump or dash, and I had to battle very annoying enemies like those damn birds: ooooh those damn birds!

The game was good enough that I made it through to the end and I'm somewhat glad I did, but I do think that, if I didn't know about previous games from the squad, I probably would've dropped this game from the first impression I got, so I definitely think it could've used a lot more time in the oven.

[Rocky Rhodes and the Cracked Case]

Well, didn't really see that coming! Certainly quite an interesting adventure that goes to a lot of crazy places (but does so in a rather questionable fashion). There were some minor annoyances like not being able to skip text in the first part but then being able to do so later on in a different dialogue sequence, as well as a slow walk and odd glitches like being yelled at for hitting a wall when hitting another driver, but for the most part it felt solid.

The cynic in me is a little wary of where the game went: it felt like maybe it was just relying on shiny nonsensical references and shock to distract the viewer from the fact that they didn't know how to properly guide the story to a satisfying end. But the more positive part of me does think it was a fun, unique experience with some cool presentation and I enjoyed the various transitions through genres (though I was still a little disappointed with the sudden end and the odd pacing). Definitely a bit of an odd duck, but memorable!

[Pistol for President]

Pretty goofy and interesting game! Couldn't really tell whether it was being totally goofy or had some clever design to the question/answer gameplay and that led to some frustration and confusion as I went back and forth with the Blade party (until winning despite losing the last debate), but nonetheless it provided a few good laughs with its weird concept so it was a nice experience.

Again, I couldn't quite tell if there was a strategy to this game, as a lot of the time the questions and answers generated were total nonsensical gibberish, and even when I thought I was playing sides right suddenly it would shift around. Part of me thinks that's just how the game rolls, in that it's random and silly and I should just accept that and not think hard about it, but part of me would be disappointed if there really is no logic to the madness since I feel it would be a cheap way out. Guess I'll do a few more debates in the future to see what I can figure out since there do seem to be a lot of secrets and achievements hidden in there.

It's silly, but some other feedback I had was about the title and the sound effects. For the title, I found the gun silhouette in the first P to be really bad: it just sticks there like a tumor growing off of it, makes the P look like an F, when you totally could've just made the curve of the P be the trigger of a gun and it would've fit perfectly, among other potential solutions. About the sound effects:, why in the world didn't you use more gun and knife themed sound effects? When I hear Revolver talking, I want to hear gun shots and shell casings and hammer cocks for every syllable, not the weird chicken squawking you've got playing, haha!

Kejayco responds:

Thanks for the feedback!

[The Lesser Evil]

Really fun game! It's a rather simple game at its core, but the variety of unique curse cards, varied enemy behaviors and overall smooth, professional presentation and gamefeel really help elevate this to a new level. A lot of the curse cards were very creative and led to fun and interesting decision-making as well as shifts in gameplay strategies: only a few cards, like the one where it removes your cursor, were stinkers (because the game doesn't lock your cursor, so it just opens you up to clicking outside of the game and losing focus...though having said that, there is still a very tiny dot where the crosshair would be, so what's going on there?) Anyway, I got all the way through my first time and the only thing I wanted to do was crank it even harder and see what all the other curse cards were like, so well done!

[Punch the Stool John]

It's a simple but charming game that's fun and addictive...is what I'd like to say, but I feel like it has a lot of weird jank to it that is unfortunately holding it back.

Don't get me wrong, I love the goofy concept and presentation as it really charmed the pants off of me: the crowd cheering as you rack up a combo, the paper menus, heck, I even loved dying in this game because I liked to see the animation and hear the music for it, so you're definitely good there. And the music kicks so much ass!

But the game itself feels very rough and confusing. For one, the difficulty felt like it was cranked way too hard: things start getting way too fast to react to in a short amount of time, and even when you fail it doesn't reset the ever-increasing speed to let you recover. Feedback was very inconsistent as well: usually when I hit a stool it'd increase my multiplier, but sometimes it would stay the same for no discernable reason. Balance design seems a bit strange as well: you're punished for getting hit by something or jumping over a stool, but you aren't punished for punching every object that comes your way (despite it turning the game into a very boring one). There were plenty of weird glitches too like being able to be hit by and hit a stool at the same time.

Definitely feels like it has a lot of potential but just needed to be cooked/polished a bit longer before being released.

TheGorondorf responds:

Thanks for the honest feedback!

[ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ]

Pretty interesting and experimental game in a lot of ways, but for the most part, I found it a bit too frustrating and non-deterministic to keep my interest. The game is certainly varied and complex, and I enjoyed seeing all of the creative AIs and properties assigned to the letters: really made for interesting 'ant farm' or 'game of life' situations where you could just watch all the entities go and marvel at how they interact with each other (and with you). The gameplay was promising in that it provided some interesting puzzle situations...or at least, what I thought could be interesting puzzle situations. Most of the time it felt like I could see what ideal puzzle solution the game was going for, but whether I'd actually get that solution usually felt like it came down to sheer luck. Sometimes I'd get the AI to behave in a way that worked for me in a clever, satisfying way, sometimes the AI would just do random things that would stall the game out (even soft-locking it), sometimes the AI would just solve the puzzle for me without any intervention from me: it just felt so haphazard! Again, perhaps that haphazardness is part of the appeal and I'm just being fuddy-duddy for not embracing it, but I just couldn't fight the frustration from the randomness and non-deterministic AI ruining the pacing and fun.

Oh, and a silly nitpick: when the level says 'press any key to continue' upon completion, you actually can't press any key, because if you press r, it restarts the level instead of continuing, haha!

adriendittrick responds:

thanks for the in depth review as always!

[Horse with a Human Mask on a Tightrope]

I gotta say, I didn't have the best first impression with this game for what I hope is obvious reasons, but bloody hell if I didn't end up loving this game once I got into it! It took a while to grasp the controls and how everything works (especially coming to terms with not being able to turn around on the tightrope), but once I did, what I found was a really stylishly complex boss gauntlet with a surprising amount of strategy (such as jumping from the center of the rope and using the weapons to propel yourself around) and variety to it all, and boy do I love me some boss fights. I still think there is a lot that can be improved: for example, I wish the telegraph markers for boss attacks had some sort of way of telling the player how long they have before it goes off, like changing the color of the marker redder as it gets closer to happening or something, but all in all it was quite the incredible experience nonetheless! I dunno how the heck you conjured up this unique batch of mechanics, but I think it really paid off in a charming, goofy way.

jefvel responds:

Thanks for playing and the thorough review! Yeah there are a bunch of things that could be improved, like the danger zones as you said. Something I'll keep in mind in future games :)

[Ninjack Rabbit]

Pretty fun score-attack game! I definitely had some confusion at the start with how score is calculated, since I thought killing enemies or gaining height would be how to get higher points, but points being given through burning floor lanterns did provide an interesting strategic risk and tension to it all. Combine that cool chaotic concept with some nice presentation through art, animations and other neat bits of polish like the music transitions between gameplay and death, and it felt pretty solid and good to get better and better at this ninja jumpin' game!

While I had fun for the most part, I did think the game was a bit janky (I didn't like how lanterns could burn if you jump close to being on top of them but don't actually land on top of them) and there were some frustrating aspects (character moves so fast, don't like the cramped spaces in the levels, and I wish there was more pressure-sensitivity for jumps so you could get strategic short/medium/tall jumps based on how long you hold).

[Kattonauten]

Oh man, I really wanted to like this one as I think it has a really cool concept, charming presentation, and fun, challenging physics gameplay, but I bounced off of it as hard as the game makes you bounce off of walls.

There are just so many frustrating issues with the game that put me off it. For one, I feel like the game moves wayyy too fast in general which makes it feel way too sensitive and touchy: feels impossible to get the precise movements the game wants when one slight twitch can send you blasting in crazy directions (though perhaps it's just my old reflexes). Game was very difficult to parse as well: there were tons of obstacles I couldn't make out from the monochromatic background or even tell were obstacles in the first place (like those small pulsing circles), there were tons of times where I thought I tipped too hard and crashed myself but I didn't and times where I swear I was perfect but it crashed, and I kept glitching like falling through the cracked blocks even though they I didn't break them, and so on and so forth.

Controls were frustrating as well: I wish when I was holding the button to hover to the ground that it wouldn't start charging up a jump immediately, instead it should wait until I release and press/hold the button once again. I'll give you credit in that I do plan to revisit this: despite my frustration I think there is a lot of potential in this and I'd like to give it another go to see if I can get used to it, but for now, I consider it a botched attempt at a challenging game as the controls and confusing design get in the way too much of the actual challenge to be had.