Rad's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Project Dimentia Bodhisattva]

Well, I finally beat it... It's been a real trip.

I never really liked HTML5 as a platform for games, I always thought they handled kind of clumsily and felt more like someone had to bash a game together out of sheer determination, manipulating it into doing something it was not really built to do, that is until I played your game.

While I'm sure you've heard all about the clumsy (oh god every special attack gets it's own button) controls and shift being jump (where if you rebind it, the floaty jumps you need in Sky Chasm don't work anymore) I just wanted to say, I really appreciate this game and all the effort you went through to keep the game fresh and always subvert the players expectations.

Nisha is a fun antagonist and from the very first fight with her to the final one at the end, It never really felt frustrating, she just loves to brawl and everything she does reinforces that. A boss that revives you for fun? Aw yeah!

I hated the high jump technique, it really feels like a bug turned feature and while it isn't mandatory in any stage outside of the Sunflower one, I just hated having to time my punches, do the ground smash and then immediately jump just to get to a high ledge, I've done it at least 60 times during the game and never actually enjoyed a single one.

The stages are really diverse and fresh, and while I loathed the platforming, I loved the stories woven into each of them. The entire ordeal that was the Sunflower stage made the final revenge combo sequence one of the most satisfying story moments I've ever had in a game.

99.9% Hell gold, fuck yeah.

I loved how you tracked all the jewels and piggies you rescued during the sky chasm stage, just to turn it on it's head and show how ungrateful and greedy they all were.

You made a wonderful show out of playing with player expectations and I think that is really where this game shines, In a year I think more people are going to remember what Nishe does after the final battle rather than actually fighting her where you just crouched underneath her and used your fireball breathing clones to rack up damage and beat her in a minute.

All the characters were done well, I loved the way the music changed immediately to suit what was happening in the game, the way the music immediately became upbeat and hopeful the second you debug your first void was a legit "fuck yeah" fist pump moment.

I'm really surprised this is your first game and that there really isn't anything else by you anywhere else on the internet so far. This is hands down one of the best free games I've seen and if you ever make anything else like this I'd probably pay money for it. I really hope this game doesn't get ignored.

I don't think this game is perfect, I don't even think a keyboard can really handle all the moves you put in, but it has a ton of love and effort put in and it definitely shows. Best game, you deserve some kind of trophy.

Touhou with uppercuts.

TwinBlazar responds:

Thank you for your review. :)
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>>> where if you rebind it, the floaty jumps you need in Sky Chasm don't work anymore
Bug noted.
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[UFO: Blackstorm shield]

I am so sorry, but your game is just too hard. As of this review, nobody can even claim the "Beat the game with no deaths medal" yet.

It's frustrating because this is a fantastic challenging game with great sound direction and good design decisions like letting you demolish buildings while receiving 100% of the money back for them, but the whole thing was built around the player losing and trying again with more resources while at the same time offering an achievement for beating it with no losses.

I appreciate you patching the game too, but this is an insane measure of difficulty.

AleGui responds:

Allright, now the boss spawns about 1/3 of the ships it spawned before, and takes more time to shoot the big red bullets. I hope this helps.

Also try selling all your labs and non combat buildings before fighting the boss.

[Stakes!]

The nails you place can block your jumps upward, there is no reason why they should do this, it makes gameplay frustrating.

[FPA: World 1 Remix]

This is amazing, will it ever be possible to play without the UI?
The hide UI button is great for screenshots but playing without it would be splendid!

[Planets Gone Rogue!]

It's a pretty good roguelike, but I do have some complaints.

The plasma shot can move way too fast for a human being at the higher upgraded speed levels, the AI can use a speedy plasma shot to hit your planet in the blink of an eye.

I don't like the need to level up to get more starting money. while in theory a player could beat the campaign the first time, it's extremely unlikely vs playing again and again to get a larger starting bonus.

Missiles need to glow either red or blue to let players know if it's their missile or not., I wasted two shields before realizing the missile was reflected and flying on a wide arc away from my planet and towards the enemy. For a weapon so deadly it's easy to not actually see it since it lacks bright colors like every other projectile in the game has.

I like the idea of the railgun, but it's frustrating to fight the AI using one, it hits instantly and the AI has near instant reflexes vs the player. I found my guns getting shot before the enemy railgun was even fully on screen to act against it.

I need a target reticule to help me aim, it's extremely difficult to line up emp and reflector shots while the AI will have no problem hitting a moving target.

Overall, I love what this game sets out to do, and it's definitely one of the better roguelikes I've seen.

OMBG responds:

First of all thank you for taking the time to write all that down! I think you have found excellent "complaints" (let's call them "areas capable of improvement" ;-) ) for your feedback as I

think they are all valid points:

The plasma shot is fast, yes, but it also has a charge-up phase so you are able to prepare for the incoming shot. However you need to estimate where the shot will land when it is accelerating

which is challenging but you have all the time to think about it as the game pauses while you have the shield selected.

Regarding the starting money I agree with you: It should not be the point of the game having to level up first before you stand a chance at beating it. I think I might need to adjust the

amount the player get at level 0 after I have collected more feedback. I don't want to make it to easy either, it would be ideal if you die in the campaign because you made the wrong

decisions, but not because you did not get enough money to get the job done ;-)

I have little to say in defense for the thing you wrote about the missiles. You are absolutely right with this (especially the part of damage vs. visibility!), and I will definetly improve

this for future versions.

The AI is artifically slowed down at the moment to simulate "thinking time", if you watch closely you might notice that it is not using guns even if they would be available. But it definetly

has an advantage when it comes to selecting guns: A Gun is "selectable" as soon as it is visible on the screen, if there is a pixel you can click on, you can select it. Same goes for the AI,

unfortunately the AI is far better at "clicking on single pixels" than a human player. I might tone that down a bit to make it fairer for us poor human beings ;-)

Do you mean having a different mouse cursor for having a "target reticule"? That is a very good idea, it would also communicate "this Weapon will fire now if you click" to the player.

Thanks again for writing all this, it is hard getting feedback for your game, but if you get feedback with detailed explanations and even proposals on how to improve it is even more valuable.

I cannot promise that I will be able to fix all of these points for a future version of the game, but I will definetly consider all of them to make a good decision on what / how to improve.

[Alone: Meditate Existence]

If the game actually had a point, I and most other players failed to grasp it.

[Manamancers]

Like it or not this game is extremely luck based.

Most players on the top 30 list have a win / loss ratio of 1.0, even after hundreds of games. While I do love how accessible and streamlined everything is, skill and planning are always overwhelmed by luck in this game.

Players need a way to force a refresh of the map, a different gem generation sequence to avoid combos just blindly being handed to the player or a way to predict which new gems will spawn in, because at the moment a win can simply be handed to you or the other player by random chance.

Also, I have played 11 games. Please give me some character customization options already. I have no idea why you decided to force players to play again and again just to unlock the chance to buy a hat. This is becoming a grindfest.

Maras responds:

Is poker luck based? Maybe it is if you look at one game, but in long run, it's all about strategy/calculations. Anyway, the best player with almost 4800 games so far have skill ratio 2.3, thats not exactly average...

Thats why many people make living on playing poker and other people lost fortune.

4800 games is more than enough to deduce conclusions - if it would be purely luck based game, he should also have skill ratio around 1, not 2.3

About the customizations: If you played 11 games and think that is more than enough, why do you need to buy new armors if you do not plan to play anymore? All the customizations is available to anyone who create new character, but armors and weapons unlocks at level 9.

:-)

[PLEASE REMAIN CALM]

I like the secret alternate style of play you included by giving the player a free upgrade, reroll chance and +2 health by playing through levels without collecting coins. However it is WAY too hard to navigate the levels without accidentally collecting a coin.

I'm trying to beat 9 levels coinless and I will always end up running into sections where there is a coin located just below a drop, or in the way of a passageway. Level six onward I just collect coins normally because I'll scan the map before I start and realize I'm going to have to collect a coin to proceed.

CTincknell responds:

That is intended to be extremely challenging. Think of it as every coin being a one hit kill. That being said, I tried to make it so the levels didn't spawn with coins in the way, but it doesn't always work. Keep trying though, only one person (other than me) has gotten the medal!

[Intel Was Wrong]

Too much death, not enough game.

There are no clear choices I can make when it comes to staying alive. Give me a choice, I need some risk and reward mechanics or else it's just going to see pointless to do anything in your game.

I stop on a planet and lose 25 hull and fuel because why? Because this game was made for the Procedural Death Jam?

Wolod responds:

I'm sorry to tell this but you were right... It is random and hard because it was made for Procedural Death Jam xD
After each playthrough you get XP and level ups buff your starting stats. There is a point. You play the game, you learn the rules of it's cruel world and you're level-uping eventually. So on one hand we have some kind of tutorial and on the other hand you are closer to the happy end with the each playthrough (something like Rogue Legacy).

[You Are Disabled]

Me and my friend didn't choose to finish this because throwing a ridiculous number of hazards in a series of rooms is not "fun."