FutureCopLGF's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Die for the Lich [v0.4]]

Wow, for being so early on in development, this feels very impressive already!

I'll admit, it's easy to feel like this is just another Slay the Spire-esque roguelike to add to the huge pile of other clones, so I'm a bit skeptical. Nevertheless, I do feel like it made good strides in providing a pretty unique experience with its synergy of items and dice rolls: trying to hit criticals by using certain dice and then trinkets to influence luck was quite satisfying and strategic. I also really loved how intuitive it was to learn the game naturally from how it highlights the appropriate objects to indicate what you can do, and how it doesn't infodump you at the start, but instead teaches you things as you encounter them. Just overall has a professional look and feel to it that delivers and smooth and polished experience: well done!

If I were to offer any feedback, it would be:

*Right now the level is very long and stuffed with rather simple trash mobs whose special effects help you more than hinder you, making it feel rather repetitive. Has a very 'when are we going to get to the fireworks factory' kinda vibe. Would love more unique enemy types and even mini-bosses to serve as checkpoints and events to spice the journey up!

*It's pretty simple to intuit what they are, but it'd still be nice if there were some info pop-ups when you hover over the map icons just to be sure what they are.

*It'd be nice if there was a save/load functionality so you wouldn't have to start all over if you take a break mid-run.

*It's a very nitpicky thing, but I wish the dice looked a bit better: something about the way the numbers on them are just some default system font that can sometimes be awkwardly offset just looks kinda cheap or placeholdery. Would love a more custom font and presentation that looks more seamlessly integrated, something where there is no visual separation between dice and number.

*There's plenty of other feedback that I can think of, but most of it falls into the generic desire for 'more stuff' which I'm sure you already have planned once you've got the fundamentals down, such as more heroes to pick from, changing your starting loadout, a story or narrative events to serve as motivation, unlocks, modifiers/difficulties blah blah blah I won't waste your time listing it all.

Definitely very promising! It's a silly thing to say, but it has a certain quality to it that I think makes it worth whipping the wallet out for, if that makes sense, haha!

MadNukin responds:

First of all, thanks for taking some time to give as some feedback.

I agree that the enemies need some some improvements and we are planning to address that in future builds.

Map needs, info, I agree!

For the web version we won't be adding save and load.

We got some better looking dice in v0.3, because of you.

We want to add more characters, it's in the near future for sure.

Glad you think the game has potential to bring some bacon :)

[pace]

Huh, this one surprised me!

I wasn't really feeling it at first as the driving controls and general gameplay felt a bit too simplistic. Don't get me wrong, I love me some top-down racers, but when it comes to something like this, I much prefer having a handbrake-esque button to perform drifts with, and found it awkward to do it without. I was skeptical as to whether the simplistic design was actually well-thought-out or just lazy.

Despite my initial hang-ups, though, I ended up getting really into mastering the simple yet difficult controls and doing courses over and over to see how fast I could do them! The bite-size nature of levels made it really easy to get into an addictive loop. Love me some time trials!

Still, it ain't all sunshine and rainbows. If I were to have some feedback:

*Would love if there were some par scores to go for with the courses where you could win bronze/silver/gold medals. Not only would it be a nice incentive, but it could also help to clue the player in on whether they are missing a crucial technique. For example, if I finish a course in 6 seconds, but I see the gold is 3 seconds, I know that I must be doing something wrong that I wouldn't realize if it was just me.

*I would like to see more creative variety in the courses. A lot of them are quite similar to each other and I could stand to be tested on other skills besides drifting. For example, all of the courses are currently short sprints, so it'd be nice if there was a long cross-country run.

*I wish that when I got a better time than my previous best it would actually show me my previous best so I could see by how much I made a difference: I'm not always going to remember exactly what it was, especially when it gets overwritten!

Hoping to see this get developed into something cool!

[FILL THE HEART]

Nice sliding puzzler! There are many puzzle games like this so it's not necessarily blowing me away, but it nevertheless feels professionally crafted overall with a stylish presentation and good sense of flow to the gameplay as it evolves with new mechanics. Not much to say: it simply just makes for a perfectly fun time!

If I were to have a suggestion, it might be nice if there were little cutscenes or whatever between every few levels that serve as a checkpoint: something about the cinematic presentation of the game makes me want some sort of story to it to serve as a intriguing hook. Still, some might like the purity of the game being straightforward gameplay, so whatever works for you!

[We live in a Bubble]

Ehhhh, I wasn't really feeling this game, unfortunately. I feel like it's trying to send a good message and pull off some sort of abstract emotional journey, so good on you for trying, but the way it's done just felt really shallow and confusing to me.

First impression was pretty good: the way you have to move around by breathing in and out was very intriguing and unique and made me think of someone trying to remain calm. I didn't even mind too much that it's like one of those events where you're forced to fail like you see in so many RPGs: it's cool to see the situation get more and more desperate with each failure, which is echoed by how the breathing gets more and more rapid as you struggle to move, like someone panicking and hyperventilating. Very cool!

Eventually your bubble breaks and your heart goes black, making me think of someone giving up and becoming just as downtrodden as the rest of the hearts around him. It's a tense moment, but then suddenly you revive and push away all the bad vibes or something? Where the heck did that come from? What happened to all the tension you built up, only to just ruin it all? I don't feel like I earned this sudden comeback!

It just felt like a lot of wasted potential: all this intrigue but the game practically plays itself. Maybe if the player was in control of their comeback from the darkness through gameplay it could feel earned, but to just give it to us? Also it's nice that they came back from the darkness, but what about the other black hearts, he just wipes them out? Why aren't they saved as well if they've fallen prey to the same thing? I dunno, it's like, it's somehow both childishly simplistic while also being confusingly complicated: quite the feat!

[RETRO RAMPAGE]

Interesting little Asteroids-esque arcade shooter! It feels a bit amateurish in its construction, feeling like a game from a first-timer or perhaps for a game jam, but at the same time it has a good sense of energy, some nice juicy effects and good enemy variety that keeps you on your toes! Having to deal with the recoil of your shots, especially your charge shots, adds a bit of risk/reward to how you play as well!

It's pretty decent on paper, but something about its execution left me a bit cold: still somewhat fun, but just not as fun as I thought it would be. A few factors to point out would be:

*I wish the damage feedback was a bit better. When I first played the game, I didn't even think I could break the bigger asteroids because my shots seemed to be not affecting them at all, and it was the same for enemies too. Even when I learned that my shots were damaging them, it still felt rather unsatisfying. Would love if, say, cracks formed on asteroids as you damage them, or enemies would turn redder or whatever.

*I know you can't do it because the game has a charge shot mechanic, but boy do I wish I could just hold down the trigger to keep shooting automatically: my old man hands can't keep clicking like this!

*The charge shot is pretty cool, but it is kind of annoying how much it sends you back when you fire. Yes, it is a neat element to consider as part of the strategy of the game, but even accepting that, it can still be frustrating! It's also frustrating that the charge shot can't pierce through smaller asteroids or enemy bullets: feels like such a waste when it hits those!

*Wish I could use the arrow keys to move around instead of WASD: having to have my hands cramped together instead of spread out, as well as having to use my left hand to move instead of my right, was a bit annoying.

*Music was way too loud without any sort of volume control, and kind of weird and dissonant, not pleasant to listen to in my opinion.

It's definitely pretty promising for a simple but fun arcade shooter, but it just had too many little aspects of it that got in the way of the fun. A good attempt, though!

SepticDolphin responds:

These are some very good and valid points. I'm definitely going to update the game in the future and take these things into account. Thank you for taking the time to write this, this is very valuable :)

[Fossil Rumblers Time-Stop Over DEMO]

Man, maybe I'm missing something, but I bounced off of this game hard, unfortunately!

The game does show some decent promise to it. The interface is pretty well-constructed and intuitive, and the game has a rather stylish look to it with a nice sense of energy from the music and effects. The gameplay is also rather...uh...unique, which did draw my attention, but...yeah, I just didn't know what to do with the gameplay!

I love tower defenses because I love puzzling together a perfect formation that counters what the enemy is throwing at me, factoring in stuff like arranging towers in a way that effectively uses the territory/ranges that they cover to synergize with each other and promote their strengths.

With this, though, all I had to work with was two towers that were both the same thing, being melee attackers with one being slightly stronger and more expensive. There was no way to arrange the towers so that they could cover or synergize with each other or...anything! Placement didn't matter: all I could do was arrange a line of meat that the enemies would just walk up to one-by-one and pummel. It was so bloody boring! It didn't help either that the first level goes on for so damn long, especially since you barely have any tools or units to play around with.

I dunno, maybe I'm missing something, but it felt like that's all I could do beyond healing or throwing bombs which felt lackluster. As a side note, there were also some minor issues like how:

*I wish the HUD would make it more obvious what units you can buy and what you can't by making them brighten up when you have enough cash.

*I wish you would just display the health bars above units instead of having to click on them to get a health display for just one of them.

*I was a bit puzzled why some of the units had more health than each other despite being the same? Is it just random? I don't think I upgraded them or anything, just feels silly that a win could be up to luck.

*I also found the music to be way too loud and was praying for some sort of options menu where I could fiddle with the music levels, but alas!

As down as I'm being on the game, I want it to be good as apart from the bizarre game design, it does look pretty neat and shows some promise!

EDIT: Hmm, while I still stand by the game having a pretty rough first impression, I tried revisiting it and I do think it gets better as the levels go on, with towers having limited aggro capabilities so things become a bit more frantic and strategic, so it does have that going for it. There are still some slight annoyances like how I wish I could right-click to cancel whatever I have currently selected and if I could see health bars at all times, but still, it's better than I thought!

VoiDdraig responds:

Thanks so much for giving a try to FR! for sure the project is'nt completed yet and need lots of fixes/balancing and polish that are on work now! again the feedback is really apreciated and taking on count all to improve with the next updates~

about gameplay by the moments even when it's a tower defense i wanna keep it a bit away from the puzzle feeling (it's really rushed and need lots of work to be polished rn) depends more on improvistaion than planification but u still can use strategy as the horde gets frenetic "basic in some point" for sample you can place the units far from the entrance so the new ones can be placed closer so they can fight maintainig the damaged ones safe till die or get healed and when you get the change to get plenty ranged units protecting them with more cannon fodder (yeah they are not supposed to survive all the horde but u can manage to keep them alive healing right on the moment they almost die) so u need to constantly keep an eye checking units untill level ends instead of pasively wait

Honestly all the minor issues are important stuff to be work (on wip rn, no new updates till everything works without bugs)
-the hud units will glow when you got enough Fossil energy
- enemies HP will be show too (including a visible hp bar)
-units HP are randomized for testing (an evolution of the units is possible tho but as a future feature)
-Sound parameter control is a must

Fun fact: We need to include an advise to let players know when new units are unlocked, cuz actually level 1-3 adds a range unit! "anomalocaris"

[Tiny Dangerous Dungeons Remake DEMO]

Wow, this is a pretty fantastic game you got here! Feels very professionally-made from how beautiful it looks and how smooth it plays. It's a rather simple game, both in terms of its map design and gameplay, but it still has an addictive sense of progression to it as you slowly get kitted out and newer enemies and obstacles are introduced. The boss battles were a nice highlight as well. Nice stuff all-around!

Not to be a downer, but I do have some feedback:

*Something that struck me about the game was how silent it was: so many things that I expected to have sounds play for them didn't, and it made the world feel a bit lifeless and dull. For example, when you're in the room with those wall traps that shoot arrows, I expected to hear sounds for them arming themselves, shooting, and the arrows bouncing off things: not only would this add a lot of life to the world, sounds can also serve as warnings for obstacles and let you catch their rhythm.

*Similar to the above, I was a little disappointed at the lack of reactivity. There were a few times where I tried to do something clever like drop a box on an enemy, only for it to do nothing. I'd also like it if when you try to use a locked door you don't have the key for, it rattles or something to let you know you don't have the key. Maybe I'm asking too much, but it just made the world feel a bit less in my eyes.

*As cool as the knives are, I feel like it completely disrupts the balance of the game. Before you get knifes, you need to learn enemy patterns and formulate a route that weaves your way through the enemies, which can be quite fun and challenging. Once you get knives, though, you can just kill everything at a distance and then walk through an empty room: so boring! I hope that the game introduces something to counter-balance this later on, but I didn't get to see it in the demo.

*As nice as the game is, I think that's only within the context of playing it for free on Newgrounds for a bit: without any sort of creative mechanic, sense of challenge, or unique quality, it's just not interesting enough that I'd throw down money to play the rest of it. It's just another adventure clone to toss on the pile of millions of others.

So yeah, it's a well-constructed and nice game, but if I put it within the context of Steam and all the competition present there, it just lacks a certain je ne sais quoi to make it stand out. I still think you should be proud of making this, though, and this could just be a me thing: some people might like the simplicity and treat it as a positive which gives them relaxed vibes, I dunno.

AdventureIslands responds:

Thanks for the detailed feedback! This was insightful.

Agreed perhaps there could be more sounds.

Later on there are more variants of enemies, including ones that cannot be harmed with knives.

Maybe the game is little simple side, but it's also coming for mobile, so simpler gameplay is easier on a touch screen.

[Wanted!]

This is a great little arcade game that's simultaneously also a very creative art collab as well! The presentation is very charming, the gameplay is some simple yet addictive fun filled with all sorts of references and challenging escalation to keep you on your toes, and the art comes with a cool gallery view that is searchable and contains links to artists: what a fantastic two-for-one special! Heck, combine that with the special bart game that changes the genre from searching to aim training and we've got a three-for-one special: whadda deal!

One aspect I found pretty interesting is that the game allows you to click on the target even if it is behind something: usually that would be a penalty and I could be fine with it as part of the challenge, but this game is quite generous and I like that!

I do wish that the gallery also gave you some lore into the origins of certain characters for the uninformed, but I understand that the space is limited and you've already done enough, haha!

sebulant responds:

Thank you for the very kind words!

[PINSKI]

This is pretty neato! The game's presentation is juicy and energetic, the general construction feels polished, and the gameplay is pretty interesting, feeling like a fast-paced endless runner version of Mosa Lina where you need to quickly improvise with your limited resources in creative ways to get past obstacles and keep going. I got pretty addicted and wound up replaying a few times to go for high scores!

For feedback, I'd have this to offer:

While I enjoyed the game, the magic of it didn't last that long. Since you can transfer resources between levels instead of forcing you to start fresh each time, you can end up with a huge stockpile of blocks and never worry about improvising ever again. Sometimes the courses would end up randomly generated in such a way where you barely even need to use resources, making it even worse.

I was pretty disappointed with the items and how simple they were: for example it'd be great if I could stack bombs like an awkward temporary staircase or stand next to them to shoot me forward or upwards great distances, but no, they are only used to break blocks and kill enemies and nothing else. Just feels like a missed opportunity of some cool improvisation ala Mosa Lina.

On the technical side: I did have a bit of a rough first impression as I had difficulties remembering and using the controls. I really wish you did that thing where the controls are written out on the screen in appropriate positions, like having a menu/stopwatch icon to the side that has the X key, and having Q/E to the left and right of the block bar. Also, the shift keys didn't work for changing the block types!

The biggest issue I had, actually, is the fact that my first attempts to play this in Chrome didn't work! When I tried to load it up, my computer would start whirring like crazy and the browser tab memory would tick up and up and up into several gigabytes before eventually crashing. I was only able to play this in Microsoft Edge for some reason, and still to this day have no luck in Chrome.

[Babel.EXE]

Pretty neat game you got here!

The ZX Spectrum-style presentation is certainly well-done and eye-catching, and the story you constructed is short-and-sweet, just the right length to get built-up effectively but not overstay its welcome, which could've easily happened due to the rather simplistic gameplay.

The story events did a great job at keeping me hooked, from small bits of confusion like the color of the flower changing (which was so innocuous I didn't even notice lol) to more and more darker twists.

I was a bit disappointed that there didn't seem to be any sort of interesting player decisions to make besides following orders that could lead to different endings or what-not. It also sucked a bit when it forces you to do something in a cutscene like killing Amber, instead of having you do it with your own hands which could feel more emotionally resonant. But I understand you were going for a certain story and that's fine. Having said that, I was able to kill Noah earlier than I was ordered, so that was neat that it allowed that.

The story is nice, but it does suffer from the typical contrivances where the writer needs to clue the reader in somehow by making people act out-of-character. For example, why would Babel go back and forth on whether to accurately translate stuff for us or not? Yes, it's a gut punch when we realize we've been tricked, but realistically it makes no sense and they would just keep lying to us. It's the equivalent of a boss monologuing his dastardly plans to his captor who is about to die: it's just a little silly. But again, I understand why you had to do it (though I'd love it if maybe you did it a different way, like an alternate new game + afterwards which has the true speech while leaving the first playthrough fully with lies).

GooseStranger responds:

Thanks for playing and doing this wonderful write up!

I certainly wanted to add player decisions but that quickly spiraled the scope, so I decided on giving the illusion of decision lol.

I knew some people wouldn't totally enjoy the game forcing you to kill Amber in that cutscene but I felt that moment would lose its power if I had given control back to the player, they don't realize they could or should attack, and die and have to do the scene all over again.

The thought on Babel.EXE translating some stuff but not others is a fair point. However, I feel some players would be a little cross if everything went fine the whole game and suddenly everyone is dead with zero context. I gotta do what I gotta do.

I'm glad you enjoyed and thanks for all the feedback!