P-Arc's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Whimsical adventures [DEMO]]

6/10: misleading description, I don't think that the invisible hand of the free market helped us at all.

[Spinny Dungeon]

A very fun, very difficult demo that makes me excited to see the full game! The gameplay is as addictive as any of these kinds of random-result based roguelikes, and there's certainly a lot of depth to be found. The pixel art compliments the gameplay well, and the music is really catchy! (Though it could definitely do with more than two song tracks.)

There are a couple of critiques I have. For one, the option to throw away your equipment/artifacts/whatever you call the stuff that appears on the left of the screen under your stats should probably give the players some coins in exchange. Maybe it's for if you get too many artifacts and need to make some space to buy some more? But artifacts are so expensive in the shop, I was never able to get enough to see if there was an inventory limit. As it stands, the ability to throw away artifacts needs something more to entice players to make the choice.

Also, saving and exiting and reloading a game led to all spells being reset to their original status, meaning that only Charge 1 and Sharpening 1 remain upon reloading. I'm assuming that's just a bug, but it's a pretty nasty one.

Still, this was overall a really fun game. one I could easily find myself playing for hours on end.

TLDR:

Pros: Addictive gameplay, great spritework, lots of mechanical depth under the surface,
some subtle humor within the enemies

Cons: Only two songs, not much point in throwing away artifacts, bug makes saving and
exiting harmful to the player

TypingMonkeyStudio responds:

Thank you for the great review and the bug report! I fixed the save system and updated the game. I didn't expect Newgrounds would be better than itch.io for the deep feedback. Thank you once more!

The inventory limit is 12 artifacts (trinkets). It was made this way because of the limited screen space. I don't want to add a slider. Dropping of trinkets is possible mostly due to this hard limit. In future I plan to add a couple of trinkets which will heal, deal damage or smth. on drop.

[Level 256]

A short but fun experience, with charming graphics (props to Melody) and great music. I do wish that the player character was able to move faster (it felt a bit slow), but that and any other issues are far too minor to majorly affect my enjoyment of the game.

[Balls, Dice & Stickers]

Really fun! I'd definitely like it if you were able to replace stickers on the dice, though. I don't feel like it would be too busted, since you'd be giving up the opportunity to upgrade a new dice face when doing so, and it would help alleviate the potential salt of having no choice but to fill up their dice with stickers that have no synergy.

[Werm]

This is... erm. Is... Werm.

I'd find the utter boredom of it funnier if the Tags weren't outright lies. I don't think I've ever seen a game less "fast-paced."

That is all I have to say.

goober12312343 responds:

Yeah your right I changed it to be more acurrate. I understand why you left a poor review I thought it was funny at first.

[Swordius]

A really fun and fast-paced game! The semi on-rails nature of the game was really interesting, and the gameplay was quite enjoyable; in particular, the dodge strike and its ability to massively raise the boss's stagger bar added a cool risk-reward element of trying to get as close to attacks as possible, with the payoff of a successful dodge strike being very satisfying to pull off. The graphics were flashy but not overwhelming, with a very clean art style, and I liked how each boss had a different soundtrack that tried to fit the theme (calmer for the Water Swordian, Rhythmic for the Earth Swordian...).

The criticisms I have with the game (besides its length, but to complain of such an adrenaline-filled game being short seems like mere nitpicking) are few. Some attacks, such as the Wind Swordian's giant spinning tornado blade, ARE hard to see spawn if you are in the middle of attacking the boss, which can be somewhat frustrating when attempting to get the best time. The timing for dodging some attacks, such as the Water Swordian's spinning laser-barrier combo, have some odd timings, as it seems like only the first half of your dash has I-Frames, but it's not clear when they go away. Lastly, some boss attacks seem to actually be more difficult when used during the first phase; the Earth Swordian's outer ring prism spikes attack is quite annoying to dodge, as the arena during the first phase is so small that attempting to dodge through the attack usually leads into you getting hit by more spikes.

Still, all of these issues are minor, and the fast respawn means that dying wasn't a real upset. I look forward to hopefully seeing more soon!

Yword responds:

Thanks a lot for your feedback! :D

[FAIR AND FACTUAL FREE PRESS AGENCY]

Short but sweet! I don't know if the flipped controls work properly, though. There was no visual change in the buttons for me when it happened, and I didn't notice any gameplay changes.

crow-seeds responds:

Ah, they only work for keyboard controls, will fix when I get home!

EDIT: Fixed!

[Zui's Witch Academy]

Awesome music, beautiful pixel art, and really fun and unique gameplay (I love the idea of having spinning arenas!) make for an excellent game.

[Game: The Game]

This is certainly a game.

shinies704 responds:

gamest game ever in the gameverse

[Rock Destroyer]

The gameplay is kind of repetitive, and a lack of scoring system combined with what seems to be completely flat difficulty means that there's not much to keep people playing for more than a few minutes. Perhaps you could add stuff like powerups (for example, a shield to protect the player from a hit or an upgrade that makes them fire spread shots)?