eh...nothing much to say about this one.
I think this game's only real selling point is that it looks pretty as hell. Everything is stylized really well, but poor optimization and weird graphical glitches keep it from getting the gold star in even its strongest department.
The basic gist of the game is that you are a little night demon (which is what my Physics teacher calls his dog) whose goal it is to scare every last person in town. In order to scare them properly, you must creep up behind them before delivering the big "boo!" You can lure people into auspicious positions by dropping candy or money, but other than that, you're just a purple bat-creature who sounds like a dying cat.
Candy is used to lure kids, whereas money is used to lure adults. It's a cute little detail, but whether you drop candy or money is completely random, so all this adds to the game is the fact that sometimes you'll end up with no choice but to drop a stack of candies with a dollar bill on top. Luckily, you have an unlimited supply of candy, or this would've been really frustrating.
The game as a whole is just kind of dull. The "proper" scares that you need to accomplish in order to progress trigger cutscenes that hang around just long enough to be annoying. In addition, the dead zones created by lampposts are not very well distinguished, meaning falling into an inescapable death trap is way too easy.
All in all, this is a cute looking game that needed a lot of polish before it was ready to be called playable, and a lot more design brainstorming before it was ready to be called fun.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay scary
Links
meow of terror: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=8727
Monday, July 8, 2013
Sunday, July 7, 2013
expectations going forward
so tomorrow should be a regular blog day, but I'm spending Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at my Grandmother's house, which has a grant total of 0 internets. Don't worry, though. I'll still be playing and reviewing. You just won't be able to see them until Friday, when I post all of them at once. So yeah, expect that...
PhaseShift
Hmm...a 2D, top-down space shooter featuring two worlds to shift through...Apparently the guys at DigiPen love them some Ikaruga
Alright, well this game isn't quite the same as Ikaruga. Instead of your ship shifting colors to suit its environment, in PhaseShift, you use wormholes to travel between two different colored dimensions. Most of this game's problems come from a mishandling of the concept, not a mishandling of design elements. So let me talk about design first before I activate whine mode.
The game, especially the stills used in menus and whatnot, look gorgeous. Rachael Downing, the lead artist for the game, has some real talent; and apparently she knows it because her name appears twice on the game's description page...wait a minute, everyone's name appears twice...what?
The game feels decent enough. When you get hit, you hear that classic electric-y burn-y noise that's just begging to be accompanied by a rumbling controller. You do move rather slowly, but your movement speed is just quick enough to be able to dodge enemy fire efficiently, so that's not the problem. I think the problem is that since there are 2 worlds on the screen at all times, only one of which you are in, you're always going to be limited to a very narrow area, meaning even when the game doesn't decide to earn its name as a "bullet hell," You're going to feel very confined.
Which of course brings me to this whole "swap worlds with wormholes thing." First, let me say that I do really like this idea. The two worlds are varied enough in design to make the game's nonexistent narrative rather interesting. One world features mechanical enemy starships while the other features organic lifeforms. It's a joy to behold, but is it worth all the frustrations this concept brings?
First off, let's talk about the wormholes. In games like Ikarguga, you're able to swap between polarities at any time. in PhaseShift, you have to wait for a wormhole to come by. I don't see the point of this; it just seems like an unnecessary invitation for frustration.
Also, there's no reward for going through a wormhole. Each world typically has the same amount of enemies and firepower at any given time, so the only differences between the worlds are the visual style, the music playing in the background, and the firing patterns of the enemies. The visual style's novelty wears off in like 2 seconds, and while it never stops being fun to look at, it's hardly enough to influence your decision on which world to stay in. After all, this is a bullet hell. You don't have time to appreciate the aesthetics and you certainly don't have time to analyze your enemies' firing patterns, especially on the screen that you're not in. So, you're probably going to end up staying in the world with the best background music, making the entire mechanic pretty much pointless.
I'm guessing someone noticed this while this game was being playtested and that the ensuing conversation went something like this:
"Guys, we need to influence the player to switch worlds every now and again, otherwise the entire game is just a shoot 'em up that only uses half the screen."
"Alright, how about rewarding the player with points every time they use a wormhole?"
"Good start, but points are kind of arbitrary. Why don't we give them a powerup for every three wormholes they use?"
"Excellent idea, so should I get rid of the powerups that we hid inside the enemies?"
...and it was all going perfectly well until...
"Guys, guys, what are you thinking? Don't you know that punishment is a more powerful incentive than reward?"
"Um...well, yeah, but-"
"The player doesn't deserve more poewrups, he or she should be punished for not playing our game the way we want"
"But doesn't that seem a little-"
"Here's how we do it. Every so often, completely at random, a big "warning" will flash in front of the screen, followed by an undodgeable insta-kill attack that the player has to use wormholes to escape."
"That doesn't sound fun at all"
"Well it's the way I want it, so either program it in or I'll upload that embarrassing video of you to Youtube."
And lo, a good game was ruined. Luckily for me, I already have embarrassing videos on Youtube, so my shame is totally gone and I feel free to criticize this game for the misguided project that it is. It's not a bad game by any means, but the flaws are tough to overlook.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay dichotomous
Links
Shifts Don't Phase Me: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=24649
P.S- If you want to see that embarrassing video of me, you'll just have to find it on your own :P
Alright, well this game isn't quite the same as Ikaruga. Instead of your ship shifting colors to suit its environment, in PhaseShift, you use wormholes to travel between two different colored dimensions. Most of this game's problems come from a mishandling of the concept, not a mishandling of design elements. So let me talk about design first before I activate whine mode.
The game, especially the stills used in menus and whatnot, look gorgeous. Rachael Downing, the lead artist for the game, has some real talent; and apparently she knows it because her name appears twice on the game's description page...wait a minute, everyone's name appears twice...what?
The game feels decent enough. When you get hit, you hear that classic electric-y burn-y noise that's just begging to be accompanied by a rumbling controller. You do move rather slowly, but your movement speed is just quick enough to be able to dodge enemy fire efficiently, so that's not the problem. I think the problem is that since there are 2 worlds on the screen at all times, only one of which you are in, you're always going to be limited to a very narrow area, meaning even when the game doesn't decide to earn its name as a "bullet hell," You're going to feel very confined.
Which of course brings me to this whole "swap worlds with wormholes thing." First, let me say that I do really like this idea. The two worlds are varied enough in design to make the game's nonexistent narrative rather interesting. One world features mechanical enemy starships while the other features organic lifeforms. It's a joy to behold, but is it worth all the frustrations this concept brings?
First off, let's talk about the wormholes. In games like Ikarguga, you're able to swap between polarities at any time. in PhaseShift, you have to wait for a wormhole to come by. I don't see the point of this; it just seems like an unnecessary invitation for frustration.
Also, there's no reward for going through a wormhole. Each world typically has the same amount of enemies and firepower at any given time, so the only differences between the worlds are the visual style, the music playing in the background, and the firing patterns of the enemies. The visual style's novelty wears off in like 2 seconds, and while it never stops being fun to look at, it's hardly enough to influence your decision on which world to stay in. After all, this is a bullet hell. You don't have time to appreciate the aesthetics and you certainly don't have time to analyze your enemies' firing patterns, especially on the screen that you're not in. So, you're probably going to end up staying in the world with the best background music, making the entire mechanic pretty much pointless.
I'm guessing someone noticed this while this game was being playtested and that the ensuing conversation went something like this:
"Guys, we need to influence the player to switch worlds every now and again, otherwise the entire game is just a shoot 'em up that only uses half the screen."
"Alright, how about rewarding the player with points every time they use a wormhole?"
"Good start, but points are kind of arbitrary. Why don't we give them a powerup for every three wormholes they use?"
"Excellent idea, so should I get rid of the powerups that we hid inside the enemies?"
...and it was all going perfectly well until...
"Guys, guys, what are you thinking? Don't you know that punishment is a more powerful incentive than reward?"
"Um...well, yeah, but-"
"The player doesn't deserve more poewrups, he or she should be punished for not playing our game the way we want"
"But doesn't that seem a little-"
"Here's how we do it. Every so often, completely at random, a big "warning" will flash in front of the screen, followed by an undodgeable insta-kill attack that the player has to use wormholes to escape."
"That doesn't sound fun at all"
"Well it's the way I want it, so either program it in or I'll upload that embarrassing video of you to Youtube."
And lo, a good game was ruined. Luckily for me, I already have embarrassing videos on Youtube, so my shame is totally gone and I feel free to criticize this game for the misguided project that it is. It's not a bad game by any means, but the flaws are tough to overlook.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay dichotomous
Links
Shifts Don't Phase Me: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=24649
P.S- If you want to see that embarrassing video of me, you'll just have to find it on your own :P
Saturday, July 6, 2013
PhaseOut
I want you all to use your imaginations for a sec: Imagine Ikaruga as a voluptuous young woman. Now imagine Megaman X as a spirited young man. Imagine the two find each other at a bar one night and Megaman X takes Ikaruga back to his place for a bout of energetic young passion. Now, imagine what comes from that about 9 months later. The answer is PhaseOut.
Now that I've thoroughly confused and probably disgusted you with that delightful bit of imagery, let me explain. PhaseOut is a fast paced platformer involving wall jumping (there's the Megaman X) and polarity between red and blue, making certain things intangible and others not (there's Ikaruga).
I really don't feel like running down the list and complimenting every aspect of the design, so just imagine the best case scenario given what I told you so far. Now, imagine that with minimalist yet still charming 2.5D visual style that takes a turn for the unnecessarily confusing when the background changes from green, a color reserved only for background, to blue, a color also utilized by sometimes intangible platforms. Other than that one very confusing design choice, there's not much to complain about in the looks department.
The biggest problem with the game isn't even a problem with the game. It's a problem with my computer. When I'm pressing both the up and left arrow keys, the space bar doesn't work. The space bar is what you use to switch between red and blue. The levels are all designed to be very challenging when you're able to switch colors mid-jump, so imagine how frustrating it gets when half of the time, you have to stop moving for a split second in order to change color at the right time. It's kind of if like Super Meat Boy simply decided not to hold onto walls while he was facing left unless you were pressing some arbitrary button like "left crtl" or something.
Now I know what you're thinking: Dean, if the only major issue you took with the game wasn't its fault, then you've got to give it your seal of approval, right? Well, as much as it pains me, no. I want to give this game my seal of approval for its brilliantly challenging yet doable (in theory) design. I want to give it my seal of approval for having a competent level select. I want to give it my seal of approval for its aesthetics, sound design, feel, everything...but I just can't get past that one big ol' flaw. See, I still think the devs share some blame here. The "WASD" keys are never used in the game...why not?! Maybe my computer is the only one with the arrow keys problem, but I'm pretty sure it's a common problem. I know they designed the game mostly with an Xbox controller in mind, but I don't have any of those. Sorry guys, but for your lack of consideration for the keyboard warriors, I can't in good conscience give this game my seal of approval. Still, though, to my audience if I have one, check this game out. It's one of the most fun platformers on this list.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay intangible
Links
Red/Blue Shift: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=24672
Now that I've thoroughly confused and probably disgusted you with that delightful bit of imagery, let me explain. PhaseOut is a fast paced platformer involving wall jumping (there's the Megaman X) and polarity between red and blue, making certain things intangible and others not (there's Ikaruga).
I really don't feel like running down the list and complimenting every aspect of the design, so just imagine the best case scenario given what I told you so far. Now, imagine that with minimalist yet still charming 2.5D visual style that takes a turn for the unnecessarily confusing when the background changes from green, a color reserved only for background, to blue, a color also utilized by sometimes intangible platforms. Other than that one very confusing design choice, there's not much to complain about in the looks department.
The biggest problem with the game isn't even a problem with the game. It's a problem with my computer. When I'm pressing both the up and left arrow keys, the space bar doesn't work. The space bar is what you use to switch between red and blue. The levels are all designed to be very challenging when you're able to switch colors mid-jump, so imagine how frustrating it gets when half of the time, you have to stop moving for a split second in order to change color at the right time. It's kind of if like Super Meat Boy simply decided not to hold onto walls while he was facing left unless you were pressing some arbitrary button like "left crtl" or something.
Now I know what you're thinking: Dean, if the only major issue you took with the game wasn't its fault, then you've got to give it your seal of approval, right? Well, as much as it pains me, no. I want to give this game my seal of approval for its brilliantly challenging yet doable (in theory) design. I want to give it my seal of approval for having a competent level select. I want to give it my seal of approval for its aesthetics, sound design, feel, everything...but I just can't get past that one big ol' flaw. See, I still think the devs share some blame here. The "WASD" keys are never used in the game...why not?! Maybe my computer is the only one with the arrow keys problem, but I'm pretty sure it's a common problem. I know they designed the game mostly with an Xbox controller in mind, but I don't have any of those. Sorry guys, but for your lack of consideration for the keyboard warriors, I can't in good conscience give this game my seal of approval. Still, though, to my audience if I have one, check this game out. It's one of the most fun platformers on this list.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay intangible
Links
Red/Blue Shift: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=24672
Perspective
Alright, this one was interesting. Really interesting.
You remember when you were little and you would play with action figures or dolls or whatever you want to call them? Remember how you would make them jump around on cabinets and tables and whatnot? Now, did you ever have one of those moments when you were really tired but you still wanted to play with your toy, so you kind of unfocused your vision and made the action figure jump around on the outlines of cabinets and tabletops in the distance? Well, that's kind of what this game is.
In case that explanation was a bit too asinine for you, I'll try to use more technical terms. By pressing LMB, you can switch between controlling the camera and controlling Mr. Blue Jumpy Man. If Mr. Blue Jumpy Man, to be hitherto referred to as "MBJM," touches orange, he dies. He can only stand on blue platforms. Even if he dies, he can respawn infinitely in almost the same position, making this game's frustration factor almost nil.
The game gets interesting when you control the camera. See, the platforms that MBJM can jump on aren't all immediately accessible. You have to move around to manipulate where the blue platforms seem to reside in space. MBJM apparently stands on the perception of an object rather than the object itself. This gameplay mechanic is really unique and clever; it makes you think outside the box and I see this game as another successful attempt to push the boundaries of what game mechanics can do.
Of course, with a game like this, the primary determinant of quality is whether or not the central experimental mechanic works, and in this game, it's flawless. It does exactly what it's supposed to 100% of the time. On top of that, the game controls like butter. This game looks fantastic, feels fantastic and sounds fantastic (even if the background track can get a little repetitive).
My only real criticism is that this game spends a little too much time exploring its one mechanic, but that's not really a bad thing. I doubt there's some super sentimental ending that'll make me want to plow through the levels to see, so who cares if the game is too long? Besides, it has an autosave feature, so you can put it down when you get bored.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay perceptive.
Links
Now You See Me, and You Always Will: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25930
EDIT: The autosave doesn't work, so nevermind. No seal of approval for you.
You remember when you were little and you would play with action figures or dolls or whatever you want to call them? Remember how you would make them jump around on cabinets and tables and whatnot? Now, did you ever have one of those moments when you were really tired but you still wanted to play with your toy, so you kind of unfocused your vision and made the action figure jump around on the outlines of cabinets and tabletops in the distance? Well, that's kind of what this game is.
In case that explanation was a bit too asinine for you, I'll try to use more technical terms. By pressing LMB, you can switch between controlling the camera and controlling Mr. Blue Jumpy Man. If Mr. Blue Jumpy Man, to be hitherto referred to as "MBJM," touches orange, he dies. He can only stand on blue platforms. Even if he dies, he can respawn infinitely in almost the same position, making this game's frustration factor almost nil.
The game gets interesting when you control the camera. See, the platforms that MBJM can jump on aren't all immediately accessible. You have to move around to manipulate where the blue platforms seem to reside in space. MBJM apparently stands on the perception of an object rather than the object itself. This gameplay mechanic is really unique and clever; it makes you think outside the box and I see this game as another successful attempt to push the boundaries of what game mechanics can do.
Of course, with a game like this, the primary determinant of quality is whether or not the central experimental mechanic works, and in this game, it's flawless. It does exactly what it's supposed to 100% of the time. On top of that, the game controls like butter. This game looks fantastic, feels fantastic and sounds fantastic (even if the background track can get a little repetitive).
My only real criticism is that this game spends a little too much time exploring its one mechanic, but that's not really a bad thing. I doubt there's some super sentimental ending that'll make me want to plow through the levels to see, so who cares if the game is too long? Besides, it has an autosave feature, so you can put it down when you get bored.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay perceptive.
Links
Now You See Me, and You Always Will: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25930
EDIT: The autosave doesn't work, so nevermind. No seal of approval for you.
Friday, July 5, 2013
lame excuses
heyo. I was out all day today, and while arriving home late has never kept me from powering through a game before, the game I played today left me a little confused. If I were to try to write up a review tonight, it would probably be the most pathetic review I've ever contrived; and given some of the content I've put out in the past, that's saying something.
Until tomorrow, friends...
Until tomorrow, friends...
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Pentaflux and Perplexed
whoo-ee, it's 10:44PM as I begin writing this. This has to be a new record for me. It might not sound that impressive, but I am not a night time worker. Early to bed, as late as possible to rise; that's my motto.
Anyhow, Pentaflux is another platformer whose big hook is its weapon-unlock system. Every now again, you'll come across a little station that lets you upgrade your weapons and unlock new ones. The game this reminds me most of is Bulletstorm, but in a 2D platformer.
The game almost gets a little bullet-hellish at times. Aesthetically speaking, this game couldn't be trying harder to be Contra. Just look at the first level. It's practically a carbon-copy. I am thankful that they didn't decide to go the route of most games that call back to the "good old days" and use outdated pixel art, but the MS Paint aesthetic doesn't do much for me either. Nothing to scoff at, I suppose.
The biggest problem by far is that the weapons are terribly balanced. You wanna know how to win in this game? Pick any weapon with the word "homing" in it. Congrats, you win. To be fair, I fiddled around with most of the other weapons and found them to be fun and, mostly, relatively effective, but why would you bother learning how to use other weapons when you can have homing missiles do all the work for you?
Ah well, that's forgivable, I guess, because even if the homing weapons were the only ones offered, I would still have had fun moving down baddies. I can't quite recommend this game, though, because it kinda broke on me at the end of level 2. The screen scrolled too far for me to be able to see the boss. That and the design elements in general just reflect a lack of polish. Once again, we have a game with good roots and mediocre execution.
Alrighty then, let's talk about Perplexed.
Yeah, I'll tell you who were certainly perplexed: this game's marketing department. The game is advertised as a "relaxing puzzle game to relieve stress." Now, let's play word association. I say a word, you say the first word that comes to your mind. Ready?
Perplexed.
now, what words came to mind: confused? Flustered? Frustrated? How about relaxed? I'd be willing to guess that word isn't exactly on your top 10.
Of course I'm just nitpicking for the sake of comedy, but then I opened up the game and was practically assaulted by the menu screen's unbearably bright and highly contrasting colors.
Alright, I'll stop beating around the bush. Perplexed really is a simple puzzle game that's fun and has potential to be relaxing. Keyword: potential.
This game would have been relaxing for me were it not for 2 things:
First, there is no music. Some people may find this calming, but for me, it's just unnerving.
Second, rotating the blocks along certain axes is a little confusing. Though fiddling around with the camera fixes this, fiddling around with the camera is not relaxing. It's aggravating.
Oh well. Both of these games do what they set out to do. Both of them showed competent steps toward meeting their goals; and both of them lack the kind of polish that would make them truly good games. In the case of Perplexed, there are really simple issues like the "esc" key closing out the entire game. I'm sorry, but that kind of stuff is just lazy.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay shiny
Links
Pint of Lucks: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=431
Confuzzled: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=396
Anyhow, Pentaflux is another platformer whose big hook is its weapon-unlock system. Every now again, you'll come across a little station that lets you upgrade your weapons and unlock new ones. The game this reminds me most of is Bulletstorm, but in a 2D platformer.
The game almost gets a little bullet-hellish at times. Aesthetically speaking, this game couldn't be trying harder to be Contra. Just look at the first level. It's practically a carbon-copy. I am thankful that they didn't decide to go the route of most games that call back to the "good old days" and use outdated pixel art, but the MS Paint aesthetic doesn't do much for me either. Nothing to scoff at, I suppose.
The biggest problem by far is that the weapons are terribly balanced. You wanna know how to win in this game? Pick any weapon with the word "homing" in it. Congrats, you win. To be fair, I fiddled around with most of the other weapons and found them to be fun and, mostly, relatively effective, but why would you bother learning how to use other weapons when you can have homing missiles do all the work for you?
Ah well, that's forgivable, I guess, because even if the homing weapons were the only ones offered, I would still have had fun moving down baddies. I can't quite recommend this game, though, because it kinda broke on me at the end of level 2. The screen scrolled too far for me to be able to see the boss. That and the design elements in general just reflect a lack of polish. Once again, we have a game with good roots and mediocre execution.
Alrighty then, let's talk about Perplexed.
Yeah, I'll tell you who were certainly perplexed: this game's marketing department. The game is advertised as a "relaxing puzzle game to relieve stress." Now, let's play word association. I say a word, you say the first word that comes to your mind. Ready?
Perplexed.
now, what words came to mind: confused? Flustered? Frustrated? How about relaxed? I'd be willing to guess that word isn't exactly on your top 10.
Of course I'm just nitpicking for the sake of comedy, but then I opened up the game and was practically assaulted by the menu screen's unbearably bright and highly contrasting colors.
Alright, I'll stop beating around the bush. Perplexed really is a simple puzzle game that's fun and has potential to be relaxing. Keyword: potential.
This game would have been relaxing for me were it not for 2 things:
First, there is no music. Some people may find this calming, but for me, it's just unnerving.
Second, rotating the blocks along certain axes is a little confusing. Though fiddling around with the camera fixes this, fiddling around with the camera is not relaxing. It's aggravating.
Oh well. Both of these games do what they set out to do. Both of them showed competent steps toward meeting their goals; and both of them lack the kind of polish that would make them truly good games. In the case of Perplexed, there are really simple issues like the "esc" key closing out the entire game. I'm sorry, but that kind of stuff is just lazy.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay shiny
Links
Pint of Lucks: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=431
Confuzzled: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=396
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