FutureCopLGF's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Magnolia Dwindlespark and the Mystery of the Entangled Propurrtions]

Whoa, this is a pretty unique game! Can't say I've ever played a game where I need to scale everything appropriately, but it tickles a similar addictive itch that a lot of other popular cleaning games do. For the most part, it all felt pretty intuitive to figure out: sometimes there's a bit of tedium as you keep trying to hit the sweet spot, but it's satisfying once it snaps into place. I like that it has a bit of a puzzle element to it as well, what with there being certain order-of-operations you need to do so you can scale other objects without them bumping into each other. Very creative and impressive for a game jam game!

If I had any feedback, it would be that sometimes it can be a bit frustrating or overwhelming. For example, I had a real hard time finding the sweet spot for getting the door to squeeze over the broom, for example, and I felt a bit put-off when I realized I had to individually scale different parts of the cat, or the various books on the shelves. Also it'd be nice if there was a save/load system in place: perhaps it's technically not that long to do in one sitting, but still, it's nice to be able to take a break so you can go at your own pace.

YaenGames responds:

Thank you so much for your consistently high quality feedback and kind words! I'm happy you found our game unique and satisfying.

I agree that the game can get a bit long on a first playthrough with all the books and so on. Was a little hard to gauge how many objects would still feel nice because of the novel game mechanic. Regarding the bookshelf, we were inspired by "A little to the left". Have a good one!

[Cash Clicker: With a Gun!]

Holy cow, this is really something special! I'm not one for idle clicker games because they hurt my hands and are usually quite boring and manipulative, but this one not only has an auto-clicking option to save my hands from strain, but it also saves my brain by making the gameplay be an exciting romp!

The game feels incredibly well-made in nearly all respects. Everything feels very smooth, polished, and intuitive: at no point did I suffer any confusion or encounter any glitches or bugs. The game is absolutely bursting with juicy effects that make the experience positively electric. The introduction of the gun is an intriguing hook, and the gameplay keeps my attention through threatening goals that require me to sink or swim. There are a lot of neat tricks too, like how failing to meet a goal doesn't mean instant death, but a new enemy that you can try to deal with (but is really hard to do so!)

I enjoyed the learning process of figuring out the best way to get farther and farther. For example, on my initial playthrough, I felt like the gun upgrades were a waste of money because the low amount of enemies meant I couldn't get enough money from kills to make the investment worth it, but the burst of enemies later on means you can't avoid it forever and need to be prepared. I also found that sometimes it's best to not bother purchasing multiple instances of a tier, but to just wait for the next tier instead: the UI seems to naturally push you to this strategy with its !!! signals. Fascinating stuff!

Now, not everything is perfect. If I had a few complaints, it'd be:

*I found it frustrating that I can't see the amount of items I've purchased, such as letting me see whether I've purchased 1, 2, 3, or however many shovels. It just makes it difficult to keep track of everything without that: I'm unsure whether I've dipped into one tier too many times, or whether I've purchased a tier at all.

*As mentioned, some of the design decisions felt a bit odd, such as how the gun feels really worthless for a large portion of the game until enemies get more intense, making you stick with boring clicks and passives. In a similar fashion, the ultimate giving you a cash prize feels hard to ignore as an option, which feels bad because it's so boring compared to something cool like a minigun.

Funster10123 responds:

Thank you for such thoughtful and engaging feedback! Everything that's been polished was once a sore spot, just like the game's current issues. We plan on adding QoL features and balance patches to help improve the quality of CC:WAG. Thanks for playing!

[Level 9 Access]

Pretty neat game! I enjoy the crazy fast-paced nature of the game, what with how every level turns into absolute chaos as all sorts of obstacles and hazards get introduced: the randomness of it all really keeps you on your toes, forcing you to improvise as best as you can! I easily found myself getting hooked to the game from how bite-size the levels were and how quick it was to immediately retry upon death.

I had fun, but if I had some complaints:

*While the randomness does keep you on your toes in a fun way, it has the downside of making the game feel very repetitive and like you're not progressing: replaying a level is just as different of an experience as moving to the next level, so why bother? Yes, the levels are different from each other in their geography and do escalate in subtle ways, but it just doesn't feel that significant compared to the random events. Furthermore, the randomness calls the scoring system into question, as it can just be up to luck as to whether it gives you a series of easy events that let you do it quickly.

*Sometimes the randomness can totally screw you over, such as when the game spawned two antennas I needed to align within lava, making it impossible to do so without dying. This wasn't even a justifiable punishment from being slow and letting the lava rise too high, as the antennas were spawned way at the bottom of the screen practically where the lava started, so it felt incredibly unfair.

*Slight nitpick but I found it weird that unlocking the exit doesn't give you a message or signal like it does for every other event: you'd think it would be something to celebrate, but you can easily miss the fact that you've unlocked the door because you're too busy trying not to die!

Still had a nice time, though, and I found it an interesting alternative take on the gameplay of your previous entry, RPG MK II!

BlueEagle421 responds:

Thanks a lot for playing! I'm glad you enjoyed it :)

You are right about the scoring system - the randomness can make it very hard or very easy to get a better time, but I also find it extremely satisfying when the elements align to your favor.
Speedrunning also requires strategic approaches.
And yeah the lava has it problems and I'm still figuring out how it improve it, make it more fair for players.

Making elevator opening more noticeable is a great idea and I will try to add some cool effects to make it more clear.

It's nice to hear that you remember RPG MK. II :) I wanted to try something different this time.

I also recently updated the game with new city types, new content and movement improvements. It can delete saved data unfortunately, but just letting you in case you played the older version.

Cheers!

[GANBATTE!! ROBOCHAN - DEMO]

Hey, this is pretty neato! Definitely succeeds at emulating those retro vibes: love that classic intro, and the gameplay was very authentic, like playing some long-lost entry into the NES library! One particular aspect I enjoyed was the boss fights, which felt like they had a good assortment of moves, with their horizontal rushes that require you to move out of the way being a highlight!

There were a couple of stumbles for me, though. For one, I didn't like how when you 'advance' in the intro cutscene, it skips completely to the next card without filling out the remaining text first. Another aspect was that I felt like the game was way too easy. Now, not all retro games need to be Nintendo hard, sure, but boy did the game feel pretty unthreatening and boring without challenge!

If I have to be honest, though, the game, while kinda fun, didn't necessarily spark joy for me, being just another Megaman clone. Now, there's nothing wrong with making clones: everyone, including me, starts out by copying their favorites, and its a great way to learn and grow. But competition is fierce, and while this game is fun to play for free, without any sort of unique mechanic, clever twist, challenging gameplay, or just some certain je ne sais quoi to elevate it above just a mere copy, this just isn't anything I'd whip my wallet out for. Still, good on you for making this, and best of luck in your future endeavors!

WLCSoft responds:

Thanks! I'll keep all that in mind for my next projects.

[DON'T FLIP THE DOOM CARD]

Hey, this was great! Not only is this a very fun twist on the classic memory card game with the introduction of doom cards, but the game overall has an incredibly polished construction to it, feeling very intuitive and smooth, and with an especially charming presentation, what with its whole stylish windows 95? 98? aesthetic.

One subtle aspect that I think was done very well was the length of sessions. A lot of these types of arcade games, while fun, can overstay their welcome, turning repetitive from endlessly looping play that only ends when you eventually get bored and quit. With this however, right when I thought I was getting a tiny bit bored and considering quitting, it signaled to me that it was already the last level, which made me push forward and finish strong. It was then that the game introduced the extra modes, which immediately made me want to give them a go! Excellent pacing! A game that has the discipline to leave you hungry for more instead of stuffing you full is great.

One aspect that I found a bit confusing when playing was the whole card previewing when you select a card. I assumed it would show me the neighbors, but I could never figure out why other seemingly random cards were being shown as well. It's true that it technically explains that it also flips cards across in the instructions, but all I could remember was the picture in the instructions which only showed neighbors, so can you blame me for being a bit confused? Anyway, it didn't really get in the way of my enjoyment: just something that puzzled me for a bit!

tonyfinale responds:

always satisfying seein your big reviews on things. thanks as ever man <3

[Painter Blazer]

Hey, this is a pretty cute adventure! The gameplay gives me old-school arcade vibes both with its general presentation as well as its gameplay, which I'm a big fan of. There's also a lot of charm to this: for example, I love the cartoony aesthetics with the amusing effects for your actions like 'hop' and 'zoom' for jumping and dashing. Furthermore, it also does a lot of things to make the journey stay fresh and interesting, such as new worlds with unique mechanics, cool boss fights, and fun story cutscenes, all of which were a definite highlight for me. Nice stuff!

There were a few bumps in the road that I encountered, though:

*I found it really weird that the tutorial character gives you instructions based on the alternative control scheme (JKL) when I had the default control scheme (ZXC) selected. Perhaps it is hard-coded instead of dynamic text?

*First impressions were a bit rough due to aspects like the jump being so wimpy which made certain jumps so annoying to pull off, and the lack of any sort of interesting scoring system or tricks to pull off like combos or chains. Just has a bit of a slow start which it makes up for later as it introduces boss fights and some interesting levels and mechanics, like the balloon puzzle level.

*First impressions were further diminished when I fell down a pit and...didn't die? I was stuck with no way out and had to reset the game, causing me to have to redo a bunch of levels I already completed (including the tutorial all over again!) Quite frustrating!

*There were coins to collect, but I'm not sure what purpose they served: it didn't seem worth it to collect them since they almost all required you to have to make awkward jumps that would set you far back, having to climb back up to where you were before, wasting a lot of time.

It's a bit rough and awkward in some respects, but overall its charm won me over and made me want to keep going further, and I was impressed at how it kept evolving!

GGishere responds:

the alternate control scheme was the only control scheme before it was updated (idk why either aapi is weird with keyboards)

the coins are just for achievements for getting all of them per world

[The Supernatural Power Troll]

Huh, quite the interesting game! It certainly has a very humorous vibe to it, especially in regards to the intro and other cinematics, and has some neat experimental stuff like the generated dialogue for NPCs which react to seeing a troll, eating food, and all sorts of other events. The levels have a lot of variation to them as well and were fun to puzzle through, with the intermissions serving as a nice motivating factor. Some stand-out moments include the Medusa fight: that was really cool to lure humans into the beam with food and then throw them for damage!

It's nice, but there were a lot of rough aspects that got in the way:

*The game says you can use the arrow keys to move around, but they actually don't work, and you can only move with WASD.

*As humorous as the intro is, it was incredibly indulgent in how long it took to let me play the damn game. Could stand for some editing.

*I don't understand how the power-ups work. I keep finding these things for super-jumps and shrinking and so on, but all I can do is throw them at enemies to give them the powers when I would prefer to benefit from them myself instead. Is it just impossible to use them on yourself?

*What's up with the ads coming up when you die? Just feels really out of place and gross in a game like this.

*Had some weird bugs like how trying to quit to the main menu would just keep darkening the screen and not actually quit.

*I dunno how helpful this is, but something about the game just feels kinda...off. Like, the levels almost give this kinda vibe where they are something like you'd see in Mosa Lina where it's a puzzler with the freedom to solve issues in multiple ways, yet all of the power-ups scattered around seem like unhelpful red herrings that I don't know how to use and the solution usually just boils down to throwing food at humans to distract them. Either that or the solution is too hard-coded and doesn't allow freedom, like needing to throw the jump powerup to get the human to jump over the snail with no other way to proceed.

*In addition to the above, the game just feels really janky at times with weird collision and physics. For example, there's an area in the medusa fight where you fall slowly for no reason at all: what the heck is going on there? If you jump or go off a platform in other parts of the room, you fall at a normal speed. I just get the feeling that the game is barely holding itself together, and this screwed me over with unfair deaths at times.

Overall, the game just has a very weird, janky and experimental vibe in many respects: in some ways it's amusing and I like it, and in other ways it throws me off with how unintuitive it is. I can see this being a bit of a divisive one!

jacklehamster responds:

The powerups are only meant for humans. That's really the premise of the game, where the troll can't use powerups but can only grant them to humans. Most levels are designed with powerups in mind, though there might be multiple solutions. Towards the end, you pretty much have to use all powerups to solve levels.
I run into issues with physics. It was the first time I worked with Phaser, so I haven't gotten everything figured out...

[Pico & Schmuck Save Tankmas]

Hey, this was a pretty neat cartoon! The voice actors are fantastic, the script is humorous, the concept uses the background lore well: all in all, funny stuff! It's also nice that it has skip functionality to make replays easy to do for achievement hunting.

In terms of feedback:

*Would be nice if this had subtitles: it can be really difficult to tell what Dr. Schmuck is saying at times! A volume control option for music/voices could be nice too.

*Not to split hairs or be some sort of rules lawyer, but if I have to be honest, this doesn't feel much like a game to me: it's very short yet so much of this 'game' is completely non-interactive with so much rambling before you even get to any sort of choice, and all it has is a few choices which all just lead to instant game-overs instead of interesting branches.

*So much of the script was just Dr. Schmuck rambling on and on and it got so annoying to listen to him. I mean, props to the voice actor for getting into the role, but uh, maybe they sold it too well? Take that as a compliment, haha.

PukeBomb responds:

Appreciate the feedback. This was all intended to be a part of a larger project; which if fully fleshed out, would've been probably a bit more fitting to your taste. But, since it was relatively dropped, we did it in our own way and didn't waste the effort that went into it up to that point. Then had to slap on some somewhat odd "storytelling" to make it somewhat fit together. We were given a short time frame and rushed, then it went nowhere, so then we had to release quickly to maintain relevance during the holidays.

[Get in Santa's Pants 3: Knickerless for St. Nicholas]

Hey, it's wonderful to see a new episode of this! As always, this game delivers a wonderful adventure filled with wonderful art, tricky puzzles, and most of all, very humorous dialogue that is just overstuffed with double entendres. I swear, my humor immediately reverts to that of a horny teenager after playing this game, giggling at every potentially naughty word, haha!

Very interesting to see such an evolution of the game system, moving out of the old Pico-8 setup! While I don't think every change has worked out for me (which I'll go into below) I still find it fascinating to witness and applaud the sense of experimentation. I may have liked the pixel graphics before, but it's nice to see your art style more directly implemented!

I gotta admit though, that if I'm being honest, this is my least favorite entry in the series so far. I still think it's a nice game overall, don't get me wrong, but I had a rough time enjoying it:

*I liked the old games for how much they cut to the chase, being so gameplay focused and with tight, sharp scripts. In contrast, this game is so wordy and indulgent, taking so much time to setup and delivering scene after scene interrupting gameplay, yet still leaving critical elements like your primary objectives vague (well, beyond the obvious objective). Perhaps this is a case where you over-indulged yourself with all the open space you've gotten after leaving Pico-8's strict memory limitations?

*While the new graphics are very nice, the world design was rough to get used to. Everything just felt so claustrophobic and cramped, and that weird visual effect when you're rotating within a room was just nauseating. It also feels like you're moving too fast and the animations for moving are oddly stiff.

*It really feels like the vibes and humor have shifted from goofy, light-hearted horniness to being much more crass, dark, and just plain gross, and I'm not that much of a fan of it.

*Perhaps I'm misremembering or misinterpreting stuff, but I feel like the triggers for events to move forward is bugged, or at least very illogical at times. I swear there were times where, for example, I gathered up all the underwear, but I wasn't able to turn it in until I quit the game from frustration and came back later, only for it to suddenly work. Similarly, I wasn't able to inform the guy about the goose until other stuff happened first, I guess? I really don't know.

*Similar to the above, the logic and direction of the game just felt bizarre, and most of the time I'd be hopelessly lost where it felt like all I could do was just keep clicking on stuff randomly and hope for the best, looping through all objects and people over and over and over until something completely out of nowhere happens that makes no sense and somehow moves things forward.

*There's a weird text glitch going on where every sentence break, or perhaps every ellipse, is rendered with some invalid characters and the paragraph break symbol, something like this: A◆¶

*While it's very cute that music plays whenever you move, it's driving me nuts how the music keeps resetting to the very start whenever you stop and start, instead of continuing from where it left off. Makes me feel like I need to keep moving so I don't drive myself insane from hearing the same second of music loop over and over and over and over!

Again, despite all the negative feedback, it's still a nice game overall, and I applaud trying out a new thing. I wouldn't put it on the naughty list, but maybe just a slap on the wrist!

Louistrations responds:

Aw, thank you for taking the time for the write-up!

Thankfully, nearly all of this is already addressed in my big QoL update. I probably should have delayed another year, but in all honesty, I'm so burnt out from working on Christmas stuff all year, every year. So please forgive me for that! XD

The whole concept was to create a darker Victorian-based visual novel, so I don't know what to do about the many many "too much reading" complaints. In hindsight, I should have disassociated it entirely from the Pico-8 games. Newgrounds seems to barely differentiate the different game categories.

[SYNTAXIA]

Whoa, this is looking to be pretty cool! Reminds me a lot of games like Lone Survivor or Eternal Darkness, at least a bit. There wasn't quite enough gameplay to really hook me on the depths of the systems and how they will evolve, but the game feels quite polished and high-quality overall, has a very intriguing and creepy world, and it plays with some neat mind-bending concepts, what with warping the world with the power of words to solve puzzles. I think it's shaping up to be something very interesting, so well done!

I think my gameplay was pretty smooth and intuitive without any major issues apart from not realizing I had to click on items to equip them before use, but that was naught but a few seconds of confusion. Otherwise you had my attention the whole way through, so yeah, no major feedback I can think of at the moment, apart from some little thoughts:

*I found it interesting that, considering it's such a creepy game, it also has some humorous dialogue and cute art. I wonder if it's truly going for a 'cozy horror' vibe like it says, or if it's just doing it to let your guard down before it scares the living daylights out of the player, haha.

*I was curious about that 'recent nightmares' warning at the start: is that supposed to be a subtle fourth-wall breaking trigger warning for the player, or is it just supposed to be a weird in-universe thing?

CANCAT-Games responds:

So for your first question: Its mostly just me having fun with the world and the player, while additionaly having the effect of having you put your guard down, hehe

Second question: Yes, right now its just an in-universe thing. However I do have plans on expanding on it more.

Anyways, thank you for your detailed response! If you'd like to chat more you should join our discord :]