FutureCopLGF's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Olive's Art-Venture]

Wow, super impressive game on display here! Hell, even if it wasn't a game, I'd already have to give this game massive props for the amount of charm through overall presentation: the game is a wonderous display of great, expressive and animated characters (like how Olive scribbles in her book when you're drawing, and how the lobbyman always has a new quip to deliver and keeps track of your stats) and just tons of little touches that give the world so much life and feedback to it.

The gameplay was a blast as well though, equal if not better than the charming presentation! I not only loved how fun and unique the concept of drawing attacks was, I liked how it also had a lot of good strategy to it, like the various enemies and their diverse attack patterns, and how you might think that using the square spell is always the best so you're shielded, but that ends up locking you out of your most powerful attack spell, the diamond: I love being rewarded for playing risky and aggressive like that! Top-notch stuff that I wouldn't expect from a game made for a jam, essentially!

If I was to have any complaints, there'd be the obvious big one: the image recognition logic used for the drawings. Now, as a programmer, I understand it's probably super hard to do something like this, and lord knows I wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole, so much props to you for even attempting something like this, as it is a secret genre I've always loved: drawing sigils and shit like that. But I found it disappointing that I couldn't draw freeform and had to use the strict outlines: bit of a shame as it made it so I always had to be focused on that side instead of the combat and felt so limited in expression to do shorthand or something like that (ironic for an artist, no?) Even accepting the outlines as the way to do it, though, I still had tons of problems where a circle would be treated as a triangle or a diamond, and that could be the difference between life and death, as I would be trying to do a cheap spell like circle instead of an expensive spell like diamond but not have enough mana, and it'd unfairly cancel it. Luckily the game is good and fun enough that I treat it as part of the challenge to get good instead of unfairness, but it's a tight rope that maybe some other people won't be as forgiving.

Other than that, there would some minor quibbles like I don't like how the intro cutscene and the tutorial proceeds at its own pace without waiting for my confirmation: I missed a lot of tutorial text on my first visit because I was experimenting and didn't notice the guy kept gabbing onward, and it's a pain that the only way I could see what I'd missed again would be to start all over and wait for that part to come up again.

Again, epic stuff on display here!

Stepford responds:

I'm glad that you enjoyed your experience with the game, Futurecop! All of that charm has to go to Andyland for his wonderful animation skills and Milkypossum for creating the perfect OST for every highlight and moment.

Hearing that you found the gameplay exciting and addicting just makes me so happy. I know the shape recognition isn't the best, since I have never attempted anything like it before - and I was very scared of trying to develop it; but knowing what I know now, I think I could program a much better system than is currently in place. Hearing that you are equally as intimidated as I was just thinking about the implementation of the mechanic makes me want to scream at the top of my lungs, "YES!!!" because it was a very intimidating undertaking, but I am so glad that I tried it.

Even if it works 90% of the time, instead of 100%, I went into it knowing that it wouldn't be perfect. Just thinking about other games that do it, none of them are very complex or they are also known for not being the most accurate. Realizing that, I gave myself a bit of a break and just swung the best I could. I am super happy with the final product and this will be a project I will show to people as my primary portfolio piece.

It's one thing to gain appreciation from players, who see assets go into one hole of game development and an entire game come out the other, but it's another to hear such praise from someone who understands the intricacies of what's happening behind the screen.

I hope playing all my joke and birthday games to tide the release of THIS game was worth the wait. <3

[PARALLEL PAN!C]

I can spot a Tombdude game from a mile away, and it ain't because of that iconic 'uh-hee' sound effect neither. It's because the game exudes charm from every pore of its existence: while most games focus on just the gameplay itself and leave stuff like menus, title screens, transitions and so on as an afterthought, a Tombdude game makes sure to put its best foot forward and has menus, touches, and concepts as wacky as the gameplay itself.

And speaking of the gameplay: it's very addictive and fun! Quite the combination of genres, and it can definitely be a bit tricky at times, trying to park cars perfectly while dodging bullets and watching them drift out of place, but it never felt unfair or frustrating: I loved the challenge and all the various bonus scores to go for, like watching out for cones or grazing bullets. Levels were good as well in that they kept escalating the challenge with more complex bullet patterns and parking spaces.

Only complaint I can really think of is that I have no idea what the focus button did: expected it to be bullet-time or something but it never seemed to do anything. Oh well! Oh, and I felt like getting damaged should be a bit more pronounced: I didn't even realize I was getting hurt at times, despite the little 'hoot'. Also I thought the game could be a little too forgiving with parking spots, allowing me to park huge cars in spots clearly meant for the tiny cars. Also that there's not a cute little story or ending, just levels. But eh, its all no-biggie: all-around solid work!

Tombdude responds:

love your reviews, man! You're totally right about the focus, it's never really explained in game: if you hold it, it makes you move slower.

[Newgrounds Winter Worm 2021]

Pretty cool art collab! I definitely appreciate the unique presentation: as compared to more basic collabs, I think this one, due to its looping, continuous nature, really hooks in the viewer and makes them want to view the entire piece, which has the side effect of giving all of the artists their due attention! Also appreciate the small touch of being able to click on an artist's name to see their profile.

As nice as this was, and I hate to be a stickler, but I did feel like it wasn't as interesting of a loop as I'd like. When I see a long art piece, I like to see the adventure, the story it creates from how it transitions and flows slowly like a gradient, but here it felt like, while not all of them, there were plenty of pieces where they didn't flow smoothly into each other: they were just jarring, being separated by hard lines or illogical blurs. Basically, it made me question if this started as a loop collab at all, or if this was just a bunch of different pieces, and then someone just used the blur/smudge tool inbetween each piece and went 'see? it loops!', haha! But hearts in the right place and it was nice to see this anyway, so well done.

DieterTheuns responds:

worm

[SHOOT TRIP DIE - DEMO]

Wow, pretty snazzy game! Definitely hooked me in through its wild and wacky presentation: the game is a treat to witness with its funny cutscenes and story, along with its explosive gameplay and satisfying feedback. Speaking of gameplay, I found it quite interesting: while only being able to shoot in two directions is a bit confusing at first, it does add a unique strategy to the combat that is fun to play around. Love the little details here and there like the main character blasting his finger guns as well! Definitely seems like it does have a lot of potential and it does make me want to play more to see what sort of lunacy happens as I get deeper and deeper, but it did have some issues with which I will outline with much text:

First, some small nitpicks:

I found the controls really weird in that I couldn't see what they were assigned to: if I tried to look at them it immediately took me into rebinding, which is awkward to do because I don't even know how many buttons I'll end up rebinding so how can I plan it out? Also, a bit disappointed that my Playstation controller didn't seem to work for some reason.

I found the fact that enemies don't drop money, but pots do, a bit tedious. A lot of games like Enter the Gungeon will have enemies drop money, but while you can pick it up, it will have the money get automatically vacuumed up after you beat all the enemies as well. I find this nice because it keeps the pace up and lets you just focus on the action, whereas in this game, every fight has to have a tedious inbetween where I clean up the level like I'm a janitor. Come on, I'm playing a guy who quit his job, haha!

Speaking of enemies dropping things, I found it weird that you could get those little ability energy pips when you don't even have an ability yet. It really confused me at first because I had no idea what those glowing pips were (at first I was almost scared that they were bullets, haha). Maybe ability energy shouldn't even drop from enemies until you have an ability in the first place: it'd help you make the connection on its purpose a bit clearer, perhaps.

Now for the bigger issue:

While the game does decently hook me with its wacky presentation and story, I did find the core gameplay a bit shallow and lacking in any really unique hook. Yes, it does have some interesting elements like only being able to shoot in two directions and it does have some satisfying effects, but a lot of it has been done before and better by other contemporaries, I feel. It feels like the game could do a bit more, and if I were to suggest a quick fix, it would be to increase the variability and dynamics of the game through more items and upgrades. The few times I played the game, it felt like the game was never different from run to run: all of the abilities and upgrades I got were so few and far-between, and they were too confusing in how they worked and never seemed to do anything significant (for example, I got the guitar pick and savings envelope and I had no idea what they did). Compare this to games like Isaac or Risk of Rain, where you get so many items and abilities constantly and can have so much fun seeing the different ways your character evolves bit by bit into a god, or games like Gungeon where you're always getting a new wacky gun with some crazy shooting pattern to learn. I think this game could really benefit from some more dynamics like that to make every run be as wacky and crazy as the game it inhabits.

Anyway, looking forward to seeing how this game does: it definitely has a lot going for it!

LeviRamirez responds:

Thanks for the feedback!

Funnily enough, the nitpick for the energy orbs has actually been accounted for in a way I think meets a good middle ground, basically when you don’t have a charge item a teal piechart fills up next to your money amount and when it gets full it turns green and pulses along with giving you a coin!

And with regards to your main critique your honestly absolutely right, I’ve honestly felt that how runs feel back to back feel a bit weak even from the beginning, HOWEVER! My design philosophy for this game is to be as simple as possible, and I’ve tried adding crazy new shooting patterns but 9/10 times they just don’t really fit the level design and monster designs and feel more like a detriment then a cool upgrade.

Also, you just got kinda unlucky cause although the envelope is like an A Tier item when you know what it does, the guitar pick literally does absolutely nothing. (Itll he story significant in the full release)

Anyways, glad you liked it and thanks for leaving a review!

[Hours of Reflection]

Pretty nice little story game! I liked the gloomy atmosphere that was well realized and amplified through the detailed pixel art and moody music. There were certainly a lot of beautiful landscapes with nice composition in their shots, along with nice touches like parallax and fog. I had fun going back and forth in the story, retrying different decisions for various endings: surprised at some of the outcomes, like being able to walk off the cliff, or getting the kid to shoot you as part of toughening him up.

Unfortunately, as emotional as the game seemed to be going for, I unfortunately found the game too short to really make any of the emotional beats hit as hard as they could. For example, that twist of getting the kid to shoot you could've been a real powerful moment, but it would require a longer game that takes some initial time to really immerse you and make you love the characters: in a game like this where you barely know anyone and are used to retrying over and over, everything unfortunately becomes a bit comical, similar to how a horror game becomes less scary once you die for the first time and retry. Speaking of that, I also found that the language of 'game over' upon death made the death all the more weaker since it spells it out that its all just a game, nothing serious. Was also disappointed there wasn't a cool twist like you becoming the zombie in the beginning if you march out of the city and get the ? ending, and maybe you can fight back against biting the character, but that's me overthinking things and turning it into a weird time loop, haha.

Definitely a really nice proof of concept and does a good job at building a gloomy world in short order: would love to see a game like this become even bigger to make it all the more immersive and powerful.

Miroff responds:

Thank you for this review. My friend Vonka reminded me about the contest 3 days before the end. There were many plans, including the continuation of the game after turning into a zombie, shooting was also planned. A lot had to be cut out and a lot had to be abandoned in order to make the game look complete at the end. We want to develop this lore and write a new story.

[Pack Your Bags]

Holy mackerel, what a game! It ain't exactly the longest game or anything like that, and it ain't the hardest game for rhythm gamers out there, but damn if it wasn't an incredible experience! Loved the music and all the cool action that happened on beat and how everything kept escalating: what a cool music video it all made! I also loved the little touches like the game had, such as the tons of ways your character can die, including smacking against the door right at the very start, haha!

If I had to nitpick any part of it, it's that I found some of the notes and feedback confusing at times: having to do a hold note immediately after a hold note, or a tap note immediately after a hold note, would make me unsure when I was allowed to let go of the hold to transfer and how fast I needed to hit the following note. Sometimes the screen would shake after letting go of the hold and I couldn't tell in the heat of the moment whether I timed it right and it was a good shake (of me kicking ass) or a bad shake (of me getting hurt). On retrospect, it looks like the hold notes go grey subtly to indicate when you can let go: why not instead just make the hold notes shorter, to end when you can let go in the first place?

Anyway, I'm definitely going back for that flawless!

jefvel responds:

Thank you for the review, and glad you liked it!

Yeah, the long notes are a bit confusing, I might have to shorten them a bit to make them feel better, as you said. Not sure why I made them reach into the next not in the first place actually.

Good luck on getting a flawless finish!

[UFO Blocks]

Wow, solid gameplay here! It's simple, but I found it to be very intuitive and addictive! I easily found myself coming back over and over to play the endless mode and getting in an almost trance-like state of chaining. Again, it's basic, but something about it is just constructed well and satisfying to play, so kudos on that!

The only feedback I can think of is just minor stuff, like how I wish it taught the controls a bit more (I had no idea how to proceed on sprint mode for a while haha) and that I thought the gray blocks couldn't be chained at first due to their color making them seem 'inert'. Oh, and I did wish that the game gave some more feedback and different sounds for making combos bigger than 3 and such.

Oh, one more feedback! I did try to make a cool combo where I chained a horizontal row, and then tried to chain a horizontal row right on top of it during the blinking. Unfortunately, it didn't allow me to do this as technically I was making a chain on top of an unstable blinking platform (and once the blinking platform was gone, the left over wouldn't form the chain anymore since one block would fall through). So technically, the game was reading the future and correctly seeing that my chain was illegal and wouldn't hold up even though it did temporarily. But still, I felt a little let down that the game didn't let me do a cool trick like that. Maybe a case where the game was too smartly programmed to not allow it, haha. Oh well!

bluswimmer responds:

Thanks for the feedback!

Seen a few people mention that the grey blocks seemed like garbage blocks at first, and honestly, I REALLY should've put in something that explained the controls. Should I expand on this game further I'll try to resolve those issues.

[Archibald: Escape From Misty Grove]

It definitely had a bit of a rough start for me, but I ended up really liking it in the end!

As said, the starting impression was rough. It was pretty difficult to get used to how slow you start as a character: the dodge roll felt so long and so high commitment, and everything about the bow, both drawing it and moving during, felt painfully slow as well. A lot of times I prefer if a game just starts you off with everything set as intended, instead of forcing in this cash shop mechanic to buy power: I prefer to feel like I got better as a player, not that I bought enough power to get to where I should've started in the first place to make things fair. Certain purchases like bombs felt like a rip-off as well: no power and no great utility. The way some enemies start in random starting positions for levels felt really jank as well: you could sometimes get killed by a kamikaze skeleton starting right by you before the camera even finishes loading! And so on.

Having said all that, though, I did like a lot about the game: the enemies felt very challenging and diverse, and I liked how they all had distinct and intuitive patterns to their AI (and kudos on making all of their attacks have telegraphs to them for clarity!) And despite what I said about not liking having to buy power, I still did feel like I was getting better as a player at playing more cautiously and skillfully, recognizing and dealing with the various enemy types efficiently. Indeed, near the end I felt like I turned into a archery god, and I barely bought any upgrades at all. And who can hate a game that ends in a big ol' grand boss fight: not me, haha!

Oh yeah, another minor thing: I found it odd that there isn't a 'next level' button at the end of a level. In fact, I kept hitting 'restart level' unintentionally after beating a level since it was in the spot where a 'next level' button usually would be. Don't get me wrong, I like your map screen and don't mind going back there instead of directly to the next, but those buttons need to be a bit better intuitively placed! Right side buttons should almost always imply forward movement, not backwards!

BonzoChuff responds:

That's a really good idea with the button. Never thought of that!

[Gravity Shift]

It's a pretty unique, goofy and interesting game! It, uh, just might be a bit too zany for me, in both a bad way and a good way, haha!

On one hand, the game certainly has a lot of crazy mechanics going for it. Most games could make an entire game just out of the gravity mechanic alone, or just the dash mechanic, or just the grab/tether mechanic, and instead you've got a game using all of those mechanics to create some really crazy levels to go through. While I had a hard time at first even remembering all of the powers my character had, it did feel good to get more in-tune with all of them, choosing which abilities to use at which moment skillfully to beat the levels efficiently. And of course, the game is also wrapped in a very quirky aesthetic with all sorts of goofy props, sound effects, and so on and so forth.

On the other hand, I almost feel like the wealth of mechanics on display here kind of hurt the game for me, as I felt like they didn't all get enough attention and work together well. I'm a quality over quantity guy, and it felt like what we had here was a game that favored the exact opposite. The grab/tether mechanic was a source of constant frustration for me: sometimes things I would grab would drag along the ground, get stuck in walls, glitch out, get thrown oddly, not drop where I wanted, break too easily, or just not be present enough to give me ammo I need, and so on. Gravity switching was fun, but with the camera so claustrophobically close, it was a crap shoot whether I would end up falling safely onto a platform, or more commonly into some spikes I'd never see coming (unless I die and die and die until I memorize the entire level). I don't have many complaints about the dash mechanic, except I wasn't ever clear how many dashes I had or how fast they recharged and so on. With all the mechanics to maintain, levels felt very unfocused and directionless to me: even with the arrows pointing, sometimes the best path is to glitch and damage boost through some spikes to the ending instead or what-have-you: it felt like they were just a crazy scramble where anything goes (perhaps this could be seen as a positive though for freeform).

It's definitely charming and intriguing enough that I do want to revisit it and try and get further, but another part of me just felt like it was a bit too janky. Again, perhaps I just need to learn to work with that jankiness and my old man brain is just too stiff with age for something like this, haha.

gooberthed responds:

mucho texto

[Elizabeth SLAY!!]

Pretty interesting game! Gotta say, while I enjoyed my time with the wackiness of it all, it was a bit rough for me in some respects.

First off, my introduction to the game was a bit confused. My impression was that it seemed like the game had a big focus on combat and platforming, what with the cool introduction of your transformation powers, and I gotta say it felt satisfying to get that vampire combo off on the stompos what with the cool hitfreeze it had! Because of that, I didn't quite like just how many characters there were to talk to: felt like it just kept constantly stopping the pace of combat and platforming to talk to so many people and their goofball nonsense. I just wanted to get to the action! Don't get me wrong, I love the characters and all the charming quirky expressions and dialogue they bring: I just didn't realize that the game was actually all about talking to them for fun and hints and going on a scavenger hunt. Once I realized that, then I was on board and everything was quite the fun adventure! It's definitely partially my fault for making weird assumptions, but perhaps the game could also be directed in such a way at the intro to let you know what you're in for more accurately (heck, maybe combat isn't even necessary for a game like this?)

In terms of other feedback, I did feel like the movement of the character was a bit...I'm not sure, just felt a bit wonky: in particular I think the character felt overly heavy due to the lack of hangtime for their jumps, which made double jumping annoying to time. Also, for such a cheery game, I was surprised at how unbelievably punishing it could be: I spent so much time collecting practically everything only to die from an off-screen shot and have to start all over! It didn't exactly make me want to start it all over, but credit where its due, the game is charming and cute enough that I think I will get right back in there and find out what sort of characters are left to find and gab it up with!

Roksim responds:

Aw gosh, thanks so much for so much feedback!! I certainly understand what you mean, especially with the part where you get shot at - I actually thought it might be too easy, because it's just an enemy who shoots your face, but a lot of players did struggle, so I suppose it was a case of my tester friends just coincidentally all being platformer players already...

I did try to mitigate the backtracking by having a secret portal at the start, did you find the NPC who tells you about it? Like, once you activate the blue platforms, at the start there is a guy who tells you there is actually a secret shortcut in a pit all along that takes you all the way to the Record Player... Sort of a knowledge checkpoint! But I suppose it's a bit wonky as an idea!

And yaa, she is heavy, it's my own preference - I like to really hold that spacebar for full control, so I thought the best approach would be to just make my favorite controls and fun combat! The game might have shifted it's focus during the development from combat to silly NPCs, I still had a whole lot of fun smacking everyone around, so I went with both to have the scavenging hunt be a bit spicy, though now that I know how much the players struggle, I would probably make the Spotos less dangerous... I'll leave it as it is because so many people played it already and enjoyed it, I don't want to constantly shift the difficulty!

TLDR: thanks again for playing!! This is just some explaination for my thoughts as a developer, I really appreciate all the feedback you just gave me, all of it is really thoughtful!!!!