FutureCopLGF's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[A Pico in Time (demo?)]

Pretty neat game that I feel has a decent core to build on for the future. It seems to be going for that classic dating-sim stat-grinding gameplay and I felt like it achieves that well with a lot of variety in activities and an interesting story/quest line. I definitely feel the art is great in particular with a lot of goofy, stylish locations with funny easter-eggs and references.

It's got ups-and-downs: for example, while the art and interactivity for the locations in the world is pretty cool, each having their own unique background art with elements you can mouse-over to see what they do, I can't say the same for the overall world map (which takes place in a white void) and the rumble battles/singing minigames (which are quite drab and lackluster with no special effects). Game also has a bad habit of relying too much on text when it could use visuals instead: the shop/equip menus and tutorial screens could benefit from a lot more icons and illustrations instead of bland text. Basically, I'm looking forward to seeing this more fleshed-out with a bit more polish in the future.

toffeescoffees responds:

yeah no doubt! we plan on working on this more in the future and all that youre saying is totally right! the only reason why some parts seem very undetailed and lack-luster is that i was the one making most of the art for the game and i only worked on it from april 10th to may 1st so i had to cut some corners. the full game will hopefully fill in those gaps and such ^_^ thank you for the detailed comment and everything!! it really helps me out, especially in the art department :)

[Worlds Below]

I do like me a good grapple game, and this game did try to provide it, but unfortunately I found it to be way too rough to enjoy in its current state. I didn't like how the grapple was just a zipline instead of a actual swinging/momentum device, and I found it very difficult to control. The character would constantly bump into things, even if they were barely in the way, and come to a dead stop mid-grapple. I couldn't tell when I was able to reshoot my grapple at first either. Camera system was really odd as well: found it very annoying how it moved around and cut-off parts of the screen while I moved the mouse (why not just keep it in-place since it already shows the whole level?) And so on and so on: all-around the game just felt very clunky. At the very least, the levels did show some decent variety and gem-collecting was challenging (though maybe not since its so forgiving with not having to collect them in a screen all in one-go).

[Ann - Demo]

Made a very good initial impression on me, but really lost me in the end, unfortunately.

I liked all the world-building at the start: walking around the gallery, seeing the missing people posters, and so on (gave me a real Ib vibe). The little cutscene animations that played throughout were great as well. Traveling into the spooky realm, I enjoyed how creepy the game made it, with lots of subtle spooks like things or sounds popping up just off-screen or as you walk past them.

But then, it didn't take too long for me to get pancaked by a piano and say "oh, this is one of THOSE games" and lose interest immediately. "Those games" being horror games that ruin any chance of horror by killing you over-and-over without any hint or telegraph to avoid it: my initial immersion into the horror atmosphere was ruined as the game turned into a tedious sequence of trial-and-error, trial-and-error, trial-and-error. I'd be fine if there was significant and consistent logic and reason to all the deaths, but so many were just silly with no way to reasonably see them coming. To me, horror games are at their best when there is the threat of death, but it doesn't force you to suffer its consequences too much, for if it does so, it reminds you too much of the fact that you're playing a game and nothing can hurt you. And that's what happened with me: sure I got jumpscared a bit still, here and there, but I was no longer immersed and no longer enjoying it.

Having said all that, it might just not be my kind of jam: lots of people do seem to like these kill-happy trial-and-error type of games, and I doubt my feedback can make you change the game since it's such a core element to it, so in the end, best of luck in its future development.

[Medieval Cop-S2-E1]

Interesting story! Not really my jam since I don't follow the whole shebang, but I thought it did a good job at keeping the pace up and starting off with a bang. It also had some clever aspects, like how the game gives you a bit of a loredump though Dregg's storytime distraction to the bombers. I still find some of the humor a bit hit-and-miss: I liked Dregg and the Old Man thinking they fooled the other over the horse, but I didn't like the drugged-out horse itself, nor the way every character needs to add wacky jokes to their dialogue all the time. Also, maybe it's just me, but the kid Dregg's eyes were really goofy and odd looking: felt like it was a real half-ass-job where you just scaled the eyes down and didn't position them properly afterwards.

[Tiny Fragments]

Solid and fun puzzler! Love the concept of the game and felt it delivered on it with a lot of level layouts that really wracked my brain! Not only that, but it has an addictive pace to it, what with introducing new or enhanced mechanics and obstacles each level. The graphics are no slouch either with some great animations and good mouse-feel with the way buttons and such react to roll-over and presses. Again, this is all that and a bag of chips!

[Pico Clicker]

Hearts in the right place for displaying all these great pieces of art, but I just felt like this wasn't much of a game and was wasted potential. At the end of the day, it's just a very simple gallery (especially when you give the option to forgo the clicking aspect) that, unlike other clicker games, doesn't really evolve in any significant way as you play, and I don't feel uses the clicker genre or any other aspect of gaming to make viewing the gallery enticing so as to make the player spread the love to the artists. Maybe I'm missing something or just expecting too much from previous titles? I dunno, maybe I'm just being a party-pooper. Anyway, like I say, it was a nice collaborative attempt nonetheless.

[Underneath]

Cool physics-based platformer! A little bit frustrating at times (movement can be difficult and I hate the ricochet platforms) and a little bit confusing as well (wasn't clear what the purpose of the flip was at first) but I had fun trying to get better and better at controlling my character and making it through the increasing challenges. I do wish the game would lock the cursor as I kept getting my clicks eaten when I'd leave the screen slightly.

[BOBA]

I'm a bit conflicted on this one! For the most part, I felt like it was a great game, and it was wonderful to see another charming game from this team that delivers solid graphics, catchy music and an interesting concept.

But while usually I would say this game is all that and a bag of chips, this just felt a little lacking to me. The main culprit is the level design and the boba mechanic: it just felt really underwhelming and underutilized to me. The levels would go back and forth haphazardly in terms of quality: some levels used the boba in clever and unique ways, some levels felt like they were desperately trying to make up excuses for the boba to exist, and other levels...just didn't even use the boba at all, forgoing it completely to just focus on bullets and sawblades and such. It was all still fun, for the most part, but it was just a weird experience where I wasn't even sure what game I was playing anymore. Perhaps I'm being silly and focusing too hard on the boba, but can you blame me since it's supposed to be the selling point? Whenever boba's not being used in a level, everyone should be asking "Where's boba?" (ok now i am getting silly)

To me, this feels like the Dark Souls 2 from this team: it's still a solid game and above many others in its genre, but if I were to rank it against the other games from this team, it'd have to be last place (hopefully that's not too overly dramatic, haha).

[Pink]

Another nice and chill puzzler! I love the whole minimalist approach to the puzzles where you need to experiment to figure out the rules, poking and prodding at the various pieces. Definitely ended up addicting me! In terms of negatives, the only thing was that I felt a bit disappointed to see some of the same puzzles repeated from previous games (such as the hanging curtain pull puzzles) as I hoped for all originals. Still, had a nice time with this overall.

[Rushdown Rivals ZERO (2021 Version)]

Wow, I really enjoyed the heck out of this! It was definitely a lot to get used to at first: the character moves so fast and there were so many controls to know and use very quickly (and it feels like a game you NEED a controller for, as there's too much for a keyboard). The game doesn't pull any punches either and throws you right into the deep end to the big boss fight.

But god, if it didn't feel good to get good at this! I definitely love the crunchiness of the hits: lots of satisfying feedback to them. I liked how all of the moves, for the most part, aren't throwaway moves: instead each serve their own best-use purpose against the various enemies, all of which give you a lot to have to juggle. TomBot is no slouch either with a nice moveset that feels hard, but fair, due to the great telegraphs and animations. It all just added together to make an incredibly kinetic and frantic combat experience where you gotta think fast and improvise, kinda like Doom Eternal, and you better believe I felt proud when I destroyed TomBot at the end!

It's a little janky in some respects: sometimes the physics would be a bit wonky, the hitboxes a bit vague, player damage not being as clear, and I felt like the interact button wasn't necessary (just attach to the rope if you jump at it, you can always jump off) but I had a blast. Would love to see more of this, or more like this, in the future!