d00mFish's Reviews

[Raw Latex]

Episode 2 when?

[Guards]

Loved it. So... are you the strong smart handsome smart guy or the weaker stupider uglyier guy?
Because I liked the strong smart handsome guy and I'd miss him in future episodes. :(

DarqV responds:

Of COURSE I'm the strong, smart, handsome (fat) one. I definitely want to do the different eras thing, but there's no reason these guys couldn't show up again!

[Free Halloween]

I.. I need to get me a job. Fuck study. Study doesn't get me fancy costumes!
(It made me smile, if it had made me laugh out loud you'd get 5 stars. So only 4.5 stars for you, I play hard to get.)

[Nelly]

Hum, did play it until the part were you get the second ability.
Meh. The problem with your game is it's just not fun.
I guess there's some atmosphere in there, but it does feel incoherent.
There's dead cats, goofy trees, weird beaver-hedgehog creatures and gloomy dreamy backgrounds.
So you got scary, funny, absurd and dream-like parts to your setting....
You really need to decide where you're going with your artstyle.

Then there's the gameplay. I think you wanted to make the game interesting by the style/atmosphere and while that can work well, it doesn't mean you can just make the rest some generic uninspired platformer. I didn't feel like playing, I felt like I was pressing buttons when the game told me to. Please don't leave the player out of the gaming experience!
Think about where you want to go with the gameplay.
Do you want me to watch your setting and get lost in it? Very well, then don't make me jump over spikes with perfect timing (there was that one time I had to try three times, because I didn't figure out the jump range yet, pressed too late once and then didn't give a f*ck anymore). Make me THINK. The game is hardly about skill right?
I didn't have to think tho, I just pressed A whenever I felt like it and then I found out you even made a sound appear as soon as I should press A. Holy smokes! What do I get to do?!
I couldn't relate to the character I was playing at all. She makes the impression of being a doll.
Hardly any reactions to her surroundings or the plot.
"Oh I fell down a pit. Well, guess I gonna get up."
"I was chasing that butterfly, now there's more of them. Well, couldn't care less."
Instead I get a stupid achievement? Because I presseed a freaking button when I stood next to a glowing flower? Really?!
In the end your game got some neat imagery to offer, but the player gets constantly hindered by annoying and/or press-button-to-continue gameplay.

To leave on a good note: the soundtrack was indeed very nice.

DeqafStudio responds:

Very Thanks!

[Brave Kings: Players Pack]

Neat!

While (ofc) the genre is getting a bit old, the physics felt really nice, maybe unintentionally, but I believe some quirks offered a few new attempts to trash the place to pieces.
Most importantly: I had a lot of fun. For about half an hour? I didn't count (who does that when you're having fun?). Too short. Please deliver a sequel soon.
(I just saw you linked to others.. gonna try them out, but still...)
What I liked best were the arrows. Their ability to break wood into halfes and hit through it was awesome. Nothing like hitting the head through a thick balk of wood. Awesome! You should have put that into the game more. I also don't think you ever used that mechanic in level design to maybe create two levers from a single balk.
Make the game more complex! Arrows could have a general ability to hit through things maybe. The three arrows weren't needed imo.
What else? You need to incorporate high shots in your level design. The ones that form arches (arcs) in order to hit behind something high. That's a lot of fun too.
Impact through falling from huge heights?
I'd say you should spend some time thinking on what else there is to object interaction that simply hitting things. Create complexity from that and you get a very fresh and fun new game which still roots in this genre.
You could do some work on the characters, too. Create unique ones, make them look funny and let them have more (maybe exaggerated) expressions. I really liked the ones you have here, though.