UPTX's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Maiden of Orleans]

It's not as good as it looks initially, unfortunately:

=NEGATIVES
1) The music is god-awful. It doesn't fit at all the style of the game nor the graphics - and Kevin McLeod just generally makes annoying music.

2) The controls are horrid. You can't hold down more than one button - it's excruciatingly annoying for Jehanne to stop everytime I try to walk diagonally.

3) The story is not that great, because it reminds me way too much of Skyrim in the beginning when you have to walk up to the king in that manner - it just seems ripped off. The first room you're in also seems stolen from any Pokémon-game.

4) The battle scenes are stupid. When the opponent does nothing but attack, there is no point in doing anything but attacking too, because you still lose health defending. It's also weird that you don't keep your health points when leaving a battle.

5) It's frustrating for the game to restart when you die. It's just really, really demotivating to lose all your progress when you die.

=POSITIVES
1) The initial layout looks clean, which is a good thing, however upon entering the actual game the clean interface seems misplaced - look at medieval games, they all have medieval-looking menues.

2) The graphics are superb (both the characters and the terrain), which gave me really high expectations for the game, however the animation could use a touch or two. Another thing, it doesn't really look good when you zoom in on the sprites when you enter battle scenes - you should make other graphics for battle scenes.

Sorry, but it's not at all as good as I thought. 2.5/5 stars (2 stars in the rating system)

-UPTX

dragerx responds:

1) I agree, but it was the only royalty free music I could find any royalty free music
2) I purposely disable going diagonal because it is a tile based rpg, have you ever play final fantasy or pokemon *-*
3)The story is based on Joan of Arc so I don't see how I ripped off skyrim since Joan of Arc was born before.
4) Because It was a school project I wasn't bothered into make hitTests for Potion and such and 4 hours into As2 Coding man.
5) Im sorry but you can save.

[The Square Game]

=Graphics and Design (4/5):
The game opens up with a nice, clean looking design and when entering the game it continues this fashion. The colors also contemplate each other extremely well. The only point of critique I have here is that the font in the menu could be more clean (Sans-serif) and that the font in-game is atrocious. The faint shade breaks the design, and the font frankly, is too complex.

=Sound and Music (2/5):
When I start the game, I'm presented with a screen without any music, which is kind of boring, but not a big deal to be honest. Entering the game, I'm met with a piece of dark, slow music that doesn't fit the clean, fast style of the game. Choose something with less reverb and more BPM next time. Also, the lack of sound effects makes it dull. A "collect"-sound effect would be nice, and a sound when you die too.

=Gameplay (2/5):
I haven't seen this idea before, to be honest, but then again, I'm far from the most abid flash-game player. The idea isn't very original still, due to the lack of "something new". The rising tempo and collection are both things encountered countless times.
Also, the game presents an obvious issue due to rising tempo. It is something possible to "fuck yourself over". See this image for an example:
http://tinypic.com/r/19mbg4/6

=Overall (2/5):
The game is fun for about two minutes, but gets dull due to the lack of variation. Try adding a little "sazz" to jazz it up a bit (i.e: medals). Also, try adding a leaderboard somehow, it makes it more appealing to the competetive people.

Hope my review was of any help!
-UPTX

Carr77 responds:

Thanks for that well-written review :) I'll think of those things next time!
Have a nice day :D

[4paths]

First of all, I believe the music track is copyrighted, but again, I'm not sure. If it is, I advice you to take it down, seeing as you could get sued if a corporate guy is in a poor mood.

Secondly, the graphics are jagged and pixelated, making it irritating to look at. The design isn't too swell either - everything seems randomly placed.

Thirdly, some sounds would be nice, like when you hit a yellow square. Like a PLING or something.

Forth, the idea frankly, isn't new. I don't see any original elements in the game and the original idea isn't even good to begin with

And lastly, very impressive for an 11-year old, AS3 can be a bitch sometimes, but sadly I have to vote fairly - I can't give you a better rating just because you aren't an adult. But hey, everyone has to start somewhere!

monkeywantbananas responds:

Thanks for the advice :D The music is from a youtube show called the annoying orange.