JamesTDG's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Nutbuster (✨THE CANCELLED UPDATE ✨)]

Seems like a nice game, but the tutorial seems a bit bugged right now. Also I am dumbfounded by the lack of WASD controls...

E: so, during the tutorial, for some odd reason it does not react when I hit the boost key, preventing me from completing it half of the time, I think it is something to do with how the dummies trap me, as I can't move as well if I am stuck in this part of the tutorial.

ChalTheChalkyOne responds:

Would you care message me the tutorial bug? I NEED to know what the problem is so i can fix it later

[Hello User]

Would be nice if there was a NG achievement for getting all icons (and/or pop-ups)

CaperCube responds:

not a bad idea, hmmm....

[Feedwater]

Edit: IMPORTANT! The following review covers an incredibly outdated version of the game and does not reflect the current state of the game.

The gameplay is alright, but the lack of checkpoints just ruins the main game for me, screwing up ONE puzzle will put me back to the beginning of Feedwater, and I don't like that at all. As for graphics, they are pretty meh and don't fit together well, perhaps hire a pixel artist to work on making visual assets? (For example, the balls could take advantage of a scrolling texture to properly imitate rolling in a 2D environment)

Edit: Okay, so I am going to be documenting some puzzles in Feedwater that are too difficult to clear:
Bottom left: Arrows are clumped together far too closely to be capable of dodging them, I also cannot document the path I should take to complete this puzzle.
Left: Requires an absurd level of timing to fire 2 groups of arrows at once JUST to clear BOTH walls
Top left: Is actually the only puzzle I can beat here, however boulder recovery is impossible so if I slip up, I have to deal with it. Also failing to time this puzzle adequately is far too punishing for the player, perhaps switch this to a mounted crossbow section?

For all puzzles, PLEASE add checkpoints when I successfully open a door on the right. I could screw up ONE section and have to redo SEVERAL puzzles just to regain progress. Other puzzle games don't punish players for screw-ups by throwing them back to the beginning, this WILL harm the popularity of your game, even in this demo.

JamesBrill responds:

EDIT: I've published a version with checkpoints in the "Feedwater" level.

Thanks for the review and valuable feedback! The game does have checkpoints, including Feedwater, but admittedly that level can seem punishing when going straight from the tutorials. I will eventually be adding more levels to build up to it so the player is more prepared when reaching that level. Currently, the game throws you right in at the deep end without any learning curve.

You're right about the art - they are placeholder assets intended to serve the prototype only. I'm gradually replacing them with something more polished. Watch this space - the game will become much more refined over time! :)

[Crop++]

Highscore: 5420
NEW High score: 50370
It is a quaint little game, but the sheer stupidity of the sheep AI really makes it difficult to work with it. I lost just because there were too many flowers growing and all of my sheep clustering to a small section of the land

Edit: I would then recommend leaving some sort of preview of the 2x2 area the sheep would cover before placing them down, just to not allow any errors to happen

TheShelfman responds:

Wow that's a great highscore!
Thanks for playing. What isn't clear (but will be in an update coming very soon) is that the sheep only cover a 2x2 area, so they aren't too OP. Hope that clears things up haha

[Miocraft Next]

The controls are too painful to work with, I would rather have my cursor locked here. Also the UI clips into the terrain, you might want to dig up how to fix that in your engine

gsxr1100 responds:

Thanks for the report, now I have added the lock pointer option in-game

[Dashosaur]

I would have left a higher rating, but the random generation of falling rocks leads to situations where most of the time it's impossible to complete the level. Fixes could include predefined paths for said rocks or making the dino not as wide.

E: thanks for making sure to work on updating that, I would also recommend some sort of predetermined warning for em as well, like a shadow or a blatant !

SleepinPanda responds:

Collision box of rocks are probably way too large. I didn't think of it, but reducing it by half may help drastically! I'll give this a try and see what I can do more.
I didn't think about it but yeah I could use predefined paths and areas where falling rocks are less random and more predictable.
Thanks for leaving your feedback! It helps a lot!

[Cards with Personalities Classic]

This is actually a pretty fun game, as long as you try to learn it. Reading the guide in it is HEAVILY recommended. Would be nice if there was an optional tutorial fight...

Edit: Found a bug when attempting to fight Earl Dracula after beating the final boss, it disallows me to do any moves other than end turn. Would HEAVILY recommend fixing this bug...

Elastiskalinjen responds:

Thanks! Unfortunately I can't find a way to fix that bug, it was created after heavy refactoring to save tokens (the engine has a strict limit of how much code you can write).

[International PixelArt Gallery 2022]

Nice, hopefully, next year we will get a Cascadia section... (Mostly so I can participate since I don't want to be associated with the US)

JamesChapp responds:

you can participate. Send me an email to [e-mail]

you can create your own countrie if you want. =)

[Fire]

Pretty nice game, just wish saving was easier and that I could transfer my save between here and the itch version. Also, the rogue needs some serious nerfing, every quest is far too easy

Edit: 1 replay later, the rogue still remains too OP. I think it has to be smth to do with the fact that she can strike first, thus making high dmg builds pretty much mandatory.

ErikSwahn responds:

I will see what I can do about the saving, as for the rogue i will probably make other classes better :)