Krail's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Fixation]

......huh...
So.... does the title refer to Jack's fixation on Kathryn?
I didn't notice the subtitle, so I didn't realize it was a prequel for The Company of Myself until I read some of the reviews about halfway through the game. (goes to show, you can't trust people you meet suddenly in the sewers)

So, yeah, I thought this was a really cool game. A solid puzzle-platformer with a good art style and great music. The smoke and dust effects were fantastic.
Most of all, I thought it was an excellent evolution of the previous game. I thought that The Company of Myself felt like a really interesting experiment, and I feel like Fixation goes beyond being an experiment. You did a lot more, and more interesting things with the idea of level design as metaphor and character development; enough that I actually want to go back through the game and really pick at what you were getting at in some of the levels. The AI controlled co-op is a really cool idea, and I think it does a really good job of getting across the idea of doing things together with people. I thought it was especially strong when you had that awkward uncomfortable moment where Thomas shows up and helps you through a level, and then you contrast that with Jack.

To me, a lot of puzzle platformers feel just like taking a stroll and mulling over my thoughts, so I really enjoy the sort of every-day meandering thoughts tone that you gave to this.

The story felt a little disjointed at times, and I think you should have done something to better get across the passage of time (although at certain points it seemed like confusion over time might be what you were going for?). The character development felt a little weak in some places (and the character introductions all felt a bit too blunt except for Thomas), but at the same time, there were places where you did cool and interesting things with it. In particular I think you could have done just a little more to get across Jack's mental instability.

I think my biggest criticism is that I didn't quite feel the connection with Henry. The way the levels were set up it felt kinda like there had just been one extended conversation with him. I think I would have mixed up the levels a bit more. Introduce the "worlds" as different concepts, then throw in the different kinds of levels where they make sense. So maybe you have a few levels with Henry where you're chatting, and then a level at the house with Penelope and Thomas where yo use things you learned with Henry, followed by a level in the sewers. Then the next time we see Henry we're talking about and reflecting on something that just happened (and maybe we find a better solution to one of the puzzles we just faced), and you get more of a feeling like Kathryn has been seeing him for some time and their conversations are integrated with the rest of her life.

So... yeah, I guess that's the main suggestion I have. You have these "worlds" defined by a certain mood, bundled up all together all at once. You should mix the levels more and let the changing of the moods and mindsets from level to level tell more of the story.

Great stuff! I hope to see you guys do more stuff like this.

FreeAsANerd responds:

Yeah, I considered switching back and forth between settings inside chapters for a while, but with the settings representing different mindsets, I couldn't make it make enough sense to be worth it.

Thanks for the review!

[College-Ruled Universe]

This was pretty cool. Needs a lot of work, but obviously it's just a demo...

Cool designs overall, and a really cool use of colors. I especially like the designs of the charge bar and the boss.
Every once in a while I mistook a background object for a foreground object and wasn't sure if I should dodge or shoot it. Not sure if this is intentional in the design.

The intro was really confusing. It was telling me all these controls and was thinking "Ok, when do I get that item?" I'd thought it was going to be a platformer.

Major suggestion, change the name. I understand that you're referring to standard lined notebook paper, but "College Ruled Universe" is just too confusing. I should say, the correct meaning is not the first thing that jumps to mind, even when I know what it is.

LordDF responds:

Rlght, I'm starting to consider a name change to something more catchy. Maybe...doodleverse? Notebook Adventure? Hmm, if you think of any good ones, PM me! I may just use it.

And yea, I'd like to show more in the intro, but I couldn't purely due to my lack of ability as a programmer. The final will expand immensely on that!

[Free Will - The Game]

I didn't free him

I fail to see how I freed Will. I mean, he wasn't in a cage or anything. He was just standing there.

Nice game. A lot of effort for a cheap joke. I like the big creepy bounce-head guys.
Don't quite get the point of the try again replay thing.

raitendo responds:

Then you didn't get it

[Fishing Girl]

Gold Award's in the bag

Shouldn't you credit Lost Garden in there somewhere? (sorry if you did and I missed it)

Anyway, congratulations man, you may just be the first person to win Danc's gold award. This turned out great. The "bird lure" was an excellent touch. I caught it totally by accident.
I think the ocean runs out of big fish a little too fast. It kinda sucks to have caught 4 big fish and then have to go back to the medium lure because you can't find any red guys anymore. Are the fish breeding? (I mean, if you leave them along long enough, do more show up?)
Umm... the fourth buoy was a little hard to reach, though maybe that's just because I was having a hard time with the timing.

Anyways, all in all, great job.
Next I wanna see Play with your Peas ^^

LunaDrift responds:

Danc didn't ask for credit. There are no credits in the game for the designer, musician or developer.

I'm going to look into the fish respawning. They currently don't, so you have to be a bit careful with your money to finish the game and not just patient.

Thanks for your comment and I'll get around to the other comments when I have more time :)