raitendo's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[One Chance]

Interesting but flawed

So I made "You Only Live Once", not sure whether you played it? Obviously there's not a great load of similarities except the permanency "feature" (you seem to have been a lot more inspired by "Every Day the Same Dream"). I'm really happy to see more people play with the permanency idea (like me and for example Jesse Venbrux did before me) and your twist on the "genre" (if 3-4 games could be said to make a genre) is a great one that hasn't been done before. That said, I think your game has a few serious flaws.

The first thing I find troublesome is the problem of lack of information. I don't mean in the sense that you don't know exactly where each path will lead, which would obviously ruin the game, but for example choosing the "work" option you don't really get any clues what the hell is going on, whether you're wasting your time or if you're slowly edging closer to finding a cure. It feels wrong you wouldn't share this information with the player, because it creates a distance between him/her and the character, who obviously must have some idea whether he's getting anywhere or not.

The second flaw is the misogyny. I mean maybe it's wrong to point fingers at this game in particular but it bothered me in EDtSD as well. The woman stays at home, while the man works. Do we need to cling to these stereotypes still, in every single game? Just give her a job, damn it, or at least a good explanation for having her stay home all day.

The third, most damning flaw is the main premise of the game. Since I've only played it once (naturally) I can't be sure, but there seems to be only three different paths - work, mistress, or family. But even with such a limited set of choices you don't get the option to spend time with your family until a few days in, and I found the game would more times than not not let me do the things I'd want to. To name just a few things I missed: the option to commit suicide (I felt like jumping from that roof, for example), the option to kill your family, the option to go back to an area you left, etc. For being a game that sets out to be about choice, the amount of choices you get is pretty underwhelming, and as a result the game feels like it was under-developed (or rushed?), and unfortunately falls short of its true potential.

Still, I really liked the game and it was definitely interesting. Keep at it.

[Looming]

Very cool

I like this a lot, haven't finished it yet but I'll try to get around to it. the unusual graphics and sparse music/sound fx make for a great atmosphere. several layers in the story too. At first I thought "how the hell can a game like this have such a high score at Newgrounds", but I soon got sucked in.

[When Pigs Fly]

loved it

I wasn't even irritated by the squealing

[Planet Runner]

Classic

3D World Runner! Classic. I want to do one of these...

ozdy responds:

Wow, Raitendo responded to my game :). Well, I really had much fun doing this game, but the sponsorship money wasn't too great, so I am now doing box2d puzzles hoping to get more cash :)

But I wish you success with retro-game-making! If I was to do this game again, I'd probably use a 3d engine (sandy as opposed to away3d, papervsion, and alternativa3d).

Good luck with your next game!

[Super PSTW Action RPG]

Love

Loved it!

[Anaksha: Female Assassin]

Appalling

Apalling use of pedophilia and rape just for shock value. Those themes could possibly be successfully explored in a serious game but there's no substance, there's no meaning and the game is entirely devoid of ANY artistic merit.
I can't believe this is made by a 31-year-old adult, rather than a misguided 15-year-old kid.

ArifRocks responds:

Thank you for your review. Its freaky how your mind ONLY saw pedophilia and rape and you paid no attention to the other 90% of the story or gave any heed to the amount of animation/artwork that went into it, nor made any comments on the game's soundtrack or gameplay. The game's so-called "shock" content came from something called "BBC News" which exists in a thing called "reality". Not all of us want to create bright, happy games for pre-school kids where you go around throwing flowers at people and whacking them over the head with Hello Kitty pillows, whilst listening to the High School Musical soundtrack.

I appreciate your input, but I stand by what I've done and I stand proud of what I've done. I'm sure you'll also be overjoyed to know there's a sequel in the works. :)

[Run Soldier, Run!]

Cool idea

I like it, good use of a slightly original idea, great implementation, everything. lol @ 23450's review below; bitter much?

[Snot Put]

Wonderful

As a fellow rhinotillexomaniac, I loved this game! Needs a high score board though! My best was 3967 m!!

[Pico's Blam Jam]

OK game, great cutscenes

the game play itself was way too sluggish, but it was worth playing for the cutscenes - they were great! one enormous bug which ruined the experience though - I wasn't able to re-start after I had died! Had the game been more fun to play, I might have paced through the first levels again, but it just didn't seem worth it.

PivotGames responds:

there's a level selection. The reason why there is no retry button is that we wanted the game to be hard; we wanted pico to have a hard time killing the well known animators anound here. You aren't fighting the clock crew :P
-Bas

[AN Escape Series #2]

Another gem

Definately easier then the first one (I finished it in 9 minutes without using the walkthrough at all), but that's not a bad thing. Makes you feel a strong sense of accomplishment :)