FutureCopLGF's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Train Man's Rude Awakening]

Wow, this was quite the manic puzzle matching game! It's kinda crazy the way it just throws you into it with no explanation, but it's pretty intuitive and fun to just start making matches based on color, and little by little you start to notice things like how the steam tiles make stuff rise up to the top either naturally or from getting clues in the upgrade menu. Overall it's a very cute and high-energy game that I had a great time with, and I was surprised at how challenging the last level could be when you'd think the game would just let you overpower it with the upgrades!

That being said, I don't necessarily want to gloss over its faults, so here's some feedback on that:

*As said, it does kind of just throw you into the deep end with no instructions. Sure you can just match colored tiles, but I had no idea what tiles were good to match and which weren't. For example, I wasn't sure whether the green tiles were actually powering the train or if there were just clutter I needed to get rid of: the way they were called 'recycle' made me think they were just to 'recycle' the board with better power tiles.

*I think the biggest issue is that the feedback is quite lackluster. It's very difficult to pay attention to the tiny map on the bottom or the tiny stats to the left while you're playing, so you can't see how much power you're getting from matches or how much time is left when you need to be. I wish there were more satisfying effects when you make bigger combos, like some speed lines and a big gust of wind: hearing the same sound effects for all combos made it feel so pointless and ineffectual. I also wish that there were some alerts that would happen in the center of the screen, like an alert when you've got 10 seconds left, or a chime that plays for every station you pass, and so on. It felt like all I could do was try and make matches blindly since I had no way of procuring data to make optimal choices.

*The sense of progression was a bit awkward where I couldn't tell at first whether the game had an end goal we needed to reach. The lack significant punishment for lateness made me also feel like getting good at the game was pointless since perhaps it's all about being forced to grind for upgrades. Once I played long enough I realized most of these were false fears, but I had no idea it was the case initially.

*As the game went on, the controls just started to get really fiddly and annoying, with me trying to click on something but it ends up targeting something else, or trying to link everything together but it ends up doing it in the wrong order I wanted, or the nuclear upgrade that lets you chain to other different powers being an annoyance you actually might want to avoid. Quite frustrating!

It's definitely got some rough spots, but for a game jam game, it's a fantastic effort with a solid foundation. Nice work!

[Trivial Trivia: OpenTDB]

What can I say, it's more great trivia from the Trivial Trivia guys, so if you like trivia, you can't go wrong!

Having said that, though, I will admit that I think this might be the weakest entry so far. It's not bad, per se, and sure, there's a lot of content due to the novel idea of using user contributions, but it just can't compare with the more bespoke entries from the OG team:

*For one, the questions don't have those cute little hints you would get for a wrong answer, instead being replaced with a generic 'incorrect' message.

*The packs don't have the menu option to review the questions you've encountered. It's not totally necessary, but it was a nice thing to have.

*There seems to be a lack of quality control for the questions. For example, there is a question about Darth Vader's famous line: most people mistakenly quote it as "Luke, I am your father" when the actual line is "No, I am your father." I knew this and answered appropriately, but it said I was wrong. I even checked the movie afterwards to be sure!

*Achievements don't seem to be working properly. I got the achievo for loading up the game, sure, but I'm not getting my medals for scoring bronze/silver/gold.

[Dragonsweeper]

Wow, this is a tricky one! Certainly a very interesting and novel combination of two genres that creates a solid first impression that caught my attention!

There was definitely some confusion at the start, what with strange rules like how you can attack something that reduces you to zero HP but that doesn't kill you for some reason. Once I got used to that and all the other rules, though, there was some cool strategy at play where you really need to pick fights in a certain order so that you can optimize the HP you get back from leveling up to make it further and further, among other things.

I gotta admit that I was a bit split on it though. As much as I like it in theory, it always felt like I got to a point where it was just blind luck on whether I could get any further since I didn't have enough intel to know where to go next, or that I just didn't have a good enough start to make headway with what's on hand. I just couldn't ever be sure whether it was me being bad or if the game wasn't always winnable with the boards it would generate. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume I'm just bad at it, haha!

It's definitely a bit of an odd one: I keep getting my butt kicked and not making much progress, but something about it fascinates me so much that I don't get frustrated, but just want to give it another go! Kudos on pulling off that balancing act, I suppose! Maybe it'd be neat if it had separate difficulty modes, like you can start out on easy with a less populated board before the challenge the original.

[CAR GODS]

Whoa, this is a pretty cool game!

It reminded me a lot of my favorite arcade classics like Lucky and Wild, and I found the control scheme of having to manually operate the elements of the car very novel and fun to master. The physicality of rotating the wheel and pulling the reload handle down was very satisfying, and it was quite challenging to juggle the fact that you can only operate one thing at a time. The bosses were nice too, having a good variety of attacks which all had very intuitive telegraphs. I had a blast!

If I were to have any complaints:

*I found the whole shop mechanic rather superfluous: it really didn't feel like it added any sort of significant variety or replayability to the game.

*The cramped/zoomed-in camera can look rather stylish with the way it moves around, but it can also be a bit of a bummer since you can't see the boss fully when you're shooting. I suppose you could argue its part of the challenge, but I just felt like I was missing out on all the neat animations and expressions.

*But my biggest complaint would be that I'm still hungry and I want even more, which I think is the best compliment you can get for a game jam game!

[Solar Complex!]

Hmm, I really want to like this game, but it just didn't grab me as much as I'd like!

As said, the game makes a solid first impression. The presentation is pretty and lively, and the gameplay reminds me of arcade classics like Qix where you slowly fill in the grid while being able to trap enemies in squares for bonus points. It can certainly be good addictive fun to fill in all the grids, and the game keeps things interesting by introducing new enemy types like the black clouds which erase your progress.

It all sounds good on paper, but something about the execution failed to grab me despite being a fan of hi-score arcade games like this. I'm not sure, but there are a few factors that I think contribute to this:

*While it does a good job at escalating things with new enemy types, there are times when it strangely deescalates and suddenly gets rid of the dark clouds. Makes me feel like I'm just spinning my wheels instead of getting anywhere.

*A lot of levels have the grids too separated and small to be able to setup any squares to eat up enemies for big points. There's no real time pressure or scoring incentive to challenge yourself to keep up the flow either, especially since the combo resets after 10 lit panels. Without any sort of scoring goals like that, all you can really do is just fill up all the squares, and it just turns into feeling like busywork.

It's neat, but I think it's just lacking a cool scoring system to keep me interested. Not too shabby for a game jam though, and I think it can still satisfy fans of cleanup games like Powerwash Simulator!

[_sheld[ON]]

Wow, this puzzle game really surprised me!

It's easy to think of it as just another little sokoban-esque puzzler, but man, I got super addicted to the way the game just keeps progressively getting more interesting mechanics to play around with. it never felt like it was just spinning its wheels as so many creative additions and twists just kept coming, like being able to dislodge plugs from sockets, splitting power to multiple sockets, pushing a plug into a plug into yet another plug: very creative stuff that I haven't seen done before!

Of particular note is the level design, which is absolutely sublime with the way it intuitively teaches you all the tricks you need to know while also being quite challenging! Every time I encountered something that confused me for a bit, like the energy not just being movement points but also needing to be used to power the sockets, the levels clued me into all that naturally. And all that with some charming and goofy art and music: top shelf stuff!

If I were to have any complaints:

*Speaking of being surprised, I found it very strange that the game initially starts you on some random level that's very far ahead: you have to quit out from it to get to the level select menu where you can go to the proper first level that teaches you the controls and such. Makes for a weird first impression!

*Not a big issue, but it would be nice if once you beat a level, it takes you right to the next level instead of taking you back to the level select: just feels a bit unnecessary! I guess it's nice to keep seeing your progress, though...

Again, this is some great stuff! I wouldn't think it was a game jam game from how elegant the execution was!

[BATTERY ACID: ZEITGEIST]

Pretty neat shmup boss-rush prototype!

It's got the fundamentals down pretty well as the core act of shooting looks and feels pretty nice, the bosses have some nice varied attack patterns, and there are some neat characters to pick from: it's simple but fun!

It's playing around with some neat ideas too: having your ammo and health tied together in one resource which you replenish by parrying keeps things exciting and strategic, and the roulette system alongside random boss changes is an interesting idea to keep things fresh for every run.

It did have a few things that got in the way of me fully getting into it though:

*The minor statistical upgrades you and the enemy get from the roulette, as well the random cosmetic looks to the bosses, did not do enough to keep things interesting and just felt really superficial and lackluster. I really wish there were more significant changes, like if the roulette would to grant new powers and bullet patterns to the bosses.

*The damage feedback felt really vague and confusing at times: I'd swear that I parried a bullet but instead I got hit?

*Some of the physics of the game just felt kinda wonky, like bullets that should be being reflected back to the enemy would just fly off in weird patterns.

*Some of the bosses like the worms were just very annoying to fight since they constantly dip behind you where you can't hit them, and all you can do is wait for them to emerge in front of you once again.

So yeah, the execution wasn't totally on point for me, but I'd consider it a good game jam result because it's got a good foundation and some neat ideas that I'd like to see expanded upon, so well done in that regard!

[DV: Evil Spirits Begone! (Demo)]

Hey, this is pretty neato! I love me a good beat-em-up and this delivers that experience pretty well, which surprised me because beat-em-ups can typically feel pretty clunky, but this felt very intuitive to learn, the moves are have unique purposes, the hits are satisfying, and the enemies are very diverse in their attack patterns. Felt good to beat up the enemies and style on them, like using the sliding kick to go under projectiles, and I always appreciate a game with a cool defensive mechanic: parrying those skeletons and their big swings was great!

Right now the game is a little shallow, what with the small arena you fight in, simplistic arcade goals, and the ability to just spam special techniques at will to keep enemies at bay. But it has served its purpose as a demo/showcase. It definitely has a load of potential and I'd love to see a more fleshed-out game to use these mechanics in!

[SENTINEL - Echoes of the fallen]

Hey, not too shabby for a survivors game! I'm reluctant to play yet another survivors clone as there are so many, but overall the game feels pretty well-constructed and fun, with some great touches that made a fantastic first impression, such as the well-animated main menu, as well as some amusing chatter like your operator chewing you out for not paying attention to your health, haha! Game also sports some good fundamentals: I liked how there was a good amount of enemy variety, for example.

It's nice, but if I had some feedback, I'd say:

*Gameplay felt kinda dry and not that satisfying. Could stand to spice it up with some more loud, addictive and impactful special effects, especially for hits and collecting gems, a more vibrant environment, and more special events like mini-bosses, waves, and so on.

*As mentioned above, this game is just yet another survivors clone, with its own unique qualities being purely aesthetic, such as the mecha theming. Would love this game to have something more substantial, some sort of unique mechanic, twist, hook, whatever you wanna call it!

Would love to see how this develops, as I think you have a good foundation to work from!

NuelSquare responds:

Thanks for the feedback! I really appreciate that you took the time to comment on my game and give your opinion. I'm still constantly developing the game, adding content and improving the gameplay.

What I mainly thought of as the unique mechanic is the perk system, but I think it still has a way to go to make it as I envision it, anyway, thank you very much for your comment!

[Shadows of the Lost code DEMO]

Hmm, this is a rough one for me! Definitely had a great first impression with its wonderful art and presentation, and I do think the game and its platforming are decent, but the game just never went anywhere exciting for me with every level after the first just feeling like more of the same! I feel like it really needs its own unique mechanic or twist on the formula, or at least more exciting/challenging level design, as right now it's the equivalent of a piece of plain toast: a serviceable foundation, but dying for some butter or jam on top to add flavor!