Baldrek's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Blood Gauntlet]

It's been a hot minute since I've written an overly wrong and critical review of a game on here, so I'm gonna give a good long rant about this game.

Overall, I would say this is a very fun little experience! Would definitely recommend to others to give it a try.

The gimmick of having to constantly keep a slowly dwindling resource in check is surprisingly not a gimmick I've seen in a lot of platformers, which is kinda a surprise given how much you could do with that concept.. And in this game I would say it's both well excecuted and matches the games overall themes very well!

The movement is very floaty for no real reason, but i do think that works to the games advantage, because it still plays smooth. Once you get the hang of it blazing through the stages becomes incredibly satisfying, which is the highest praise i can give a platformer!

As for the boss, I will say I have a few grievences here and there. It doesn't ruin the game by any means, but I still have some things to say.
I thought that the fireballs were waaaay to tightly packed to consistantly avoid. Given your lack of movement options avoiding the attacks made the fight kind of a chore...
That is, until I found out that you could safely be ON TOP OF THE BOSS without any penalty, which is kinda weird? Like, in other games getting that close to a boss would result in damage.
And DON'T GET ME WRONG, I'm GLAD it doesn't, but when I found that out, it sort of trivialized the boss for me. Definitely needs a bit more work.

In summary, I think there is potential here. But in order for that potential to be realized, I'd like to see two things: One, a more expansive and fluid moveset. A platform fighter kind of moveset for a game like this would work WONDERS in making this game a HELL of a lot smoother. And two, more open-ended and complex stages. Those two things would make this a damn JUICY experience. It would be one of those games that you could play FOREVER, because it just FEELS so good! With those elements I would definetly readily pay money for this game. I'd love to see a full retail release some day.

decafpanda responds:

Thanks for your in depth review and feedback! I really appreciate it. I will be tuning up this game engine for a couple more side scroller games with great feedback like this and eventually do a sequel to this game.

[Looping Larceny]

I spent three hours trying to see if I could beat the game without any timers.

Turns out, it’s possible.

It’s an incredibly tight squeeze, but it’s possible.

bluswimmer responds:

Congrats!

[Pack Your Bags]

OK this game is just incredible! It's ridiculously simple and yet I'm hopelessly addicted to it trying to go for highscores! This game honestly has a lot of potential in it! Although, if I'm gonna be entirely honest, it really feels like it's just a demo rather than a complete game. Hopefully this game get revisited and expanded in the future! I would definetly pay money for the full version if that happens.

jefvel responds:

Thanks! Yeah, it's very barebones at the moment. I made it mostly as an experiment with rhytm games, and for pixel day. Maybe I'll add more stuff to it later on :)