DarkKiranami's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Comatose]

I played it through, but it wasn't enjoyable. It was like a clone of Super Meat Boy with unrefined physics and graphics. If that wasn't unoriginal enough, you present it as an art game in an attempt to justify the obvious lack of effort for making this an enjoyable game. Even as an art game you can't possibly expect that weak monologue (providing minimal details of the backstory and lacking driving force) to make anyone feel or imagine anything, especially when you literally have a square as the main character, and when the platforming parallels you draw to the monologue are so vague that it's hard to even regard them as clever or unique. Like a good story, you should have structured this out first by asking yourself what you wanted the player to feel, proceeding to ask yourself how you could accomplish that, and continuing on from there.

As this game stands you might as well have left out the whole monologue and coma backstory, because it only contributed as a label for a platformer that would be bland with or without it. This game felt like it was an attempt to copy the elements that made other games successful, only with minimal effort. A cop-out, to be honest.

A good game takes a lot of hard work to make, especially when you want to match it exactly to your vision, but if you can pull it off, you'll almost always end up with something worthwhile. Advice for your next project- Take your time and envision your concept, take as much time as it takes to actively shape your idea into something interesting. Be it a game that focuses on innovation and freshness, or one that follows a set formula but offers tight controls and addictiveness, there has to be something that is interesting in some way about your game, or it won't be fun to play.

Hopefully you find some of my comments to be at least somewhat helpful, and I look forward to seeing your progress on your next game. Good Luck!

[Zelda the Welder]

Some bugs still need ironing out, and the style of humor in the dialogue seems like it would send many jokes flying over peoples' heads, but I liked it overall. I liked Zelda's bold and spontaneous ego-driven character, and I found certain parts like the sandwich joke funny (simpler humor appeals to a wider range of people). The music is well done and gives the game a welcoming aesthetic. Zelda's anime sounding screams are a bit over the top however and, at least for me, tended to conflict with the way I imagined she'd sound. I eventually got used to her voice though so that was just a minor thing. The artwork was clean and well structured, but there generally wasn't enough character art to account for all the expressions they had. For example, the angry customer just stood there and said "why I oughta" without any sort of accompanying visual change in his expression, it really made the interaction feel hollow. Zelda occasionally shifted between visual expressions, so why shouldn't some of the other characters have at least one other visual expression as well? Going back to the dialogue and humor, the game would have benefited more from simple jokes, a lot of the attempts at humor felt strained. I have not much to say about the gameplay itself besides that it was fun and that it was a unique application for the mouse-in-maze navigation concept (probably not the official name, just cobbled it together out of necessity). The bounds detection was buggy in certain areas - I moved my mouse purposely in and out of the bounds quickly on one of the levels and the game didn't detect it, so I was able to cheat part of the level. I messed up a lot at first, but I got better after a few tries and started feeling incredibly dextrous, this kind of simple gameplay mechanic can easily become addictive. The game was a bit on the short side, but that's understandable given the time constraints.

You all did great within the time you were given for this, and with some refinement I could see this sort of thing as a DS game or iPhone app. Great job on having the elements of a great game all present here in one form or another. Did I mention the music was amazing!? Good luck to all of you on your future projects!

[Binary]

Thanks.

These puzzles were thoughtful and challenging, they really got me thinking. My brain feels all warmed up after that.

[The Free Culture Game]

Interesting

Anything's possible, so I don't see why this would not be plausible or feasible. With limited imagination it's easy to think something is impossible, but that's only because of lack of imagination. In my eyes, this is how society should be, and I believe there is a way to make it happen. After all, our consciousness is fueled by ideas, living in what is essentially an infinitely expanding bubble of thoughts - shouldn't ideas be free? I'd rather not live in a world where we are told what to think, so whatever factors make free ideas implausible (economic, social, etc.) simply need to be changed in order for us to improve society for the better. Just thought I'd give a little input.

I thought this was an interesting message which was well executed, it's perfect for what it is. Good job on this :]

[Every day the same dream]

I like it.

I disagree with those that say this is not art; this is just as much an artwork as anything else. The precise message may not be clear, but I find it interesting just for the mind to chew on. The flash is definitely focusing on the monotony of corporate life, but the meaning only really goes that deep. The true value of this game, as with everything, lies in the ideas that compose it. This was an experimental game that definitely emitted its own eerie, spaced-out sort of vibe, so if nothing else I'll give it that.

Nonetheless, this was interesting, and who knows - maybe only the maker of this game knows the true meaning and it's deeper than we know? Doesn't matter either way, the game is worth playing even for the experience alone; I don't feel like I've wasted time on it, because whether or not you extract a meaning in words, you can still feel out a meaning (nothing is meaningless).

Anyway, thanks for putting this up. I love seeing thoughtful things hit the front page, especially simple flashes with deeper meanings. It inspires every time I see one, so I feel I'm going to have to contribute soon.

[Ching Chong Beautiful]

This is great!

When I played through this game for the first time on normal mode, I was kind of put off by how easy you can trip up. After a while, however, once you get the hang of the game mechanics and learn of everything that can possibly trip you up, the game actually lives up to the whole obstacle course thing. I realized this only when I started playing on hard mode, because the time limit pushes you to pull off stunt after stunt in order to save more time.

Normal mode just got frustrating when I couldn't quite make it through certain parts, but there was no time limit so I wasn't hard pressed to not mess up. Hard mode, however, made me feel like I was doing parkour all the way to the goal point as I raced against time. I suppose you could still try your best on normal, but to me the time limit gives more immediate incentive to do well (Win or Die). I guess I'm saying that the challenging aspect of hard mode makes it really fun.

Anyway, I'm on part 3 of level 1 on hard mode still, so I like that this game saves where you leave off from. Great music, graphics, design and game engine. I only ever ran into a glitch once when i randomly got pushed outside of the bounds of the stage while running into a wall. I ended up on top but when i jumped off, I just kept falling while center-screen, and I couldn't die because the character was meant to be within the stage bounds, so there obviously was no need to program dying from an endless fall. Other than that mishap (probably caused by lag anyway), the game ran smooth for me.

Overall, a great game with a silly plot. Good job guys, keep it up!

[Time Fcuk]

Thank you.

It's little reminders like this (that we all need to think outside of the bounds of the reality we have created for ourselves) that make my day and keep me going strong in life. This really gave me a creative jolt, and I love the innovation put into it (layer shift). I also like the whole feel of the game- a creature in solitude, eerily talking to itself from a step forward as it infinitely chases its own tail (that is until the cycle is broken). You three have made a memorable game and I would love to see the main character on a shirt.

In short, I loved this and I expect even more innovation in the next game (please?). Also, on a side note, that game really beat the fcuk out of my brain! I'm going to sleep now, lol.

[Free Will - The Game]

I liked it

I don't care what anyone else said, that got a laugh out of me. I expected some kind of clever game using a new concept, but instead got something with the sole purpose of delivering a small joke. I approve of the fact that it isn't conventional- no one said games all have to deliver the same thing.

[Pilgrimage]

Haha, great.

I love the idea, it's one of those things that sets off sparks in the minds of others, which is good for the game-making community. On another note, I'm sure after trying time and time again to understand the Artist's Statement that it makes little to no logical sense XD

[The Fur Fighters]

I appreciate the good intentions.

Not much of a difficult game, but I guess its primary goal was to spread a message, so that's okay to me. You could, however, improve on the game mechanics.