Ralix's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Sacrifice]

Well, this is a difficult game.
Overall, I quite like the concept – a story-driven platformer sounds amazing, the controls are also pretty fluent and there's a lot of different sources of dangers, so you know it won't be boring.

Unfortunately, it can sometimes be pretty frustrating, which mostly boils down to two things:
As the levels progress, there are more and more sections which require very precise jumping and every tiny mistake makes you repeat the whole level. Sometimes you need to stop at the very edge of a platform to make a jump.

The second problem is the crazy circles; those which bounce in whatever direction they want and never stop. The first one I loved – I thought it's a nice addition since there the circle is in a small, clearly enclosed area and you have to jump up while avoiding it. The level in which you drop a lot of them behind the player was also pretty fun.
However, they are downright irritating when mixed with the previous concept – precision and calm doesn't mix well with panic and randomness. It does ramp up the difficulty quite a bit – however there's a point in which the satisfaction of overcoming a tough challenge just isn't quite worth the exhaustion you get from repeating a level twenty or thirty times before you somehow get through.
At least the tough spot was usually at the start, not at the end of a level, so you could give it another go right away.

The bouncy circles can also sometimes get out of their intended zone and make the level impossible to be beaten (e.g. they get into a narrow passage or push other circles around). Interestingly enough, you can also bounce the circles away yourself if you get close enough but not too close.

Unfortunately, I didn't finish the game for the above reasons. I wouldn't say it's impossible, just too difficult to keep interested in trying over and over and over again (I quit in the "split screen" level with the square right below you, but was already considering it before).

I noticed similar mentions of difficulty in the reviews of your other game, at which point I'd consider removing an obstacle here and there.
If it wasn't too much hassle for you, I'd try adding the "Newgrounds.io for Construct":
http://www.newgrounds.io/downloads/
and add some medal (achievements) to see how many people finish the *first* level and how large percentage of that gets to finish the *last* level.
If all the players, not just the reviewers, appear lackluster (or just lose interest halfway through), then perhaps the overall difficulty is worth reconsidering.

As for other things:
– the 'safe' dark grey is sometimes really hard to distinguish from the 'deadly' black, especially if you're moving fast and see the level for the first time
– reading a text box which bounces up and down is inconvenient, in the intro, it's actually done much better, with the text hovering at some fixed point while the character jumps under it
– the short text ("Hey") stays onscreen a bit too long, on the other hand, you might not have enough time to read longer texts (even more so since its size is smaller)

Since I quit halfway through, I really wouldn't want to be unfair in judging the story – perhaps it's really interesting – but at least the initial few conversations could use some improvements.
For example, the very first exchange doesn't really say much, it's just "Hey" - "Hey" - "I want to tell you something." - "I'm a little busy" - "Okay bye".
That doesn't actually say much – if it was a screenplay, it would've been cut. You played through the whole level to 'earn' this conversation, so the characters should say something meaningful to give information about themselves or to advance the plot (if it's meant to be story-driven).
It's also a pity that the conversations between levels stop pretty soon.

So in summary, it's a fine game and I believe it could be pretty good, but in my opinion, it's too difficult for most people to stay interested in finishing it.

BlackRavenGames responds:

Thank you for your advice

[Mork]

I like it! The jump controls are really fluent and reliable, the 'rewind' after death is a nice touch.

It's a pity you didn't create more than six levels, though. The last two were really more about speed (and luck) than about your platforming skills, so my favourite one is probably the fourth one which requires you both to be precise and fast, but a tiny mishap doesn't automatically mean you'll be killed.

I really think the level should only begin when you move, and not sooner. Like this, you have to start moving immediately after the level loads to have the most time possible, which is absolutely crucial (and annoying) in the last two levels. If the shadow only started moving when you do, this inconvenience would go away.
E.g. while writing this review, I'm constantly being killed again and again just because there's no pause and the level commences at once. Also, you have a level select screen, but no way to return to it once you open a level (unless you beat it).

A few nitpicks:
– Your shadow remains even after you blast into a puff of smoke (it should disappear, too)
– When you're about to die (killed with 1 life left), I wouldn't even rewind back, just puff instantly. Otherwise, it makes you watch the rewind and even move for about a half a second until the game finally kills you off.
– Is there really a need for an FPS counter?
– You also picked a monochromatic colour palette for the game (which is a good idea for a light/shadow themed game), but the puff of smoke and the life bar are pink, the level restart text is purple, not to mention the menu. Wouldn't it be better to stay within shades of black and white?

But what this game truly needs are more levels. You could introduce new features as the levels progress, too (for example a key you need to pick along the way to unlock the door, spike traps, moving platforms, etc).

TechieCrow responds:

Thank you so much for this review! It's VERY helpful! :)

I totally agree with some levels being too fast and this is something I am working on as well as adding more levels.

As for the levels starting immediately, I will add a "Press Any Key To Start" feature ASAP!

You can pause the game by pressing the Escape key (you can also press it to unpause) and that gives you a little menu to go back to the level select screen. Sorry I forgot to include the escape key in the description.

Now for your nitpicks:
- The shadow not disappearing on death is a tricky one to fix but is something I am trying to fix.
- You're right, you should just die instead of waiting for the rewind so I will work on fixing that too.
- No need for the FPS counter, just something I forgot to turn off. :)
- The colour themes are something I'm constantly improving on, I'm slightly colourblind so rely on comments like this to help so thank you!

As I said, I'm working on more levels so don't worry about that! But I was thinking about keeping features to a minimum, instead keeping it entertaining by expanding on the levels themselves by adding multiple lights you need to traverse through in order to even find the exit. Hope this sounds as good as in my head haha. :)

[Fling]

This is a really good game and fun to play.
It seems simple, but there are a lot of gameplay mechanics to explore and you gradually add new ones every few levels. Essentially flawless as well; I didn't notice any bugs.

If I were you – since you already have medals in the game – I'd add a couple more to keep the players captivated (e.g. a medal for progress every six levels). If they feel like quitting the game, but it's "just two more levels" till the next medal, they might just as well pull through.

Also, I'd make the hook shooting and reeling yourself in faster. At times, I was awkwardly wiggling myself out of a tough position because I didn't want to risk losing all my progress in a level because it's almost impossible to regrip the same spot you just left. It also makes the swinging harder. But perhaps, that's the part of the game's difficulty and it's up to you, after all.

AlienPlay responds:

Hey Rallyx! Thanks for in-depth review. I really appreciate your thoughts on Fling, I'll consider adding some more medals.

[How? What? Why?]

Honestly, for a first game and a cancelled project, I expected much less, but you did fairly well.
Here's a game with a clear gameplay mechanic, a way to die, a way to win, a way to replenish lost health, a few different screens, different enemies and spawn points… if it wasn't a cancelled project, it could become pretty good.

You probably see the problems with the game yourself, but I'll mention them anyway if you decide to make a similar game in the future. This is a Unity game, so I can be more specific.

In order of importance:
– The jumping is unreliable which is a big no-no for a platformer game. Sometimes you jump too high, sometimes too low, sometimes you're not allowed to jump at all until you move left and right a bit.
If you jump by adding upwards rigidbody velocity, it doesn't seem to be very consistent.
Also a common jumping bug in Unity – when you check for collision with the ground using a trigger, you can "double jump" by jumping over the corner of a platform. Thus the upwards velocity gets doubled and (in this case) shoots you to the outer space. You could solve this by having a velocity "cap" (Mathf.Clamp) when jumping.
Although by far the most reliable solution in platformers is to use raycasting (Physics2D.Raycast) to check if there is ground below the character's feet before jumping.
– You spend half of the game off-screen. About 50% of the screen is needlessly filled with the ground which makes you leave the screen when jumping. Look at a screenshot of 'Super Mario Bros.' – the absolute minimum of the screen is taken by the ground.
Not to mention you can leave the screen through both left and right side (you could just add a simple box collider at the edge to prevent it).
– The health isn't deducted reliably. I assume you hurt the player when he enters the collision with the enemy, but you should also hurt him at regular intervals while he continues to collide with the enemy, otherwise, you can stand still after the initial contact and nothing will happen.
By the way, if you don't want them standing on the top of your head when they fall on you, there's a way to make one-sided colliders ("PlatformEffector2D") which only cause collisions if you jump on top of them.
You can check the collision direction for yourself as well (collision2D.GetContact(0) → ContactPoint2D).
– The graphics are a bit blurry (image resolution?), the animations only move the legs, the tiles are too repetitive, you didn't change the default 'Camera blue background' and there's no audio – although this all stems from the fact that it's a cancelled project
– There's no point of a 'Quit' button in a WebGL build, but a 'Restart' button would be much more useful. Also, in the Player Settings in Unity, you can switch from the default template to "Minimal" which will get rid of the "unity WebGL" footer

All in all, I still maintain that it's a very good 'first game attempt' and wish you good luck with your future games!

[Escape The Deep]

That magical vault door sure is a time-saver. ;)
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzFCKZ7WnoptaEs0c3YtYTZLVkU

selfdefiant responds:

lol, nice find!

[Team Kappas Epic Game]

With the foreword you wrote, I quite expected something awful, but actually it's not half bad.
Well… obviously, it's incomplete, consists just of platforms, water and doors with no other elements (e.g. enemies, collectable items, utilities like ladders, switches, trampolines…).

On the other hand, it seems you made sure that what *is* in the game, works fine. The movement is all right – no lagging or getting stuck (although the gravity maybe should be larger), you can't jump through left/right screen boundaries and when you jump though the upper one, there's even an arrow telling you where you currently are. There's a bunch of levels and the colour pattern changes every few few levels (by the way, water nor lava should hover in the air as it does in some levels). There's an end screen as well, so the game doesn't just end abruptly (although you can't return to menu from the last screen).

So in short, this could be a good game prototype, but not a finished game. Anyway, it looks like you know what the game is currently missing, so good luck if you decide to complete it one day. You're on the right track.

[Lost Path1.0]

Well... it's helpful to write the game's controls in the description, because rotating camera by holding right mouse button is rather cryptic and user unfriendly. And I couldn't figure out how to swing the sword, which should probably be the the most easily accessible command (if it's implemented already), e.g. left mouse click. Sometimes while going into the gaps between buildings, your movement animations can turn themselves off, so you just float around until you jump. The graphics are of course great, but you should perhaps alter the scale – now the main character is just as tall as a door (should be like ± ¾) or as a castle gate with a portcullis (which should be way bigger). The knight on the street doesn't have a collider, you can pass right through him. Also, since there are no shadows, the main character seems to "float" over the ground instead of walking. And assuming the transparent grid in the corner is supposed to be an inventory, part of it appears off screen (speaking of which, perhaps it'd be good idea to add a fullscreen switch).

If it's your short promo game, it can't just look good. It has to be fun to play, even if for a mere couple of minutes. Now, there's a pretty game, with cryptic camera control and bare minimum of interactivity. Anyway, I assume this isn't the final version, so good luck getting there, and good luck with your application.

[Toon Escape: Playground]

There's a bug which may be encountered right at the start of the game. The POP vending machine can be clicked repeatedly to spawn a lot of keys which fill your inventory space. They're invisible until you click them, and getting a key this way disables the description box. It's the same key you get by cutting the string, so the vending machine probably shouldn't be clickable at all.
http://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/c599f582834b28d677d2579a06e2dbe2
The bushes in front of the restrooms don't do anything upon being clicked and don't have a description either, but as far as I know, they cause no bugs.
Also, the "Credits" button on the ending screen doesn't work (unlike the one on the first screen).

Aside from that, the game was good, I think the colour puzzle was clever, and I like the fact the playground's fence had its own description explaining why can't you simply climb over. The bike bowl part seemed a bit weird though (it didn't look so deep you couldn't climb back without a bike), but nevermind. The medal works fine.

selfdefiant responds:

Thanks! Fixed the bug. :)