FutureCopLGF's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Rabbit Hole 1.06]

NOTE: This review is from playing the Steam version.

Wow, this is wonderful stuff you got here! Overall it feels very polished and well-constructed in practically every respect, though with obvious standouts being the cute art and presentation, generous amount of settings and quality-of-life, a large variety of wacky weapons, enemies, events and characters, great boss fights, as well as the rather intriguing story that the game has hidden away, what with these weird books you can pick up and the locked door in the library.

Ok, that's the good stuff out of the way. Now it's time for the feedback:

*I'm a bit conflicted on the combat, especially from my first impression, where I found it a bit too generic in terms of mechanics and I didn't like the cramped levels you fight in since it felt like there wasn't room to move around to dodge or express myself. For example, the fight against the Tank Twins is awful as you only have a small amount of room in an already small room to move without bumping into enemies. I'm warming up to it, but still, felt like it could be doing more.

*Dodge roll is a bit annoying to get used to: it feels like it is such a slow and high-committal move, and I disliked how I had no control over its length or duration. I'm getting used to it and I can understand if it's built the way it is intentionally to make it challenging or make you consider other moves like jumping over attacks instead, but even considering that, it's still rough.

*Sound department is a bit of a letdown at times: right when I noticed that the starting AK47 and Pistol have the same sound effects I was worried, and rightly so as practically every other gun has the same sounds too. The water gun didn't have any sounds at all!

*Wish the game would pick a lane when it comes to enemies dealing damage: simple enemies without actual attacks like the turnips are fine for contact/touch damage, but I don't think enemies with actual attacks like bullets or slashes should hurt you on contact, rather they should only hurt with their attacks. So annoying to get poked by Magnolia's sword in her idle stance: felt very awkward.

*Pixel font is very confusing at times: B's look like 8's look like 0's was the worst example, but there were other times where I wasn't sure what I was reading.

*For some reason, the game would default to the wrong monitor when I tried to open it from Steam. I 'fixed' it somewhat by dragging Steam to my main monitor and starting it up there, but even then that only seemed to work sometimes.

*No pause menu in game? There were times I wanted to pause to answer a call or to quit/restart the game, but there was nothing and I just needed to alt+F4 instead.

*As much as I want to like the weird and wacky guns that are in the game, they are a bit too wacky at times and I found myself constantly gravitating towards the more standard guns for safe consistency. Bit disappointing since I feel like I'm missing out: maybe they can be rebalanced?

*I should get an achievement for beating Magnolia with only melee: call it something like 'fair fight', haha!

Anyway, I know that's a lot more words for feedback than for praise, but I'm still very positive on the game and think you did a great job: I'm just hoping that I can help you make it even better as I see you are dutifully patching it!

ShortCakeCafe responds:

Hi! Thanks for the feedback!

There is a pause button but it's bind to "1" instead of escape for some reason. (I think I forgot to reset the default binding before compiling in the last update, sorry!)

Truth is, I'm pretty limited to what I am able to change due to the game being made in scratch, however I'm working towards fixing what I can!

As for the roll, it's very intentionnal that it's a high commital move. In my opinion, the dodgeroll shouldn't be free quick dodge, it's an active commitment which punishes you for using it for no reason. Changing it now would be very problematic as fights are built around it.
However, I have heard a lot of complaints about it so i'll work towards making it feel better in any future game with rolling.

Anyways, I'm glad you enjoyed what you played despite the issues!

[DEMI DAGGERS]

Hmm, bit mixed on this one as it can feel a bit more like an impressive tech demo/port than a fun game, but I still found it to be a decent experience!

As said, I'm not too familiar with Pico-8, but from the little bits I've picked up over time, I'm sure putting together something like this within the limitations of the system was very impressive, even more so when you give the player all these fancy editing tools. Overall the game does seem to capture that Devil Daggers vibe decently, and it even adds its own little twists on the formula with these spiders and acid spewers and such.

However, as much as I wanted to get in a trance and dagger some devils all over the place, I did have a lot of issues that made the experience a bit rough for me.

*First and foremost, the default controls were a bit awkward. Not sure why the mouse sensitivity is so damn high by default, and I'm not sure why ESDF was used over the more commonplace WASD, especially since it doesn't seem to use the extra keyboard real estate to map any other buttons: maybe it's a regional thing? Also why do you only jump on releasing space instead of on pressing it? There was also a weird issue where I kept having to refocus the window by clicking on it when transferring between scenes, like between picking up the daggers and starting the game proper.

*Next, the gameplay felt a bit awkward in a lot of respects. Devil Daggers is great in how smooth, fast, and sharp it feels, and this felt like the exact opposite, unfortunately. The character feels like he moves much slower, the visuals are much more blurry and hard to parse, and the hitboxes for objects felt confusing in that I would miss thing I felt I was hitting spot on, or I would get hurt by enemies I thought didn't hit me (actually, most of the time it was the opposite, I'd actually not get hit by enemies I thought were gonna hit me).

*Couldn't tell if the audio was trying to pull off some sort of 3D audio to help me keep track of enemies around me since it felt like the sound just kept devolving into this crackly chaos.

Eventually I kind of got used to the different feel and had a good time, but still, a bit of an awkward first impression!

freds72 responds:

thanks for the detailed feedback.
the mouse sensitivity is in my todo list.

some more visual cues on where are ennemies may indeed be needed.

[Shirogami's Maze Pocket]

It's nice and I'm sure it may appeal to the classic maze-lovers, but I couldn't really get into it: not only does it feel too overwhelming with the way it's so jumbled together, making everything look the same in that it's difficult to make a mental map, it doesn't look appealing either or engender a sense of adventure. I tried my best and, credit where it's due, I did start to see some patterns and routes in the maze, like funnels where wrong ways send you back to the start, but again, I just ended up feeling bored and not wanting to deal with it. Some of it might be down to me not being a fan of the genre, perhaps, but I'd still say that some work could've been done to make it more appealing.

cidoku responds:

I think you're right about a lot of that. It's a learning experience. Thank you for the nice review.

[Corn Collab]

Wow, this was quite the rollercoaster ride!

Initial impressions were a bit rocky, as once again I was seeing an art collab where it's going with the unexciting, bare-minimum-effort slideshow presentation. Well, bare-minimum-effort isn't completely fair as I did have to admit that it had a certain sense of style and grace to it, what with its crisp layout, cool music and nice subtle effects for buttons and transitions, as well as these weird joke pop-ups. I also liked that there were links to artist's profiles when you click on their names...or at least there should be, as only some of them work (poor Chdonga gets shafted, for example).

That all changed when I got to the poetry section, however: what an experience that was! Great voice acting, a nice variety of different poetry cadences and styles, cinematic presentation, and so on! This is the kind of interesting creativity that I live for in art collabs, and I'm really surprised you don't lead with this as the hook since it makes a much stronger impression! Course, there are still a few weird errors that bodge the work up, such as janky audio cut-offs, but still, very memorable indeed!

riot100233 responds:

ea sports

[Palm Cracker]

Wow, pretty cool fake-OS puzzle game! Reminds me a lot of something like Hypnospace Outlaw, and similar to that, I really enjoyed digging deep into this! I liked how educational it is in learning about various cyphers while still being fun (imagine that, learning being fun) and also how it is more than just figuring out the cypher code, but then taking those hints which are used to solve another puzzle hidden within another app, and so on. Cool stuff!

I have to admit that I am having a bit of a rough time with the game, though! For some reason, ever single cypher I've tried to learn and use feels like it was explained in a rather confusing manner which made me completely misinterpret what it was going for. I'm not sure if you're intentionally trying to not explain it clearly so as to not make it too obvious and make the player do more work, or if you're actually trying to be clear and you've just chosen a weird way to explain. Could also be me just overthinking it or something.

For example, when going over the third cypher, it says that letters are placed on separate rows, where every other letter is placed on the lower of the two. This makes it sound like, if you were to scramble EXAMPLE, it'd be:
E A P E
X M L
I understood that, but then it gives an example of LITERATURE being scrambled, but it's not following the same pattern of every other letter alternating rows, and instead it looks like it splits the word in half, putting the first half on the top row, and the back half on the bottom row. This made me really confused in solving the puzzle as I was trying to follow what it showed instead of what it said. Eventually I realized my mistake and it was just a confusion between encryption and decryption, and I do feel silly, but again, I wonder if it was just a weird way to explain.

Anyway, I'm very much enjoying myself, and while I haven't beaten it yet, I'll give it my best!

EDIT: Got confused with the puzzle with the grid and cross, especially since it didn't open up a code book to learn from, so I just looked online for 'cypher grid and cross' and figured out about pigpen that way from wiki. I assume that's not intentional and maybe I was supposed to unlock the book somehow, but eh, learning is learning, haha!

Deklaration responds:

Hey, thanks for the review! You're correct that some of the books describes the encryption process, and that you're supposed to use it to decrypt. That might be a bit confusing though, you're right. I'll take a look at it. Also, my English isn't the best, and it's most noticeable when I try to explain stuff in the most clear way possible.

And yeah, it's pretty cryptic that you're supposed to pick out the correct letters once again in the ICU app, just like you did before. I think most people found out that the letters in the pig pen are clickable by just trying to click stuff out of frustation and realizing that the letters are more than just an image. But, I guess an additional clue wouldn't hurt. I'll add one in the next update that's going live in an hour or two.

[The Summertime in Wintertime Collab]

Cute little art collab! For the most part it's nice, but I have to admit that, presentation-wise, it is a bit lackluster, going the ol' slideshow route, aka the bare minimum. I'm not saying you need to have an incredibly unique presentation or it's a no-go: in fact, I wouldn't have minded it that much if the art was consistently posed in such a way that they appear to be on the beach as many of them do, but there are a lot of pieces that are look like they're floating away and it would've helped so much for consistency if they were placed better. Ideally, I'd love it if all of the pieces could be combined in a big collage where they all look like they're at a beach party together, kinda like something you'd see in a Where's Waldo book, haha! A more interesting presentation would get more interested viewers which would mean more follows and commissions for artists!

Moving on from that, it'd also be nice if there were some other certain features for a better gallery. For example, it'd be great if there were links to the artist's profile within the game that would allow for easy access to view an artist's work or follow them if they catch your eye. It'd also be great if there were features like a gallery/thumbnail view, or perhaps a search: with a lot of entries, it's nice to have ways to get around beyond mashing the arrow keys over and over.

TigerPlushiefire responds:

At least the last review didnt called us basment dwellers. I live in apartment complex in Brier Creek

[Ozzy's Rockin' Diner!]

This one was a bit of a rollercoaster for me, never being quite sure how to feel about it!

First impressions were pretty positive: I liked the whole appeal of this Atari-demake of Five Nights at Freddy, and I was impressed that it was all being done through RPG Maker as it really doesn't look like it from a cursory glance. It was starting out a bit slow, but I had hope for the story it was building up.

As it went on, though, I was getting quite bored. Every day was just mindlessly following very boring orders and I was confused on what this game was even supposed to be. Will I ever have to do something interesting, make choices, improvise, and so on? Yes, the game was delivering little tidbits of intrigue, but I've seen so many of these Five Nights at Freddy's parodies that all try to add some elaborate twist that I've grown tired with it all. Maybe that's on me.

I stuck through because of sunk cost fallacy and was finally rewarded with a chase sequence! I was excited...but then let down by how many times I needed to reload my save to finally find the stupid way you're supposed to get through it. Why in the world do those cones move like that? It doesn't make any sense! It's a miracle I didn't quit!

I pushed on, and as silly as it was, I did like the whole twist ending with the fake "new game" screen and getting revenge and all that. And with that it was over! On one hand, I do think it was somewhat memorable and I enjoyed it, but on the other hand, I felt like it was a bit boring and could've used a bit more work to make it fun. Definitely had a lot of potential, and it was interesting enough to keep me going despite my reservations, so that's something!

Azeleon responds:

Thanks for the review! I appreciate all the feedback, and I'll definitely be taking notes for future games or updates. I've never written a horror story before, so I didn't expect this one to be super interesting, but glad to see it was still enjoyable in some parts regardless.

[Driftmania]

Wow, this is a great little top-down racing game! It's simple, but lord have mercy, it just feels so bloody smooth, and nothing beats the satisfaction of pulling off a perfect turn or cut corner! I got really addicted to optimizing my routes to get more medals to unlock more courses, and I was glad to see that the courses kept introducing new elements like puddles, boosts, jumps, and so on!

Yes, the environments can be a bit bland and it can be a bit of a bummer that there are no other drivers to race against, but not only do I understand the limitations of working in Pico-8, but I was surprised to see that the game has cool car customization and ghost cars, so I think the right choices to focus on were made in development. I was also really impressed at some of the special effects for stuff like the puddles: it looked fantastic!

At first, I was a little aghast at how difficult the medals were in this game. I mean jeez, I was cutting corners like crazy and pulling off perfect drifts, but I still haven't even gotten a gold medal on the first level! The first level! But then again, I do feel like games give out gold medals and SSS's way too easy nowadays, so it's nice to have a game make you really earn it. It's not even that bad either because you can unlock levels just through bronze and silvers, which feels fair.

Frenchie14 responds:

Really looking forward to watching your Newgrounds Monthly playthrough!

[Blinded Sieve]

Quite the odd game! I found it really strange how comedic and silly the game was considering it was trying to be horror, but I really tried my best to give it the benefit of the doubt that the juxtaposition of horror and comedy might've been done intentionally to let my guard down or something to that effect. Alas, despite my best efforts, the game just ending up feeling incredibly dumb, retreading tired-out horror cliches with no sense of impact or style. Whether it was intentional or not aside, at least it was good for a few chuckles: ain't nothing funnier than blasting your son and being told you got the bad ending, like no shit I did!

By the way, how in the world do you screw up a title screen so badly? In what world is the highlighted option not the selected option? Was quite the awkward first impression to try and start the game, only to find out I just quit it, haha!

ChalTheChalkyOne responds:

HELLO!! i really appreciate the feedback! thanks for playing! so yeah, since this is my first horror game ever i'm not really used to making games like these, and yeah you're pretty much right with the horror cliches, i use em to save time to finish a short game for a game jam lol. I promise that i'll do better next time! thank you very much for playing!

also the highlighted options is my bad lol, not really good when it comes to ui design like these xp

[PLOMO]

This one was a bit of a odd duck! On one hand, it was a very pretty and cinematic experience, and I enjoyed the adventure of figuring out what the game was even about and how it operated. For example, I felt overjoyed that I was able to intuit exactly how to handle the first duel without any overt instructions. On the other hand, though, the game was just pretty repetitive, I didn't like how the duels were hard-coded in terms of timing as I would prefer an actual reflexive challenge ala Samurai Kirby, and I have no idea what the twist at the end was or what the point of the story was, amusing and baffling as it was to experience. Memorable in a way, but not entirely in a positive sense, haha!

TheGorondorf responds:

Thanks for the feedback! Never really expected to gather attention at all with PLOMO, but if it lingers on people's mind I'll be happy no matter the reasons for it (next game I'm working on will be more traditional in terms of everything, so I guess that one will be more enjoyable).