iantherage's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Gyossait]

All Atmosphere, No Substance

This game is clearly trying to establish itself as an "art game" right off the bat. I'm 100% behind games as art, but this misses the point of games as art.

Games are interactive, and that's what they can give us that movies, paintings, and other types of art can't. When the way you interact with the game doesn't add to that art, then you're missing out on why gaming is a legitimate medium.

I don't mean to totally bash this game, there's a lot of potential here, and clearly a lot of love that went into it, but right now it's message is intentionally vague to seem mysterious, and the gameplay doesn't add to it's message as a good art game should.

I look forward to seeing future projects from you.

[Johnny in an art game?]

Good Parody

This is a very good parody of some of the cliche's in games that are made for a one note "artistic statement."

I'm worried that this is a blanket statement about any "art game." There are quite a few out there that are really wonderful, have innovative game-play, and more layers than "Society is mindless!"

I appreciate the idea of parodying the one-note trend that has developed, but the other reviews for this game seem to be hating on games going for a deeper meaning as a whole. That isn't right. There are some great indy game developers OUTSIDE of newgrounds, and some VERY artistic game makers that submit here.

I dig the idea of the parody here, but I hope others see that there are more than JUST the type of artistic game being made fun of here.

[Earl Grey]

Genuinely enjoyed

Wow! I loved this!

A very fresh tone, some subtle tongue in cheek humor about the genre it is, with the obvious guidance such as "I suddenly have the urge to hit this with a weapon" and little comments like "You don't have to speak your thoughts."

I really enjoyed the ending, and I'm really glad you put "package delivered!" so I didn't think I was in an endless loop, that would have drove me crazy.

There is a pretty major glitch that almost made me click away, but the art, the tone, and inovation on an alreayd established genre made me stay. At random times I would no longer be able to move, or interact with anyhting, I would just be stuck and have to go to the main menu, and start over. No idea what's going on, or how to fix it, but I'm sure you'll be interested in knowing that, because it was quite frustrating.

A clear love of the point and click adventure, and all of the puzzles we're insanely hard, or objects rediculosuly hard to interact with. Nice job at establishing the clues within the game by giving us a journal, however I feel that you could raise the difficulty JUST a tad, because I didn't find it very challenging, but more charming, ya know?

I have to say that while I caught on to the humor, I feel that it could be made a little more well known to the player, because I got it, but making the jokes slightly more clear would probably have gotten a stronger reaction out of me.

This is seriously one of the most original things I've seen submitted to the portal in quite awhile. Very charming, and I hope to see more!

If something I said doesn't make sense, feel free to PM me, I'd love to clarify, and tell you once again how much I enjoyed the game!

-Iantherage

[My First Quantum Translocator]

Quality being held back.

My initial reaction was excitement, a game with some cool fresh gameplay ideas, and a story that commits to itself to the point of justifying in game death with the use of time manipulation and all that.

I still really dig that, I think you have a very solid, well polished game here. The graphics, every piece of the game from saving, to starting over, to any button you push having a reason in the story as well.

The more I saw of the story the more I felt "Eh, this is the basic portal plot." And then I realized how many parallels can be drawn between this and portal. Gameplay, story, art, all of it. That made me sad.

You CLEARLY are very talented to make such a well defined game, with precise decisions to create the tone you wanted, better than any other portal inspired games I've played. However, I know you can one up yourself here. It's like I feel all this creativity under the surface being held back by an idea we've already seen done really really well.

The game works, and it's good, I really, really look forward to seeing more from you in the future though. Your past work proves that you've got the innovation, and like I said, there was a lot of enjoyment to be had from this, both with the exact tone, the fun gameplay, and the uniquely challenging puzzles.

I hope I don't come off as a jerk by saying this, because I truly appreciate the creativity that went with this, but I did I feel I had to say that I sensed some unused potential here.

If something doesn't make sense, feel free to PM me, and I'll try to clarify,

Thanks!

Iantherage

[9/11 Simulator]

Hmm

I get that you made it to BE offensive, and that's your right as an artist, as well as a human being.

I do believe there is a lot to be said for the value of shock, how it can affect someone, and thus how the art of shock can change people, and ideas. I appreciate that concept.

I do have to say that I was disappointed with this game. This seemed to be shock for shock's sake, and what was I supposed to say? I'm disgusted? Then you quote the first amendment. I'm really glad someone made this? Eh that doesn't quite fit anyone I know. It's funny? The only "joke" is that it's offensive.

I'm not saying you don't have the right to make it, but I am disappointed. It takes a strong mind to be able to see the power of shock, and it's clear you recognized that. You're obviously smart, you have to have some talent, and it's clear to me that you could do more than say "How can I upset the most people possible?"

If I said something that didn't make sense, I'd be happy to clarify through a personal message. I hope you consider what I'm saying,

Thanks!

Kevin responds:

Surprisingly good review.

[Minute of Madness]

I dig the effort.

Hey,

I think this is MUCH better than most first games I see submitted on here. A simple premise, easy to get into, and all in all a lot of fun, and that's the point, right?

I do have feedback, if any of it doesn't make sense, go ahead and shoot me a message, and I'll be sure to respond.

The game feels like an experiment, which in some ways it is, and that's great! You plan on making a sequel, you wanted to hear what people had to say, and plan on going from there. The biggest thing you can do to add some polish to it would be the visuals.

It's popular these days to go for a retro "Not very detailed, and that's why it's cool" sort of look in flash games, and I get that, but the simple ball as who you control, the simple smiley face as what you collect, and the unchanging background, all make the game feel very simple, which isn't bad, but I feel with a bit more detail there, or different specific choices (Like what if instead of smiley faces it was food, or money, or furniture, or anything honestly!)

That's graphics, which isn't essential, proven by tetris, right?

The gameplay:

After a couple of bounces against a wall, I got out of control, and found it easier to just bounce against walls regardless of punishment, because any other way was no longer possible. So maybe giving a little more control after bouncing off a wall? I really like the idea of the green wall, there also being a positive to hitting certain walls, ya know? It made it interesting, and engaging. What if, to avoid the problem of just wanting to hit walls, hitting the regular blue walls meant losing points, hitting the red walls meant instant death, and the green walls meant a pretty big bonus? Maybe not, but perhaps something to play around with?

I liked that the music seemed chaotic, however after awhile it seemed to kind of grate against me. That in itself could be enough to have me rate it lower, or click away to not have to hear it anymore.

I would say give give simple instructions when you hit start, just a little thing on the screen that says "Use the arrows to collect smileys! Avoid anything red!"

Things like onoucning how many points are gotten from hitting a green wall, or collecting a smiley can add some pizzaz as well. But who knows!

Hey, you seem to have a lot of talent, and I'm excited to see where you go with all this. I hope you keep it up, whether its this projects sequel, or something else, I really look forward to seeing what you have to show us!

Again, if anything needs clarifying, or if I just sort of sound like a jerk, feel free to tell me! I'd love to hear from ya, and I hope you know that I genuinely enjoyed your game!

djh101 responds:

You should have played it in the beginning. Originally I had the speed increase equally no matter what and that was crazy (right now the speed will increase 8/5 times faster when you move opposite in the direction you are moving). I don't want it to be too easy to control, though (I actually go the hang of it after a testing it for a while and found it pretty easy), that's part of the challenge, the key is to keep it steady and not go as fast as you can.

The sound is mutable. I was going to add a mute button just for music, that probably would have worked if I had if the sound were a movieclip, but I just couldn't figure out how to get the stage music to stop and only the stage music:(.

As for the animation, personally, I like classic not-so-great animation. I'm no animator, though (although I did get fairly excited when I figured out how to create and animate both static and moving graphics with my geometry skills rather than my non-existent art skills), and being that I do all the animation myself is a big reason for the not-so-great graphics and animation. I'm still looking around for an animator to help with future projects.

NewGrounds advised to put in auto-instructions. I even know from experience how annoying it is to have to click "How to Play" before you start. I guess I just wasn't so sure how to implemented so I kind of skipped it altogether. Bad idea, but I'll try to add some in and re-upload.

Anyway, thanks for your post, I love feedback. I'll keep all your suggestions in mind and do my best to implement them into the sequel.

[The Room Tribute]

Funny, then tedious.

I thought there was a ton of funny, and even clever aspects, both little things in the background, as well as innovative ways to incorporate gameplay.

I understand the movie has a TON of needless dialogue, so maybe it was intentional to have to spend like 5 whole minutes on people going back and forth, but even with that, I got bored.

All in all, a great well rounded game.

[I wanna be the flash game]

Yeah right

Calling it a parody isn't an excuse for the distance between save points. Even if it was just the game play, and such then I'd feel it accomplished what the intro implied it was going for.

Perhaps if that alone was changed I would have had a lot of fun at the mockery of many other platforming flash games.