Ralix's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[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.

[Escape The Deep]

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

selfdefiant responds:

lol, nice find!

[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. :)

[Lost Escape Castle]

I faced the same problems as the other two reviewers. Couldn't find the box with the letter lock (and ended up with scanning each screen waiting for the cursor to change) and I had to watch the walkthrough to figure out Gilroy – if it's meant to represent the WW2 drawing as Stefanielouise says, then I believe it's spelt "Kilroy". No medal here either – the "medal unlocked" popup shows up, but the medal doesn't get unlocked.

I often wonder how certain tasks in your games can somehow produce a key out of a nowhere. Tasks like watering a plant. Feeding a squirrel. Or putting three pearls on a bracelet. That's the kind of thing which drags down the quality of your games towards the generic escape games the portal is filled with. Your games aren't just few screens cluttered with out-of-place clues and puzzles; they're better! At the very least, you are consistent and loyal to your setting. So why always not to logic?

This is one of your shorter games, no need to nitpick further, but what I appreciate here though, is the explanation in the beginning (exploring & twisted ankle & no cellphone sounds definitely better than "you woke up in an abandoned house and the door is locked.") Also, thanks for getting rid of the redirect in the end.

selfdefiant responds:

Thanks! I don't know about the logic. I try to stay as real as possible. I guess you are right about a necklace giving a key. I will come up with some more realistic ideas. It was just a word I came up with, no intention other than that was meant. Thanks again.

[Scary Maze]

It could have been better. In comparison with the original Scary Maze game, this one falls a bit short, because:
– You use arrow keys instead of mouse. Therefore it's not hard to follow a straight line, you don't need to be careful.
– There's no penalty for bumping into a wall, so you don't even need to be precise.
– In the original game, there was only one jumpscare at the very end when you needed to be really focused and probably close to the screen as well. Here the jumpscares are triggered at specific intervals, thus the first one will scare you, the second one might scare you, but the others are just annoying because you already expect them.

Also, the movement speed ought to be a little faster and the graphics is quite plain. But at least you were pretty creative with the jumpscares; there's a big variety of them, so it doesn't feel like you are being shown the same picture over and over. One problem here, I think the collision detection gets turned off while they're being shown, and you are able to pass through walls if you keep holding an arrow key.

Creativity2005Team responds:

I used Scratch to make it so it's not really possible to fix the collision bug when a jump scare pops up. I can improve the game I know it's long and a little boring. I will add more jump scares just because. This is my version of the scary maze game. Hopefully I will get to that.

[Kitty Cat Adventure: Block Breaker Edition]

Looking at your games, I think I recognise where they come from. :)
It's great to learn with a tutorial – but try to make the end result different. That's the point actually. You want to learn to create your own games, not to make something hundreds of others have done before. This is the result of a course section, but you made very few alterations (in all of your games actually). Ideally, after completing a course, you should look at the game and say: "I have the basic gameplay now, what could I add/change to make it a better game? To make it my own game? A *complete* game?".
There's plenty of things you could do. New kinds of bricks, more lives (!), powerups, score, different art etc. Be creative.

Tutorials are designed to teach you stuff a broad audience can put to use, so the end result is always kind of bland, short, core gameplay with little to no original elements. Even if other people don't recognise it's from a tutorial, they'll see your game is "good enough"; in other words "average", thus "3 stars".
If you want to be a game developer, especially indie, you need to sprinkle the game with something fresh, new, intriguing to captivate the players – which really just comes down to "your own ideas".

Just some advice. The games can be a good base… you simply need to incorporate more aspects you could call your own in them. Good luck in further learning.

EthanBusse responds:

I totally get and agree with you! I've been off the development path with school and work, but I've started making games without using tutorials / Udemy. :) So once I have some time off school, I'll finish the small original stuff!

Totally appreciate the support! Thanks!