JauqGames's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Pac-Adox]

I like the "you are your own worst enemy" mechanic, and it flows surprisingly well with Pac-Man style gameplay.

Overall I'd say the game is solid gameplay-wise.

Music is bad. I recommend looking up some tutorials on music theory. Those'll help out on future compositions. Or even just use some of Newgrounds' music. There are plenty of people offering their music for free to game makers on Newgrounds.

Also the art here is rather boring, it's all different sized parallelograms. I know graphics aren't everything, but believe me when I say that people love a good looking game. Stylized graphics aren't very difficult to pull off (I guess different sized parallelograms is a style. It just isn't a very nice one).

I wish you luck on your next venture.

FSt-Germain responds:

Thanks for the awesome review and great feedback :)
you can turn off music in the settings, but I agree the music needs work and graphics could use some more flare.

Thanks!

[Repetition]

The game is really simple. Since it was only made in four hours, that's all I really have to say about it.

I would maybe like to see a much longer version of this, with unique characters and such. Maybe with some puzzle platforming.

That is all,
Jauq

FSt-Germain responds:

Thanks for the feedback. I think that my first game Barriers is what your thinking of.

[Room of Doom by the Fire Supplier]

I'm gonna be a bit tough on this one.
Starting off with the game design; overall it's unique, and I like the inclusion of a High Score system (Did you know Newgrounds API has a High Score system http://www.newgrounds.com/wiki/creator-resources/flash-api/reference/api#wiki_toc_21, If you know how to use the API I recommend it),
but I think score should be based off of how long the player is able to keep the civilians alive, rather than how many civilians are left at the end of the time (that's just personal opinion). Something that bothered me was that sometimes the civilians on fire can run faster than I can fly, there were multiple cases where I was trying to put one out, but it ran away and died. I think maybe making either the civilians slower or the protagonist faster could be a solution.

Next I found the constant screams of the civilians loud and annoying, and the music (while decent sounding) doesn't seem to match the game play. I personally would've chose something faster and more intense.

Furthermore, I found the graphics, not bad, but inconsistent. I personally dislike inconsistency a lot (an example would be the shading on the shirt/jacket. Some of the pixels are smaller than others.)

Lastly for a game that was made in 48 hours I would say it's pretty good (It's definitely better than some games I've seen before).

I give it 3.5 Stars.

FSt-Germain responds:

Thanks! we really appreciate the feedback. We thought about score being based on how long you keep the civilians alive, but it was too easy just to find one and keep them alive. However I agree that some more time should've been spent planning how the scoring system would've worked.

I think this feedback is excellent. It outlines everything that needs work. We all appreciate it and can learn something from it. Our next Ludum Dare game will be top notch.

Thanks again, and can't wait to play another one of your games dude.

[Showdown Arena]

After playing with a friend, and playing around with the level editor this is the conclusion I came to:
Although the game is fun (competitive multiplayer games are always fun), It is very simple. A little too simple for my own sake.

(Report) When I first opened the game I noticed somethings. Premade is spelled incorrectly on the title screen (so is destroy). I don't say that to seem like someone who picks out grammar mistakes, but ultimately spelling correctly would give other players sense of professionalism. (Request) The other things I noticed would be graphics quality. Although graphics are not the most important things in the game, I would at least like to ask for a little bit of improvement (like making blue and red unique not just a color swap. Also having the pixel sizes match up, because the characters look 8-bit, the tiles look 16-bit, and the GUI looks 32-bit).

(Request) The game itself is fun, but feels like its missing a whole lot. Have you ever though about possibly adding power-ups, or health pick-ups, that refill your health? The game would become a lot more interesting.

(Request) Here's a fact: I (personally) love level editors! (Probably because I make my own games, and in general love to make my own things). But this game only has one type of block. You're previous game (in the showdown category) had around 6 unique blocks (spread across 3 maps). If you would be able to bring those blocks into the level editor I would be able to make much more unique arenas and landscapes.

(Report) Music and sound effects are spot on! That is one of the most important parts of making a game. I would like to know where you found the music though (unless you made it yourself, which would be very impressive).

Other than these requests/reports I would say always improve where you think you can. I'll give you 4 stars. Good luck in your future games

-Jauq

FSt-Germain responds:

Thanks for the Awesome response! I got the music from incomptech and sound bible fyi. The game is just a remake of my first real game (as discussed in the first showdown) so that's why many of the graphics issues are still present, however, I'll certainly take your advice, it's very wise.

Your response is exactly what I wanted about the level editor. As discussed in the description, I wanted to know how players react to the bare bones level editor. I like to know that it's not just the level (placement of blocks) that matter to the player, but also the aesthetic (background, blocks etc.).
Sorry for the spelling mistakes, I had only been awake for an hour when I wrote it haha, lesson learned.
Thanks for playing and leaving the awesome responce.