Thetageist's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Ǝnasona]

Calling it "Enasona", I was expecting a bit of affectionate fun-poking at the fan characters that get made by the community. But this is great too. I can tell there was actually some effort put into this, short though it may be.

Edit: The suspense! :3
Edit 2: WAIT. It’s called “Enasona” because it’s like Persona, not because of the fan characters. I’m smart now.

FrazzaJazz responds:

I really wanted to call it “PersENA”

[SELF]

Hey! I just finished this game on Coolmath and did a quick search, and I'm so happy to see that it's here where I can reach out and give it some love! I found this game difficult to master, but interesting and well-made enough that I kept coming back to play and advance further through it. I love the game mechanics implemented here, they played with the concept very well. The music and aesthetic really give the game's themes tangibility in a way that more dialogue couldn't have done.

Endless mode is interesting - once again, difficult to master, but easy to understand the concept behind it.

I'd be interested in seeing this become a full game - I don't have the means to donate, so I'll just try my best to spread the word around!

[ONE BTN BOSSES]

New bug reports: I can’t get myself logged into the game to get the medals. I’m using Brave (offshoot of Chrome) on a newer iPhone. I’m also sometimes seeing a glitchy shape around the edges of the sprite images (as in, in the blank space around the shape).
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Old review:

This is tough but fun! It definitely takes me quite a while to be able to master the patterns and controls of each level, but I can still feel a sense of progress as I learn what I need to be doing in sync with the patterns of each boss. The concepts in both gameplay and aesthetic are very well-executed, and they are worth coming back for again and again to keep trying the levels!

[Pink Firefly]

Just as @FUNKbrs said, the gameplay is really solid and intuitive. The graphics and enemy design are likewise intuitive and give visual cues that make sense for the game. I'd love to see where all this goes from here!

[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.