MLScherbatov's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Myth Wars Legend 3]

this game is broken :/
i cant tell what the units are and i cant summon some of them
the combat was over in like 1 second flat and just said i lost with the units speeding across the screen so fast i couldnt tell what was what
music is ok

[JimmyJumper]

took a little while to get used to the midair speed, so i accidentally died thinking i was gonna land on an enemy a few times. it's definitely well done tho IMO.

i got the double jump tutorial level immediately after i bought the double jump boots, but i had saved for them first specifically so that i could use the feature as soon as possible, and it was disappointing that it didnt give me any kind of an edge. you should consider having double jump opportunities in all/most levels since the player is allowed to go back and replay them repeatedly. (maybe add a few secret areas?)

it wasnt clear that the spinning spiky trap things were going to damage me when i walked underneath them. it was obvious they were gonna do something when i touched them, but the space underneath them even when pointing vertically was almost always still the same as the character's height, which led me to believe i could pass underneath them as long as i didnt jump.

i think the poop should get squished and disappear when we step on it. it seems strange for it to stay completely intact... lol

superfly was OK but it ended up being more of a bother than a boon, because i never really wanted to move forward in midair that much given how small and far apart some of the platforms were. the double jump served pretty much the same purpose if used properly, and it didnt leave me falling helplessly like luigi's up + b in n64 smash bros.

i think the game needs to have a timer and we should have a few records to beat or something in addition to the other usual achievements or w/e. if we're supposed to be chasing after someone, it makes sense that we'd be trying to catch up to them, not just focus on tokens and smaller enemies.

i had to get so close to attack the red blob guys that i usually ended up taking damage as well. im not sure if this gets better with new weapons but it didnt seem to make much of a difference so far.
a lot of the armored dudes had too little space around them and took too many hits to kill. even with upgraded weapons it seems like i need at least 4 hits, and for some reason half of the time the sword doesn't even seem to deal damage, so attacking these guys was a chore.
maybe you could add some spiked boots that allow us to still damage them by jumping? i just feel like they're slowing the game down and especially with the soundtrack you've chosen i think it would do well if you speed things up.

another thing that might help pick up the pace is to add a ranged attack. one of the reasons super mario bros was so good is because we never had to stop to attack things. this game is all about motion and timing, and i feel like it'd be just that much better if we didnt have to pause and spam the space bar every time we ran into those armored guys.

i noticed that we get to keep tokens from failed attempts, but we cant go to the shop until we complete a level. I also really didnt like that the shop automatically closed once we'd bought an item. you've got me just going back to the first level over and over so i can go to the shop another time here. on top of this, it's not clear which items we have equipped while we're browsing the store. the game allows us to buy inferior items or items that we already have and still takes our money for them. i reallly think the store needs a rehaul in general, and should be more clear and accessible.

overall, the game was challenging, enjoyable, and well paced, but i think there are still a few wrinkles to iron out here. mainly im concerned with the weapons/ armored enemies and how much of a roadblock they always become, as well as the store issues. some of these other things ive suggested are just ideas im throwing out there, but i had a good time playing this.

[Highwayman]

click speed seems to have quite a low cap. i dont enjoy that because i can click like 2x as fast as what this game allows at minimum, and my pc isnt lagging/overheating. not a huge deal, tho.

it wasnt clear that equipment could be upgraded at first. i only got the first armor/club/etc after having upgraded to level 6, and would have greatly benefited if i knew i could purchase those other upgrades instead of waiting for the next level. consider putting the prices underneath the item or showing the other upgrades but greyed out until we can afford them.
also, the first merchant doesnt even attack despite saying he does 2dps, but the 2nd one damn near killed me within 10 seconds. i realize there is a steep reward for beating new merchants, but i feel like instead of just defeating them and that being it and continuing to rob them for the rest of the game, it'd make a hell of a lot more sense if we just got money every time we hit them.

pistols should not hit all of my robbers at once. sure, target multiples if someone has bombs or a shotgun or cannon, but a pistol shouldnt be piercing thru layers of horses n people and armor like that. guns do not work like that, fam

so far, buying new bandits seems to be relatively pointless. they simply dont attack enough to be worthwhile and the only benefit is the abilities that effect the whole team's hp/damage. otherwise 90% or more of my damage is coming from basic clicking, and in general i'd rather have upgraded my first bandit than paid 2x as much per upgrade for an inferior unit.

magnets are 100% useless, because the coins are automatically collected already. i was severely disappointed to learn that all my 3-4k gold investment did was make me collect the coins 1 second before i'd already have gotten them automatically.
i cant trust that an idle game like this will continue to be rewarding or worthwhile when there are expensive upgrades that do absolutely nothing beneficial. the flavor text said "Attracts treasures" so i assumed that meant higher value drops, but it did absolutely nothing. cmon... did we make a game just to make a game here or did we actually put time and care into it? i'm here to have fun and find something diverting for a time, but when im repeatedly confronted with lame ripoffs for upgrades, and beating the game takes hours, im not sure how i can expect this to be a worthwhile experience. 50k for the 3rd bandit? and the 2nd one has been an absolute waste of money? i dont think anyone is willing to play a game like this when they have to work so hard for so little reward. yes, everybody wants to see shiny coins and big numbers on their screen. no, no one wants to pay 20 minutes worth of grind for another squad member that, as far as you've shown us, probably wont even do anything helpful.

[Steve's Adventure]

this has no tutorial, no story, terrible bugs, and awfully unresponsive controls.
polish your content, people. this game is broken

colors are OK. no sound as far as i can tell.
ill give it a "meh"/ 5

[Swords and Souls]

this is my 2nd day playing this. i thought i'd wait for the review given that it seemed like such a long haul. training is simultaneously tedious and addictive lol... i feel like it's challenging and enjoyable but i also dread entering the training room. it seems like the bank is probably the best investment given that it keeps accumulating currency while you're afk/ logged out. I think you should mention that the game doesnt have to be running for this, cus i actually left it going all day yesterday and was pleasantly surprised that it kept working after i shut down, but would have liked to know i didnt need to leave the tab open.
i still have 4 kids left to find, but i have all the abilities unlocked so i figured this would be a good time to start writing my notes.
music was cute, a lot of these sounds reminded me of FF or kingdom hearts. graphics werent anything especially flashy or outstanding, but i liked the balance of detail and simplicity as well as the rich color schemes.
the item upgrades seemed like i'd be waiting forever to get them and then when i bought them, i'd absolutely destroy the enemies for the next battle, but not be able to defeat another. maybe consider allowing us to choose between more special abilities (increased stun chance, dont force us to pick poison and shield because they dont go well with full offense builds) or a variety of items. i like that the ranged weapons attacked automatically, but they werent anywhere as good of an investment as armor or melee (dodge + melee was the best combo IMO) because they only proc a certain percentage of the time.

overall i think that this game is really well rounded but would benefit greatly from allowing us a litttle bit more choice. sure, early game you can pick what you want to upgrade, but by halfway through i'm forced to upgrade other stats until i am even all around because it's the only thing i can afford and im getting a little sick of the training mini games.

the combat was great. it seemed simple but there were quite a few nuances in timing and cooldowns that really could give the player an edge. again i didnt like poison strike or magic shield because they didnt work with my build, and i found that the only time the poison was useful was when it was shot with the poison projectile because it didnt take up a turn. it'd deal the equivalent of 1.5-2 strikes over time, but it wasnt worthwhile if it took up an entire turn where i could possibly stun with my shield bash or regular attack. I used heal only when the enemy was stunned, because every time i tried to heal otherwise it ended up just being a stalemate turn. that's a good way of nerfing/balancing heals, but basically my point is that i'd really like to have upgraded the skills i picked initially past level 5, but instead i was forced to become a sort of all-class hodgepodge and i really didnt find many of the abilities useful. the feats were generally all beneficial, but i have yet to resurrect and am at max level of that skill. im still only like 2/3 of the way through the game or
something so maybe it'll happen eventually, but it seems like all the other feats have paid off.

ive realized that this issue is compounded by the fact that only certain classes would be focusing/picking stun abilities in the first place, so essentially this makes all the defense/heal/etc stuff useless unless you go tanky/melee, meaning the only truly viable class is melee/tank, and all of the non offensive abilities are relatively useless because of the amount of damage you take when using them (1 pot = 30% of my hp, 1 hit from enemy = 50% of my hp) ofc i can upgrade pots and sheild, but they have a strong tendency not to reduce or heal enough damage overall. i honestly am not winning any battles whatsoever without stunning a lot, and i've taken to only using the shield bash, lightning when affordable, and regular attack, because nothing else gives a good disable.

i noticed that when i double striked and killed the enemy on the 1st hit, i almost always got a stun or critical strike on the next enemy. was this intentional? cus ive been abusing it lol

the mushroom shouldnt ever drop lucky clovers, IMO. if anything it could drop 2 or 3 clovers from 1, but just dropping another clover out doesnt rly make sense. it was good that you sometimes didnt get anything because one major suggestion i could add is to bring a gambling center into the game, and the mushroom sort of accomplishes this albeit giving the same output every time pretty much. I'd like to be able to have an alternative to going back and forth between mini games and combat, and it would be nice to be able to take a risk for some possible benefits.

it wasnt clear to me what the home's purpose was initially, so im not sure if that was explained in the tutorial and i missed it, or if the sign on the bottom left was the only legend. regardless, it wasn't so clear to me at first, and i didnt invest in the house until later although house + bank might be the best long term way to go.

anyways, this is a great game. ive seen a ton of games out there getting 4s that arent even 1/4 the game this is, and i'm really enjoying it.

sry for any ostensible typos, and ill be sure to message with more notes soon. feel free to take anything i've said with a grain of salt. great job!

SoulGame responds:

Huge thanks for that's incredible review, that's useful. I took notes ;)

[ZOVIET]

it took me quite a while to figure out exactly what was going on. i still am not sure why i cant build any tanks. the game seems cool, but i really want more tanks because they seem to be the most powerful unit. this really needs a better translation :/

[RPG MO]

colorful and welcoming community. engaging gameplay. frogs. what more could you ask for?

[The Irritatis: the road]

i cant seem to get the dog or cat to appear. the old guy will get up and look as if something had arrived, but the only ones that show up are the goose and the llama (?) lol
anyways, that didnt seem to make any difference in completing the game, but i thought it was noteworthy.