FutureCopLGF's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Reverie Channel Act Zero]

Huh, this was pretty interesting and ended up hooking me more than I expected! I'm not one for RPG Maker games, but the wild world you've constructed in this was very intriguing and kept things fresh with so many perspective/map changes, cute characters, goofy dialogue, dramatic cutscenes and so on: it's quite the crazy ride and looks like a lot of effort was put into it!

Having said that, there were a lot of rough spots that made it difficult to continue on, despite how weirdly attractive the world you've made was:

*While I did try to enjoy the ride, I couldn't help but feel like I opened up a book right in the middle and started reading. Just that awkward feeling where I don't know these characters and the world as well as I think the game expects me to. Maybe I'm wrong and it is just intentionally starting 'in medias res', and nevertheless I do feel like I got the gist, but still, the vibes just felt off, like trying to butt into a conversation between friends.

*The pacing started to get thrown out of whack as the game progressed. Going through the dungeon the first time was interesting, sure, but oh my god you need to backtrack through there over and over and over! Also I hated how I got this key that I want to use now, but I keep getting interrupted by Peter and Eva chaining phone calls one after the other! And that big maze level almost made my eyes glaze over: boy did I feel lucky making it out of there without too many wrong turns since I would've quit otherwise.

*Kinda wish the game had a little more to it than just walking to talk to someone, over and over and over. Don't get me wrong, I'm not asking for the game to have unnecessary combat shoved in there, but I do wish there were a few more puzzles or minigames or special events or something where I actually need to use my brain and feel like I'm playing the game instead of doing busy work.

*There were a few times the story confused me. For example, we found a pass to go on the trivia show from a nervous kid, but then Noir took it and dipped, leaving us high and dry. If that's the case, why are we then allowed to walk into the waiting room and attend the gameshow? Shouldn't it be Noir, because they've got the pass? Why are we allowed in?

*There were also some weird technical issues, like the time limit for the trivia gameshow wouldn't function properly. I'd answer a question within the limit but then before he states the next question, he says I ran outta time...and then he says it again! Very weird.

While I had some rough spots, I do still think the game has a certain attractive charm to it, so well done in that regard! As said, I shy away from a lot of RPG Maker games because they typically are just generic fantasy stuff with lots of exposition before gameplay, but I like this game's weird world and how quickly it cuts to the chase. Lotta potential here!

PlasmaSpade responds:

Thanks for playing! I apologize for the issues that you faced in the game.

When it comes to the story, it's kind of a side story/prequel so I can see how it can get confusing to try and understand what is going on. So I'll try to add some dialogue that gives some more context.

I know I tried to make subsequent visits to the dungeon slightly different with the small interactions that happened between those visits but I do see the issues with going back and forth without much happening.

With the directions I tried to add a task menu along with a map for the dungeon, but I know it can become a lot to remember certain locations and where to go next. I'll make additional changes to make the dungeon less tedious and confusing to navigate. (I'll make an update to have it be more clear that the interactions for Peter and Eva are optional as well)

Honestly I know there isn't much to do so whenever I get the chance there will be more stuff to do (and see) besides walking and talking to characters.

I'm going to add a notification for obtaining an item, like how there is the notification for a task or interaction so it becomes a little clearer (the dialogue does seem to read as if Noir took it so I'll fix that).

Sometimes RPG Maker does some weird stuff when it isn't played in the editor, so there can be a few oddities. I might've also added some duplicate text for the game show by accident.

Again, thank you for playing and also for the feedback. It helps out a lot and I'll make an update to fix the issues that you mentioned.

[Dreamed Date - SFW]

Huh, quite the interesting visual novel!

Not really familiar with the source material beyond a cursory glance so I don't get many of the references, but the presentation was beautifully done, the characters were cute, and the story had some interesting twists as I tried to unlock all the endings! I also got to learn a little bit once I unlocked the gallery.

The fact that the game is so short is both a positive and a negative: it's certainly nice to have something light-hearted and concise that doesn't monologue forever and ever, but it's also a bummer that I don't feel like there was any time for emotions to develop and grow, making it feel rather shallow.

Took me awhile to figure out the 5th ending: didn't think it mattered what choices you made to end up in the nightmare, but I suppose it makes sense.

[HAPPY BIRTHDAY YOUREASHOTGUN]

I like the blood splatters and the screams. The animations are cute too, like the game over screen.

I kinda wish there was a mechanic where you can spray the blood at the fire to put it out.

Happy birthday!

[Razor Wizard]

Pretty cute little boss rush game! The bosses are all rather simplistic and it's over pretty quickly, but the game's central mechanic of having to be careful with how you shoot because you can hurt yourself with a ricochet is an interesting twist. Overall it's a little half-baked which is understandable since it's a jam game, but nevertheless it's good enough for a short bit of fun and the cruel mode is an intriguing bonus!

If there was one frustrating aspect that put me off the game, it would be how random the way the razors bounce. I swear, sometimes they bounce off of a wall once or twice, sometimes they disappear immediately without a single bounce, and sometimes they seem to just keep bouncing forever! I couldn't tell whether this was intentional or just a glitchy aspect of the physics engine, like maybe when it seems to bounce less is because it's bouncing off of a corner and its counting that as multiple bounces, I dunno.

Oh, as a side note: dialogue systems should always be built so that if you press a button when a line of text is being typed out, it just finishes that line, not skips over to the next one!

[Double-Barrel Sniper]

NOTE: I played the downloadable version instead of the web version.

Wow, this is a pretty cool game! I love me a fast-paced movement shooter and this delivered in spades, reminding me a lot of other crazy games like 'My Friend Pedro'. When you get into the zone and are pulling off stylish move after stylish move in rapid-fire sequence, embracing all the crazy tech like boosting yourself with a shotgun blast and sliding everywhere, it feels fantastic! The cherry on top is the music and the way it gets more intense as things get crazy: it's so damn motivating!

As said, when the game is working as intended, it's great, but there's a lot of times where the game isn't working and it gets in the way of the fun:

*The biggest issue for me was trying to work with the physics and momentum and all that jazz: I know it's part of the challenge to master the systems, but with this, it just felt really glitchy, unresponsive and unintuitive at times, leading to a lot of weird unintended movements and unfair deaths. Here's a simple example: if you come to a dead stop, walk backwards a few paces, stop, and then hit the slide button, you will end up sliding backwards which makes no sense as you should clearly slide forward!

*The slow-mo system is too overly generous, allowing you to gain huge amounts of bar with every kill made during slow-mo, leading to you being able to keep it on practically indefinitely. This makes the difficulty of the game go kaput as it's too damn easy: I want there to be a valid reason to switch back to regular time and blast people with the shotgun, but there's none because of the way it's balanced!

*Speaking of the shotgun blast, I found myself wanting to avoid using it not just because slow-mo is so generous so why bother, but the shotgun blast feels like it misses half the time. I'll clearly overlap someone with a shotgun blast and they'll be right as rain: why? I dunno what's going on with it.

*I really wish the game had a better scoring system. It feels weird that it only tracks your time and allows you to clear levels without killing everyone: shouldn't killing everyone, or at least a specific target, be part of the goal as a sniper? If killing isn't important enough to be scored, why didn't you just call the game Double-Barrel Runner?

*The ending is amusing with how goofy it is, but I have to admit that I was disappointed that it just ended like that. C'mon, give me a good boss fight, or at least a cutscene of us killing our main target, some sorta CEO or whatever.

It's rough around the edges, but I had a nice time playing this game: would absolutely love if you were to polish it up and add a proper ending/story/boss/etc to this!

NonsenseNHReal responds:

Thank you for the in-depth feedback! I will keep these in mind when I'm ever working on an actual fleshed-out release. I admit, it's a bit rushed at times but yeah, had a lot of fun making the project.

again, thanks for playing! :]

[Zui's Witch Academy]

Hmmm, this is a tough one for me!

As a fan of boss-rush games and Wizard of Legend, I really like what they game is going for! The bosses are fantastically diverse with all sorts of interesting patterns that go beyond just different bullets, such as the one that gives you a cup memory game to solve during the fight. Setting up a spell loadout is very tactical, and the automated cycling of spells is an interesting extra bit of spice to the already chaotic gameplay. It's very promising stuff!

Unfortunately, as good as the game sounds on paper, actually playing it was difficult to do as the game just had a very rough and unpolished feel to it that got in the way of my enjoyment:

For one, there was a lot of design issues I had like how character sprites are so tiny and the backgrounds can be so visually dense and colorful to the point where the visual clarity is severely damaged and I lose track of where I am so easily. There are other aspects like how the roll feels rather vague and unsatisfying, with damage feedback also suffering a similar issue where at times I wasn't sure why or how I died, or if I was even hitting the boss or not.

More so than that, though, there were a lot of technical issues too. Just weird glitches like the spell book always describing a saw spell that I don't have when I first open it up, the crosshair being under the HUD elements instead of above them, getting hit after I'm already dead, always entering a room in a dying pose, and so on. None of them were exactly game-breaking, sure, but with so many oddities, it just kind of eroded my trust in the game and whether it was going to function properly. It felt like I was crossing a rickety bridge that'd snap at any moment!

You have my sympathies because I imagine a lot of the nitpicks I have come from the game jam deadlines: it's impressive you were already to get so much done during that timeframe! It's absolutely a game I want to love, but it's just a bit uncomfortable to swallow! I'll try and give it another go at some point.

[Die for the Lich [v0.5]]

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!