Ralix's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Slope Xtreme]

It's a good game.
The movement is enjoyable, it's visually appealing, and plays smoothly. There are various obstacles introduced as you go on, and there are even quality-of-life features like marking the spot with your previous record.

But my biggest issue by far is not being able to see where I'm landing. Countless times I missed the ramp or bumped immediately into an obstacle because the ramps are obscured by the ball or the cyan trail behind you.
And since you don't have extra lives or anything, and even the initial area is not a safe zone, missing a jump or bumping into an obstacle is fatal. And after roughly fifteen tries and at least eight early deaths, I sort of lost interest.

Also I initially opened and tried the game on your website on a phone, and while it allows you to start and play and the controls respond to taps, it is definitely not playable that way (you're too fast to react well on a phone, and the launch key still mentions the spacebar).
If it's not meant to be played on a phone, consider showing a warning / disable the game when somebody reaches your website and is not on a desktop computer.

Edit:
Yes, it's genuinely much better now! I played a few rounds, and no death felt “unfair” and I was able to get much further. I updated the rating. Thanks for listening to feedback!

(Also, just in case you didn't know about it, Newgrounds has a built-in achievement/scoreboard system you can use to lure more players in:
https://www.newgrounds.io/
https://github.com/PsychoGoldfishNG/NewgroundsIO-Unity/wiki )

m9think responds:

Thanks for your detailed feedback! I've made some adjustments to improve the gameplay experience based on your comments. Hopefully it feels better now! 😊

[Bonefields]

This is a really fun game, and quite well-polished for a prototype.
I love the gradually expanding ability pool based on abilities you've already collected and all the new enemies introduced along the way.

I would overall increase the size of the UI, the tiny pixel text is hard to read, but the icons are small, too, so I didn't really pay attention to the UI at all with the exception of level-ups and health.

I wrote some comments during my first playthrough, and then my second playthrough contradicts a few points, but it might be useful for you if I keep the first-time player experience up.

FIRST:

I suppose I'm missing some kind of emergency abilities, something to use when you're in a pickle to either escape quickly or clear enemies.

I'm spending most of the game running in circles to control the crowd – the best AoE damage dealer seems to be the poisonous breath, but to use it effectively, I need to get close enough to likely get hurt.

And when I know I'm in danger (low health), or the path is blocked, I can't do much about it (like dash through enemies, temporary invincibility, defend block, a health item marked on the map, manually-triggered powerful attack with a cooldown etc.).
I see "roll" mentioned on the stat screen, so perhaps that's the ability I was missing, just wasn't lucky enough to get.

3:40 minutes

SECOND:

I didn't read the controls properly the first time (I started the game and there's no time to reread stuff during the game) and didn't know about the dash.
It is of course a game-changer, now I can get out through tight spots and avoid being hit by projectiles if I know something unavoidable is coming.
That allowed me to survive much, much longer (11 minutes).

I thought it always seemed better to pick new abilities instead of upgrading the existing ones (five attacks spinning around you is going to deal more damage than three strong spades), but having five strong spades + two sheep made me change my mind.
What do you think about introducing bonuses that might combine two of your abilities? It might bring your replayability from finding cool new combinations.

Forget about wanting an ability to defend myself. I have the dash.
I instead thought it would be really satisfying to dive into the ever-increasing crowd of enemies with a powerful AoE attack and slice a few dozen. But none of my abilities seemed capable of doing that, and with half of the enemies shooting random projectiles, coming close was always a gamble.
So I had to accept I'm never going to out-damage the enemy spawn rate if I can only control the direction of attacks, not frequency. So I ran around, trying to survive as long as I could.

It was becoming somewhat monotonous towards the end. The enemies all walk the same way (no one for example goes towards you along a curve, with a dash, teleporting behind you, slightly faster to force you to treat certain enemies differently). You can't clear or thin the enemy horde too much as I explained above. So you run in circles, chipping off at the edges, and collect radishes from time to time.
I would love it if there was some goal you have to do from time to time, to make you move to a certain spot on the map instead of running clockwise along the edges for five minutes.

And could the chicken do something interesting to help?

---

As you seem new to Newgrounds, note you also have the free option to introduce medals & scoreboards which tend to drive more people to your game – and more importantly for this stage of your project will give you a gauge of how far people get before losing.

That, or "Events" (= custom analytics) can help you prototype and balance.
https://www.newgrounds.io/
https://github.com/PsychoGoldfishNG/NewgroundsIO-Unity/wiki

Thanks for this, and good luck with further development!

rumyoonomicon responds:

Wow. thank you for the playing the game. Tho yeah it really is a prototype and some stuff that is really a QoL that supposedly be there in the first place is missing, I'll have those change be added for the you and other players as well. And yes I'm new to newgrounds. I kinda want to post my game here as well. I'll look up to the links you provided with heartfelt. Thank you! :>

[Pool Smith]

A game about collecting leaves, but unfortunately, the core gameplay mechanic doesn't work most of the time (and that's not an exaggeration). The clicks don't register.
Rarely do I manage to collect a leaf – sometimes I'm lucky, but most of the time I'm walking around a leaf in circles, trying to find a better angle, yet no amount of clicking works.

That's the most important flaw which completely overshadows everything else I could say.
And there are many other potential problems:

– Presentation. Collecting leaves should feel satisfying (the entire game is about it), but when you do collect them, they simply vanish out of existence without a sound, visual effect or anything.

– When the game is over, you cannot ‘Retry’, you can only Quit. Wouldn't you rather want people to play the game again? Furthermore, quitting a web game simply causes the screen to freeze which is almost never a good idea.
‘Return to menu’ would be better, but since there's not much you can do in the menu, ‘Retry’ is the better choice.

– The leaves may land on their edge.

– When the leaves fall outside of the pool, they hover above the ground.

– I would expect the leaves to cause small waves after falling into the pool.

– The water doesn't feel like water, more like a mirror. It's not translucent, you cannot see the bottom of the pool. It's completely solid (but I understand it would be complicated if you couldn't reach the center of the pool where most of the game takes place).

– The reflected parts of the pool in the water look wrong.

– The ‘white’ leaf doesn't look much like a leaf.

– When the protagonist is a capsule (which is perfectly fine), disable the shadow so it's not obvious.

– The UI elements in the game are weirdly stretched, with blurry edges. Check the documentation about 9-slicing, it could help you:
https://docs.unity3d.com/6000.0/Documentation/Manual/sprite/9-slice/9-slicing.html

satovamp responds:

Thank you for the feedback. I am trying to sort some of those issues. The restart only restarts during gameplay which I'm not understanding and something seems to be messing up the colliders for the leaves. The build definitely came out buggier than the solution. I will update it as I fix it. ;-)

[Lightkeeper]

It's definitely a well-made puzzle platformer.
If you created it for a game jam, it's all the more impressive because it actually feels finished. You could add some polish here or there, but there's a beginning, a sense of progression, and a conclusion.

The puzzles are fine. I thought they were harder at the beginning of the game, but it's mostly because it's a similar concept all the way through, so once it all clicks in the underground section, you can repeat the same with multiple colours.
By the end of it, I started feeling like I could use a new puzzle mechanic because the approach stayed the same for the past few rooms – but the game isn't too long for this to be a big deal.

I like how you explain the puzzle mechanics with visual cues, meaning you don't have to show a popup with a wall of text. E.g. when the line crosses a wall, it will play a rejection sound and flash red, when you don't connect the required nodes, they'll let you know with sparks once you reach the finish line.

And separating the lighthouse in an underground and above ground level with the finale at the top is an awesome touch.

[Cut Short]

I would never predict the final sequence. Very interesting; a very cool change of pace.

But I feel like you don't have long enough breaks to return to your primary goal, and mainly you also can't effectively make sure the house stays okay. (And it also could become pretty laggy at times.)
So the best tactic is probably to try to outrun the inevitable and find the right balance between that and mowing.

A cosy game about lawn-mowing, with the most intriguing twist at the end.

AleuxGameDev responds:

Thank you for the feedback!

[Maze Shift]

It's so much better than the last version I played and reviewed a week or so ago.
Many things I found annoying then were fixed, and this time, I managed to get to the subsequent levels, play with different kinds of weapons against new enemies – and complete the game.

So I'm happy, and it was fun.
I also should compliment you on one other aspect – the game is quite performant despite being a 3D Unity web game.

I'm slightly disappointed by the large enemies (demons? minotaurs?) – the way they're placed, you'd expect them to be a scary miniboss type with a smarter attack pattern, but they're no harder to defeat than the zombies. You can easily hide behind walls from them, but there's no need to – just open fire and they're gone. The large spiders breaking into groups of tiny aggressive spiders were scarier.

Graphics-wise, the “poison gas” and “fire” particles seemed out of place a bit (e.g. the gas wasn't translucent, was very bright against the surroundings and looked more like dots made with a brush tool). The spike trap could have been dark between the parts of the iron grill, to make it look like the spikes come out of holes in the ground, not through the ground.

But those are all nitpicks. I didn't encounter any major annoyance any more – on the contrary, it's a fine game. Well done!

[Maze 1]

It's a maze game, it has a start and an end, but it's very barebones.

Everything I see just says “default” me.
Default Unity scene, default skybox, default material, probably default sun placement (why do you need sunlight at the top of the walls, but keep the playable area mostly in shadow?).
As a result, everything blends together, so my biggest challenge wasn't the maze (which can be traversed fairly quickly), but figuring out if I was looking at the left/right wall or the floor when I quickly turned around sometimes.
Please consider using something to make the walls and the floor stand out, something that is not the default grey.

Some walls don't touch at intersections, so you can see outside the maze occassionally.

If you're using planes, make sure players can't see the edges or look from the other side. Your signs turn invisible from the other side, for example.

I mentioned the capsule shadow and some effect when you reach the victory sign under your platforming game, it applies here as well.

If you're preparing a harder version of the maze, consider adding something to do as you traverse to keep people engaged. It could be as simple as collecting coins thrown around the maze to accumulate a high score. Because running around in tight corridors with nothing else until you reach the end will probably fairly soon feel boring.

Good luck!

Edit:
Sorry, by effect I meant to do anything that underlines your victory, like a final “oomph” that concludes the game.

If you simply see a sign saying “You win”, it's fairly boring, because you can see the sign even from further away and nothing happens when you reach it.
If this was a race, it would be akin to winning when you see the finish line, but no response from the crowd or anyone else when you cross it, so the runner then wonders if that's it, or if there was supposed to be something else yet.

Usually, you want to trigger something to tell the player the game recognizes the victory, a small celebration – for example, a fanfare/applause sound, particle effects (fireworks etc.), or write the “You win” text across the screen.

WindowsTechNerd responds:

I have started making games and also I wanted to make this game in one day but it was almost bedtime so even though I knew how to apply a skybox I didn't have time and also I forgot to change the lighting because I was rushing. And also please tell me what's the effect at the winning sign. I would like to know for an update. I can upload a update of this but I can't edit the project ever since I deleted It on my disk and from my projects list. By the way I used to be Roblox dev. Thanks for telling!

[Garden Parkor (Level 1)]

It's fine! Definitely a very cool project for a beginner.

A quick little platforming level, with differently-shaped platforms with different materials, some of them fall-through to trick players. Also with slight changes of elevation (not much, but it's there), different environments with trees and flowers to jazz it up a bit.

Quite nice and a brief bit of fun, although obviously not very long and with some flaws.

I suppose my major annoyance is the lack of a possibility to restart (either automatic or manual) – a player should never have to refresh the page and reload the game to continue playing.
Falling off a platform should be expected in a platforming game, especially when you add platforms without collisions.

The level design could be slightly better – you provide various kinds of curved platforms, but you can complete the entire game by going in a fully straight line, except for moving just once to the right (while you keep jumping).
You could put some obstacles in mid-air to force you to move to the sides.

The victory sign is nice, but it would feel better if it interacted with the player somehow; some effect to let you know the game recognized your victory. E.g. a victory popup on the screen, a small firework, etc.

I'm now realizing the game doesn't have sounds. You can do without music, but sounds can significantly support the feel of the game, and some funky jumping sounds would make the game a lot better.

To rattle off some other suggestions you might even be aware of yourself:

– The angled platforms consist of overlapping blocks, which don't align well at corners and also result in Z-fighting (texture flickering because it's the same height and it doesn't know which object to draw in the front).
Ideally, make one of the blocks slightly taller (they'll still overlap, but it won't Z-fight), make the blocks only touch but not overlap, or recreate the model in some tool which allows extruding faces, like Blender, or even ProBuilder inside Unity.

– The materials seem to only have the albedo (colour) texture and the same material settings, making everything look shiny and reflect light like it's a uniform piece of metal. Most visible with the grass material.

– The grass texture is somewhat stretched on large blocks.

– The capsule of the player casts a shadow. It's fine to be a capsule, but I'd disable the shadow (players don't need to know)

– It'd be nice if there was some way to tell which blocks are fake and which aren't before you take the leap of faith

But overall, good job.

[Maze Shift]

It looks like a nice simple 3D adventure game, and I really wanted to give it a chance, especially considering it seems like a student game. There seem to be enough game mechanics to make it fun, and who wouldn't want to explore the depths of a cool pyramid?
But I had some problems, restarted it several times and ended up stuck at the same point, so for now, I think I have enough.

It'd be great if you added a description here on Newgrounds (with controls or simply just a description of what the game is about, possibly with pictures). That's your opportunity to excite and prepare future players, and if nothing else, it makes your game more professional.

First of all, this game absolutely cannot be played without fullscreen. The UI canvas doesn't scale with the screen (and the elements aren't anchored correctly), so you don't see half of the screen with the default resolution.
And then, accessing the options to toggle fullscreen is bound to 'Esc', but that also cancels fullscreen. So whenever you want to change something in the options, be ready to turn the fullscreen mode back on again.

My first failed playthrough was over when I couldn't read anything on my way to the pyramid (no fullscreen yet), and missed collecting the shovel and a weapon before the pyramid sealed shut. I don't think you should allow people to enter before they have the full loadout. Might be a nice trick for challenge runs (if you can even complete the game without tools and weapons), but a lot of beginners will potentially get burned.

When you fall into the hole, you're stuck (unless I missed a way to clear the rubble there somehow). If it's intended as a trap, then you should either offer a way to get back up (might be preferable this early in the game), or just add spikes to kill people. Never let people stare at a wall, trying to figure out how to escape when it's not possible, making them frustrated/bored until they realize they're meant to manually hit the restart button.

Too many hints and messages also spoil the game a bit. Don't worry, you needn't tell me about the dangers of spiders, I'll figure it out very soon after the first one bites me and I get hurt. You shouldn't tell me the solution to a puzzle in an adventure game before I even began to think about your “darkness” riddle (it's okay to do so after some time when someone seems to struggle).
You absolutely do not need to warn me about a pit as I'm running and preparing to jump over it, nor do I need to know about a door closing before they even start doing that.

The stone doors are *very* loud in comparison to everything else. Also once, the entrance door moved more than it should have, and it left a see-through gap at the top.

Spiders aren't the most exciting enemies to fight, but I imagine it gets better later in the game.
The introductory room is fairly plain and feels more like a blockout rather than a maze or something stunning to captivate new players. Why is there so much empty space at the sides and atop the building with the portal? If you have a large, mostly unused open space, try putting something large and majestic for people to look at. Plenty of games will use the first major room of a dungeon to set up to overall mood (e.g. Zelda has a giant statue in a desert temple).

There seems to be some shadow aura following me. Very distant areas are brightly lit, closer items are affected by darkness.

The trees outside seem to move when you get close. Do they have distinctly different shapes between each LOD?

The footstep sound seems to play slightly longer than it should have when I stop moving forward (possibly due to inertia?). It stops instantly when I jump, but lasts a bit when I stop running. Also I don't think I hear different sounds when walking on different materials (e.g. dirt vs. stone) but of course, I understand different footstep sounds aren't the most important things to fit in your budget or schedule.

And finally, I couldn't find the solution to the portal you encounter soon into the game. I don't recall any “rock from before” – neither outside nor found nearby, and the portal didn't seem in any way interactive, so I got stuck there. And once again when I replayed the entire thing.

There's more to the game, I'm sure, judging by the asset list in the Credits section alone, but even if I just say I'm probably dumb for not figuring out something obvious, there are many other flaws in the game.

I hope it doesn't sound too harsh, I actually think the game is cool even from the part I've seen, just needs a bit more work. Good luck with the project!

[Tabbith The Mouse]

There is nothing interesting about the game.

Virtually no gameplay besides holding a button, visually unappealing, the progress is way too slow (so at the start you don't even know the thing at the bottom is a progress bar), and the victory screen looks bad on purpose.
The only saving grace is being able to keep running if you switch tabs while holding a key, so you don't have to endure the entire ordeal and can do something else in the meantime – and that's a bug.

I don't think the game is trying to be good, but it's not in the “so bad it's good” territory either. Just a chore.