nacritico's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Fixation]

*THIS COMMENT IS PROLLY GOING TO BE FULL OF SPOILERS, YOU'VE BEEN WARNED*
TCOM = The Company of Myself
FXT = Fixation

General:

My hopes were quite low for this game, I was sure it was going to be one lousy prequel to a somehow over-estimated game... don't get me wrong, TCOM is beautiful, but people over-estimate it.

I'm glad to see I was wrong.

Even without being a prequel to TCOM, FXT has merits of it's own.
The idea of using tabbaco-smoke to get over your mental-problems was great. I've to agree with some other reviewers that the mechanics were kind of sloppy from time to time, but I like the idea.
It has great graphics and good music.

Last but not least, the more "realistic tone" of this game makes it actually more coherent than TCOM. This game is not a dream nor reality, is something in the middle, and being on the twilight is awesome. Makes the experience even more deeper.

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Gameplay:

It was good, most complains I've about gameplay have been addressed by other people (like the requirement to explain things).

I've to say I LOVED the meadow chapter gameplay-wise. You get a great the feeling of "cooperation" from it, which makes the connections with TCOM greater. (it shows Katherine feels the same way towards Jim as Jim describes in TCOM).

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Plot:

I usually have a saying: "no matter how CRAPPY an story is, the MOST important thing is the story-telling", and use as example things I love but have crappy stories like "Dragon Ball Z" or "Kingdom Hearts".

For most of the part, you follow that rule. You tell a very simple story (girl meets boy, boy makes her feel special, she falls in love, shrink dies), but it turns out to be GREATLY interesting.

What you really, REALLY need to work on is the ending.
"TCOM had a great ending (story-wise) but the story-telling was awful, making it uncanny.
You should have smoothed a little the translation between "crazy-land" and "reality". It feels really ass-pulled.
FXT not only had a crappy ending (you didn't explain HOW Katherine died, which is important considering SHE was the main character), but the whole ending feels unsatisfactory (you don't even explain how Jack received the news... he is just there, with convenient amnesia).
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All and all good game, you kept me more than 1 hour in a row playing a Flash Game, something that never happens.

4/5

FreeAsANerd responds:

There's a little more to the ending than what you've described, but I can't really say whether or not that's what made it unsatisfying for you. Glad you enjoyed most of the other parts, though, and thanks a bunch for such an in-depth review!

[Escape from Helltowers]

good try but...

no... the wasn't good...
the graphics where very goods... and the sounds great...
but the real problem here where three:

- The lack of intectivy (the most important mistake)
i think that this is the where you made the big mistake...
i mean; it bothers me that only think that you can do is to move (right or left), shoot and dodge...
i would have loved this game if you could duck (and picking up things just when you duck), jump, use items in the envoirement (more than the keys and the elevators) and save the stpupids people there....
also, if you had given this game more interectiva, you would have been able to make this game more dificult... with more than those stupid rousing robots (for exemple, you could avoid different kinds of beams, in diferents kind of ways)...
if you trie to correct this, i'm sure that this game will be one of the best flash games ever

- The controls (see also the first problem)
well... i don't like to press the enter to use an elevator nor using the up button to avoid thinks...
i think that you shoul put another botton to avoid (like the space) and use the up button (or anyother botton, but please, not the enter) to interact with the envoirment and the people (including the elevators) ....

-the speed...
i'm not sure about this... but i found this game a little slow.... maybe... just MAYBE, you should do it faster...

....

well, try my advices.... and salu2's

ZZR responds:

very good feedback... thx!