pirateplatypus's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Delivery Man]

Has so much potential

The graphics in this game really take me back. They have perfectly nailed an SNES-like environment. Having the two layers of buildings in the background scroll by at different rates adds a great depth the the visuals.

I really enjoy the boss battles. It reminds me of older games when winning a boss battle was all about figuring out the strategy to take them down rather than running in with beef-cake states and indiscriminately laying waste to the boss.

The problems I have with game play are mainly in aiming. It seems like a lot of shots miss when the cursor is right on the enemy. It also seems like it takes too many shots to take down an enemy when compared to the amount of ammo you have in your clip. I feel the game would be greatly improved by a little re-working of the weapons so that they are a bit more accurate and either have more ammo or are a little more powerful. I also feel like the weapons cost too much when compared to the amount of money you make. I played for quite a while when I first came across this game and lost interest about halfway through with the pump-action shotgun.

I think with a little re-working this game could be the digital equivalent of crack rocks.

[Crystal Story]

If only Square could still do it this good.

I absolutely love this game. It takes me back to the good ol' days when I'd spend entirely too much time playing FF VI.

The graphics are very pleasing. They're clean and reminiscent of old school RPGs without being overdone. The animation on attacks and magic is quite nice. They show enough to not feel minimal but aren't over the top making you feel like you're playing an animation with RPG elements.

The music is done very well. I usually mute Chrome and listen to my own tunes while I play flash games but with this game I actually found myself listening to the music in the background while I was doing other things (Not porn, I promise). The sound effects are fitting. I appreciate that the initial volume doesn't lead to bloody ears. I also appreciate that you've allowed for both SFX and music to be muted or have the volumes individually adjusted.

The gameplay is perfect. The character walks through the dungeon at a quick enough speed that I don't feel like I'm spending half my time waiting on it. The battle system is intuitive and quick. The interaction in the town works out pretty well. I really like the AP system. I enjoy being able to decide what class I want each character to act as. It really adds replay value to the game that each character has different elemental abilities.

The story while fairly simple is perfect for this length of RPG. I quite enjoyed the humourous elements in the story.

The weapon system is really cool. Though I wish there was a little more diversity in the stats of the weapons you can get. Like Eagyn, I found myself staying with the same weapon for ages and just levelling it up. Perhaps something like in Drakenguard where a terrible weapon becomes great if you take the time to level it up would be a good addition.

The game does seem to get a little bit repetitive. I think that could be remedied by increasing the difficulty as you get lower in the dungeon. It might also be better if you decreased the point requirement on some of the abilities so you can feel like you have more variety by growing you character as a different class.

The only other issue I have is that when selecting your ability in battle, it can be a little overwhelming to find the right attack when you've learned a bunch of abilities. Maybe you could sort them by class in the next game. That way if you've learned most of the Rogue abilities and some Mage abilities you can get to the mage abilities without having to go through all of the rogue abilities first.

All in all this is one of the coolest RPGs I've played in ages. I feel it's hands-down better than any FF game since VI. I really hope you decide to continue this series.