Jojiro's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Layer Maze 4]

My issue with maze games and all "find key to unlock door"-type games is that they are boring.

I understand that you don't want to add TOO many new features since you have a niche audience already that likes what you do, but there's no plot, there isn't really a "puzzle" element (I don't consider mazes, even cool, 3D ones, to be puzzles).

You added the 'color chaos' this time around, which conceptually is a good idea but in practice just makes me run into dead ends more often than the previous versions due to having the wrong color, and having to backtrack.

You could have more texture or at least changing colors every level for your background. The red gets a bit monotonous. Having "wall-hit" feedback is a good easy way of adding polish. If you search up "neon maze" you'll note that there is a little shock when the pointer hits a wall. Other 'power-ups' or 'gimmicks' might include something to increase your speed, or a "layer viewer". The "layer map" you have as a bar on the right-hand side could be polished to be more than a dot and lines. You could add gradient lighting or just "lighting" to the stage to make it look more dynamic.

A personal tic of mine is the timer. I wish there was a way to turn it off like I can turn off the music and sound, because it just stresses me out. Mazes for me are about getting through, not necessarily about being timed. It's useful to be able to look up my time, but the reminder that time is passing makes me frenetic.

The bonus stars don't have a "bonus" feel. They could light up before disappearing, or fade out, or SOMETHING, but as with every item you pick up, the item simply disappears from the map and appears in your bar. No animation whatsover. Even something really subtle could add to the polish of the game.

Overall I love the concept of a 3D maze, but it seems like you didn't try to make the maze polished and go that extra mile for presentation. Additionally (and again I'm aware this is personal preference) I wish there were more gimmicks and puzzles.

For gimmicks: rotating the layers above and below might be cool. Having another ball mirror your movements and potentially block you could be cool. Plot would be cool. "Dark" floors you have to light up could be cool. Easter eggs could be cool.

[Kill The Creeper]

Nearly frictionless physics is just bizarre.

The lack of music or even sound is disappointing.

Collision physics are lacking and there is literally 0 rebound, which is counterintuitive.

The fire doesn't consume the creeper, which is odd.

Your title screen could look more polished, and of course more levels and mechanics could be introduced. I have no idea how far you intend to go with this, but you'll have to go a lot farther to make it into something that raises eyebrows.

[CrateRun]

The decision to change a normal platformer jump mechanic to a floating, hard-to-control arc inflates the difficulty artificially without contributing anything to the game. The levels are exquisitely designed, I just question that directive choice. Even falling in a straight line, or landing where I expected, became a challenge, especially in later levels where a combination of cannons, spikes, and thin pillars meant precision was needed.

The wall-jumping ability somewhat makes up for this initially, as if I 'messed up' I could still jump off of the side of the block I'd intended to land on, but once spikes on the sides of blocks came into play, I was crippled not by the level, but by not understanding how the square was moving. Sure, if I had exact timing I'm sure I could control it, but with human reflexes, I'd find myself hitting the same buttons at approximately the same timing and moving in a COMPLETELY different way due to the floating.

In other platformers, even those where precision is perilously exact, using approximately the same timing gets you to approximately the same space. The floating of the block meant that I'd completely overshoot or undershoot where I wanted to go, trying the exact same button combination (jumping forward, then frantically adjusting between left and right til I got the right adjustment down doesn't even work because of this).

Music also great.

[BitBoy - Greenfields]

2-frame animation character makes him very static. Animations on enemies are likely lackluster.

The color palette is nice and poppy, but ultimately bland, especially the dull teal sky background.

As others have mentioned, rather than innovative the game is a very very simplistic path-based game that doesn't have particularly in-depth work done to make it stand out at all. The gameplay is...smooth, but lacking. If you want more ideas for puzzles, story, or just animation though, I'd love to help. It has the potential to be a lot more. I'm not saying that potential will necessarily be met, but you have a base to work off of, and from there improvements are pretty easy. (I'm a pixel artist and hobbyist writer)

[A small talk]

This was interesting. For people who aren't sure about the limitations of what they can do, you can request food, cuss the computer out and frustrate it, have "scarily good" memory, causing it some hesitation, and I'm sure there is a lot more that can be done.

A very convincing AI, and you truly are worthy of the name "scriptwelder". If you are ever interested in collaborating on a script, game, or other work of art, let me know. Because this is a work of art, albeit a short one. It's brevity and lack of options is the only reason I didn't give it a full 5. I recognize that this may have been a stylistic choice, but nonetheless it felt too much like an appetizer, and not enough like an entree.

[Loss]

The controls involve slipping, sliding, over-gliding, and the platforms have odd edge detection where I often fall through. It's playable, but only barely. I appreciate that you made it in 24 hrs, but at least make sure that the game functions as you intended and isn't artificially broken. Especially since it is a platformer.

[The Guardian]

Your games have a consistent theme of having intriguing messages, a gritty yet polished look, and a very strong establishment of mood through color, animation, and music. These are all fantastic.

Your games also have a consistent theme of repetitive and uninspiring gameplay, slow movement, and a general sense of tedium. These are all the opposite of fantastic.

Your concept is excellent, I just wish the execution were a bit more exciting, artful, quirky, CREATIVE, DIFFERENT, instead of this slow jumpfest followed by this slow stompfest.

VOEC responds:

Thank you. I replied to your other review on PTttM and really agree with you. :)

[Personal Trip to the Moon]

It's difficult to review this kind of game. Art games, as it were, are a niche that have a lot going for and against them at the same time.

As people have mentioned, the gameplay was lacking - what carries the game is the consistent gritty quality, the incredibly novel mix of pixel graphics with detailed textures, and the sense of longing that the main character has, for identity, for closure, for companionship, for escape. The fact that I've gotten all of that really is a testament to your ability as an artist.

But you need gameplay. You need something beyond artistry. As you know, there are many games with great graphics, jaw-droppingly beautiful scenes, spine-tingling music, etc etc that fall flat on the actual reason most games are sought out: the entertainment value. My recommendation is to research game mechanics, or to work with someone else, allowing your creative process to fuel the flavor of the game and the mood, but allowing them to sketch out how the game will actually function.

"Swimming through the sky" and "using mirrors" for example were great ideas, but could be fleshed out so much more than what you did. Now I realize a collaboration for this particular game would have been a bit grating, as it is so intensely personal. I do hope for future projects and career decisions you'll consider what I've said though.

You're a beautiful artist. And given the lack of glitches and smooth gameplay, probably a good programmer as well. However, when it comes to execution of your vision, I must say with all due respect that you fall short. I think another review said it too: with a great concept comes great expectations, and the actual game doesn't live up to the environment it is set in. It's like a slower, early form of Mario Bros set in the lush storyline and graphics of Final Fantasy X. There's a disconnect.

VOEC responds:

Thank you for this really detailed review. I like reading those the most and most often they really give much insight.
Regarding your criticisms I completly agree with you. I do a lot of research on game design in my spare time and know how to make an entertaining game (at least I hope so). And I do realize that the gameplay of PTttM is... well, boring.
I don't know why that is. Maybe I wanted the gameplay to feel protracted, empty and "calm". Or maybe I do actually not know how to do it properly (see Aether for a good example) :).
Some parts I really don't like about the game. For example the ending where the player looses control and has to basicly sit through a cutscene with text. I wish I could have done this part differently.
But I do actually have 2 different projects in planning which involve a somwhat more richer gameplay (Okay, my recently released game The Guardian doesn't have that great of a gameplay either). But the problem for me is in all honesty the programming. I'm really bad at programming, I get stuck often and only release decently playable games because I obsess about every single detail and problem. That's why my games take a lot of time.
One of the projects (spoiler: A puzzle game) I had to put on hold since I couldn't code all the physics logic stuff (Which is really sad because I really like that game idea). I wish I had a programmer to work with. I think concentrating purely on the game design (and also visual design) instead of having to worry about implementation would really aid my work. But for now I guess this will have to do.
But your right, gameplay wise I still have a lot to learn and hope I can expand my skills through my future work. Sorry if I rambled on a bit. I just wanted to give you a detailed answer since you put a lot of effort into your review. :)

[Counter Terror]

Fantastic game. Didn't meet the sticky controls people talked about. I do want to point out that NO military mission should be or ever will be quite like mission 3, with what seems like a veritable city of terrorists who all decided to go skydiving on the same day as you, as well as parachuting grenadiers.

Humor is even more fantastic than the game, to be honest. I wish there were a restart mission option instead of just a return to menu one.

[J-J-Jump]

Great and simple, yet fun. Nothing more than it presumes to be, and everything it promises. Nitrome always delivers, and Aaron Steed is a wonderful programmer.
5 stars.