ManiacYKT's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[CrossCode]

When I clicked this I had thoughts like "Oh boy, here comes YET ANOTHER RETRO-STYLE INDIE-GAME".
Well, after somewhat sketchy intro (typical pseudo-mysterious Japanese girl and her DYING brother that worked ON SOMETHING BIG and then dying in her arms, oh boy we're hitting all the anime-clichés here!) I was ready to brush it off but decided to sit through it. And, well, yeah.

I'll admit, you got me hooked. Sound, music, gameplay mechanics, control, game design, GUI design, color palette, ANIMATION. Yes, you glorious bastards, it's totally superb! Goddammit, you made me wanting to find out what will happen next! I'll have to follow you now, ain't I? Well, one thing for certain, I will buy your game so you've got that part right it seems, huh?
One thing I didn't like as much is your drawing style of in-game portraits - they seem like they aren't sure whether to be anime or something like Flintstones American cartoons, but that's really subjective matter so that didn't influenced the score.
Overall, I'd give it a 4.5 out of 5 because reasons below.

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First of all, I don't even like indie-games anymore because everyone and their dog are jumping on that band-wagon nowadays in hopes of easy profit under current trend. Also, overuse of retro-appeal to the 80-90s kids via 8-16bit graphics is way overdone. (Just for the record, I'm almost 25 y/o, hell, I have a very fond memories of the NES/Sega period) I mean, sure I understand that not everyone can handle something like Cry engine, let alone afford it's usage but still... But on the other hand I do get why indie-devs are using retro-style graphics, it's very easy to mess up 3D and it's way more difficult to make it look and move (good animation is one of the key aspect to the picture, ya know?) GOOD. In that way retro-bit graphic is way more easier and, uhh, a sure-fire way to get initial audience with nostalgic crowd. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I dislike your game because of that or anything or even blame you on attempt to milk on the current trend, I just feel that it could've been an even better experience with more advanced graphics BUT I DO REALIZE that's very expensive and very difficult to do properly and with same level of quality so I guess there's that.

TL;DR
I dislike retro-graphics because I think that they belong to the now gone era.

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Желаю разработчикам успешно завершить игру и что-бы у них всё получилось так как они хотят. :)

RadicalFishGames responds:

Hey, wow thanks for the feedback!

I can totally understand you opinion on 2D games :) We just love this SNES-like graphic style and we knew from the beginning we had to use <3

[Road of the Dead 2]

A whole bunch of improvement over first one but I found one very annoying bug.
I got to the moment when Sherman talks about falling back to the river and making a stand. And all the time when I get into 500-700 meters till next checkpoint an invicible zombie jumps on the hood, and no matter how many shots I unload it will not die.

Evil-Dog responds:

I'll be checking that bug, sorry about that

[Duty Hill 2]

At first I thought that this is not good. But then I realized: I judged it as a big game. That is how much I was immersed into it.

This small game delivers fast-paced, dynamic shootout Crimsonland-style(not Contra) with easy, intuitive game controls and gameplay. Addicting as hell, too!
Every detail is working as it should, and nothing stands in the way of non-stop bullet hell fun.
This game also provides nice difficulty curve, with later levels becoming erratic with gun-fire and enemies coming from every direction, but this only adds to overall level of fun, thanks to frustration-preventing mechanic of respawn. That way even if you die in a tight spot you can continue your carnage few seconds after, provided your supply cache isn't destroyed.

Sound is pretty default, but good, as well as music that gives good tempo for gameplay.
Graphic sprites ripped out from Counter-Strike: Source looks good as well.

A few let-downs though: I honestly don't see any reason to level up anything other than your default AR, until you level cap it. Other stats are completely unrequired to keep up with enemies until you get bored after few hours.
Level up sound makes a dissonance with other sounds.

To sum it all up: a great time-killer.

[the skullkid]

Sorry, but I don't get how this got to the front page.
Everything is mediocre at best - pacing too slow, actions too slow, overall it's boring and not worthy of wasting time.
While I do remember that there was a game with skullkid a long time ago, I vaguely remember it WAY LOT better than this. The way this flash is made does not invokes any kind of nostalgia, only irritation and frustration.
Sorry, but this is crap. IMO

[Pandemic: American Swine]

I was trying to destroy USA but then I suddenly won by nuking major infection sources... Wut?
Make a sequel already FFS.

[Katawa Shoujo Lite]

When I started this game I expected feels but... Castlevania? Damn, this is awesome, but man is it hard

[Madness: Will It Slice?]

Concept is totally awesome, like Metal Gear Rising initial, "Cut everything at will"
But execution is... Well, it leaves bad after-taste. Laser don't cut through, no headshots, etc, etc. Probably you know this already.
I give you 4 stars for concept alone. I surely hope the full game will be MUCH better than this... Umm, demonstration.

[Swords and Potions]

Not so great but with good core idea. I'd given you 3.5 but there's already a better game in this genre: Recettear. You should play it and see what can you take from it to improve.

[Madness: Project Nexus (Classic)]

This game have that feel, like you actually watching a Madness episode but this time, you are in control. That's really cool.
Gunplay is very satisfying and weapon choice is just awesome.
On the downside arena mode becomes very boring with M249 and\or lots of henchmen. Too easy. You can spray bullets all over the place with SAW and when everybody dies you'll still have lots of ammo.
And you buy more than 1 helper and outfit them you can click start and go drink your tea - teammates will do everything for you.

Overall: Best Madness game of all.

[SAS: Zombie Assault 3]

Much better than first but still can be improved

No quality control - game feels laggy sometimes on a average machines, especially annoying when you are in a tight spot where each second counts.

No in-game communication - sometimes you want to tell your squadmates to stop wankering around and follow your lead, help you out, etc. But alas, nothing in-game included. Team Speak helps when I'm playing with my friends but what about when playing with random guys\girls?

Transactions - In a free game? And even more, without them you're at disadvantage? HELL NO.

Minor bugs - getting stuck in a wall, controls getting stuck(keep walking forward even when released), well guys before me said it already.

~~~

Online - Big YES. That is good. Really good.
Gameplay - Satisfying. Can't really tell how to make it better than it is now.
Graphics - Top down view doesn't really give you much to work with i guess. Zeds looks fine and go into nice looking gory splashes. It's fine, i think.

~~~

Overall: Very satisfying to play. Has good action that keeps you from leaving. Online coop which is always good. Has number of bugs but even though they can be really annoying sometimes they can't keep you from getting TONS of fun. 7/10, only because of bugs and NEEDZ OF MONEEH