Great idea, and great execution. Could of course use some polish and better graphics - ideal would be some way to share your levels.
Of course, here on Newgrounds we can use reviews, so that's kind of solves it.
One suggestion I'd have would be to add screen-clearing bombs, perhaps 1 per stage.
For the next versionss, I've planned a new function for saving and loading levels made in the editor. That's why there is free space around the editor button in the menu. Sharing levels could be another option, if only I know how to do this in javascript.
I also had another idea: bullets that turn into power-up items, such as an attack bonus, a healing item, or a screen-clearing bomb.
I don't get the main gameplay loop. When you have a sword, do you just... walk up to an enemy and mash a button? I strongly recommend you play some good beatemups like Devil May Cry, Batman Arkham City or God of War so you can learn how to design interesting melee combat. Interesting melee combat requires ability for the player to not get hit. Currently, surviving the first phase with Head Cutter is entirely random chance.
I also felt that damage and range of my Head Cutter attack was random or inconsistent, and sometimes I couldn't pick up weapons off the ground, which makes trying to throw them pointless.
In addition, once you actually get a steady loop of upgrading new guns, you are basically invincible, and the only thing that can kill you is running out of ammo - due to finding the +40HP upgrade. Ironically, that's the only thing that can kill you after first upgrade gives you your first gun. The only gun that requires any skill to use is Head Shooter, as it requires waiting for multiple enemies to line up, to use the ammo as efficiently as possible.
Big issue is lack of a difficulty curve. The game just doesn't get harder as it goes on - and if it does, it's too slow to notice. I say that every minute, the game should start dropping tougher enemies. Maybe they could get more health? Maybe they can have spears that are longer range than your Head Cutter? Maybe they're very fast? Maybe give player ability to jump, and give some enemies guns with projectiles player can jump over?
Or at the very least, make enemies spawn faster over time. Something to keep player interested.
Another problem is that enemies come only from one direction. Why? The game would be more exciting if pressing A turned the player around instead of backing away, and enemies came from both directions. Suddenly, the game would be kinda exciting!
Alternatively, if you really want enemies to come only from one direction, make it so that enemies don't actually attack you - instead, at the left edge of the screen there is something you need to protect (last human baby? Virus that can destroy robot hegemony? Resistance base?) and robots don't attack you, but run right past you to attack the base. So the goal would be to make sure that no robots make it past you.
Then there's the third solution - time limit. At first I was kind of excited because I thought that if the time limit in the center of the screen runs out, the game is over. But soon I realized it's just a combo multiplier. You could say that robots lacks power, and needs to kill other robots to steal their energy or something to survive - so if the countdown runs out, the game is over.
Any of these three solutions - adding enemies in both directions, making it a defense game, or adding a mandatory timer - would make it much more exciting.
I will give credit where it's due - all of the three stars you earned due to excellent graphics and atmosphere.
Thanks for your input! I'll keep it in mind for next time.
I think you should really work on tutorialization. I spent like over 10 minutes on puzzle 3 trying to figure out what the hell am I supposed to do, because I didn't understand the game had a turn-based time and me placing a building is what makes spikes go down - there is no clear indication that this is the case.
Great game! Brilliantly captures feel of playing old shooters (despite being a sidescroller it kind of feels like old FPS games like Doom and Wolfenstein, but it also reminds me of games like Bio Menace), but also of old zombie movies. Exquisite. Run'n'gun with hitscan weapons is a brilliant idea that I only ever saw one other person do (game Receiver, also here on Newgrounds).
However, this is kind of marred by the level design. It really is a bit cheap, and often doesn't seem to take into account the fact that player needs to reload, so levels turn into endless running away - until you die. Perhaps a solution would
Dodge roll is kind of useless, it's very short, and because enemies use projectiles, you have about 50/50 chance of rolling AWAY from projectiles, which is a certain doom - as you will lose invincibility frames at around the same time the projectile catches up to you. I think a better idea instead of a dodge roll would be a crouch giving you invincibility, but player can't move, shoot or reload during crouch - but they can crouch for as long as they hold the button.
Also hidden faces in level 3 are just nonsense. If one jumps at you when your gun is empty, you pretty much HAVE to take a hit. Again - this is a game where player needs to reload, and you need to stand still to reload (and also stand still to shoot). Asking player to constantly run away from enemies is cheap nonsense with these mechanics. Especially later on leves turn into a bit of an enemy spam, and ridiculous amount of monster closets that just clog the screen with enemies. Come on.
Another criticism is that there should be an easily audible sound cue for completing a reload. I can't count how many times I accidentally cancelled a reload mid-animation.
However, the actual game feel is extremely great, and I would definitely pay money for a more polished version of this. Preferably with a smoother difficulty curve, and more carefully crafted levels. Level 1 is amazing, I just wish other levels were like that.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
EDIT: Wait, I get the issue! It's a glitch! The Dude can reload one bullet at the time, but if the Chick cancels reload animation, she loses all reloaded ammo and goes back to square one. That makes her basically unplayable, even with her shorter reload. I didn't notice that since I immediately picked the Chick and played only as her.
I guess you guys should really playtest with all available characters, huh.
Hi.
Can you please explain, what is this "glitch" that you wrote about more specifically? Canceling reload animation does not loose any already loaded ammo on my end. Also there is definitely sound indicating when reloading is finished.
Game is beatable with both characters on both difficulties, I can guarantee that.
Central concept is pretty good, but if I could have some suggestions: projectile graphics are all wrong. Enemy shots are small and of dull green color that blends into the background - they should be some vibrant color like white, yellow, magenta or red - and perhaps glowing. Shots of your ship are much more visible, even though you have little reason to look at them.
It isn't exactly fun to get hit by an enemy projectile that you couldn't see coming.
But other than that, a really good game! It was both innovative AND fun to play, which is not something you can always say about jam games!
Yeah, the enemy projectiles aren't as easily visible as they should be. Thanks for the feedback.
Minor suggestion: let players choose their gender? A lot of people who are into those "Mon" games are girls, even original Pokemon on the Game Boy understood that. And it doesn't even require you to change sprites since they're ambiguous anyway, just the pronouns within text.
Nice! Only major suggestion I would have would be to make numbers in the HUD much more transparent, currently they really obstruct the view. But it's a really solid shooter!
Thank you for the review and suggestion! I definitely agree with this.
Music is irritating, you can find much longer and better loops on Newgrounds Audio Portal, on Freemusicarchive.org, Incompetech.com or Freepd.com; In addition, there are no sound effects - a sound effect for jumping and dying could probably improve the game.
The playing field is WAY too big, on screens with smaller resolution it's impossible to see at once - remember that standards for web developers (who you technically are if you're making web games) is 1024x768! So overall, that made it completely unplayable for me.
Controls are responsive, but they just feel bad. Your character feels floaty because he falls a bit too fast, and he moves left and right to fast to feel like you're completely in his control. Also it appears there is no 'coyote time' and your character falls the instant you walk off a ledge - in platformers that feel well, generally there is 1-4 frames after walking off a ledge where you can still jump.
The core concept is solid - it's the execution that falters.
Thank you for the feedback. I will take your opinions into account for any future updates I decide to make if any (as this is a Jam Game). However, according to my own private playtests the coyote time is much greater than it should be; furthermore though I will look into the issues you highlighted.
This was... straight up annoying to read. At first, you dump ridiculous amounts of backstory on the player, full of weird concepts and names they have to remember... and then you introduce the alien rules, who speaks in a manner that was SO ANNOYING that I genuinely just shut off the game on the spot. Did you think it was funny? Because it was not. I genuinely had to play it again to finish it.
Also, all of that backstory? Pointless and not relevant to the story, since the actual story is about fighting pirates. Why wasn't I simply hired? I genuinely don't really care about the Crypt Shyfter metaplot, and I doubt many people will. I don't care about continuity, I care about THIS story being fun. Continuity is a bonus and should never take precedence.
Tips: don't smack player/reader in the face with a ton of backstory and new names, introduce them gradually.
And don't make characters speak in weird manner, including phonetic accents or other quirks - it's always annoying to read.
Also, it's a bad form to introduce a character that has a previous relationship with the player character, and e.g. have the PC *love* that character. Like, why? *I* don't love that dude, and I am my character. I should be able to decide what I feel, obviously! Don't tell players what they feel, or what their characters feel if you're not 100% sure that player will agree.
If you want me to love that character, make it so I would believe that! Make him funny, helpful, make him sacrifice himself for me. Write a romance arc. You can't just make me buy that my character loves him already. (Compare to how Bioware or CD Projekt Red games write romanceable NPC characters, much better than this)
Also, while there IS said romance sidekick character, they don't... do anything. They appear at the beginning, and they're there at the end, but they don't do anything in the story itself. What? They could at the very least provide some quips or advice about situations you find yourself in.
Also... this game could seriously use some music. In addition to Newgrounds Audio Portal, you can find free music on Freemusicarchive.org (remember to check the license), Incompetech.com and Freepd.com
I should give props for small improvements over Storm Shadow - rolls make slightly more sense since you can customize your character with traits and equipemnt, more like in a role-playing game - and you can restore HP. Which overall makes combat somewhat fun, and less of a chore. So good on you for that.
More generally, I think I would recommend that you stop trying to make epic RPG stories by cramming them into interactive fiction - instead, it's a better idea to try to write stories that usually work best in adventure game format - spy fiction, mystery/detective, romance, comedy, personal drama, horror, exploring mysterious empty worlds and piecing together what happened - that kinda stuff. Epic sci-fi fantasy battles are always going to look lacklustre in this genre. Similarly, it might pay off to have some actual puzzles.
glad to hear i was able to evoke such a strong reaction! great review :)
What is the point of rolls? In a tabletop RPG, random rolls force me to improvise upon failure. But here, it simply means your success is entirely reliant on luck. I had a bad luck to fail every single roll, and died in the final battle by no fault of my own. How is this fun? What is the point?
And it's not like the writing was particularly interesting. There are no characters in the story, not a single person with an interesting personality. BORING. And it's not like complex mechanics of the plot make up for it - the story is entirely basic, there is no mcguffins or traitors or twists... It's just, three challenges and a battle. This was thoroughly mediocre. Though I will admit, it is much less annoying than Warp Hounds (which was so annoying to read that I've turned it off halfway through).
As for suggestions for improvement: I would suggest adding some sidekick that would tag along with the player. For rolls, turn them into completely non-random puzzles, or flesh them out so they become a real combat system - something like early Dragon Quest/Final Fantasy would be sufficient and easy to program? Similarly, allow player to make up their mistakes by playing well - perhaps add option to restore HP by spending Shyft points?
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