Syncopated's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[BubblePop]

Hmm...

Just throwing it out there that there are a couple of MINOR differences between this and boomshine (which was a beautiful game and I loved it). Here, the levels are based on time, not necessarily a chain reaction of bubbles as was needed in boomshine. That is, the bubble you create stays on the screen permanently. The only other difference would be that this is clearly not as well done. As for the other games on the linked site which are blatantly stolen as others have discussed, those will be dealt with when they arrive if the author has the balls to post them. Overall, disgusting. Replicate a game for your amusement perhaps, but don't claim it's your own.

[Mardek Rpg: Chapter 2]

Very very nice work

I played the first Mardek when it originally came out and I had been waiting for this ever since. I was not disappointed. I really thoroughly enjoyed this game and can say without a doubt that it gave me more play time than anything else I've ever played on Newgrounds or anywhere else (and that's a good deal of content). Where else can I play 9 hours worth of material for free? I couldn't tell you.

This game's length makes it difficult to review fully. First of all, I found everything fairly glitch free once I updated my flash player, except signs repeated themselves fairly regularly when reading them, as I believe others have pointed out. Seeing a rat level up in the sewers was funny, but also a logical addition. Many choices in your game were logical, along with snippets of speech which make fun of traditional rpg's (like the random battles on the ship). A true satire. Also, I'd say the difficulty was really very good. I had to replay a bunch of fights, but not to the point where it was annoying and most of the time there was something I was doing wrong/missing. Like for the shaman boss I didn't have barrier breaker which is an absolute necessity. The reaction system worked very well and I really liked the variations in attacks and status effects etc. The items worked well too; I liked getting new skills from gear and side quests. Every time I found a new item in a chest or lying around I felt like it was something special and it gave me a little sense of pride which is always good to have in a game. I really liked the continuity from the first game; it managed to fit together nicely if you had played the first one, while also being an engaging storyline to those who hadn't.

I have a few minor complaints, not that they really detracted from the overall experience which was incredible. As others have said, the catacombs got to be very tedious. All of my characters ran out of mana completely (except Deugan of course) and I just had to flee from all the battles. Fleeing was a fairly consistent problem; the game had no mechanism to discourage it. Assuming that you are powerful enough already, the fights are fairly pointless. Maybe a percent chance to fail, or a chance of them reappearing without the flee option could work. I'm sure you've thought this through though and you are the designer so I support your decision. Also, I personally found the difficulty to be a little unevenly distributed, with the beginning being more difficult than the end (much of this may be due to my unsuccessful fights against the shaman, though). Also, the characters were really unevenly skilled. The caster (I'm kicking myself for not remembering her name) was really infinitely better because of element variation than other characters, most notably Deugan. Of course he's good for barrier breaking, but beyond that...eh. More monster drops could have been nice as well, as the only thing they really drop that you can't buy is the mace from the skeletons, which was a nice touch. My biggest complaint (though not really a PROBLEM) is Deugan. NOOOO!!! *Spoiler* But I really feel like I could have saved him in 10 minutes. That was the most emotional moment of any game I've played in a long, long time. Another emotional highlight (not a problem at all it just came to mind) was when the books in the Goznor shop talked about dominance in relationships. I became jealous when I found out that dominant elements won women, implying (maybe?) that the girl (sorry I don't know her name *embarrased*) would love Deugan over me because of his elemental dominance. I don't want Mardek to lose her!

Once again, really really nice work. I must say I'm baffled as to why this piece did not receive front page status. It deserves it more than I can possibly express in words, and I'm really sorry that so many people will not find out about this game! On another note, I like to see that you're still responding to comments almost 200 in and I would love to hear anything back. I also love your artwork; some of it is amazing. I just ran out of characters for the first time!!!

Pseudolonewolf responds:

Thank you for the detailed review; it's very appreciated!
I haven't got anything much to SAY in response to it though, since you didn't really mention any specific bugs or anything...
Except, uh... She's called Emela. Yes. (Very few people were actually able to remember ANYONE'S name with any accuracy... hm.)
And I might consider making Deugan more powerful or useful...
There was also originally a chance of failure when fleeing, but it was buggy and had to be removed at the last minute. I'll consider fixing that and adding it back in.
I'll also add a Healing Crystal in the Catacombs; a lot of people would like that, I'm sure.

Anyway, it's good when people express their appreciation of my efforts!

[The Economist]

Fun game

Nice, funny game. I liked the concept; the speed was good and everything worked well enough for me (except for the missiles at times). It made me feel smart playing it, too. Story in the beginning was a nice touch.

Also, I have to ask you something. I have an economics teacher named Mr. Gilbert who is equally large and ridiculous looking. You wouldn't happen to go to a certain NY school would you?...I just had to ask.

[Areas]

Really nice work

This is actually an incredible game. I think that one reason the scores are on the low side (and it's really a shame) is because some people aren't intelligent enough to understand a game without instructions. I really like the way the whole thing is set up though and trying to figure out how to use the powerups and what they do; the whole powerup system is really very well done and its good to see a completely new concept which is so varied and fun. I was also utterly confused in the beginning with the music controls and various buttons but once I figured everything out I both enjoyed myself and had a somewhat of a sense of pride, like solving out a puzzle. As others have said, the music is incredible as well. Graphics are perfect as well for this kind of game too I believe.

Normally I wait until I'm done with a game before reviewing, but i just had to put this out there even though I seem to be stuck on level 19. Even if this game doesn't get great scores because of people who don't understand it, you should be proud of making a certainly abstract, creepy, crazy, fun game.

[Age of War]

GREAT game

I really enjoyed this game. I've played other defense games like this one but none can compare. Units were very varied and the pace was good. Powers were fun, everything looked really nice, good music, almost no complaints. My only one would be that the ending was really disappointing; I tried forever to win and I just got a lame you win screen. Still very fulfilling and the future was pretty sweet. Thanks for the hard work!

[absolute.Madness]

Verrrry nice

Excellent madness game. Nice to see a departure from your usual rhythm games donut and coolio, but the music still delivered. This game was pretty true to the series; the end boss battle was really well done. I also liked the weapons acquision system. STOP SIGN WEAPON ZOMG!

Overall, really really nice work.

[Space Fighers]

Eh...

Not a bad try, but there is much room for improvement here. Not even really improvement, just copying the areas of other shooters that are better. Powerups would be nice, other than just the bombs which were wholly unnecessary and too numerous. Also, the whole thing was rather crude. No instructions (not that they were really necessary I suppose...but it would have been nice) and also I beat the game and "got undefined point". Not even points.

I must say the ship choice was a nice touch, but the large center ship is so ridiculously powerful and superior that the game is a breeze. An unlockable ship would have been nice; it even could have been the very same as the one I just mentioned.

Could have used more enemy variation too. And the bosses were pretty lame and easy. The first one has a shield...is that dangerous? His life bar also dropped below 0. And the last boss only got off one attack before i drilled him to death with my overpowered rapid fire.

In the end, there is still the outline of a solid game with nice controls. Many complaints I have, but still nice job.

[Modular]

Nice work

I must say i really did enjoy this game for the most part. very fresh ideas, nice combat, good ship variation and attack modes during the waves. normally I'm one to write in my reviews that games, and shooters in particular, need powerups to succeed, but I like the simplicity here. Still, some health pickups for your wisp form could have been nice. Im still trying to unlock that last ship but its proving to be rather difficult. It feels doable though, and I think the levels of difficulty are a big plus even though they dont give the game enough replay value that I'd be tempted to try higher difficulty levels that will give me no rewards. Having looked at the ship guide, now that I know that there is no reward from beating 100x difficulty I really have no incentive to other than my own pride...

So all of the good things being said I do have some complaints, but one which really stands out among the rest. i can refill my ships health by leaving it and reentering it. what?? the fact that there is sometimes painful downtime between waves only makes this glitch easier to exploit. that should REALLY be fixed.

Final verdict though: still a good, solid game. Good job!

[ColorBurst]

Nice work

I like to see authors responding to comments so I figure I'll give you my thoughts on this game. The graphics were impressive, gameplay was flawless, concept was relatively original; overall good work. However, it did grow repetitive very quickly. One enemy, short music loop, one weapon...I sense potential but it just isnt there. This game also reminded me of those Coke commercials where they have the little bubbles flying everywhere. Marketing opportunity? I think so.

itsjms responds:

hmm... thanks alot for the response , seeing your the one that realised that ill respond to reviews ill write a nice one. Thanks for the review and i realise that it grows repetitive , but i think its fine. :] thanks alot for the review.