Thetageist's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[ZemmiPhobia]

Not bad! I like the Flash-back (get it) style with its characteristic campiness. I definitely feel like there's a little polish that needs to be done, though, or at least some clearer explanation of what certain things do. The things that weren't intuitive to me were the distance meter at the top, the presence of stalactites and stalagmites as obstacles when they looked more like background objects, the requirement of keeping your headlight going, and the fact that slowing down is detrimental (or at least I think it is - I'm not exactly sure how it affects things). I also feel like the large size of the obstacles and player with respect to the movements makes things somewhat harder to avoid. The stalactites also seem to do no harm if the player is jumping through them.

Other, more miner (hehe, get it) things include the text going off the sides of the "About" background, the fact that if you pause and play the audio in the options menu, the audio plays back panned to the left until you go back to the start screen, and the fact that the skull pile explosion animation seems to replay again in a different place in some situations(?)

Otherwise, I love the creepy-campy aesthetic and the setting/premise. The idea behind this is very fun, and I'd love to see where this goes from here.

[Wordly Defence]

I've played this twice and I think it struck a pretty good balance between having to juggle tower defense and word puzzles. The graphics as well are also effective in conveying the things you need to know in the gameplay, and have good use of minimalism. Overall, it's good fun!

I would agree with @elbruhmomento about it not having very much replay value if you play multiple games on the same day; however, I understand why that is, considering this was made in 48 hours and there are new daily levels being created every day. Maybe previous days' levels could be stored in a level select? The music also feels a little bit repetitive and annoying after a while, but that's my only nitpick at this point.

Edit: I JUST REALIZED THAT THE TYPES OF TURRETS YOU GET CORRESPOND TO THE LETTER COLORS IN YOUR WORD GUESSES! THAT'S SO GENIUS!

Edit 2: I like the way it telegraphs your defeat if you can't get the word right in time, just this stream of enemies that blow up the machine. That's funny.

[Perpendicular Monkey]

I definitely want to see more of this. I'd agree that there's a little bit of weirdness with the sound design (I particularly don't like the sudden "BONG" when you restart), and I also had a hard time understanding what the lasers were and what the move counter was on the left. The industrial/scientific/electronic aesthetic is interesting - makes me think the monkey's being tested, Portal style. I do really like the concept, though, and the gameplay seems pretty solid so far!

Biebras responds:

Thank you for your feedback, we added new levels!

[Vacuum Ball]

Academically, I know that there are many things that could be done better - a smoother difficulty curve and harder levels in general, more of an intuitive visual indicator as to why exactly you shouldn't be collecting cubes of other colors, looking over a couple oversights in level design and physics, the sorta superfluousness of buying different ball colors, etc.

That being said, is it fun? Yes. It feels like a dreamy and relaxing physics simulation, with easily-achievable objectives and progress, that's a lot of fun to mess with. I always enjoy making the objects in-game collide with one another and seeing what that does. This is the niche Nannings games have for me - if I'm looking for a game to relax with, these are the ones.

[FLUCTUOID]

I've gotten partway through the third level (sewage water level), and unfortunately I had to stop.

It's definitely an enjoyable game, with well-designed levels (at least as far as I've gotten), nice-looking graphics and good music, and overall a pretty good playability. However, I'd say that the game misses the mark somewhat with the intent to be a "laid-back" experience. The graphics and music definitely put it halfway there, but there are definitely ways in which the level design isn't forgiving enough to be calming. There are some points at which the collection of cubes, or even the restarting of a level stage (I suppose you could call the parts of each level "stages"?), is left up to a 50/50 guess as to which way to go. Likewise, there are also some points at which the player will be sent back to the beginning of the stage many times, due to imperfect timing with sequences of size changes and jumps to avoid hazards. I would say I'm one of the calmer gamers out there, but eventually I had to say that I'd played enough before it got annoying. I can imagine it would be even moreso for others.

Tiny detail as well: I kinda found the differences in graphics detail and style between the title screen/instructions screen and the actual game to be a bit jarring - I had been expecting a game that looked like the title screen and instructions screen. Considering that the initial room of the level select screen (with the light-up letters) and the player almost look like a stereotypical beginner platformer project in their design (not meant as an insult, it's just similar design trends), this might leave some players feeling like they've been given a bait-and-switch, and quit before they even start playing this interesting game.

That being said, I definitely had a good time playing this game, and I think it has a really well-thought-out concept behind it. There was nothing inherently game-breaking, and the fact that even the case of being stuck in a wall was accounted for by the developer impressed me! So I'd have to say that this was worth my time!

[Tankmas ADVENTure 2021]

Seeing the beautiful final product makes me wish I'd logged on every day. It would've been so cool to see the village slowly take shape day by day. There was just so much care and charm put into every little detail. So much interactivity, it warms my heart. Thanks for another great Tankmas advent!

Two glitches: The game froze on me while still playing music while I was switching between songs, I think because I clicked too fast or something. Also, after exiting and then re-entering the post office very quickly by accident, there is now an unmoving clone of me guarding the door. No problem, though.

[Spooky Bat]

(If anyone wants to compare notes, I'm using the mouse to control the game.) Getting stuck on walls did mess me up a couple times and can be frustrating for some, but I really love the concept and how intuitive it was to figure out how everything worked so far. Repetition of room layouts actually helped me make progress, since I already knew what to expect, but didn't make it too easy for there to be a challenge. It took me a bit to master the controls, but eventually I did get the hang of them. The enemy design made sense to me without there needing to be an explanation - ghosts only deal damage when visible, slimes crawl on walls but can always do damage, moving spikes disappear after the bat stops being able to hear them, and the thing that drips the toxic fluid hangs off of a ceiling. I also like the little progress trackers in the starting room - maybe it'd be even better if there were counters for how much stuff you'd done total as well, to make it feel a little more rewarding to replay? Otherwise, the game is an interesting idea, even if there's a couple bits that could be refined a little.

[Unstable Towers]

Hah, this was a lot of fun! It took me a while to get through all the achievements, but for me it was still enjoyable to keep on trying until I got there. Only tiny nitpick I have has to do with graphics and music - the music feels a little repetitive and the graphics feel more like an older Coolmath game than clean minimalism. That's entirely just my tastes, though, and it doesn't detract from the game at all. I also get that it was for a Ludum Dare, so I get why there may not have been time to do so. Overall I liked the experience, and I might come back if I've got a little time to waste.

[Plactions]

I haven't gotten the whole way through this game yet, but so far, the difficulty curve is really smooth, and I found myself easily mastering the system and how to make it work with the movement controls. It feels very intuitive and fun! Music's gotten better too, and the graphics look clean and well-done.

[Crystal Wizards]

This game has a pretty solid concept and system behind it. The wizards' dependency on one another is well thought-out, and the implementation of different features and capacity for more units as you level up makes sense. I do like the art and music as well, it works.

My biggest critique is that the wizards' AI isn't as intelligent as I had expected, and as a result I had to have a good number of certain types of mages (most importantly fire mages and druids) to keep me from having to either wait a long time for trees to grow or scramble to keep snails at bay. The closest thing I had to a flawless system was at the 15 units level, where I had 5 druids, 2 water mages, 6 fire mages, and 2 necromancers, and even then I had fire mages who would not recognize snails right in front of their faces and other mages who would just walk right in front of them and into the snail's path.

I also wish that there was a little bit more GUI, in terms of being able to see how much progress is being made through the game (xp, levels, crystal charge) and having the buttons at the bottom right (other than escape) explained. I was initially confused when I heard the charge-up sound but my units were full, considering it had sounded like I'd unlocked something but there was nothing for me to do before the level where snails were introduced.

Finally, I've got a couple tiny nitpicks. I think it'd be nice if you could tell apart the mages' powers by sound, since that would be a way to tell what's happening without having to glance around the screen. And secondly, it'd be nice if the snails were destroyed when the ending animation was triggered, rather than still generating. It made me feel bummed out to see my wizards helplessly dying to the snails while I was leaving.

Even with all that, though, I still loved the game and I still want to see where it goes from here. It does need a little bit of work to reach it's full potential, but overall it's really solid. This was a fun way to wind down after a long day - thank you for making this game!