Pogobeta's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Slipways]

As several people have already noted, it's not super intuitive to jump right in, so probably check out the linked guide. After a couple false starts, I had a solid run on the easiest difficulty.

I had a love-hate relationship with Stellaris back when it came out; I liked the exploration and building, but most of the combat and diplomacy stuff felt like it was getting in my way. The puzzle aspect of creating optimal routes in a finite amount of turns gives the game a lot of replayability.

Wishlisting the Steam version for sure (I like the look of it so far, but I would love to see an optional graphic setting where the game assets have the almost-minimal pixel charm of the pico8, but with the wider field of view and control)

[ISLANDER]

A nice distillation of the gather & upgrade loop.

I had hoped to complete all the sequential objectives, but unfortunately I encountered a bug. While I was waiting for rare materials to respawn for a sequential objective, and as I was getting close to gathering all the materials for the anvil's final recipe, I experienced a bug where attempting to either drop or deposit (in a chest) a 99-stack of coal simply created a copy of the stack without removing it from my inventory, so I started to get choked for space and had to hurry up and finish crafting that recipe. Continuing into New Game Plus did not resolve the coal problem, so I was unable to do much at that point.

I don't know if that recipe was actually the end goal, as there were some materials I never had occasion to use, but based on the patch notes I assume there's a significant portion of the game that I didn't get to experience.

I enjoyed what amount I was able to play, but I don't currently feel like replaying all of that just to see what I missed.

[Wilt: Exordium]

This review has more criticisms than praises.

I'm not trying to crap all over your game, which obviously has a lot of work put into it. I'm hoping my input can inform some game design choices in the main project you mentioned. Most of my grievances deal with the information presented to the player, and how level design can inform or confuse the player.

I quit after dying once at the first boss. If an enemy is going to cycle through the same pattern and has to be "killed" more than three times, it needs to have a health bar or else the player is going to question whether what they're doing is really working at all. I have no idea if this boss has to be re-killed five times or twenty, and I guess I'm not going to find out. It should either have a different pattern (speeding up isn't enough), a health bar, or change sprites each time you re-kill it to show that you're making progress. Or just die after 3 cycles.

"Is that water? Is it quicksand? Is it safe to go in there? I could just jump over it..."
Went down into the water, air bar hit zero before I got into the little breathing area, but nothing happened. I didn't bother to check if waiting around even longer would deal damage or kill me outright. I would make the air bar take away smaller chunks rather than 1/4 at a time. Seeing how far I still had to go with a little sliver of air really made me think it was designed to kill me until I could come back later with an air tank or increased lung capacity or something, but nope. Got to the breathing area, got the Melee Attack, and got out. And then I jumped over all the enemies because there's no known incentive to kill them, and because using the melee attack would require putting myself close enough to take damage. So I went out of the way to put myself in more perceived danger for a prize that I had no use for. Also noticed that this was the only water section in this part of the game.

At the first bridge section, I was able to physically jump up and touch the switch several times before I acquired the gun. Up to that point, all the game mechanics revolved around the platforming elements. I know shooting switches is a common mechanic in games, but it's more prominently-used with energy-based weapons. I'm sure a lot of people immediately got the gun and knew to shoot straight up at the switch, but since I tend to overanalyze to a fault, I didn't arrive at the logic of "shoot this manual override switch with a bullet" until I managed to jump up to the switch and press Down (and again with Space) and have nothing happen. Maybe make the ceiling high enough here that you can't even get your body close to the switch, especially when you put the switch up between two parallel walls in the same room where you get the ability to scale two parallel walls.

In the room where you get the grenades, I was so distracted by the box of grenades that once I got to the health station wayyyy up in the air, I didn't notice the exit path tucked away up there. This kind of misdirection is great when you want to hide the path that takes you to secret content, but since the exit is there, it could use more "level" on the right of the health station to indicate that there's a reason to travel to this side. I assumed (again, dangerous) that the grenades had something to do with the face boxes that were introduced before the grenades. of course that was not the case, and after leap-of-faith killing myself off the right of that screen, I explored around until I found that exit up top again.

I assumed it was intended to be at least a slight challenge to land on the platform to collect the grenades (it was, and it took me a couple tries) but it was less of a platforming challenge and more of a "fighting against the controls" challenge.

Dicked around with grenades trying to lob them up into the other bridge switch (which, again, is just low enough to suggest that one MIGHT be able to jump up there) and then made my way to the
boss.

I assume you're not going to edit and resubmit this, but I hope you'll take it into consideration for next time.

Asvegren responds:

If all 'negative' reviews were like this one I'd be very happy! The biggest reason for making this game was to make it a target for criticism which could then be applied to the bigger project which is in the pipeline. Your suggestions are very good and thoughtful. We will not be editing and resubmitting this one, but I am hoping that the changes I apply as a result of your suggestions will enable you to enjoy it more than this one. Thanks again!

[Hunt of HORROR]

It was really slow going the first time, but as somebody who really isn't into horror, I was pretty surprised at how many I recognized.

I assumed it would randomize the order every time because I noticed that there were some characters who weren't used the first playthrough, but then when I read that the image was made by somebody else, I understood that characters weren't added specifically with the intent of including them in a game.

I would have preferred to have the game enclosed within a border, since the screen autoscrolls with the cursor, and some of the targets are very close to the edge, and also the existing HUD elements cover up some of the characters (although none of the actual required targets seem to be covered up by them). An external border would allow for the various buttons and target list to be displayed, as well as time, score, found, fails, etc. without having to open the menu to check relatively trivial stats.

The menu wasn't explained very well in advance, so I didn't bother to look at it on my first playthrough. That being the case, I didn't know about the "skip to [x]" option until after I beat the game. Maybe add a splash screen after starting a new game, with a quick rundown of the contents.

Because the "win" screen doesn't close, when I actually DID open the menu after my first win, everything was covered up and there was no way for me to see what was on it. Maybe add the ability to close the win screen, or add buttons on it to specify your successful graves or to take you back to the main menu.

I really dislike the fact that when you unlock a new level, it skips ahead a bunch and you have to manually back up to get those targets. Even if I knew about the "skip to [x]" option, it wouldn't necessarily get me close enough to not have to click the arrows a bunch of times to get to a valid target.

I DID like how if you found a target and the next target was already checked off, it skipped you ahead to the next still-needed target. I wish it did that after #100 and looped around so I didn't have to do it manually as described above.

I had some issues with graves/medals in that I only had 3 left to collect today but in-game it said i still needed 5. I couldn't tell which other 2 I wasn't getting credit for because all the graves are identical and have no text explanations. Even without adding text to them, maybe you could add little horror-themed icons on each grave so that we can identify them in-game.

I had a hard time getting the "Cheat" medal. I tried all kinds of tab-tricks and right-clicking, but nothing paid off, so I ended up checking the walkthrough to see if it explained how to get the medal.

[Anti-Cast II]

It's nice to see what is essentially an escape game turned into something with a story. I didn't play the first part so I didn't really have any context. The puzzles were more interesting than what I'm accustomed to in this kind of game. It's usually just "click on everything until you find a key, keys keys keys more keys, and make sure you look at the clock because the time shown on it is actually the combination to the lock, etc."

This was very reminiscent of Myst in that regard.

The lighter action event was a little weird. I appreciate the work (and resulting variety) that went into adding it, and it made the story more interesting than just walking through a door, but since it was the only time-sensitive action "puzzle" in the whole game it felt out of place.

People who are having problems with the Book puzzle: I'm not going to spell it out for you but I'm going to give you a fat hint: There are 26 symbols in the book, and there are 26 letters in the alphabet. Are you ready? Here comes another hint: The symbols in the book aren't printed in alphabetical order.

To be fair, one of the planets isn't spelled the way most of us are used to spelling it, but it's still possible to solve the puzzle.

[Space Control]

I don't know if this is a graphic error or a code error or if it's completely intentional but just not explained, but I get a game over when none of the creatures has reached the bottom of the screen. The creatures occasionally shift to one side, but it doesn't appear to be deliberate like in Space Invaders, and they don't all do it.

Is there a limited number of missiles that can be fired? If so, that should be indicated on-screen. I noticed that you lose points if your missile doesn't hit anything, I assume that's in place to deter spamming (which is why I ask about limited numbers).

In playing, I hit each visible creature with missiles, so I don't know if maybe the visible sprite vanishes but the game thinks the creature is still there, gradually moving down? I dunno. It seems to take the same amount of time for a Game Over whether I shoot them all or just let them all come down.

If the game is meant to be timed, show a timer. If the game is meant to be "survive as long as you can before you run out of missiles" then show the remaining missiles. If the only limitation is your ability to hit the creatures, then there's a major bug that needs to be fixed. Maybe once you've polished it up a bit more, you could actually have all 3 of those modes to choose from: Survival, Timed, and Limited Ammo.

It's a good start, but even aside from the bug it feels very easy. Two things I would definitely change:
-Zoom way out. Make the creatures and the missiles take up less space on the screen, so it takes longer for the missile to get to the top.
-Second, but very closely-connected: Only so many missiles allowed on-screen at once. Think about a game like Mega Man where you could fire as fast as you wanted but you could only have 3 bullets going at once, and you had to wait for the first bullet to either hit the target or go off-screen before you could fire again. This adds a strategic element of prioritizing targets but also makes it more important to HIT your target, because if you miss, you're penalized by waiting longer, even if it feels like a very short period, every split second makes a difference once you're playing at a really hard level.

I would also recommend using all original art assets. The Space Invaders are iconic, but you should be adding your own flavor to everything. It would be nice if they were animated in some way as well (but that's getting nit-picky). Maybe a nice looping soundtrack that isn't too loud or obnoxious, as well.

dartosgamer responds:

I just caught that bug. Sorry about that but it should be all fixed now. There is no set number of missiles. There is no timer. But the spawn rate gets faster when you have a higher score.

Thanks for the input btw

[Vermillion]

A pleasant beater, though kind of short. It would be nice if after you beat the game you could go back to the map to replay levels. If I had known the final boss would disable that option I would've replayed some before beating the final level.

Combat is a little boring, since you can basically just hold down the attack button, or lure an enemy over, cast a spell, and then run away to recharge, since you're faster than the enemies and you're never really in danger of being overrun. It's uncertain at first whether you're successfully damaging the enemies. I'm not saying I need an enemy health bar for regular enemies, but maybe making them flash a bit on impact or something. A visual cue to let you know that whatever you're doing is working. I never touched a thorn bush, or a tentacle (except during the boss fight), or a spike trap, so I assume they cause damage, but they were too easy to avoid so I didn't bother finding out.

It's definitely a little frustrating having to choose a skill again every time you enter a new screen. It would be nice if it "remembered" each time you advance within a stage. Even if you have to re-assign when you exit to the world map.

I just happened to complete the objective from some of the secret medals, but by sheer dumb luck. I noticed at one point a pink cupcake thing that I was unable to reach, so I hope that wasn't related to any medals.

It's nice how each skill has a strategic use, but it would also be cool if certain enemies had just one weakness and you had to use the right skill to beat them, or at least your normal attack would take a long time to chip away at them.

It's really a shame to add a game mechanic but then only use it once and throw it away.

The front door of the tower was a little confusing because I didn't realize how I was supposed to open it. It's the only door I remember opening in that manner. Speaking of doors, I would take out the part in the backgrounds where you see the doorway to the previous area. I understand that it helps for continuity but it also kind of implies that you should be able to go back the way you came (Unless you add the ability to go back the way you came).

The portal crystals room really bothered me for a couple reasons. First, the spike traps are completely avoidable. You could try making them span the entire height of the room, so you HAVE to cross them, but make them run on different timers or something. The crystals themselves were confusing because it wasn't made obvious that every crystal had access to every color. Since there was only one portal, ever, there's no reason to make the crystals cycle through several different colors, just "on" and "off". One principle of great game design is teaching the player how to do something without actually telling them. For the portal crystals, I would first have a room with nothing but a portal and a single crystal, which only needs 1 more hit to get the right color, so the player has no choice but to see how the crystals affect portals. Then in another room, have an unreachable crystal with the right color, and then a reachable crystal with the wrong color, to show the player that all available crystals have to be right to work the portal. Then in subsequent rooms, either make different color choices make portals to different rooms, or make a room where the portal is already open and you need to get PAST it rather than use it, so you have to find crystals to turn it off, etc. You could really make the whole tower stage make good use of them.

It probably sounds like I'm crapping all over the game, but I did enjoy it for what it was, and I'd like to see it improved and even expanded. For all the art assets that obviously went into the game, it'd be nice for some of the enemies to be reused in later levels, or just to make each stage consist of more screens so the enemies occur more often. I think there was a flaming skeleton or something (?) in the area with the tower door. Was that the only one in the whole game? Usually only bosses are completely unique.

Anyway, good job guys, it was fun.

rhys510 responds:

Thanks for giving me the idea of replaying the levels - im most likely going to add that in my next games. as to the enemies getting hit, i thought the little slash animation and noise worked rlly well to give you the impression of the enemies getting hit. For medals, eastereggs and other related things, there will be a walkthrough coming out :) . Great idea on the enemies only being hit by a sertain skill but i did think of that but instead of using that i made it so at atleased one point you do actually need to use the healing skill.

- thanks for dropping this comment - it has alot of usefull info i could use for later projects :P