ShangXian's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[K.O.L.M.]

*clapping sounds*

Bravo, bravo, bravo! This game has officially entered in my personal list of my top 5 most favourite games I ever played here on NG. I wish I had discovered it ages ago, but finally I discovered it today and I played until end. It was an intense experience that blended very well with my nature: exploring slowly an environment, studying it, and completing collectibles 100% if I can, and even in case I can't, I will do it again. I loved the procedural-like mechanics of the gameplay where you gradually build yourself. In a way it reminded me a pregnancy and a birth because the character started off as blind or at least with a very blurry sight, typical of altricial species (species who need parental care since the beginning in which the young are underdeveloped at the time of birth, but with the aid of their parents mature after birth). Our movements were very slow at the beginning because we didn't even had legs and we were defenseless against even the most common enemies, just like a baby that starts his/her first steps in the world. I immediately noticed there were something very off in the mother, her words felt very cold and toxic, almost narcissistic. I say this because narcissistic parents, when they have children, tend to use the golden child syndrome as way to validate their narcissistic behaviours and set of values by favouring a child and scapegoating another in case they have more than one child. I've sensed that when the protagonist mentioned his brothers, I could sense his need to be validated, to please people. Even his brothers were used by this mother as they all ended up falling down one by one. So sad...

The graphic of the game fits perfectly the metroid-like games and the sense of emptiness with this limited colour palette besides the blue, green and red as main background colours of these three big levels. And speaking of levels, I adored exploring them all. The game truly managed to keep me engaged for almost 90 minutes (yes, I've taken my time to explore and simply observe the map. I liked how each of them, and even each sub-section, made you think and try to find solutions while seeing part of the map you have yet to explore. The slow-paced rhythm of the game at attaining upgrades made it very enjoyable to explore and even completing 100% with the letters. I liked getting them all after finishing main story. Hahahahah, the run part gave me anxiety due to the time XD but I enjoyed it nonetheless because with all my upgrades I can go through everything.

Another strong point of this game, and many games should take inspiration from your, is the sense of accomplishment after getting upgrades, and yet the mother was never satisfied. She always wanted more, because she wants control. That's typical of narcissistic parents and people in general (how I hate them with a burning passion due to all the hurt they generate to others, even destroying mirro neurons in their victims that only therapy can re-build from scratch). The game also managed to play with the player's emotions because it created a sense of attachment to K.O.L.M. and seeing it being about to be destroyed hurts even more after everything you did to please that mother.

I've found a funny glitch that happened to me after I tried to get another plate piece for the sentence at the beginning of the game, I show it here:

https://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/0c9abd470e4d0177db020c5b69e6e1e9

When I tried to slide through the narrow area, I slipped outside the map and I saw the map changing angle and the camera began to take a look at the direction where the robot fell down XD basically zooming out the map.
I've seen the ball enemy floating outside the map, it was funny because I could go through the area without worrying about it. Nothing wrong actually, I found it creepy and funny at the same time. I simply restarted the game and I was happy, after clicking "continue", that I was in the same area to get the metal piece with the letter.

The music was another fantastic element that added a further layer to the game with its melancholic musical signature, in one of them "Counting down the hours", made me cry while playing it and I had to stop briefly to recover myself. It's a deep, touching game that has all traits I love and want in a game:

-touching music whether it's sad, melancholic, happy or epic, I don't care as long as it suits the mood of the plot and levels.
-engaging gameplay with a strong sense of accomplishment after getting a power-up regardless of its difficulty (I've played some badly-drawn games that satisfied me in terms of accomplishment and I still remember them with affection).
-clear controls (I liked how you were guided, like a child actually, in using the different keys to progress in the game).
-story (it's not mandatory for me that a game should always have a story, but in the case it has one, it should be coherent and add a sense of a developing plot that unveil through the game, even with small hints).

This game had everything I want in a game, this is why I gave it 5 stars but in my heart it was 10 stars, it's truly beautiful and I will play it again because I genuinely love it and I grew attached to the lore. I know there is a second game. I will play it after I will recover from this one. Congratulations for the FP and other trophies, truly deserved and yes "it's kinda like metroid" ;)

The-EXP responds:

Wow, what a lovely in depth review! I'm really glad you enjoyed it! Yeah theres a bunch of errors from the original game and a few more from modern ways to play it but nothing hugely breaking. Maybe one day I'll revisit it and fix it up a little. Thanks so much for taking so much time to write this, very much appreciated :)

[Skele Magic]

For a game made in 48 hours this came out nicely. I will be quick: I loved and enjoyed a lot this game. The music is enchanting and game mechanics are really well done with a relatively linear learning curve. I said relatively because in some levels the curve was a bit awkward as previous levels (mid levels) tended to be a bit more challenging than later levels, even though I found level 19 easy to solve while level 12 gave me more problems.

Aesthetically speaking, I liked the use of limited colour palette, the use of black, white and purple add that feel of focus while solving the game. I liked the orange when activating the magic because it creates a nice chromatic contrast. The simple background gives a sense of mystery and arcane reality. I don't know if the choice for purple was intentional or not, but I like its symbolism in the context of the game. Purple is the color most often associated with the artificial and the unconventional. It is the major color that occurs the least frequently in nature, and was the first color to be synthesized. Why did I mention this? Because the protagonist is a magician trapped in a magical reality and magic is about unconventional realities, artificiality etc. think about alchemic procedures or medieval grimoires whose goal was to chain forces of Nature to become a little God able to create, trasmutate and destroy worlds.

In European alchemy during this time, "the 'precious purple tincture'" was a term for various substances alchemists hoped to create. The term and goal of the alchemists evoked kingliness, since the divine right of kings was also thought to aid the alchemists' future. And keep in mind that in Europe purple is linked to royalty. Curiously even in China it's linked to the emperor. The Chinese word for purple, zi, is connected with the North Star, Polaris, or zi Wei in Chinese. In Chinese astrology, the North Star was the home of the Celestial Emperor, the ruler of the heavens. The area around the North Star is called the Purple Forbidden Enclosure in Chinese astronomy. For that reason the Forbidden City in Beijing was also known as the Purple Forbidden City (zi Jin cheng).

So the overall colour choice well convey this atmosphere of magic and mystery. I also liked the pixel art, very simple and I don't complain about the lack of details and shading. I like the way it is, because what matters is solving the puzzles. And speaking of puzzles I would have enjoyed this game even without medals because it manages to reach a goal I highly consider when playing a game: entertainment/fun value that leads to relaxation. Everything is well balanced to never make the player get frustrated with the solution of a level. No punishment in case of failing and falling (aka re-do from the start each level). The only element that I feel to point out is the lack of R button to restart even if the game tells you what to do in case you want to start from a specific level. It's just a small thing, but overall it's a great, short game. I enjoyed it so much that I replayed it several times now.

I liked that you allow to use arrow keys and WASD controls, I hate WASD I have difficulties at mastering them even if I can tolerate them and try to adapt to them if controls are not wonky like I noticed in other games. But here thankfully both arrows and WASD work fine. I ofc chose arrows, but still I tried a few levels with WASD and it felt pretty natural (I mean movements and jumps).

Really cool game, I loved it. Keep it up!

[Portal Panic]

It's really fantastic being able to finish the game and collect all medals after many months I abandoned it due to the huge lag that beings to happen after a while you enter the portals to free other characters. But I've noticed this happens only with Ruffle, if you play with Newgrounds Player the lag doesn't occur, making the whole experience really enjoyable and fun! The game has a lot of Metroidvania-like vibe with its run and gun nature in which each character takes advantage of their unique traits to pass through levels. I admit I spent more time at finding all CDs, bowls, spoons, masks and photos than completing each level because I wanted those medals and I tend to explore a game in every small part. I want to take my time, but because the first time I played it in Ruffle I couldn't go beyond Pico's stage due to lag, I pretty much abandoned every hope since I didn't know I could edit in my account setting how I want a game to be displayed (Ruffle or NG Player).

So to all people who experiment lag with Ruffle, play the game with Newgrounds Player by going to your account settings and unchecking boxes about Ruffle as tool to visualize movies and games. This way the lag problem disappears. I've noticed some curious things/bugs when playing it; one of them is a grey square on the top left corner of Dad 'n Me stage that can be visible if you use Bitey and jump high. I've noticed these grey boxes in other levels such the last stage where all characters work together to get the last key before the battle. In P-Bot boss fight when you start as Dad you first need to break the blocks. Usually they disappear when he smashes them, but only here they don't disappear.

The only thing that I feel to criticize is the lack of damage indicator during boss fight. I initially didn't know how to battle him or what to do. I had to fight him a second time to understand how to beat him. So I may give some tips to those who want to fight him.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You start to fight with Dad, so one of the best solutions to counterattack P-Bot is staying in the middle and avoiding P-Bot's drill attack. With Captain the strategy is the same as he doesn't have a wide attack range unlike Pico. With Pico you must stay away as much as possible and fire like crazy. Bitey can be a bit tricky sometimes because you have to control his position when he attacks with kicks, but a way to attack P-Bot is a combination of kick and dash; kick to attack and dash to avoid attacks. Salad Finger initially confused me the most because he seemed not to have an attack, only showing the finger puppets but then I discovered he can deflect attack to P-Bot. So deflect rockets back at him by using your finger puppets. When I discovered it, I was surprised to know Salad Finger is one of the strongest in this battle despite being the weakest in terms of physical strength. Don't get too close, you can stun him by throwing your hands at him or simply jump to get away from him. I preferred the latter.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The game is fantastic, it has become one of my favourite here, voice acting is spot on, animation is cool, style rocks and graphics pretty enjoyable along with a very simple and entertaining gameplay, not to mention the constant innuendos to the male urogenital organ XD. Even if I comment years after this game, I can say it well deserves its "Best of the Month" feature! Fantastic job everyone, I replay it again!

[Maneuver]

This is first time I feel to give a relatively low score to a game that overall is well done, with a fun gameplay for the most part (first 20ish levels at least), nice sound effects and a lovely music because of an element that I consider crucial in a game, even with difficult games: entertainment value. To me if a game doesn't provide a nice entertainment/fun value despite its difficulty and the thought process it may forces you, then the game failed its goal to keep a player engaged. I will be frank the only reason that will keep me playing the game is the last achievement that is becoming a pain in the neck due to last 8 levels. I am stuck at level 23 and I can't figure out a freaking strategy to pass it despite everything I could possibly image because it feels extremely unfair in some parts (one of them is circled in red):

https://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/dd447bf0a9abf58dd244babccd3ef0ba

The red arrows are my attempts to find a solution, and this path is the only one that barely makes me rid of the majority of the tiles but then I keep getting stuck because I don't have an extra tile that would allow me to pass the level. I tried to copy-paste the link to the walkthrough but sadly the link is broken if I try to copy-paste "http://www.youtube.com/wa" and if I try to copy-paste the remaining part the link brings me to a different channel with two 3 years old videos named "class video". I tried to remove the "-" next to "cO" in " http://www.youtube.com/wa tch?v=-cO_PltLefY" and it says "This video isn't available anymore"

Unless you fix the link and/or recover the walkthrough video, this game becomes extremely difficult to fully solve and right now last achievement was unlocked in November 2023. I will try to solve this damn level 23 and if I ever manage to reach level 30, I will raise the rating to 3, maybe even 3.5 if next levels are a bit more balanced. And by balanced I mean that there must be tiles that allow me to finish a move and not to be stuck. I'm very sorry, but after level 17 I started to lose having fun due to the high level of frustration it's giving me.

I've also noticed the game doesn't save your progress if you want to play it the next day, making it even more frustrating if you want to focus on the level you are stuck....

I truly hope to find a solution to these hellish levels in order to give a higher score because the game deserves a better score, but rn I am not having fun at all, sorry.

UPDATE: the fact it doesn't save the levels you've completed outside the game (in-game I see the level being saved) doesn't help the game's replayability. I've noticed that every time you close NG Player the game restarts from level 1 and this is not a good thing if a walkthrough of most difficult levels is needed. Let's assume you finally reach level 29 but you have to finish the next day because you have to do other stuff, then you have to re-start from zero, and frankly this made me lose will to even try for now. Sorry, my experience with the game ends here. Maybe in future, if I ever want to try it again I might try but for now I prefer not to get frustrated any more.

[In Space]

This was a really fun experience with a very cool background graphic (I particularly liked how the outer space looks like) and the unsettling music that you can hear starting from the third day and the endings you get. One element that I found a bit confusing was understanding how to move around the map with clicks as the cursor didn't change look if I hover it over the thing that shall be clicked. Quite confusing at the beginning but after your first run, getting the other two endings was easy and enjoyable despite the tragedy of the story.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, for those who still struggle at finding Log 1 and Log 2, here the two screenshot I took during my gameplay:

https://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/048f0360a2015569a33130b6cfd195de

second Log:

https://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/4943fc309fc0a7582510a10db3ebb089

Solving the mini-puzzle wasn't that hard at all, but understanding how and where to put some pieces wasn't immediate, here the location of each piece:

https://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/2bb1f8db089db4d533718a1cd0af5f99

Then click repair and you have solved/repaired the damaged part.
For those wondering how to get the third ending, simply after killing the commander and being given the purple key to the escape pod, don't enter there. Just let the spaceship crash and let everyone in there die (the pilot and you since you are the only two living members).

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Medals were pretty straightforward to get, gameplay although initially not that clear, was fun nonetheless, and music was cool as heck! Great job, I love your games. I first discovered you with those Norse mythology-themed games, and since at that time I was attending Germanic Philology course, where we read some Norse sagas and studies its mythology, playing those two games hit differently and allowed me to understand in depth some small cultural nuances present in the games, particularly the first one. Keep it up!

[Bluck dunt]

Very simple game with a graphic reminiscent of those 80s games that enriched our childhood. I like the graphic of the game, particularly of the duck. The only elements that I feel to point out as lacking element is the lack of a music, a chiptune would fit this game, and a more varied background along with more challenging tasks but I understand the game was made in about a day, so I don't complain that much. It's a simple way to kill time (pun intended, lol) and for those who might experience difficulty with the medal, the most important thing here is the login pop-up for the medal API in Newgrounds passport. Without it, the medal won't register in your account. This happens with games like this and my only suggestion that helped me to trigger the pop-up is clicking many times on the game even when it's loading to make sure the passport comes out. I hope this helps, and for the game, cute job.

[QD Collection: PDS & CH]

This was a really fun game that truly tested my reflection skills. I love games like that when it comes to combine both mental and physical skills. You have to coordinate both the finger, eyes and mind to mentally calculate how to beat each enemy, even if for me the real challenge starts with Bitey because how fast he is (in PDS) and Robo Jesus (Cyber Hell). I will replay it to better figure out how to beat main characters but in the meantime I share some tips on how to beat some of the hardest bosses in Cyber Hell:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To beat Robo Jesus you have to wait for the second "DRAW" to appear. If you click spacebar during the first one you will lose, once the second "DRAW" appears, click spacebar as fast as possible.

To beat P-Bot (which was pretty easy for me) you have to wait mentally for 2 second before pressing spacebar. You will initially lose a lot but gradually if you manage to mentally calculate 2 seconds you will beat him easily. Doing so helped me to beat him first try. By the way I liked seeing him in the game, nice addition^^

As for Megazord press spacebar very quickly, almost immediately to finish him off, then enjoy the sequence.

Curiously killing robots was easier than PDS characters because relying on the colour of the cross helped me way more than waiting for a black writing to appear since I'm a visual person.

If you want to get the secret deaths, play PDS and beat respectively Strawberry Clock, Bitey and Stickman.

-Strawberry Clock
After beating him, click on the grenade.

-Bitey
After defeating him, don't immediately click on "CLICK", but wait instead for him to fall and get impaled.

-Stickman
After eliminating him, click spacebar to get the third secret death.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Really nice game, I enjoyed it at lot, challenges were interesting and pretty tricky in the robot levels but that's what makes this game very enjoyable. I don't care about the simple and basic graphic, the game managed to reach its goal: testing your skills.

I wish for NG and this game to last decades and decades so I can re-test my skills once I'll become an elderly person and see how fast I can react. Nice job!

[Aliens Hurry's Home]

I can say it was a wild ride going through each level, especially after collecting 50 stars where levels became more challenging. I loved the physics behind them, even the physics of the alien where its wobbly body structure forces the player to stay focused on surrounding dangers. In some levels you had control where the alien went in order to avoid touching the traps. Each level design is well studied and well-made and combines with the progressing difficulty. Difficulty is another element I liked a lot because it was balanced and never unfair, even if there was a level I truly hated and made me almost rage: level 21.

The fact I had to carefully move each box to left corner of the level to make sure the red button is pressed while, at the same time, I had to constantly check the laser and avoid the saw, made this level true hell. This was particularly true during first tries where I had to test different strategies before finally finding the right one. I hated it but I also loved when I finally beat it, because remaining levels were a lot easier to deal with.

I liked the balanced nature of the difficulty and the easy learning curve for each level. The combination of hand coordination and mental strategy makes this game one of my favoruite of this category so far. The stars are thankfully easy to get even if in later levels it becomes more tricky due to the combination of more traps (razors, lasers, buttons, electric barriers), nothing too impossible at the end of the day though. Besides the gameplay I also found adorable the alien design. He's so cute with that big eye and round shape. Music is nice too.

Overall a fun, challenging but not ragequitting inducing game. Nice job, keep it up :)

[Is It Pico Day?]

A really short game with nothing much to do besides answering yes or no, but I understand since it's more like a joke game than a serious one (even the tag tells it) so I won't complain that much. Maybe adding a different animation for Pico when answering yes or no would have made it more interesting. Besides this, it's an easy game to get medals and I will tell you how to do:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is a game made during Pico Day so:

-You lose hahaha
Simply answer "No" during Pico Day, this is a day-dependent medal, meaning that you can get this medal only during Pico Day.

-Pico Day Let's Goooooo!
Answer "Yes" during Pico Day. I didn't test it today so I can't tell if this unlocks only during Pico Day or not, but I think it's very likely it unlocks during that day, since the medal mentioned above behave like this.

-A Winner Is You
Simply answer "No" during other days that are not Pico Day. I was wondering why Andrey20 managed to unlock it first (even before the author of the game) but others no and then I had the epiphany; he's Russian so he's one day ahead of the other players.

additional note: if you click "Yes" in a day different from Pico Day you will get the lose screen, meaning that these medals can be achieved in specific days

ERRATA CORRIGE: thanks to @andrey20 it is found that you can get the medals even in days different from Pico Day by changing the date on the computer. Thanks for this info!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So that's it for the extremely quick guide to get medals. Little game, easy for medals as long as you play it in the right days ;)

By the way happy Pico Day!

[Two Colors]

A rather challenging and difficult game in some points, especially in the third level where you have to jump down and memorize the map well to avoid falling on the spikes. The game's graphics are very simple and minimalistic and I like the use of few colors to better focus the player on the task to be performed. Despite being a difficult platformer especially from level 3 onwards, it manages to counterbalance the learning curve of the pattern of each level well. Unlike other very difficult games in which it took me even days to get the medals and understand how to optimize the strategy, in this game, after 3-4 attempts, you can understand how to use the controls, how to exert the right pressure to jump across obstacles without dying immediately and memorize quickly the map.

Along with the fairly rapid learning curve, the music is another strong point of the game. I like it a lot and it fits well into the sense of danger (also represented by the colours) and urgency. I like how smooth the controls are, the character's movement is fluid and natural but precisely because it has these characteristics you have to carefully calibrate the strength of the jump, the pressure to apply when you are about to jump and also the horizontal movements with the arrows keys. It happened to me on more than one occasion that I moved too quickly next to a spike and had to restart the game due to the very fluid movements XD.

I initially gave it 4 stars because of the ragequit element, but since I wanted to play another game and I enjoyed it much more, after having mentally memorized the maps, the types of movements to make and the pressure to apply, I increased it to 4.5 as way to show my appreciation for the game as whole. I really appreciated you added arrow keys, because I am left-handed and I have extreme difficulty with WASD keys, so thank you.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here the location of the secret area to click with the mouse in 1st level:

https://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/e9288874998112ac862237327bee100f

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nice job, keep it up!