FutureCopLGF's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Grim Pawn]

Pretty neat puzzler! Graphics are a bit drab at times (especially the player character, which I can't tell what the heck they are), but it still works to build a grim atmosphere. Levels felt really well put-together with a good escalation of difficulty, and I loved the aspect of poems serving as good hints for new mechanics. Was a bummer that the game doesn't seem to save progress at all: I was really hoping to continue where I left off!

TheMikirog responds:

The game is fairly short, so I didn't bother adding the save feature in. It's still possible to beat earlier levels in seconds to get back to where you left off.

[Waterworks!]

I'm not one for these card games typically, but that makes it all the more impressive that I ended up getting addicted to this game! I attribute this to its incredibly professional graphics and UI design: every element on the screen is so intuitively put-together so that, even by ignoring the tutorial info dumps at the beginning, its easy to figure out how the game works nonetheless. I love how every element can be hovered over for an info pop-up so you can learn and remind yourself of all of the elements of the game at your own pace. Definitely a great example of juicy UI design that games should aspire for!

[Complex]

Pretty cool game, but it is (ironically, given the title) a bit too complex that makes it very confusing at first, and given the extremely punishing gameplay with no checkpoints or continues, very easy to give up on, unfortunately. Firing has a weird input issue where it would ignore my inputs most of the time, and the interact button was weird since it makes it look like you could unlock a door from a distance by hovering over it, but it only works if you're right next to it. Graphics and animations are really cool, but the lack of music and any major art differences between levels really makes it feel like you're making little progress. Once you get into the game and figure out how everything works, its great, but until then it can be really confusing.

[Flail Fall]

Haha, pretty funny concept! It's an interesting take on ragdoll mechanics in a 2d environment, and using them in a strategic manner to figure out the ideal route for each puzzle setup was pretty fun! Was a little annoying to have to wait for the stun to wear off after each jump, and also dying respawns you a bit too fast which can lead to another immediate death if you were holding a button and run into some spikes. Some of the controls were also a bit counter-intuitive, like how you don't have even the slightest air-control at all and it wants you to dash before jumping when it is so often the other way around in games: can feel a bit frustrating because of this. Nonetheless, I had fun, and I wish there was more to this game to get through as it ended just as it was starting to get really in the groove!

[Rescue in Faraway Fields]

Really charming retro game! Feel like it really nailed both the retro style in terms of graphics, sound, music and gameplay for an all-together solid package. The gameplay is nice and fun, though I did feel like it was too simple and easy at times where you could just go forward and throw rocks at everything (maybe rock throwing shouldn't even be a thing so you can have to skillfully jump over and avoid enemies instead?) I did eat my words when the challenge ramped up and I got crushed by a boulder later on, haha. I'm not sure what the purpose of the whole slot machine is, but I do like the game allows you to speed things up and advance through text and such by hitting buttons, so thanks for that. Wish the game saved since I got really far but had to temporarily stop: I'll try and get back to finish it!

EDIT: Made it through and had a great time (didn't even need the debug tools to skip)! Gotta admit, I sure ate my words calling the game easy: level 12 is going to be in my nightmares for some time, haha. Definitely a very nicely done game: the polish is something else. I did have beef with the apples though: not sure if it's intended, but if you get an apple in a level and then die, the dragonfly doesn't come back so you will forever have missed the apple, argh!

gatod responds:

Thank you! The slot machine was a very, very hasty addition because I added some powerups but didn't want to change the gameplay too much hahaha there's an option to disable them if you like! Alongside other stuff like giving yourself more starting lives and continues, disabling the "do you want to skip this stage?" screen and sother stuff. If you really, really want to play through any level at any moment you can press F1 while the game's on the boot screen until you hear the "perfect!" sound, then go to the service menu and select the level on the "get ready" screen. Just don't go for it before you've properly completed one game loop tough, otherwise you'll spoil the fun! Thank you for playing :)

[Ex4ce Beginnings]

Hmm, I'm in two minds about this game.

On one hand, the actual gameplay is really cool with excellent effects, graphics and exciting gameplay. Love to fly around blowing the heck out of stuff and dodging all of the interesting bullet patterns, and its fun to get more and more upgraded. It's just so juicy and explosive! It is a bit annoying to deal with the controls, however, where your mouse can easily leave the screen and cause you to lose control: would really prefer you lock the mouse into the game screen.

On the other hand, the menus and text outside of the gameplay are painfully static and boring in comparison. The text is difficult to read with its odd font and bright highlights on a bright background, and I don't know how to interpret that word dump in the beginning. The ending screen for a level is really dull with just text that isn't stylized in any way to help the results be more readable. The menus and buttons aren't animated in any way, and upgrading is an annoying process where, instead of just clicking on the segment of the bar and seeing it light up, you have to click on the bar, go to another pop-up to confirm the upgrade, and then go back (repeat over and over for multiple upgrades to the same power), and there's no exciting sound or light-up to make you feel like you've gotten more powerful. Would love to see the balance restored between menus and gameplay: both should be exciting to make the experience equally great!

[Tiny Golf Puzzles]

I was ready to write this off at the beginning since it was more a sliding puzzle than a golf game, which made me a bit disappointed, but I'm glad I stuck with it because I had a great time! The game does an excellent job at ramping up constantly and introducing more and more complex designs and mechanics: I was expecting to drop out at the standard 18 holes but just kept going and going to see what else could happen! My only complaint would be that I wish there was a bit better score-tracking and more fanfare for getting par or under, but still, it was a very solid experience!

[Basically The Last of Us Part II (The Last of Us Part II Parody)]

Hmm, I feel bad for judging it by comparison like this, but I didn't feel like this was as good as your other 'Basically...' outing with Call of Duty Warzone. With that one, it felt great since it served as an excellent meta encapsulation of the battle royale gameplay with funny presentation and jokes. This one, though, just seemed to recap a few scenes from the game word-for-word and didn't really add anything funny to them: it just recreated them and had you guys laughing at your own inside jokes, dragging it out. It didn't even get to the end of the game! I had a lot more fun with the fart version since it was fast and funny, but that was a bit too one-note. My ideal version of this would be something as fast-paced as the fart version, but with your own funny dialogue and jokes that provide a unique take on the game to let us see another side of it.

[Hexlands]

Solid puzzler! I knew I was really going to like this game just from the great way it started, where the start button doubled as a mini-tutorial by showing you building a link: excellent design! The game feels great to play with tiny little touches that serve to build some excitement and pizazz, like the way connections explode in sparks and shake the screen. My only complaint would be that I'd love to see the game get more and more advanced as it goes, (it does slightly by draining time faster, but its not apparent enough to cause excitement). All in all, though, I still like it as simple as it is since it serves as a great little puzzler where you race against time and go for a high score!

[Lunch Crush]

An incredible combination of a sokoban/warehouse management game with a charming food service game! I had a blast managing both the stock and the customers, and loved how you could get some skillful play by choosing to either carry or kick items depending on the situation. That said, I did find the scoring system and slot machine really weird: I busted my butt one level and got a B, and then another level busted my butt just as hard and got an S just because the slot machine gave me some kinda 5x multiplier bonus. I'd just get rid of the whole slot machine gimmick and just have a nice story where days get more and more intense as you go on. Also, I kinda wish there was a way to turn around while standing in place, and if you could kick items directly into the trash instead of just next to the trash. All in all, it felt so good to juggle everything and made for some really frentic fun!