squidly's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Convergence]

This game has a strong aesthetic that I dig. I'm not as fond of the writing, the ending theme feels rather forced, and there just feels like there's no place for the story to breathe.

Speaking of no place to breathe, though I enjoy the idea of a cramped space, I think doing so in this game came at the expense of platforming. I feel like Coyote Time could've eased a lot of frustrations and maybe making the ceiling just a bit higher. When designing a game, it's important to work around the flaws of your coding, this game seemed to emphasize it.

Overall good effort on a good aesthetic, the ending with the big clash was fun, I kind of just wish there was more of that and less of what the rest of the game was.

VascoF responds:

Thanks for the helpful review.

I didn't mean for the game to be frustrating, but since I didn't get anyone to playtest (will try to do that next time), I really didn't realize that some of the challenges could be too unforgiving. I will definitely add Coyote Time in an update, and make some tweaks to the level design.

I'm glad you liked the aesthetic, especially since I don't have much experience with art :D

[Reboot Resume Restore]

This is an excellent little puzzle game with a great use of theme. I do need to comment on the performance, as turning it off made the game so bland, but turning it on made it unplayable. If you haven't already, check out HxScout, I guarentee the problem is a lot simpler than it seems as to why this game runs so poorly. I know for a fact Haxe can handle these effects no problem, but minor details in *how* they're done can be taxing on the system.

I think this game really sells this concept of mutual loneliness, and I love how the music really ties it together. Good work overall.

HartfordGames responds:

Thanks.

[Decryption: A Free Online MMO]

Really good use of theme. The writer shows a good talent for narrative design with how things are placed, I especially like how things are presented out of order to reveal the whole story as time goes on. Ending was a bit abrupt and sorta felt like a glitch. Otherwise, this is VERY atmospheric and very well done. It brings me back to a feeling I thought I left behind in my old MMO days and it's just heartcrushingly good at what it does.

On a technical level, I like how this game did a lot with Flixel's out of the box tools. Very liberal use of FlxTrail and done exceptionally well when it's used, this is the sort of stuff I like to see where you take some pretty straightforward art and move it up a notch with effective use of default Flixel FX.

ninjamuffin99 responds:

thanku very much appreciate u squidly

[Quarantine]

An interesting little game. Well written and suspenseful. I can't really say too much, personally, as it's not a finished game. I do wish there was more in the way of meaningful interactivity and the minigame could use more of Flixel's effects to really give it some punch.

GabeMalk responds:

Thank you for the feedback!
Yeah, the minigame is quite unfinished, there's a lot to add. Hope you'll come back to play and review the full release once it's done!

[Heartship]

I think this game has some good ideas and is overall fun. What bothers me is just how uneven the difficulty level is between maps with a generator and maps without one, and I think it's mostly due to an unrealized idea - that the walking half should be the focus of enemies. I feel like in most cases he is, with the skulls and lasers targeting him, however, bats don't. So you have a case where the bats just beeline right for the guy with the gun who's hard to maneuver while also trying to get him on the generator, once the invincible bats are in the switch's area, it's hard to take it down. Additionally, I feel this game could've used more in the way of color contrast. It's a bit hard to see the snakes specifically as they're so dark against a dark background and move very fast with a short profile. Having them assume the more classic "snail crawl" position of video game snakes and be a brighter green would've done a lot for that.

Overall, creative idea and mostly good execution. Would've loved to see more of a use of Flixel's FX tools of course but not bad at all. Well done!

HealliesGames responds:

Yes, the idea was to make the walking part the target of the enemies. The only enemy that follows the guy with the gun is the bat, because I feared if the distance between the two sides was too far, it wouldn't have been possible to reach it with bullets.
However with two targets, it becomes even more difficult to manage enemies.
And considering that a part can walk, it is possible to get closer.

Thank you for making me think about this and for the feedback, squidly.

[INTO THE ABYSS v1.1]

A little too linear to justify metroidvania but it's decent, why are there holes I can cross over, though? And why can't I reset after dying using the keys? Why do I have to switch to mouse controls?

gamesbynoe responds:

To cross over the big holes you need to find double jump ability. Thank you.

[Ario Old]

Dammit, I wish you could've kept the old graphics - they were fantastic.

I like how Ario moved, and it was a lot less glitchy.

Well, that's life.

ArioOld responds:

Hello squidly

It was really too bad the original game have not been approved, we were very sad about it, but as you said, "that's life."

Thanks for playing!

[It Came From Outer Space]

What possibly possessed you to use such an awful control scheme?

Anyhow, work on your logo too, that look play listen thing was annoying as all hell. If you want to brand, well, you've already got your users bothered.

As for the game itself, well, when I could play it, it was awfully underwhelming. With bullet shooters you want to be quick, tense, this was just... slow and not all that interesting.

Really well done sprite work, though.

RaveRadbury responds:

We agonized over the control scheme for a while, and we thought this one would work best. Apparently not.

It's not a logo, we're not a brand. It was just something we did for fun and atmosphere. The audio was going for an Earthbound quirky feel. Sorry to hear that you found it annoying.

In response to the awful control scheme we've added a menu option to change the layout to whatever you want.

I don't know what to say in regards to the pacing. It sounds like your browser may have been having some trouble, you may want to try playing it in a different one. Aside from that, if you're attacking the boss, you should eventually finding the game's environment getting faster and more intense.

I hope that you can give it another try and have a much better time than you did the first time.

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts and provide us with feedback.

[PKMN WoC: Stadium]

For such a great game, why did you skimp on the details?

The UI looks... geeze, that Tournament Chart. It honestly looks like you had too much fun with MSPaint, white background, squares moving around... And the crowd?

See, the problem is that the actual battle system is fantastic - definitely one of the prettier Pokemon Games out there, and recalls Stadium.

If only, IF ONLY, you put more effort into making the REST of the game more acceptable.

teejay-number13 responds:

As I said in the description, some parts of the game were a bit unpolished because I didn't want to spend all summer on it. And what's wrong with the competitors portraits moving around to show the progression through the tournament? As far as the audience, I really did try to find a good image to use, but that was the best I could find.

The rest of the game IS acceptable, but it may not be perfect.

[Hanoka]

That was not exactly soothing, getting more shakrams for... murdering centipede fish demon things.

Here's the thing: Once you get the three arrows, things get really easy. And you can totally grind for it too.

Anyhow, creative idea, great art style, a bit flawed of an execution. Was a breath of fresh air in the shooter genre.

Guy-Unger responds:

It's a bit of a mix of differentEastern philosophies, but the theory behind the game makes sense. If you read the intro, you are told that those spirits are materialzition of your emotitons. You meight think just ignoring them takes care of it, but it piles up. in this game it leads to giving you nightmares, making the ground unfertile. In the acctual phylosophy you have to overcome your fears and other emotions instead of letting them stay and pile up in your body in order to open up your chakras. which can make you more "powerfull". thats what you do here but in a bit different form.