FutureCopLGF's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Xhive]

This one was a bit of a surprise!

Once I saw that the levels were randomly-generated, I got really worried because this usually results in some rather unexciting combat and potentially unfair/unbalanced moments due to haphazard placement. After all, the whole reason I like SHMUPs is because how elegantly their waves and sequences are designed for maximum coolness.

However, while I do still wish it was handcrafted, I had a lot more fun with how this turned out than I thought, most likely because of the enemy design and how they can create a lot of interesting and challenging patterns naturally. So yeah, neat little game, and the graphics and effects are quite juicy!

If I were to have any complaints, it's that sometimes the juicy explosions can be a bit too much, in that they can cover up critical information such as bullets. Visual clarity could also be helped a bit if the color palette was widened a bit so that enemies could be more easily differentiated in the chaos.

[Starship Bullet]

Hmm, not much to say: seems like a decent Asteroids-esque arcade game that should be fun, but ultimately it didn't hook me or keep my interest for long as it feels rather generic and overly simplistic, repetitive due to the lack of variety and a bit frustrating due to the controls and way the world and enemies are designed (for example, it's very easy to crash into enemies due to the camera not giving enough leeway or them just spawning right in your way).

[DEAD DETENTION #1 (Rescribbled)]

Neat visual novel you got here! The story is a bit too goofy and packed with anime cliches for my old man sensibilities, but I was really impressed at the stylish sketchbook presentation and overall smooth, polished feel to the gameplay and interface. Where a lot of visual novels are very static and filled with portraits talking at each other for hours that can sap my energy, this had a lot of unique art, minigames and so on to keep things lively and engaging.

While it is pretty promising, there were a few points that I feel could use some work:

*I was a bit disappointed with the minigames, particularly in that there is no way to fail at them, making them feel rather pointless. I would much prefer if winning or losing at the minigames would branch the story in different and exciting ways, or affect your character's stats which can make differences later on in the actions they take, similar to other more action-based visual novels like Indigo Prophecy, Until Dawn, and so on.

*I like the idea of decisions affecting your stats, but this episode didn't provide any instance where we could see how those stats affect anything. Perhaps it is planned to only have effects way later down the road, but I'd like to see proof of the system in action early on so I don't feel like I'm being sold a false bill of goods (ever heard of Mass Effect 3?) For example, it'd be nice if being negative earlier on makes you reluctant to help out in finding the sister, so the story branches there, though perhaps only for a bit before he rejoins and helps out.

*There was a distinct lack of quality-of-life features, such as there being no save/load feature, no text log so you can review things being said, no skip feature, and so on. I can understand being hesitant with save/load features so that people need to live with their choices instead of save scumming, but still, what if I need to take a break and want to continue later on?

Looking forward to seeing how the rest of the episodes develop!

JackAstral responds:

All good suggestions - thanks! I’ll keep some of those in mind for the next ones :-)

[The Gauntlet]

Hmm, for the most part I liked what this game was trying to do! The whole death-gameshow aspect reminds me of something like Smash TV or The Running Man, and I liked trying to react quickly to make it through these randomly-generated deadly obstacle courses while also grabbing any bonus cash that I could, which usually requires taking an extra risk. As frustrating as it was that I could barely make a dent into my debt, I can begrudgingly appreciate that it's probably the point, haha!

That being said, the game didn't keep my attention for long as I started seeing the same room layouts over and over only a short bit into the game, many of them quite sparse and not that exciting, making it all feel rather repetitive. The controls were also rather frustrating with me constantly accidently activating the dash when I didn't want to because I'm trying to move back and forth quickly to stay on a platform, for example.

The worst part of the game for me was the whole metaprogression and daily login stuff: it felt completely unnecessary and threw off the balance of the game. I had no idea that revives were a limited item that you can only recover once every 24 hours, and so I blew all five on my first run, thinking that it would be like any other game where I'd get them back on a new run, and now I need to wait five days just so I can have a fair chance at playing again? Why on earth would you incentivize players to stay away from your game and be so unfair and punishing?

Also a small nitpick: the music in the intro is so loud that it drowns out the voice actor. There could definitely be some audio balancing here and there.

blit-blat responds:

Starting with the revives - it’s to incentive people to download the app, where they can buy more revives. Yes, in-app purchases are scummy, but I’ve got bills to pay! Think I’ve tried to get the balance right, this game is no means pay to win!

There’s 100 rooms (101 if you include the start screen), so you shouldn’t see too many repeats early on. That said there’s no restriction on the rooms, so it possible to see level A, B, A, B, etc back to back, depending on how RNGesus is feeling! Something to look into, along with the Audi balancing.

And yeah, it’s definitely meant to be hard (but still possible!) to pay off your debt! No one escapes the gauntlet!

[Up and Away]

This game was pretty interesting! I really liked how chill the world felt and liked all of the charming interactions it had. Learning how to fly the balloon was a lot of fun as well, both in terms of learning how to catch wind currents and figuring out how to hit the buttons. There were certainly some points of confusion for me at the start: took a long time for the balloon to start lifting off so I thought I was missing a step to unhook anchor or whatever, I didn't realize there was a cooldown button at first and initially thought the cooldown button was actually forward jets, and so on, but it was all part of the fun!

That being said, while it's very novel in the beginning, it turns quite tedious and boring later on as the gameplay doesn't evolve in anyway and it just has you repeat similar steps for each leg of the journey. Was really hoping that, I dunno, we might have to dodge thunderclouds, or maybe the balloon would get another extra step of maintenance we'd have to do like repairs, or maybe the wind currents would become more complex and maze-like.

Another aspect I was a bit disappointed in was that there was no save/checkpoint feature when you make it to an island rest stop. To be fair, it turned out to be a rather short journey overall, so it actually wasn't that necessary, but still, it'd be nice.

Overall I quite like the chill journey aspect of this game: reminds me of a simpler version of something like Far Lone Sails.

[One Must Imagine Sisyphus Happy]

Huh, quite the interesting game! It's certainly a very lively, stylish and animated game, and I was really impressed at the sheer amount of variety that the game has for chapter titles, dialogue, and so on: it's even got a bunch of hidden/rare animations for pushing the rock or getting knocked down! Can certainly keep you playing for quite some time just to see what happens next!

Unfortunately, compared to other Sisyphean-esque games like Jump King and Getting Over It, this lacks compelling gameplay as it just keeps recycling the same minigames in the same order over and over, and the time limit quickly caps out at 2 seconds in just 3 cycles with no other evolution or progression beyond that. I just couldn't imagine myself happy to play this for very long at all. In a way, though, that pointless and repetitive feeling that the game gives off accurately portrays the task more so than other games, so I guess this might be the best game in that regard?

squidly responds:

its not Sisyphean-esque, it's Sisypunk 🚹🪨

[Capybaradise]

Cute little game! Stacking up the capybaras was quite nice, I like the way that it gives you feedback on the accuracy of your placement, and I was surprised at how difficult the game could be with the way ducks can speed by from any side of the screen randomly. Overall it's simple but fun, and the game's so cute, even failure doesn't feel bad as you watch them tumble and squeak, haha!

That being said, the game didn't keep my attention for that long as it was just so overly simplistic and you see everything the game is going to offer in mere seconds. It just gets rather repetitive rather quickly, especially due to the fact that you don't seem to need to worry about the balance of the tower as a whole: you only need to worry about placing a new capybara close to the center of the last capybara you placed. Was also a bummer that you get the same amount of points whether you place a capy perfectly, good, or slightly off: might've been better to get rewarded more points for perfects, otherwise it's like why put in effort?

[Bug Off!]

Pretty cute rhythm game! For the most part, I really like what this game is going for: the story is wholesome, the characters and dialogue are very cute and charming, and the rhythm gameplay is interesting in how you need to try and mimic your partner by observing their telegraphed poses and reacting quickly.

I have to admit, though, I had a really rough time! I love rhythm games and I understood what the game was putting down quickly, but I find myself barely able to keep up once the game finishes introduces all of the characters and their associated moves on easy. With such a wide array of moves to look for, the amount of time to react being so low, and the way that they can throw you off your timing by holding the pose for longer or shorter amounts of time: it's really hard!

I know the game is trying to help with subtle hints like modulating the pitch of the sound to indicate whether the pose is going to be held shorter or longer, but still, the reaction time and decision-making it is demanding is too much for me! There's a reason a lot of rhythm games use note charts where you can see ahead, and we're seeing an example of why that works and this doesn't right here, unfortunately!

So yeah, lovely little game, but damn if it doesn't have some serious claws hidden under that cute facade! Wonder if the high difficulty is a case of the developers getting too used to their game from working on it so soon and mistakenly thinking it's going to be just as easy for new players.

Mezix responds:

Thanks for the detailed and honest feedback! I'll keep it real, it definitely is partially the case that we got used to our own game. In fairness, it isn't a problem to restart the levels you are having trouble with, but I can see where you're coming from!

We also intended for the game to be challenging given it's limited run time, and maybe that's something that doesn't come across super clear when you open what ostensibly is a cute rhythm game. We've received some feedback pertaining to helping the player figure out the moves that we plan to implement in the future.

Thanks for your feedback!

[REALISE]

Hmm...I'm really torn on this one!

On one hand, I think it's pretty cool. Certainly starts off with a good first impression with the very stylish main menu that pans around the car wreck to display the various options. The music is nice, and the game's overall journey is quite interesting with a very fancy tunnel interlude, car crash pileup ending, and the general sense that there's nothing you can do to win. It's like an interactive music video, which is quite experimental and interesting, almost like a piece of outsider art!

On the other hand, the game just didn't feel good or well-put-together on a technical level. First impression was terrible as the game couldn't even format the tutorial menu to keep the instructions within the box, making them sloppily spill out and become hard to read. The gameplay felt dull and lifeless with the way that there was an absolute lack of feedback, such as there being no sound or physical reaction from the car when it plows into money or obstacles. Power-ups felt worthless as well: what's the point of getting tank treads if you can't even plow through pebbles in your way without losing money? Everything just felt bad and pointless and finally, I feel like the game tries to excuse its problems but making everything feel 'deep' and intentional by delivering a bunch of fancy-dancy philosophical quote wankery: ohhh it's feels bad because its supposed to, sod off, if you pardon my harshness.

I know there's a lot of concessions I could make here and there: for example, maybe there was a lack of sound effects because you didn't want them to drown out the music. Maybe the power-ups feel bad because you're being conned by the salesmen or whatever. But overall if I had to pick a side between finding it stylish or shoddy, I just wasn't feeling this one. At the very least it was quite memorable and I like what it was attempting to pull off: perhaps if it just had a bit more construction put into it I would be cheering for it instead.

HearsePileup responds:

One guy worked for four years on this - I wrote the music too.

I'll consider doing an update once I've had some sleep.

There is a very real point I'm trying to make with this work though, as an interactive music video specifically.

If you're trying to assess this specifically as a game and not a political statement then you're missing the point somewhat.