Good to see you're still alive. Too bad that you seem to have lost your luster. May I assume that most of the better quality work is going to the website these days since we haven't seen you here in about a year? It's a real shame because your work was beginning to get good for a while.
I won't go into as much detail with this one. You know what the problems are with this one as well as I do. No context like your usual stuff. The girl makes no sounds which kills the mood a little. The artwork is even more cartoony than your usual stuff. It seems there was a great lack of effort on this work and I assume this was thrown together to remind us here at Newgrounds to visit your site.
Nevertheless, I'm grateful to see you are still at work. Do drop by here and visit more often.
One thing I like about good point-n-click games is that they'll at least indicate what you can and can't click on by changing the mouse or highlighting the object. While that does seem to make it easy, it reduces frustration when I feel like I've clicked on every available spot in a given area and have not been able to advance in quite some time.
Another issue I'm having is that connect the dots puzzle. I'm sure it's easy once you get the idea of it, but that's the thing, we haven't really had much of a clue as to the idea of it. It skips random numbers and makes an incoherent mess of scribbles. I thought it might make a part of the picture I found in the coat, but it doesn't come close. Perhaps this game could be aided by a hint system or perhaps link to a walkthrough for the thickest of us.
Also, why can't I just click and drag an item in the slidey puzzle? Why do I have to reclick it to indicate I want to drag it to another space? Seems unnecessary. Kind of like an eraser that erases the entire drawing you've made when all I want to do is erase a single line or something. Minor controls could definitely use a little work.
In short, it looks good, but doesn't play the best. A few tweaks and it will be just fine. :D
But not a lot of variety in game play. On top of that, I don't know my placement and why can't I use items I find? Plays fine and looks alright, but it seems to be all flash and no substance.
I've made a conscious attempt to avoid WoW because it just seems like a game that would consume all the time in my life I'd rather be using for being productive and much less horrible games. Nothing against RPGs, it's just WoW.
I can safely say that this game doesn't change that opinion in the slightest. It's not that your game was bad as it seems to appeal to the intended audience. But it did nothing to sell that same style of gameplay to me. It's sort of dull. As soon as I was told I'd have to help in the village, I knew that I'd be getting quests to collect a random number of random items.
Again, to your target audience, you probably did fine. But you certainly didn't make an outsider like myself more interested in stuff like this. Better luck next time.
Never played Plants Vs. Zombies. While I know this bears a striking resemblance to that game, I can't make any fair comparisons, and, as such, will judge this game by its own merits. First off, there should be an alternative way to gaining "Fantasy" because it takes so damn long to get any. By the time you have what you need a wolf is biting off your nipples.
Second, there should be a way to upgrade your toys during the game like a tower defense game. Because that's essentially what this game is and how it should work. Sure, there isn't a tower or the usual long twisted path of enemies, but there are still things and you are defending something from those things with some things of your own. But as enemies get stronger and more varied, the toys should, in a sense, upgrade and become more varied.
Also, money seems to fall out rarely, randomly, and sparingly. If more was produced in game, you could make the upgrades something you buy with money between challenges rather than during challenges with more Fantasy.
In short, lack of an upgrading system, poor money delivery system, and slow Fantasy gaining makes for a rather frustrating experience. But the aesthetics are nice and this game makes me actually want to try out PvZ and see if it really is worth a damn. So thanks for that much at least.
It does a lot right with some varied enemies to control and puzzle games are always fun when done right, like this one. However, I feel more could have been done to make it even greater. For example, a larger variety of humans to infect would have been great. Think of all the variety of abilities you could create with that. I also feel that if you control a human, you shouldn't get shot at by other humans. It's a stealth thing that I think would have been a cool way to go about it. Then develop a character that is able to see through you clever disguises.
In short, good. Even great. But much room for further improvement.
You say you made it easier, but I fail to see how someone could succeed a single level in their first playthrough, the first in particular. I don't mind a hard game, but the difficulty curve is like a brick wall. And level two is like jumping out of a frying pan and into an even larger frying pan filled with acid. Would it be too much to lengthen gameplay with more levels and a more gradual pace of increasing difficulty?
As for gameplay itself, it works, like any other TD game. I wish there was a larger variety in the towers and that the starting cost wasn't so high. But that's about it really.
Trying to add a new car to the train is a real pain in the ass because controls for the chopper aren't great. And if you can't get the chopper down in time, you have to put up with several enemies shooting at you and you can't fire back. The drop should just be automatic and be one less issue for the player. Otherwise, fine tune the controls to make it work better.
The game is WAY too easy and does not really allow for creativity on the player for success. All I did was follow mission objectives and I breezed through the entire game. But when I tried starting in a city and just did whatever I felt would be the most interesting, I got into debt faster and had trouble getting out. While I understand certain business ventures are superior to others, it does seem to be a tad linear when on option that is recommended by the game is almost always the best way to advance in the game.
There are also plenty of bugs. Elevators have gotten stuck before and I had to destroy it and rebuild to fix the issue. That might be something worth looking into.
Also, why can't I zoom out? I had some amazing ideas for layouts of the mall. But once I started getting the area filled, I quickly realized that the space I thought I had was not really available to me. I'm not saying I want more space (even though I do) but I would prefer to at least know what my limitations are so I don't overbuild too fast or can at least center my pieces at the beginning to better fit my designs.
Lastly, it feels too short with only three cities, each being won by simply doing the mission checklist. You can't even go back to revisit a city once you have attained all the new shops for your mall.
Overall, this is a fun game riddled with bugs and limitations. I'd say some patching up is highly recommended if not just make a whole new game with the same concept in mind.
SilverUchiha
All 231 flash Reviews
Rated 3 / 5 stars January 20, 2012
Great message
But controls are really glitchy for me. Laggy jumps and sometimes I just won't move at all. Dunno what's up with that.
Rated 3 / 5 stars January 4, 2012
Lacks your usual flare
Good to see you're still alive. Too bad that you seem to have lost your luster. May I assume that most of the better quality work is going to the website these days since we haven't seen you here in about a year? It's a real shame because your work was beginning to get good for a while.
I won't go into as much detail with this one. You know what the problems are with this one as well as I do. No context like your usual stuff. The girl makes no sounds which kills the mood a little. The artwork is even more cartoony than your usual stuff. It seems there was a great lack of effort on this work and I assume this was thrown together to remind us here at Newgrounds to visit your site.
Nevertheless, I'm grateful to see you are still at work. Do drop by here and visit more often.
Rated 2.5 / 5 stars October 10, 2011
Better Indicators
One thing I like about good point-n-click games is that they'll at least indicate what you can and can't click on by changing the mouse or highlighting the object. While that does seem to make it easy, it reduces frustration when I feel like I've clicked on every available spot in a given area and have not been able to advance in quite some time.
Another issue I'm having is that connect the dots puzzle. I'm sure it's easy once you get the idea of it, but that's the thing, we haven't really had much of a clue as to the idea of it. It skips random numbers and makes an incoherent mess of scribbles. I thought it might make a part of the picture I found in the coat, but it doesn't come close. Perhaps this game could be aided by a hint system or perhaps link to a walkthrough for the thickest of us.
Also, why can't I just click and drag an item in the slidey puzzle? Why do I have to reclick it to indicate I want to drag it to another space? Seems unnecessary. Kind of like an eraser that erases the entire drawing you've made when all I want to do is erase a single line or something. Minor controls could definitely use a little work.
In short, it looks good, but doesn't play the best. A few tweaks and it will be just fine. :D
Rated 3 / 5 stars September 24, 2011
Looks good
But not a lot of variety in game play. On top of that, I don't know my placement and why can't I use items I find? Plays fine and looks alright, but it seems to be all flash and no substance.
Rated 2.5 / 5 stars September 13, 2011
WoW Inspired eh?
I've made a conscious attempt to avoid WoW because it just seems like a game that would consume all the time in my life I'd rather be using for being productive and much less horrible games. Nothing against RPGs, it's just WoW.
I can safely say that this game doesn't change that opinion in the slightest. It's not that your game was bad as it seems to appeal to the intended audience. But it did nothing to sell that same style of gameplay to me. It's sort of dull. As soon as I was told I'd have to help in the village, I knew that I'd be getting quests to collect a random number of random items.
Again, to your target audience, you probably did fine. But you certainly didn't make an outsider like myself more interested in stuff like this. Better luck next time.
I will try my best to make the next episode more exciting!
Rated 3.5 / 5 stars September 6, 2011
Fine
Never played Plants Vs. Zombies. While I know this bears a striking resemblance to that game, I can't make any fair comparisons, and, as such, will judge this game by its own merits. First off, there should be an alternative way to gaining "Fantasy" because it takes so damn long to get any. By the time you have what you need a wolf is biting off your nipples.
Second, there should be a way to upgrade your toys during the game like a tower defense game. Because that's essentially what this game is and how it should work. Sure, there isn't a tower or the usual long twisted path of enemies, but there are still things and you are defending something from those things with some things of your own. But as enemies get stronger and more varied, the toys should, in a sense, upgrade and become more varied.
Also, money seems to fall out rarely, randomly, and sparingly. If more was produced in game, you could make the upgrades something you buy with money between challenges rather than during challenges with more Fantasy.
In short, lack of an upgrading system, poor money delivery system, and slow Fantasy gaining makes for a rather frustrating experience. But the aesthetics are nice and this game makes me actually want to try out PvZ and see if it really is worth a damn. So thanks for that much at least.
Rated 4 / 5 stars September 4, 2011
Not a bad game
It does a lot right with some varied enemies to control and puzzle games are always fun when done right, like this one. However, I feel more could have been done to make it even greater. For example, a larger variety of humans to infect would have been great. Think of all the variety of abilities you could create with that. I also feel that if you control a human, you shouldn't get shot at by other humans. It's a stealth thing that I think would have been a cool way to go about it. Then develop a character that is able to see through you clever disguises.
In short, good. Even great. But much room for further improvement.
Rated 3.5 / 5 stars August 9, 2011
Punishing
You say you made it easier, but I fail to see how someone could succeed a single level in their first playthrough, the first in particular. I don't mind a hard game, but the difficulty curve is like a brick wall. And level two is like jumping out of a frying pan and into an even larger frying pan filled with acid. Would it be too much to lengthen gameplay with more levels and a more gradual pace of increasing difficulty?
As for gameplay itself, it works, like any other TD game. I wish there was a larger variety in the towers and that the starting cost wasn't so high. But that's about it really.
Rated 1.5 / 5 stars August 9, 2011
Drop Issues
Trying to add a new car to the train is a real pain in the ass because controls for the chopper aren't great. And if you can't get the chopper down in time, you have to put up with several enemies shooting at you and you can't fire back. The drop should just be automatic and be one less issue for the player. Otherwise, fine tune the controls to make it work better.
Rated 4 / 5 stars July 11, 2011
Easy, Buggy, and Short
The game is WAY too easy and does not really allow for creativity on the player for success. All I did was follow mission objectives and I breezed through the entire game. But when I tried starting in a city and just did whatever I felt would be the most interesting, I got into debt faster and had trouble getting out. While I understand certain business ventures are superior to others, it does seem to be a tad linear when on option that is recommended by the game is almost always the best way to advance in the game.
There are also plenty of bugs. Elevators have gotten stuck before and I had to destroy it and rebuild to fix the issue. That might be something worth looking into.
Also, why can't I zoom out? I had some amazing ideas for layouts of the mall. But once I started getting the area filled, I quickly realized that the space I thought I had was not really available to me. I'm not saying I want more space (even though I do) but I would prefer to at least know what my limitations are so I don't overbuild too fast or can at least center my pieces at the beginning to better fit my designs.
Lastly, it feels too short with only three cities, each being won by simply doing the mission checklist. You can't even go back to revisit a city once you have attained all the new shops for your mall.
Overall, this is a fun game riddled with bugs and limitations. I'd say some patching up is highly recommended if not just make a whole new game with the same concept in mind.