Thetageist's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[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!

[STOP and MOVE]

I unearthed a glitch while I was playing the game. Sometimes, the movement scheme is reversed, and the movement will be stopped unless you hold down the mouse, rather than holding down the mouse to stop the movement. This is generally triggered by switching tabs, and is not fixed with new levels or resetting a level, but is fixed if the player dies.

I'll return to this review at a later date to assess the rest of the game.

[Neon Amazing Dasher]

Playing this game initially, I had a feeling of "I don't know what I'm doing, and when I do know what I'm doing, I can't do it." The "I don't know what I'm doing" factor came from not thinking I had any kind of idea what the level looked like or where the other signs were. Up until I read the reviews, I thought that the arrow by the player character indicated where I would go if I dashed, rather than where the closest sign was. The "I can't do it" factor came from the difficulty curve of the level, as very soon in the level, the game requires complex movement combinations such as running jump + dash + a lot of wall jumping in order to proceed.

After pausing the game to look through the reviews and take a breather, I went back to playing. Now that I'd gotten the hang of how the game worked, including the arrow, it was easier to figure out how to complete the objectives. Hence, it wasn't as much a matter of the levels being difficult as it was the game leaving me in the dark about most of how it worked, leaving me to flounder a lot. (Although I agree with @DyrusDB, wall jump does need to be more powerful.)

I'm leaving this here for players who need help: One thing that the game doesn't explain and I didn't see in the reviews, that I had to find out myself, is that if you're running, you will jump higher than if you jump from standing still. This is of the utmost importance in a few places in the map, one of them being getting back on top of the ramp at the very bottom after you've gone to the right of it to repair a sign. You won't be able to jump high enough to get over the ledge unless you use a running jump.

Overall, I wish the game had less of a difficulty spike at the beginning, and spent a bit of effort showing the player how it worked before throwing them in front of a complex challenge. The graphics are really cool, although I once again agree with @DyrusDB that there needs to be more detail to give the player an idea of how far they're going. The music is cool, albeit a little annoying when the game itself is already getting frustrating. I also have a tiny nitpick - it says "rollerblade" in the description and the sprite has roller skates, but the movement doesn't feel like skating, so maybe that detail should be taken out. This is a really cool idea, and I hope to see it given a bit more development.

[Monitor Maze]

Wow, this is a really cool take on the swapping areas mechanic. It provides a good blend between strategizing with your swaps to get the keys and having to react and move quickly to take out approaching enemies. The graphics and effects are cool and they make the game intuitive to play. Only thing I'd say is the music's a little bit too in your face for my tastes, but that's more personal preference and the sound design is otherwise amazing.

[Cats n Wires]

Man, I can never get enough of good, relaxing minimalist puzzle games like this. Very well made - the gameplay is unique, the levels are intuitive and have a nice difficulty curve, the graphics are designed well, and even the sound design is great, with subtle music and that cute little 8-bit "mraa!" when you rescue a cat. I love it and would love to see more content with this same concept, be it more levels, a sequel game, or something else.

[Jumphase]

Despite being stuck on level 16, I'm actually really enjoying this game! One thing I've noticed that I like is that up until this point, I haven't been stuck anywhere, and there have only been a couple situations I couldn't get myself out of before needing to hit the reset button. These levels have been really fun, I enjoyed bouncing around and phasing through things, and as always, the interface is pretty intuitive (with the one exception of the plus and minus signs, which I wasn't sure what they did until I used them). Nice work!

[Pink]

Huzzah, another excellent Bonte game! This one was easier than the others, or maybe I've just gotten better, but I still had a good time playing it and enjoyed learning the logic behind each level. The music is cool, the minimalist aesthetic is still slick, and I love the new kinds of puzzles that were introduced in the game! Really nice job!