johnsoma's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Energy Quest]

Once again, you guys are fantastic at simple games with massive production values. I like how you get more abilities, and how they combine later on. I can't find a way to replay old levels, though. Also, every time you die, you have to read the text boxes and select the level again, when you could just move back to the level start in a couple seconds. The final ability is also a bit buggy if used too soon after a double jump.

MartinJacob responds:

Hello! Thank you so much for your kind comment!

To replay old levels simply click on their associated button in the menu

We intend to make accessing levels faster in later versions. In the meantime, you can use the "R" key to restart a level!

[Repopulation]

New Best Score 7/1/23: 159

The best kind of game. Simple to understand, but hard to master. Presentation is top notch as well!

For those struggling, my hint is that the parts don't fall randomly. If you figure out the rules for what parts drop where at different phases of gameplay, you will go far.

MartinJacob responds:

Thank you so much! And congrats!

[Upgrade Complete!]

Boy did this game turn out to be prophetic.

The-EXP responds:

Boy, howdy!

[K.O.L.M.]

K.O.L.M hasn't been converted to Ruffle, but I hope it does someday. It's been about 10 years since I first played it and even though I didn't remember the name, the experience still stuck with me. It's basically a Metroidvania taken to the logical conclusion. You start off with literally nothing, not even working eyes, and by the end you become literally invincible. The story might be a little predictable, but it's told in a fun way. Definitely an underrated gem.

The-EXP responds:

Thanks for the lovely words!

[Emergency Monster Team: Chapter 1]

Honestly, I thought this project had been abandoned. I'm happy it wasn't. This is a great world with a lot of potential. The game is slow-paced, and clicking on everything is essential. I like that sort of thing, but not everyone will. Also, this time I was able to complete everything and didn't find any glitches or other problems! The worst I found was just some typos.

EDIT: I forgot to note: You can skip every major fight in this game by exploring, finding the right items, and saying the right things. That is a really cool addition! Especially since you gain levels in this game from completing quests anyway.

shadoboxxer responds:

Thanks for taking the time to play again!
Yeah it's taken quite some time to draw all the new art, and write out all the different text paths in the game I added. Each time somebody plays through, they could have a different outcome in game depending on who's in their party, or what missions they did first. That was always one of my fav things about some RPGs that paid attentions to the players.

I'll be sure to go back and try and fix up all the typos, it's tough doing this solo with being dyslexic, but i managed to get this far! :D

I have a lot more planned for the game, and now that I'm getting more feedback on it, I can see my efforts have worked really well. I do intend to finish the game, as long as I can keep getting feedback, funding, and reviews.

Thanks again for playing and I sure hope you found all the hidden stuff and even the extended drinking hours with Director Lanoir if you have the Bottle of Rum.

[Fantasy Madness: Bloodbath]

Since you're planning to sell this on Steam, I'm gonna go more in-depth than I would normally.

Presentation is absolutely on point. The music, the bombastic announcer, and even the subtle bee noises are great. The gameplay is tight, and some of the upgrades are quite fun! There are some balance issues, of course, but this game nails that addictive factor that Vampire Survivor has.

My biggest issue with this game by far is the equipment system. I get the logic. You want players to choose between getting an upgrade for the current run or selling the loot to buy permanent upgrades for future runs. The other, much more obvious side of the coin is that this system makes the player choose between passing up on gold for upgrades, meaning more grinding in the future, and losing out on an upgrade for the run. It just feels awful.

Beyond any praise or criticism, I want to end this with a question: Why should I play this game over Vampire Survivor, or any of the other clones on Steam? What does this game bring to the table? If you want my take, while it isn't shown in this demo, I gather there are gonna be a bunch of alternate game modes like area control and missions that shake up the standard formula. I don't think there are any other VS clones that have something like that.

NightSteed responds:

Big thanks! We are happy to hear you like it and for pointing out which aspects you admire. In regards to equipment and grinding - the player will also get gold for playing/accomplishing runs based on the final result, score and so on. Selling items will be just an additional way of getting more gold. Player should rather sell items only if his stash is full. We haven’t introduced any “income system” yet as it will be dependent on several factors that are not implemented yet + it will require some balancing. Although we need to admit that for a demo even an imbalanced economy is better than none so it will be very likely implemented soon.

Regarding alternate game modes - more of it will be available in a full game :).

[Cross Strike]

This might be the best one yet. It's a lot of fun, especially that dash ability! Kind of easy to get lost toward the end, but I blame that on my consistent difficulty navigating metroidvanias.

Yword responds:

Thank you so much for playing! :)

[EMBER SKULL]

Incredibly addicting, though I have yet to get past the third loop. Just one note with your tags, since you don't keep upgrades between runs, this is a roguelike, not a roguelite.

CheeseBaron responds:

Thought rogueLIKE was for the turn based stuff and rogueLITE was for everything else, but aight

[RUN FOR THE HILLS! YOUR FAVOURITE NEWGROUNDS USERS ARE COMING FOR YOU!!!]

Well this is addicting

migmoog responds:

I'm getting closer to the origin

[Bandits & Barbarians]

Pretty fun time! I'm not sure I like how big the maps are. On the one hand, it takes a long time to find the opponent you're supposed to shoot. On the other, there are items to grab while you're looking for them.

larrynachos responds:

I think people will appreciate the map size once we have better levels designed. I like how there's 2 or 3 turns before you see each other, it gives you time to position yourself and collect some food.

Thanks for the review!