Verdusk's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Grim Pawn]

Neat little puzzle game, reminds me of when I used to make flash games and post them on Newgrounds.

A save feature and a level select screen would be a possible improvement, just a few more levels and you'd have a lot of people not able to complete it all in one sitting. Another minor thing is to that a more pixelated font would fit more with the pixelated graphics. A BGM may also be considered too, whether using your own or any of the free to use ones from NG.

Also interesting that you used Godot Engine on this, since I've heard about it recently although I'm more familiar with Unity myself.

Good luck with your future creations!

TheMikirog responds:

Thanks mate!

About the font, many playtests with my friends and family (about 15 people, including my dad) played the game from start to finish and one common criticism was that the pixel font was intelligible. When it comes to conveying information, it's more important than immersion. Same with the music, it's only at the beginning and then gives way to simple ambience to help people think.

Same with the save feature, most beat it in 30-60 minutes in one sitting, there isn't a lot of levels and I felt the save feature wasn't needed, since most people just speedrunned the first levels they already know the solution for.

Thanks for taking the time to write this.

[Blue Lights After Story]

I think you mean vials.

Not viles.

(EDIT: Just saw this comment again after years, sorry for being a grammar nazi jerk. I should've done it in a less rude way at least. Nice game, either way!)

JackAstral responds:

Derp sorry, I was rushing to get this finished before uni. Fixed!

[Make Happy]

Sadness shouldn't be able to hit you right away after appearing, there should be a few seconds of delay or the game should let us know where it'll appear a few seconds before it appears; I keep getting hit by sadness that appears out of nowhere without a chance to avoid it.

JackAstral responds:

Added! There's now a little notice that appears when you're under 100 points from another enemy spawning :-)

[Chronicle Bulletin #4]

Another great episode!
Regarding the new format:
+ Allows players to move and explore, offering greater control
+ Search feature is interesting
- Game's pictures become less dynamic as the standing sprites keep getting used over and over again - It may save you a lot of time and effort, but it becomes less anime-like and less dynamic, as in the previous games we get to see how each scenes go instead of standing sprites except in important scenes. (Yes I know pictures also get reused in the previous format, but less so) I really prefer the previous format myself but I figured you may be trying to give each series different format to make them more distinct.

Good selection of music, and story is great. I'll look forward to more!

JackAstral responds:

Thanks!

That was one of my biggest concerns when I changed format - I'll definitely try to find more of a middle ground between standing sprites scenes and dynamic scenes in the next episode. :)