FutureCopLGF's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[BAR-I-TONE]

Pretty bizarre to see this one for the 3 star jam! I felt like this game was really cool: a fresh new rhythm-based concept, stylish visuals and presentation. Then I noticed how bloody hard it was and thought to myself, ah, so that's how they're planning to get 3-starred, huh.

So yeah, I do feel like the game gets way too hard way too fast: the first level starts out promising by starting out slow, but then it immediately starts using all 3 characters in rapid-fire overlapping fashion, requiring you to hit fancy melodic beats instead of simple strong beats that are hard to grasp without knowing the song beforehand. It's just so much! If the game were to start you out on some simpler levels and build up the difficulty bit-by-bit, or maybe overhaul the system so it's not so difficult to ascertain the beat due to the way the drinks overlap and phase through each other in an illogical fashion (and it's so tough to time green because her drinks have lower screen real estate making it difficult to react), it'd feel so much better!

Having said that, though, I did like rising to the challenge, and something about how well-crafted and charming the game looked made me want to persevere, where more low-effort games would've just made me feel like I got trolled and quit. At heart, it's a cool and unique rhythm game! I still think it's excessive and could be balanced much better, but again, if this was your intention as part of the jam, to have it be so unbalanced as to get the intended 3 star, then I guess I understand (but hate it because I think the game should just be done well in a legit fashion!)

[Cross Strike]

Game definitely gives me some MegaMan X and Guardian Legend vibes, what with the cool slick shooting action and really unique jet transformation. For the most part, the game feels well put-together with some solid graphics, music, sound effects, etc and good juice/special effects to the various actions you can do (even something as simple as walking and jumping feels great due to the nice sounds and visual effects). Enemies are nice as well with a good variety and intuitive attack telegraphs. Felt like it had some good progression in getting more abilities that open up previous parts of the map as well as an anime-as-heck story.

Overall I feel like this game is pretty dang cool, but there are some nagging aspects that I felt really hold it back!

*I thought the whole transformation mode was pretty cool, but it felt so token, like something you can only do at certain zones clearly made for the jet and nowhere else. Would love if the jet mode was something you could integrate into combat more and such, like being able to use it to dodge or pierce certain enemy defenses, but it felt underutilized and the corridors too cramped to use it anywhere beyond the designated zones. I also just didn't like the jet mode because it felt too fast: felt like I was playing Sonic where you're moving too fast you can't react to things in time, so it's too scary to use.

*I hated that I couldn't hold down the fire button to autofire: I understand that it's because you have a charge move later on, but it's such a pain for carpal tunnel users. Firing is especially bad since there technically is no limit to fire rate: it goes as fast as you can press, so it feels open to being cheated by mashers.

*While it was cool that the level was big and all interconnected with gates being opened from later powers, the level just felt so maze-like and boring due to the bland, sterile graphics, and constant use of cramped boring corridors. Over and over you're walking down similar looking hallways, seeing the same save rooms, dealing with the same lock traps that pit you against two enemies: so repetitive! Everything just looks the same and not only really drags the game down but also makes it confusing to navigate: would love more varied graphics, room designs and landmarks to keep things fresh and let you build a mental map (could also maybe have a map screen on pause).

*Felt annoying to have to make so many leaps of faith or miss seeing things due to not being able to see high or low enough: would love if the game let you hold down/up to be able to peek ahead.

I gripe a lot, but that's just because this is definitely a promising game with some cool ideas and I want to really love it and its sequels: hope this feedback can help make it even better! Loved the cool boss fight and hope to see you continue this connected lumina cinematic universe you're making!

Yword responds:

Really sorry about those issues... But thank you so much for the valuable feedback, I will note them down!
And thanks again for playing too! :)

[Run, Billy, Run !]

Hmm, bit mixed on this one!

On one side of things, I think the game is quite fun! There certainly are an astounding variety of crazy obstacles to contend with that assemble in all sorts of fresh tracks, it feels good to move fast and be as efficient as possible, the music gets you amped up, and overall the game is quite charming with its little quips and style.

On the other hand, I felt like the game was super wonky, bordering on unfair at times.

*Jumping physics could be really bad when it comes to jumping off of moving platformers: jumping when a platform is moving up and you're sent to the moon while jumping when a platform is going down makes it so you practically don't jump at all. I get that sometimes games make you inherit some of the momentum from the platform you're standing on, but here is feels excessive and unintuitive.

*Physics for the 'slippery' floors was also weird: felt more like they were 'sticky' floors.

*It sucks that when you pop a balloon accidently it never respawns, so all you can do it wait for death since you need them to proceed.

*The distance tracker is completely bunk: you can have tracks that make you run to the left to progress and it decreases your tracker as if you were backtracking!

*The game also ended up getting a bit repetitive: if you have a long run going, you can end up seeing the same recycled traps over and over. This wouldn't be a problem if the traps would get more intense the longer you go or remix little things about them to keep you on your toes, like Warioware does, but for this its literally the same thing over and over, so it gets boring because once you've conquered it, there's no challenge to it.

Definitely a nice concept and a good attempt, but just felt like it needed some more time in the oven!

FFuriousDuck responds:

Hi !

Thanks for your review, i totally agree with you, i'll fix all this mess in the next update !

Take care !

[Rederic]

Hrmm, this was a rough one for me!

Definitely showed a lot of promise at the start with its solid and fancy title screen. Gameplay was decent as well: nothing great or unique, but good basic platforming and combat where you jump, slash and shoot at a good variety of enemies and find secret treasures. I especially loved the subtle but intricate touches that the game had, such as having enemy telegraphs/warning exclamations or showing all of the gold items you pick up going into the bag (though it does this wayyyyy too slowly that it gets real monotonous, haha). Some neat stuff!

But lord almighty did this game feel clunky. I dunno if I'm unlucky or something, but I just kept getting softlocked through various glitches and had to restart the game several times. I had a time where my character got frozen, dunno how: they could still move but they couldn't attack or shoot their bow anymore. I also had a time where my character fell through the floor into the void when I was just trying to see if I could interact with a door by pressing up, down, e, and so on. There were also other subtle glitches like money having weird collisions, enemy exclamations popping up when they die as if they were going to attack, and so on. Also some enemies like the wizard goblins were just annoying at their keep-away game, haha!

It's super glitchy and clunky, and isn't the most exciting game, so it definitely needed more time in the oven for me. But the core structure and some of those little touches in there showed me that there is some good promise for development in the future, so best of luck!

[Salmon Jam]

Hmm, a bit mixed on this!

On one hand, the game is pretty decent and reminiscent of deckbuilders like Slay the Spire and all that jazz. Despite it's simplicity, I did have fun trying to strategize and use the various cards to the best of my ability, and I think its designed rather intuitively that I was able to grasp how to play despite going in blind. Definitely feels like it has the basic core structure in place for a promising game!

However, the game does feel incredibly underbaked and unpolished in its current state. So many aspects feel so clunky: there's no music, it feels very dry, the 'combat' title is left on clearly non-combat phases, sprite/text layering is all screwed up and leads to unreadable text at times, the output for damage is confusing (why when I block all damage does it both play a punch sound instead of a block sound and still popup a number like I got hurt, for example), it's not clear at times how you're supposed to proceed with all these buttons and such left on screen, and so on and so forth.

Furthermore, typically with jam games I like to see brand new concepts or wacky ideas get field tested to see if they are worth more work, but this is just a deckbuilder that is imilar to other deckbuilders, so there's not much to gain here (though obviously it's not a sin to be unoriginal, lord knows I am). At the end of the day it's a jam game so I don't want to be too tough on it, but it's out here and you can't always count on people respecting that context so I do want to deliver the best feedback I can think up.

[Beck Gets Bitches!!!!]

Well, considering it was for the 3 star jam, I'd say you've done an excellent job at earning this 3 star: whether you want to take that as a compliment or an insult, I'll have you decide, haha!

As said, it very accurately captures that feel of a 3 star game. Playing this puts a picture in my head of a newbie creator who was very proud at being able to pull off very basic player movement and collisions: it's nice as a step forward on their journey to game dev improvement, but it definitely doesn't make it a good game or ready for the limelight.

I almost actually want to dock points (or add points? this jam is confusing) because the game does show a little bit too much effort in putting bonus characters like Pepsi man and also just having a lot of goofy sounds: it shows a bit more craft and professionalism that you wouldn't see from a legit 3 star game. However, you clutched the 3 star in the end by having a score counter that doesn't properly reset: good save!

Taka responds:

Thanks bro! However I didn't know the counter didn't reset right LMAO
Good thing I made sure to do mid testing HAHA

[Biome Conquest]

Not too shabby! Feel like, despite being a very simple and drab game in theory, the construction of this felt quite polished and well-done overall. My favorite part was how, despite the game not really teaching you much except how to drag a tile onto the board, the game subtly teaches you all of the other rules through how it animates effects, such as how tiles will fade colors to signify territories being conquered, or how numbers pop to signify them getting reinforced, or how the tiles snap to a position so it's always clear where you are going to place something. Other games would just have that stuff happen instantly and it'd be too fast to notice and grasp what happened. Nice stuff!

Unfortunately, at the end of the day, I didn't have too much fun with this. That's partly my fault: this just isn't my type of game and most likely it is built for two players facing off each other instead of a computer for maximum enjoyment. But even then, other games that aren't in my wheelhouse have been able to hook me through means of progression or juice or other such things, so this game could be seen as lacking in that respect. Curious whether the game would be better if you could preview the tile of the next move, like you'd see in something like Tetris: maybe that'd allow you to plan ahead and strategize more? Anyway, as said before, while it ain't my game, I appreciate the effort in construction.

rvh86 responds:

Thanks for your review! Previewing the next move would've been a nice addition too the game.

[Stall]

Hmm, not too shabby! I think the game actually does a pretty decent job of building up dread with its graphics and sound. I liked the way events progressed and thought some of the events such as looking at your watch upon seeing the graffiti, the appearance of the hole in the wall, and the bloody bag being dragged were highlights for me. It's definitely a little bit sparse and lacking polish so it's not as immersive as I'd like, but it's decent and showing promise.

The big killer for me in this was the controls: I appreciate the attempt at creating these smooth analog controls where you can fine-tune how you open doors and such, but compared to games like Amnesia which do it very well, this felt painfully awkward. Just the way you get your movement locked down when not only you're trying to use a door, but examine other objects, felt so awkward and difficult to disengage from. The worst was the chase sequence which I felt was ruined by this: not only do you feel like you have to exploit it by moving diagonally to get enough speed since the initial scare comes too fast, but unlocking and opening the door at the end fast enough was an exercise in frustration. There was also some other silly aspects like attempting to leave without investigating the hole getting you jumpscare killed: didn't feel like a satisfying way to guide the player to the hole naturally.

Oscura responds:

Thanks For Trying The Game, This Was My First Time Trying Out Something Like This So I Wasn't Sure How Well The Features Would All Work Together.

[Generic Fishing Game]

Damn, can't believe I almost missed this one! I feel real foolish for not sticking with it long enough to see the twist: perhaps a combination of impatience and a long line of other previous 'spooky' fishing games not going strong enough to give me faith in this one. But for the grace of Stepford I gave this a deeper go and it hooked me all the way to the end!

In retrospect, I think that the entire game, including the introduction, is paced very well to bring about a perfect choreography and rhythm of intrigue and excitement. It felt similar to some of my favorite movie-esque games like Out of This World or perhaps an exciting Warioware boss fight. The game moved from event to event with great timing: it felt like each time the game was about to go on a bit too long and test my patience (with the most egregious example being hooking the blubs in the mouth) it would pull the rug out and mix things up with something new. All of the games felt well-balanced for difficulty in that, while not being overly challenging, they were challenging enough to 'feel' deadly, again keeping the ideal pace where you are not likely to die and suffer the horror becoming an annoyance. And not only that, but the minigames do all, for the most part, center upon the basic premise of fishing and yet build upon it and recontextualize it in fascinating and clever ways.

Definitely a great short and sweet experience!