http://www.slimesalad.com RSS feed for Slime Salad Arena Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:36:33 +0000 en-us 5 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4927 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4927 Posted by Gizmog in Reviews

Master K showed up in June and was another great addition to the community. I was impressed when one of his first posts was a thread asking how he could improve as an artist, and not one asking for someone to do it for him. He did reviews too, starting with one of my 2011 favorites, Willy Electrix's monochromatic "Castle On The Night Land". Willy suggested that maybe Master K could also benefit from a super-limited palette, and the result was "Grayscale".

The story is reminiscent of Pokemon (a fact that uncomfortably gets brought up in the game itself), though with a more traditional RPG twist. I'm not sure such a light tone is appropriate. It's cute when Ash sets out with his pokeballs on a quest to be the best Pokemon trainer there ever was. When mom gives you a butcher knife so the town guard will let you into the woods where you kill squirrels and look for a missing girl, it's a little more disturbing. I secretly hoped that the hero Brody was behind her disappearance and that it'd all come rushing back to him later, but to no avail. You thrash the fiend responsible and bring her home.. or leave her in the woods unconcious while you go get help. I didn't notice a difference either way, but having a choice is a cool touch.

There are a lot of cool little touches, by the way. There's an awesome Boss Battle warning that gets reused in "Forsaken", some spooky shadows in the windows of a mansion, and even a Slime Salad cafe where various game designer cameos hang out. Each of them says a few different things, which was another nice little bit of polish. You can even navigate a maze of NPCs outside of the King's castle and get infinite swords from the impressed guards. Really, the only negative thing to say about Grayscale is that it's unfinished. The hero gets stuck if I try to go into the mansion, I can't figure out how to get into the King's castle, and all around I have no idea what to do after I save the girl.

The hero is Level 99 for debugging purposes so all the battles are impossibly easy. I would've liked a little difficulty, however unbalanced it might be, rather than having Master K essentially hit the F4 key for me in every battle. Have a little confidence and try, or think of something to do other than battles. Maybe even do without them all together and just have a game where you talk to people and gather the pieces of information you need to pass on to someone else to advance the plot. Nine times out of ten, if someone posted a game like this I'd ask "Why would you post this?" but in Grayscale's case, I don't need to. Master K explains in the description,

Grayscale is the first thing i've ever been serious about, and my first game. Behind the scenes, its a mess of textbox code and tags, which I hope to resolve. If you want extra slimebucks, Int and Agility, feel free to review. It will be appreciated by me, but please, go easy on me. Please let me know of any bugs I need to crunch, or any other issues. Alright, so enjoy playing the game. There is going to be more to come...hopefully...so if you like it, let me know. Might motivate me to work harder, and make something that I can feel glad about.

That's a great attitude to have, but this wasn't the best approach to get that kind of motivation. By leaving the battles in a debug state you're basically asking the player "Would this story be fun if there were a game in it?" and yes it would, though later on when you add that gameplay somebody's going to have to fight their way to story they've already seen, and that could be frustrating.

That said, there's obviously a lot of story still to go and the tree battle looks like it would've been awesome. There's not much reason to play this game yet, but I'm glad to see Master K's name pops up a few more times in 2011. Everything I see here suggests he's got talent, and just needs the right opportunity to make something great.

Score: 4
2011 Score (Per Jun 22nd): 72/100

Part of Gomey's 2011 Year In Review
Previous[/url]]]> Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:36:33 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4926 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4926 Posted by Surlaw in Front Page

http://superwalrusland.com/ohr/issue58/cover.html

Reviews for two of the Live Like the Amish contest games, some hideous artwork, the second part of TheCube's look at horror games, and two good pieces of writing from Gizmog. I hope he considers writing more in the future!]]> Mon, 06 Feb 2012 02:19:39 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4921 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4921 Posted by Spoonweaver in Reviews

Hate and feared like the monsters selling cars it depicts, Monster Lot was a group effort made for the OHR Film contest. The moment it was released it was met with mixed feelings. These feelings were caused by a number of things, some of which may have had to do with the creators themselves, and the fact that they entered it into their own contest.

The film follows the story of a car lot run by monsters. Almost all the different types of typical monsters are represented, (ghosts and the like). Some of the characters seem to just be animal people though, which confused me a bit. This sort of thing reminded me a lot of a saturday morning cartoon. One of the not so great ones that they put on right before the cartoon that you'd actually want to watch.

The voice acting and graphics in this movie were really top notch. Also the massive length of this thing was impressive. I think that this movie really missed it's target audience. The OHR is mostly made up of 20 somethings and this movie seems like it would be liked by children or "tweens". I think that if the voting was done by a different age group this movie would have ended up winning the contest it was made for.

I'd recommend this movie to anyone who likes kid's cartoons.

Rating: 5/10]]> Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:34:13 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4920 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4920 Posted by Spoonweaver in Reviews

So... Labyrinth! What one should know, when beginning this game, is that it is in no way related to the famous story of the same name. (There are no muppets to be found here. ..that I know of.)

At the beginning of this game, I found myself dieing, a lot. I wasn't sure why until I noticed this was a grinding game. If you're into grinding games, then you'll like this one. If not, you might want to stay away from this title. You'll need to gain a couple levels right at the start of this bad boy. It's quick increase in battle difficulty and massive need to grind reminds me of some other OHR titles.

This game's graphics are very good while at the same time being fairly bad. The monsters and the characters are done pretty well. The backgrounds and the maptiles however, are terrible. I know this game is going for a retro feel, but I just this a bit more detail in the bg's or tilemaps would go a long way.

I wouldn't recommend this game, but I suppose it's not really a bad game. I'm not really a fan of this type of game, so maybe you'll find it better then I did. Afterall, I didn't like [game:3fbc2de551]Spellshard: The Black Crown of Horgoth[/game:3fbc2de551] either.

RATING: 6/10

Watch the video here:[url]http://livestre.am/1guNE[/url]
I was having trouble embedding so I decided to just link to the video.
]]> Thu, 02 Feb 2012 02:04:38 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewgame.php?t=4917 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewgame.php?t=4917 Posted by Zetex in Games

Open trail the 16 bit version
This game is similar to the classic Oregon Trail. You must head west to settle with your family. The difference is that in my game the player has more control over the circumstances.

Please enjoy and rate!!
NOTE: Game is still in production and is not complete but is very playable.]]> Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:14:20 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4916 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4916 Posted by Spoonweaver in Reviews

SDHawk & The Giz's "Transylvania Girls"

Right away, this game's scripting blew me away. The opening menu was set up in such a smooth manner that I could only guess the amount of time that was spent on it. The game continued to amazing me as I found that the whole game was controlled by nothing but the mouse.
The mechanics of the game seemed pretty straight forward. you have 100 days ( or less ) to find 4 pieces of dracula and a virgin in order to summon dracula back from the dead. The story behind each of the women in the game was written well enough to make me want to keep reading and the challenge level was high enough to keep me interested.
The graphics were a bit lacking though. Playing through the whole game in order to see the low grade nude shots that were presented was a bit upsetting. If this game had better graphics I think it could easily become one of the best dating sims ever.
The castlevania music score was entertaining but I could have done without it.
Overall, I had fun playing this game and it actually amazed me that someone made something like this on the OHR.

New thought?: I was really impressed by the scripting of the game. The nudity, that you play the whole game to see, was terrible though, and with this sort of game, that counts for a lot.]]> Mon, 30 Jan 2012 02:52:31 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4911 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4911 Posted by Gizmog in Reviews

(Fair disclosure, this is the only game from 2011 I was unable to download. To write this review, I used Hachi's film festival stream and as such had access to pause and rewind features, but no control of the game itself.)

Of all the Film Festival Contest films, "Monster Lot" was the most ambitious. With it, Surlaw and RMZ set out to deliver nearly 40 minutes of 100% voiced material. For comparison, the average cartoon lasts somewhere between 20 and 24 minutes, before commercials. It was a herculean task and I salute their effort, but "Monster Lot" is simply too long for its own good. Some of their efforts pay off, though. One of the first things you'll notice about "Monster Lot" is that there's a main menu, much like on a DVD. You can choose to start from a particular chapter, view character bios and even concept art. This is a great touch and one nobody else thought of. It shows how much they cared about making this movie.

The movie takes place over one very busy day at Gillman Car Sales. Roland Gillman is being sued for numerous worker safety violations, new salesman Fred is challenging the status quo, and just what the hell is wrong with Syd and Eugene in the service department? The plots mix and mingle throughout the day, with occasional amusement. Actually, it's a pretty realistic depiction of the used car business. Forty minutes is a long time to be consistently entertaining though, and some of the jokes that would've been funny in the first ten minutes have lost their sparkle twenty minutes later. I feel like it would've worked better broken up into two or three episodes, especially since they went to all the trouble of making a chapter select menu.

The biggest problem with "Monster Lot" is the editing. There's some subtle puns which are fun, but they generally come at the end of a 5 or 6 sentence textbox and get overwhelmed by the setup. These big textboxes could've been broken up into two or three little boxes which would've allowed for more conversation between characters, fewer monologues, and better timing and delivery on the punchlines. There's a few gags based on song references and they work better than the puns because they're more concise in their delivery.

Another editing issue is the order of scenes. One recurring sequence involves Fred being introduced to the guys in the office. It feels like it belongs at the start of the story but instead is in the middle. At one point, a scene ends with Mr. Gillman summoning Syd to a meeting. A scene or two later somebody shows up looking for Syd for a totally different reason and Syd blows him off to go to the bathroom. That's a great setup for Syd to stumble into the meeting looking for a toilet and all sorts of potential avenues for humor and misunderstanding. Instead, we go see how a few other people are doing and by the time we get back to the meeting, Syd has already made his mark and left. It's a missed opportunity, made worse because of all the characters Syd is the most consistently funny and has the most listenable voice.

Actually, the voices are the cause of another issue. I complained that "Metal Gear Duck" needed subtitles to understand some of the dialogue and "Monster Lot" has the opposite problem. All of the voices are easy to understand, but sometimes are a bit slow. By the time you've read the dialogue, you're still waiting around for the voice to finish which can sometimes spoil the punchline. By getting rid of the subtitles, I think "Monster Lot" would have a lot more real estate for things to be happening while people are talking which would help break up the monotony.

Talentwise, the voices are hit and miss. Surlaw really gets a workout, delivering some great impressions of Zoidberg and Meatwad while also coming up with some good original ones. RMZ holds up his end, but sometimes gets a little samey. Three guys have the same kind of fratboy attitude with minor modifications. Sometimes, it seems like they're trying so hard to do a voice that they aren't able to emote or deliver a punchline. Some of the voices are a little slow, but only Loretta is truely awful.

The graphics neither stand out or detract from the experience. The cars are really nice, there's textbox portraits for every character, some nice little animations. It's all pretty good, but never excellent. Watching on a stream I lose some of the detail, so I can't judge too deeply. My only complaint is kind of goofy, but something about the exact shade of blue chosen to be the exterior of Gillman's building seemed off. I have no idea why.

Ultimately, I think the pacing and editing issues really hurt the final product. In a vaccuum, a lot of the material is funny (Ie, "What did the ghost have for lunch?" "The filet of soul!" or "What did the spiderwoman do for a living?" "She managed a website!") but somehow doesn't work within the confines of the movie. I suspect the deadline was an issue and that Surlaw and RMZ had to scramble and just read the lines out of the script without having time to edit and really nuance their performances. Still, it's impressive that they were able to give so many characters distinct voices and have so many minutes of dialogue. It's not laugh out loud funny, but there's a few good smiles here and there. I wouldn't go into it expecting Surlaw's usual charm, but if you like RedMaverickZero's "OHR House: Heroes" series, you might like this.

Score: 6/10
2011 Score (Per Jun 18th): 67/100

Part of Gomey's 2011 Year In Review
[url=http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=89103#89103]Previous[/url] [url=http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=89356#89356]Next[/url]]]> Tue, 24 Jan 2012 07:45:43 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4910 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4910 Posted by Gizmog in Reviews

"Fat Frog: The Movie" won the Film Festival contest for a number of good reasons. FnrrfYgmSchnish's combination of colorful graphics, action-packed story and even a little humor here and there. He also manages to mix computerized voices, ala "Harry Potter", with real voices in a fairly seamless way. It's not perfect, but for the most part, "Fat Frog" is an entertaining experience.

The year is 1773 and the bunnies and mice have joined forces to rid the world of frogs once and for all. No one, not even Mouse Jesus can stop this unchecked aggression. No one, that is, except THE FAT FROG. The story follows his one man campaign against the combined strength of rodents and rabbits. Along the way he gets into his share of fights, and these are masterfully animated. He can't kill the Mouse King and stop the war without going through the four generals. Unfortunately, the film ends before he even takes out one general. To me, this really changes the tone of the movie. Without some kind of climax it feels less like a self-contained story and more like the intro to what would be a great RPG.

The lack of a good climax exacerbates "Fat Frog"'s real problem, which is that the second half is pretty boring. I can't imagine Fnrrf thought he'd be able to finish 5 epic battles within the contest time frame, so I wonder why he didn't cut things back a little and focus on the one with the captain. Ending the movie there, maybe with a little teaser that there's still 4 Generals to go would've left everyone hungry for more without losing anything of value. The talk between Fat Frog and Mouse Jesus is a little slow for my tastes, and then to end the game just as there's been a great build up to a fight is lame.

There are some great voices to help things out though. Outside of the computery ones, which actually work better than you might think, both humans do a great job pacing and emoting their lines. My favorite is the big boss, who reminds me a lot of Him from the Powerpuff Girls cartoon and the guys in the intro are also great. It's all backed up by a great soundtrack, which if I'm not mistaken, includes the contest's only N-bomb. Gotta love rap music!

All things considered, this is probably the only Film Festival entry I'd recommend watching to anyone and only if you treat it as a preview of things which (hopefully) are still to come. It's got some problems, but you can ignore most of them if you aren't expecting a completed work.

Score: 7.5/10
2011 Score (Per Jun 18th): 68/100

Part of Gomey's 2011 Year In Review
[url=http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=89102#89102]Previous[/url] Next[/url]]]> Tue, 24 Jan 2012 07:39:35 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4909 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4909 Posted by Gizmog in Reviews

Originally, "Habla No Ingles: The Movie" was gonna borrow from some older plans for a "Wilthawiya" sequel. Stephen, the hero of "Wilthawiya" was going to be leading an X-Files style investigation into the mysterious fridge. There was going to be an opening text crawl, recounting the canonical entries in the series with a serious, government-report type tone. Charbile was going to be the villain, wanting the fridge for his own nefarious but vague schemes. It was going to start with the fridge disappearing, and Giz wondering where it (and his beer and his chicken) have gotten off to. Nobody believed TheGiz didn't know where it was and a three-way battle would've ensued between Charbile, TheGiz and Stephen before the fridge popped up and they all chased it through the city.

Unfortunately, this would've taken too long so I started cutting corners. Charbile's motivations never made sense to me, so he got reduced to a cameo. I didn't want the nice "Wilthawiya" guy to brutally interrogate someone in the basement, so he got reduced to a cameo and my turkey-loving troll alter-ego DomGallo became the bad guy. That made me think of the holidays, so the plot became "The ladies think TheGiz is downstairs wrapping presents when he's really getting his ass kicked". A bunch of stupid ideas later, and Old TheGiz shows up to coach TheGiz in fighting. A lot of little tweaks and random things turned the story into what it is now, with each scene trying to reverse the tone of the previous one.

I adapted most of the techniques I picked up working on "Hydration 2: Oasis" to the OHR and for the first time ever, I had some confidence in my artistic abilities. I also stole a lot of graphics from the cancelled "Wilthawiya" sequel. The office scene and Stephen's business attire came from that concept. Most of the other maptiles came from "Halloween No Ingles", though I would've redone them had I had the time. I wasn't happy reusing old TheGiz walkabouts, but I couldn't get the hat to look right in the larger style I'd been playing with. I'm still proud of Mary and Jane's graphics, though the jiggle effect (an attempt to be more cinematic, Charlie's Angels style) isn't as impressive as I used to think.

No idea where the "DON'T BE RACIST" thing or the title screen came from. The point I was trying to make by ripping a picture of Bill Cosby and then badly MS Painting the same picture was that either way can be funny, but I didn't really do a good job of conveying that and I think trying to tie it back to the title screen made it even more confusing.

One of the complaints I heard about "Habla No Ingles: The Movie" was that it was misogynist. I actually think it goes farther than that. TheGiz is only interested in one thing from the women he courts (three if you count chicken and beer), but the ladies in his life are also only interested in one thing in return. Throughout the series when people, male or female, disappear on time travel adventures for weeks at a time, nobody notices. They just find satisfaction somewhere else. None of the relationships portrayed are healthy. It's all flawed, terrible people taking animal comforts from other flawed, terrible people. Anybody can show up in your bed naked with a cheeseburger. What's truely desirable in life is someone who notices when you're gone, someone who wonders where you've been and why they aren't with you. I hope people will try to find that in their lives, rather than whatever in the hell I've been advertising with the "No Ingles" series.

Long story short, this was a good learning experience for me. If I were making it again today, there's parts I'd leave out, heck, I thought about leaving them out back then. Didn't think it'd feel like a "No Ingles" game without 'em. Now, I realize that feeling like a "No Ingles" game isn't necessarily a good thing and that maybe I could've told this story in a way that's true to who I am now, rather than true to the guy that got cheap laughs when he was 15. I don't think "Habla No Ingles: The Movie" is a bad movie, but the raunch factor is a definite turnoff.

Score: 4/10
2011 Score (Per June 18th): 64/100

Part of Gomey's 2011 Year In Review
[url=http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=89101#89101]Previous[/url] [url=http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=89103#89103]Next[/url]]]> Tue, 24 Jan 2012 07:36:31 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4908 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4908 Posted by Gizmog in Reviews

"The HangovOHR" wins the 2011 award for most shoehorned use of the OHR Acronym. Skullduggery Studios described it as "An epic OHR movie that will be completed sometime in the future... probably" and there's nothing in the movie to suggest otherwise. Too bad there isn't much in the movie at all. I haven't seen "The Hangover" but I assume Skullduggery Studio's version starts where the actual film does, with an engaged woman demanding to the Best Man that he not kill her soon-to-be husband at the bachelor party. He apparently takes her advice to heart because he doesn't even leave the church. The demo is over.

Not much to complain about visually. A dude walks back and forth, answers his phone, good enough animation on that. There's a lot of dots on the church floor which make you see patterns and stuff that aren't there. No music or sound effects. It's an okay setup to a story, I would've liked to see where it was going.

Basically, there's nothing wrong with this. It's just too short to have anything going for it either. I guess the moral of the story is, if you've only got enough time to make 30 seconds of movie, skip to the drunken fratboy shenanigans and leave the angry fiancee at home. I do hope that it gets finished or at least continued, because there are some graphical chops on display. Don't bother with it until then.

Score: 1/10
2011 Score (Per June 20th): 66/100

Part of Gomey's 2011 Year In Review
[url=http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=89100#89100]Previous[/url] [url=http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=89102#89102]Next[/url]]]> Tue, 24 Jan 2012 07:31:44 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4907 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4907 Posted by Gizmog in Reviews

I know I ended my last two "Deforestation" reviews by saying there wasn't any reason to download them. If you really want to enjoy "Deforestation 3" forget I said that. Expectations play a big part in the "Deforestation" series, and whereas the first one built up expectations with an advertising blitz and the second one built up expectations with a nice intro, "Deforestation 3" wants you to draw expectations from the first two games.

For the first time, Spoonweaver doesn't rehash an old joke. For the first time, the trademark "twist ending" is nowhere to be found. Instead we get an original story in which our old pal Chris the lumberjack has taken up an interesting new hobby. Why? Who knows! You can't ask questions like that of a slasher movie. (Spoilers: This is a slasher movie!) A lot more effort went into "Deforestation 3" than did the previous two, and it shows. There's numerous characters, some great animation and the blood soaked opening credits are fantastic. Far and away, this is the best looking "Deforestation".

The audio side of "Deforestation 3" is the ugly side. Spoonweaver's microphone is more noticeable than ever and his voices seem a little bored given the exciting events. Apparently his "Technoship Funkotron" fans complained that nobody got sodomized to death in this series, so someone gets sodomized to death. Ironically, that someone is Mr. Triangle. It's short, it's weird, it's gory, it's the closest to a slasher movie the OHR will ever see. If you watched "Triangle" and thought to yourself "Gee, I wish I could've seen the dead bodies and buttsex" Deforestation 3 is right up your alley. I would've preferred either a little more story or a return to the running gag ending of the first two, but it is somewhat of an improvement.

Score: 4/10
2011 Score (Per May 27th): 69/100

Part of Gomey's 2011 Year In Review
[url=http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=89097#89097]Previous[/url] [url=http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=89100#89100]Next[/url]]]> Tue, 24 Jan 2012 07:12:59 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4906 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4906 Posted by Gizmog in Reviews

Love it or hate it, SDHawk's "Triangle" was the most thought provoking entry of the Film Festival. Where the other entries went for lighthearted or absurdist fare, "Triangle" looks seriously at the homophobic history of RedMaverickZero's Mr. Triangle, who in some ways is the Crash Bandicoot of the OHR. Using a nearly monochrome, hand-drawn aesthetic and a wordless third act, the tone is very reminscent of a kooky French art film and like a kooky French art film it isn't necessarily an easy thing to watch. That's part of the reason I think this is a great OHR movie.

The plot follows Mr. Triangle and Mr. Purple as they work to rid the city of homosexuals. It also flashes back to how Mr. Triangle and Mr. Purple met, and learned together as agents of the homo-homocidal agenda. They utilize everything from guns and bombs to fisticuffs in their quest before realizing that it might be harder than they first thought. Even though we only see one victim of this mission, it's still pretty disturbing.

I guess to fully understand "Triangle", you have to understand the history of Mr. Triangle. The first 5 Mr. Triangle games, the "Shitty Adventure" series, predominantly featured Mr. Triangle wandering from town to town beating up "faggots" for.. whatever reasons came to mind. Every textbox featured profanity whether it needed to be profane or not. Hawk's parody is right on the money in that department. The only problem with "Triangle" is timing: in the 8 years since the last "Shitty Adventure" RedMaverickZero did a lot of growing up and the Mr. Triangle character grew up with him. All of us did and said things when we were younger that we regret now. It's not fair for my mom and SDHawk to keep bringing them up. I can't even imagine how mortified I would be if someone made a movie called "No Ingles" to remind everyone of the stupid ways I tried to be "offensive" and "edgy".

As "Wandering Hamster" continues to fade somewhat in relevance, it's inevitable that certain people, characters and games will be iconified within the community. While I agree with what seems to be Hawk's point, that we need to make sure our unofficial mascots have a respectable history (we don't really want a newbie to think "Mr. Triangle's Shitty Adventure" is something to gun for), we also don't want newbies to think they have to worry about their first games forever. People change over time, they improve and mature into wiser people and for the most part RMZ has done that. He's not perfect, but none of us are.

Even given the questionable tone, "Triangle" is a masterfully directed movie that proves its point, no matter how late that point might be. I think SDHawk made the right decision not to use voice acting. Without having to rely on the skill of a voice actor, the text can speak for itself. At the point where text would lose meaning "Triangle" quits using text, letting the actions and gestures of the characters do all the talking. This adds a lot of emotional power to the composition and it's that emotional power that makes this my favorite movie of the contest.

It's not the kind of movie you can really recommend someone watch for a good time, but if you want to see the more serious side of the OHR spectrum, give "Triangle" a look.

Score: 9/10
2011 Score (Per May 26th): 70/100

Part of Gomey's 2011 Year In Review
[url=http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=89094#89094]Previous[/url] Next[/url]]]> Tue, 24 Jan 2012 07:07:35 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4905 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4905 Posted by Gizmog in Reviews

Unable to repeat the forum based lead-up that preceeded the original "Deforestation", Spoonweaver decides to put that buildup into the movie this time around. In a nicely animated intro, the lumberjack flies through space, perhaps continuing from where the first game left off. He stumbles across a little blue marble; the planet Uranus of "Technoship Funkotron" fame.

The Happy Spacemen invite him to stay, on the condition that he drinks an entire bottle of Spaceman Ale, punches a hideous beast in the nose, and worst of all by Happy Spaceman standards, spend the night with a girl. You might notice that's the set up to an old joke and if you're a fan of the joke you won't be disappointed in the outcome.

I don't think I'd recommend "Deforestation 2" any more than I recommended the first one. The action is better conveyed and the story a bit longer, but there's not much going on. The Funkotron guys are a mere cameo and do none of their famous dancing. It is better than the original, but there's still nothing here to hang your hat on.

Score: 3/10
2011 Score (Per May 26?): 63/100

Part of Gomey's 2011 Year In Review
[url=http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=89092#89092]Previous[/url] [url=http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=89097#89097]Next[/url]]]> Tue, 24 Jan 2012 06:59:43 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4904 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4904 Posted by Gizmog in Reviews

"Metal Gear Duck", the first of JSH357's many contributions to the Film Festival Contest earned him his second disqualification of the year. The film gleefully uses ripped graphics to prove some kind of a point about the modern video game industry, while also having some fun at Metal Gear Solid 4's expense. Unfortunately, this leads to a few scenes that are just as annoying as the ones that inspired them. That's probably the point, but it's more frustrating than fun.

Like most of the Film Festival Films "Metal Gear Duck" utilizes voice acting, with MultiColoredWiz and JSH357 providing a variety of vocals that range in quality from great to indecipherable. "Always", Erasure's Top 20 hit from 1994 serves as the title music, a reference to a then-popular Flash game called "Robot Unicorn Attack". The graphics blend screenshots of Metal Gear with the MS Paint style depictions of Duck seen in previous installments of the series about as seamlessly as such a union can allow.

Is it worth a download? ...maybe? There are some highlights, Wiz flirting with himself as both Duck and Danae, JSH gives a great turn as Otacon and it feels more like a movie than most of the other entries thanks to a stellar mix of music and vocals. The ripped graphics also add a lot of atmosphere that JSH could never draw in a million years. On the downside, "Metal Gear Duck" is bookended with jokes that go on way too long. There's no textboxes or subtitles, and occasionally Wiz's oriental woman could really use them. It's a pretty average piece of work for JSH357, though his average is most people's good.

I would also like to repeat something for the historical record. When the credits say "Stripper: TheGiz" it is referring to the great exotic dancer I hired, and not my own personal clothes-removing prowess.

Score: 5/10
2011 Score (Per May 22nd): 65/100

Part of Gomey's 2011 Year In Review
Previous[/url] [url=http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=89094#89094]Next[/url]]]> Tue, 24 Jan 2012 06:56:38 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4901 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4901 Posted by JSH357 in Reviews

Forsaken is a mixed bag. In some ways it's a little better than Master K's other games that came out in 2011, but it falls victim to many of the same pitfalls. I'll start off with the visuals, as they illustrate this well enough. Master K does a good job animating his work: The intro looks really cool and the Boss Fight warning was neat. However, the actual quality of the graphics is fuzzier. Some things look like they're approaching a nice sheen, like the main character's walkabout, but then others look totally off, like the enemy thief walkabouts.

The game, like Cardians of Lore, also has vast maps that are simply unbearable to walk through as nothing happens on the way to your destination. I didn't even run in to any random encounters before the first boss fight, which was odd.

This was made further odd by the fact that the first boss fight is... impossible to beat, at least as far as I can tell. My physical attacks never hit the enemies, and my spells are both weak and cost too much MP to use repeatedly. I used F4 to get past this and in to the town, and I have to wonder if there's a way to win.

The town shows a lack of playtesting. There are NPCs you can walk on all over the place, and in general there's just an air of this being incomplete. Some of the dialogue is amusing, which I appreciate, but the game nonetheless feels very directionless at this point.

Master K is good at directing a scene when he does it well, but I think that more polish needs to be applied for this game to really mean something. As it is, I feel like my time has been wasted by playing 15 minutes of this, and it hurts because I know the game had a shot at being better.

Rating: 2 Magician Leads out of 10]]> Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:46:13 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4900 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4900 Posted by JSH357 in Reviews

First Fantasy is a neat little start to a game. If another version gets released, I'll gladly play it. What sets it apart from a lot of RPGs is the setting: First Fantasy takes place in an era of early man. This makes for a unique musical style that breathes a lot of character in to an otherwise familiar quest narrative.

The graphics are hit and miss. At times (the rivers in the forest... wow) they are quite splendid, and at times (the trees) they are jarring to say the least. All in all, it looks inconsistent. This is problematic, but it's passable enough that my eyes weren't offended.

The gameplay that's here is pretty minimal, standard RPG fare, so I guess I need to talk about the intro sequence. Holy cow, it looks nice. More OHR games need to do this kind of scrolling effect to tell a story. It looks really smooth, and at times resembles a cave painting (despite appearing to be made in MSPaint), which fits the game very well! My only problem with the intro is it's a really boring world origin story that, naturally, has little bearing on the plot presented to us in the early game. As such... I kind of feel like it should be cut. That pains me to say, as it's so groovy. Well, at least it's optional.

This is a game worth checking out, but we won't know its full potential until G-Wreck brings us another release.

Rating: 5.5 Promising Starts out of 10]]> Fri, 20 Jan 2012 06:00:06 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4899 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4899 Posted by JSH357 in Reviews

I really enjoyed Castle on the Night Land, and it's definitely one of the best OHR games of 2011 if you ask me.

Willy's visual style, excellent writing, and love for mazes suit the adventure/puzzle game very well! Castle on the Night Land presents the player with a big castle to explore and unearth the secrets of. You have to find items, sometimes by sniffing around for hints, and be careful to avoid enemies until you can take them.

It's not an easy game, but the challenge always feels fair and compelling. While I do think the monochromatic style hurts my eyes a little at times, it's hard to deny these maptiles are fantastic, and you can really get sucked in despite how unrealistic it is. Castle on the Night Land does a lot of what Star Quest was going for, but I feel its more compact and focused nature is a great boon.

Rating: 7.5 Super-speed Vampires out of 10]]> Fri, 20 Jan 2012 05:36:28 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4898 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4898 Posted by JSH357 in Reviews

Here it is, my favorite OHR game (well, there are still 5 to analyze I guess but for now I'm saying it is) of 2011.

Transylvania Girls is one of the best dating sims I have ever played. I'm not just limiting that statement to indie games here--I've played lots of games in the genre, it's one I have a soft spot for, and it really doesn't get a lot better than this. Just as in all dating sims with adult content that are actually worth playing, the sexual scenes play second fiddle to everything else. They're in here either for comedy or (surprise) to move the story along.

The addition of a hunt for Dracula's parts adds a TON to this game. First, it gives the game a timer and an objective! Yes, finding a suitable virgin is half of the end game requirement, but the other half is getting the parts. This means you must apportion your time properly and think about what you are doing to see the end. I love this, and if I have one complaint it's that the secret gives you a bit too much extra time to finish the game in.

Another great quality of this game is its interface. It's splendid and simple to use. The Castlevania music fits perfectly and gives the game a proper rockin' retro feel. Giz's graphics are completely suitable for the game (some of his best work!) and the animations go by quickly enough to not annoy the player.

Giz's writing is also quite solid. The dates are markedly either sappy, boring or hilarious, but always a neat experience. They do repeat, which is kind of a minus, but since you're bound to fail on a date once or twice, that's probably preferable to having to re-learn the sequence over and over. The story is silly and never gets too serious for its own good--it's basically black comedy about reviving Dracula with a virgin's blood. I'm sure it'll turn some people off, but I thought it was an interesting choice.

On that same note, the sex scenes in this game are also entirely played for comedy. I could see someone being offended by them, but it's quite honestly nothing you wouldn't see in a cheap horror B-Movie or R-rated Hollywood flick.

Transylvania Girls is one of the best OHR games there is, and it's easily my favorite of 2011.

Rating: 9.5 Drama Llamas out of 10]]> Fri, 20 Jan 2012 05:02:56 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4897 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4897 Posted by JSH357 in Reviews

Ah, shakeyair; he quickly became one of my favorite OHR developers after posting his brilliant Tetris port and screenshots of his Mario fangame that never got made. There is Nothing Left is yet another hit--a game that is disturbing and visceral despite only allowing one action.

The gameplay is terrible, but it's basically Whack-a-Mole anyway. What's so effective is the art direction--that swirling, Mother-style battle background, those empty shells of people gradually becoming more and more frightening, and the eerie music backing all this. You'll probably be amazed this can even be pulled off in the engine.

Do I think it's a 'great' game? No, not really. But by abandoning an attempt at making a good GAMEPLAY concept out of the Fight Battle restrictions, shakeyair succeeded in making an interesting experience that's hard to forget. I usually don't care much for these 'art games,' but like last year's Tilt, I thought this was quite good.

Rating: 6.5 Capped White Boys out of 10]]> Fri, 20 Jan 2012 04:39:24 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4896 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4896 Posted by JSH357 in Reviews

I streamed a video of this game because it's just so baffling. If you'd rather watch that than read a review, check it out here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85ayH1hnils

Princess FLESH, or Flesh Bone Adventure, or whatever this is supposed to be, is one of the weirdest games released on the engine in 2011. If it's some kind of joke, I thought it was hilarious. If it's not, I fear for humanity.

Sounds don't make sense. Battles are impossible to sit through. Balance is non-existent. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse wait with loaded rifles. This game will bring you to tears with its surreal bad quality.

And... I enjoyed it! Maybe I'm laughing at it, not with it, but every now and then a bad game like this can be really darn funny. Princess Flesh is worth playing just to get a kick out of it, and I recommend it.

Rating: 3.5 Fleshy Bones out of 10]]> Fri, 20 Jan 2012 03:54:55 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4895 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4895 Posted by JSH357 in Reviews

Another "big set of dungeons" game released in 2011. This one fares a lot worse than others, and really just for one reason. It's lazily made.

We have missing backdrops and enemies that don't go away from the map after you beat them. There are giant mazes with nothing to mix them up that you should just Ctrl+F1 to get through. The graphics are purposefully tiny, and not done so stylistically like in Willy E's games--you get the sense that the creator just wanted to get production over with.

The nail in the coffin is that the demo ends on the second floor with no text or anything. This is yet another demo released for no real reason than to say "hey, I made a game." Wish I could give it more positives, but this one's just not a winner here.

Rating: 1 Debug Key Pressed out of 10]]> Fri, 20 Jan 2012 03:12:26 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4894 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4894 Posted by JSH357 in Reviews

This game is entirely in German, but that doesn't matter. It doesn't seem to work correctly anyway. I knew things were off to a bad start when the included exe said the game was an unsupported rpg file...

Talking to NPCs just results in script errors, and all of them have the same sprite as you. Even the (I assume titular Kim) has the (I assume) sprite of Jose. It feels like a most incomplete of demos by a new user.

I have to wonder why people even release things like this. I mean, even when I released my first game, I knew everything in it worked before I let anybody see it. The thought process kind of baffles me.

This game is unrateable, but it really doesn't seem that promising anyway, so... I'll give it a half point for some almost Giz-like walkabout sprites.

Rating: 1 Creepy Clone out of 10]]> Fri, 20 Jan 2012 02:53:15 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4893 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4893 Posted by JSH357 in Reviews

Confession time. I didn't replay this game for this review. I realize that this is terrible of me.

See, here's the thing. I remember this game well enough. You just hold a direction and travel through a billion floors to the end.

Except the boss is impossible or something like that. I used Control F1 to simply warp there myself. It wasn't worth it.

Rating: .5 Songs that Never End out of 10]]> Fri, 20 Jan 2012 02:34:24 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4892 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4892 Posted by JSH357 in Reviews

This is the best of the games by Willy that I've reviewed so far, but I'm really still just not feeling it. To start with some positives, I liked the music a lot, and thought it added quite a bit of feeling to the post-apocalyptic atmosphere of the game. While the game mostly consists of mazes, at least in the portion of it that I played, they're pretty decently done.

I liked the pacing of the exposition. You learn more as you progress, which is nice. On the same note, though, I don't care for the preparation phase that precedes playing through the maze. In general, I don't care for games that give me a bunch of options right at the start and leave me hoping I somehow knew my decisions were for the best (unless it's something really simple like Final Fantasy 1). Some people really like that kind of thing; I'm just not a fan.

I went with the fastest character at the start because I expected the battles to be really slow, and sadly, they are still really slow. With the difficulty factor of the game being very high, this doesn't make for a good combo. If I'm going to have to reset a lot, I'd prefer to die faster rather than slower.

This game probably has its market, but I don't think I'm interested in playing any more of it. Spellshard does the dungeon thing a little better in my opinion. That said, the art style is weird and kind of neat, so it's worth a shot.

Rating: 4.5 Bleeding Eyes out of 10]]> Fri, 20 Jan 2012 02:12:05 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4891 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4891 Posted by JSH357 in Reviews

Angel Whispers, in its present form, is mostly a tech demo of what should be a really cool game when it's finished. The battle system reminds me of Sengoku Rance (which is a good thing) and I think has a lot of potential. Time will tell if Sephy manages to make a great game out of it.

If you're not familiar with Rance, the combat is something like a traditional RPG meets strategy RPG. You control the Tactician, and place units on the screen that follow your orders. Angel Whispers has some neat commands, like telling the party to focus on one enemy instead of attacking at random, among other things. There is a lot that can be done.

Sephy's writing is very amusing to read, even when it's just covering mundane things like leveling up and getting treasures. I think that he could make a very entertaining, unpretentious story and this demo does well in presenting what might become one. The visual style is also very refreshing and shows promise.

All in all, it's a good preview of a game that will hopefully come out some day.

Rating: 5 Hopeful Wishes out of 10]]> Fri, 20 Jan 2012 01:06:59 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4890 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4890 Posted by JSH357 in Reviews

Virtual School 2 is a bit classier than The Giz's usual fare. It's a funny joke game about a little brother following his sibling to school and pestering him with questions and remarks. I enjoyed playing it, and I think even people who don't usually go for Giz's work might enjoy it as well.

One of the best parts of the game is what occurs when you find all of the endings. I don't want to spoil it, but I was quite surprised and very satisfied with the final outcome of the story. It's odd because you wouldn't think that the game could have an emotional impact given the setup, but in the ultimate ending, I really nearly wept.

In the future, I imagine Giz will probably make more games similar to Virtual School 2. It's kind of strange that a game that's just walking around and talking to NPCs can be as entertaining as this, but I guess I enjoyed Dragon Quest VII for similar reasons.

Rating: 6 Studly Professors out of 10]]> Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:48:47 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4889 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4889 Posted by JSH357 in Reviews

This game has two problems that I'll focus on separately in a bit: bad tutorial and insufficient pace. I realize that the limitations of the contest made this impossible to make truly good, mind. I don't think I'd go for the idea anyway, personally, but I want to say that in the game's defense.

First, this game has bad tutorial, which is a good transition from my previous review. The game presents all of the information to you in one series of giant text boxes and then immediately throws you to the wolves. I didn't read any of it, and I doubt many did. Final Fantasy XIII has gotten a lot of flack for its infamous first 30 hours of a linear path, but I want to argue that the first 30 hours of Final Fantasy XIII are (mostly) composed of great tutorial. The game introduces battle concepts to you gradually, such that at the end of it you have mastered or begun to master its combat.

That brings us to the second problem with Momoka's game: the length is insufficient for having a good learning curve in the first place. Since everything has to be learned at once and is then immediately tested, you... either know it or reset because you don't. That's lame. RMSephy's game, Arms Race, wasn't that hot but had much better pacing in that it introduces once concept at a time in its battles. Momoka might have done better to design similarly.

Rating: 1 Pile of Scrap Metal out of 10]]> Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:25:06 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4888 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4888 Posted by JSH357 in Reviews

Uh... I guess this game's too deep for me? After about ten minutes, I can't figure out even the very first step in solving whatever puzzle is presented here. I would try harder, but the sound effects, like in the last Willy game I played, are too obnoxious for me to put up with for prolonged periods of time.

One nice thing about this is that I think the visuals are better than in some other similar games released this year. This one actually looks rather intricate, like an 80s vision of a space station. I enjoyed the look of it a lot, so I'll give it points for that.

Ultimately, the lack of good tutorial kills this for me. I don't need a fairy explaining every last thing I need to do, but a push in the right direction, or at least -a- direction would be a godsend. There's another game development lesson, kids: tutorials are your friends when implemented well.

Rating: 1.5 Even More Confused JSHes out of 10]]> Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:04:16 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4887 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4887 Posted by JSH357 in Reviews

A gem released late in the year! This might be RMSephy's most fun game to date. It's the game Voltire's The Tower wanted to be--a nail-biting classic RPG romp through a long dungeon.

This game thrives on its simplicity. Characters equip the skill they get to use in battle (hm... a bit like Motrya, I guess?) and each are unique. I really enjoyed the Thief's design; I prefer this game's implementation of stealing to the way it is in most RPGs. Stealing items makes your enemies lose some function in battle, which you can then field to your advantage by equipping, like a Nurse Hat or iron helmet.

I did find the game quite difficult, and was not able to beat the first boss in a couple of tries, but what I did play was enjoyable, if a little tedious. Perhaps a save point along the way that doesn't offer healing is in order? That's about all I'd change. Keep up the good work, Sephy. Your games are getting better and better.

Rating: 7.5 Dungeons Explored out of 10]]> Thu, 19 Jan 2012 22:53:51 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4886 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4886 Posted by JSH357 in Reviews

Escape from the Wolf is like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. It's delicious going down, but it's over far too quick and doesn't leave much of an impression on you afterward. Seeing as the game is a plotscripting exercise first and foremost, that's about as nice a thing as I can say about it.

The best thing about Escape from the Wolf is the creative use of sound effects. I love how it gets more frantic as the wolf draws near; it's both amusing and a great game design choice. I also enjoyed how quickly the game runs, which is most appropriate.

There's not much to say after that. This is a solid game, but just once. I can only rate a gimmick so high, even though this is a darn good one.

Rating: 5.5 Little Girls out of 10]]> Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:44:23 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4885 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4885 Posted by JSH357 in Reviews

Bufanda is a text adventure with some nice writing and a bit of a mystery to it. It's pretty no-frills, and not really that exciting, but I enjoyed the game for what it is. You play the role of a character who is visited by some "ghosts" and finds out what they are as the story unfolds.

The game has six endings, but I only found three of them during my time with it. It's probably very simple to get the rest. The story aims to be weird and a little spooky, and succeeds in that, so if that sounds like your cup of tea, give it a shot.

I do think that the game would have benefited from visuals, or at the very least some chilling music ala Hotel Dusk. Really, the only thing holding it back is that it's a pure text adventure, which can only be so exciting to me. The story's entertaining enough, and not superfluously worded like many of these games. I'd say it's a pretty good one.

Rating: 6 Walthros References out of 10]]> Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:11:20 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4884 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4884 Posted by JSH357 in Reviews

God, I realize I'm probably sounding like such a jerk bashing all these movie entries in, but I really can't help it--I just don't think this contest produced much of value. Fat Frog the Movie won the contest, and I know why it did, but I don't think that means it's a very good MOVIE. Yeah, it does some neat graphical tricks in the OHR, which I respect well enough, but it's honestly not very entertaining--the story is pretty much a Saturday morning cartoon plot that serves as a vehicle for the visuals. It's the kind of thing you'd string together just for fun, not enter in to a contest.

The reason this entry won, let's be honest, is that it was the least controversial entry in the contest. Think about it. We had: my games, 4 hopeless troll entries; Spoonweaver's games, which were amusing but advertised obnoxiously; Giz's game, a joke nobody but fans of his would get; Triangle, which might or might not have been telling one of the contest runners to go kill himself; Monster Lot, which was panned from the get-go; and finally, Fat Frog: The Movie, which was just kind of an "okay" story with some elaborate action scenes. The voters were so split on everything else that this just had the best chance.

Watching it again, I'm just bored here. Yeah, it helps for a film to have lots of movement, which this entry does the best, but I don't feel like the story is saying or doing anything. If FNRFFSIUHIEW had been doing the graphics and written a more meaningful script or worked with someone focusing purely on that, maybe then I could see it. Instead, it's just 15 minutes of nothing of significance going on or being said. That's why, even though it's rough around the edges and offensive, I have to say Triangle was the better "film." And I'll stand by that.

Rating: 3.5 Frogs on Paula Dean Kicks out of 10]]> Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:59:35 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4883 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4883 Posted by JSH357 in Reviews

Deforestation is a funny little movie that has not stood the test of time. The only really notable thing about this movie is its ad campaign. Spoonweaver did an excellent job hyping up what was clearly going to be a joke, and it was quite amusing if you were there.

Well, I was there, but I can't imagine everyone was. And for those everyones, now we just have a guy chopping down a tree and the world blowing up. Yeah, not very exciting, and it doesn't last long enough to be more than a one-note joke.

I'll give Spoonweaver some credit for production: the sound mixing is pretty good. This kind of thing is pretty popular on Newgrounds and the like, so what do I know, maybe it's better than I think. Still, beyond being a meme there's not much here.

In the review of the second game, I'll discuss his ad campaign a little more, as I have thoughts related to it.

Rating: 2 Trees Chopped out of 10

Deforestation 2

Deforestation 2 is generally more of the same joke as the original, only with an additional sex joke thrown in this time. I thought the joke was pretty funny, but... as you might expect, the buck ends there. This is just a rehash with little keeping it from completely fading away.

So instead of discussing Deforestation 2, I want to talk about Spoonweaver's use of advertising, and preface this with a cold, hard truth: Spoonweaver could very well be the most successful OHR developer in the future. Why? Well, he knows how to show off his work better than anyone else in the community sans perhaps Fenrir-Lunaris. Getting your game out there is just as if not more important than making quality work!

I realize that hearing this sounds like blasphemy to a lot of developers, and they refuse to accept it. Proof? Some of the best games I have reviewed for this contest so far were massively underplayed. Final Dragon Legacy is a great example. The creator didn't do a good job getting the game out there, even though it's pretty fantastic, and now it's bound to barely scrape the Best Games of 2011 list in HamsterSpeak. I'm not good at promoting my own work either, and my games have always suffered for it.

Spoon has been a controversial user here at times. He doesn't get along with everyone. However, he's got a certain panache for this that makes him a valuable person to know, and the same extends to others like him--people who have marketing skills. The ad campaign for Deforestation overshadows the game itself, not unlike the advertising for movies often does. There are people who make big bucks doing this kind of thing.

It's a skill every game developer needs to learn something about, myself included. You can promote a turd in a box if you know how to do it, so just imagine the benefits of promoting a GOOD game in the same way. It's something to think about.

Deforestation 3

You know, maybe it was fate. This game almost works as a summary of what went on all year in 2011. We have long-standing OHR characters being murdered and violated, reflecting what went on in the contest environment. One of these characters was depicted in the nude. We have dark comedy that was probably funnier to some than others. We have a conclusion to a series that was overall a mixed bag of results. Interesting.

Deforestation 3 is generally the best of the three films, although it's spotty. You can tell the most work went in to it as it's the longest and has the most characters. One has to wonder why Spoonweaver suddenly made a game like this after the first two, but at least it broke up the monotony.

I think this game treats the subject matter in a ridiculous enough tone that it's not too offensive. For what it is, it could have pushed a lot more buttons than it did. It's still not very good, but I'll give it some extra credit for being a fuller movie than its predecessors.

Rating: 4.5 Fava Beans out of 10

Rating: 3 Movie Posters out of 10]]> Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:43:13 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4882 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4882 Posted by JSH357 in Reviews

Look, I'm gonna get this out of the way: I think Barnabus is a genius, and I wish he'd post more games or share some of his wit with the rest of us. This game here is just as funny as "All the Games" from 2010. It's a bit more topical and thus more subject to the passage of time, but it's so creative that I can't NOT throw him a bone here.

The idea of paying tribute to every game in the contest in some ridiculous way is charming, and it slimes all over every other joke game released this year. I went in to this in a previous review: even joke games have to be tolerable, and these are.

I know it's selfish, but the Motrya game made me laugh the hardest. Just... the idea of Vanilla Ice as Icebird, and I never realized how silly it is that Mr. Parthax was OK with poisoning his students as a test. Barnabus's game pokes fun at the games while still paying tribute to what he likes about them, and that is NOT easy to do. As a result, I'd personally say this was one of the OHR's best games of 2011.

Rating: 8 Hearts Broken out of 10]]> Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:33:06 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4881 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4881 Posted by JSH357 in Reviews

The Tower is presented as a cool endurance test: a 100 floor dungeon full of enemies, traps, gold, and rest stops. If the game were complete and the battles moved a bit faster, I'd find this pretty enjoyable. It isn't (complete, that is. It's more enjoyable than it could have been).

The music is very bland and soft, which doesn't fit the atmosphere of the game so well. I think something a little more... fun-sounding would suit the game. Most of the visuals are amateurish, but that's to be expected I guess. It all just comes off very forgettable aesthetically.

I also think this game would be better suited as an action game, maybe like Zelda or even one of my favorite video games, Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru[/url]. That game's simplistic combat would suit The Tower very nicely, much better than default OHR battles. Given the scope of the game planned (100 floors) it would be much quicker and have about the same depth given the gameplay presented in the demo's run time.

Rating: 3.5 Nice Tries out of 10]]> Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:13:26 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4880 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4880 Posted by JSH357 in Reviews

JSH’s 2011 OHR Game Blog #26 – Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JSH357

In my last two reviews of my Harry Potter games, I just explained some of the development process that went in to them. That was probably more entertaining than an actual review of the games could have been, but I suppose that I should address the elephant in the room. These movies suck.

Yeah, I was making them to screw around and annoy people. Yeah, some people found it amusing and I personally found it extremely amusing. But no, I think this spur of the moment idea just isn't that funny in practice.

The problem with the whole joke being that it's annoying and you have to sit through it is that I can't FORCE anyone to sit through it. In fact, that kind of applies to any game you make. It doesn't matter what amazing stuff is in your game if your player can't be arsed to get through the whole thing. That's a lesson I hope every game developer takes to heart, as it's very important to bear in mind while you are developing.

One example: mistah_j quit playing Motrya after the intro because he thought it played out too long and had too much to read. Sure, you could argue he's illiterate, but it's actually a very astute criticism that I took quite seriously, to the point of planning a new intro (The current one in the demo is the third or fourth).

Always make a game tolerable, even if it's a joke. Otherwise, your audience will never get anywhere and then NOBODY'S happy.

Rating: 1 Lesson Learned out of 10]]> Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:54:06 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4879 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4879 Posted by JSH357 in Reviews

I get that this game was trying to be surreal and disturbing, which is plainly obvious and it's really the game's only selling point. That really isn't enough to maintain my interest, though. The author describes the game as a visual novel, but I think this is really just a textbox chain, the difference being that a visual novel would contain more depth.

Grey Star Lives is very melodramatic--it's just one ridiculous scenario after another, and if you take the time to memorize a proper pattern, I'm sure you can reach the endings just fine. However, since the amount of story here is so slim, the purely mechanical quality of the story shines through, and this game just feels like a skeleton of something bigger.

I don't blame Willy for making this considering the limitations of the contest, but to me it really isn't very entertaining and the rating on the site suggests to me that OHR users are just easily impressed by gimmicks. In my mind, though, gimmicks such as blaring annoying feedback in my ears don't lead to a substantial experience. I can't recommend this game even if you are a fan of visual novels.

Rating: 2 Layers of White Noise out of 10]]> Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:33:30 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4876 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4876 Posted by Gizmog in Reviews

Nothing could've lived up to the hype promised by Spoonweaver's ad campaign for "Deforestation". Perhaps it was appropriate that the first entry in the "Deforestation" series was such a well engineered disappointment that you couldn't help but laugh a little, at least in confusion.

Opening credits add a touch of class to the proceedings and soon the action's afoot. A lumberjack is performing his duty when a lady approaches. They have a brief discussion and then it's over. The tree cutting and surprise ending are nicely animated, but not worth the download time.

The plot is adapted from an old joke, possibly by Jack Handey of "Deep Thoughts" fame, though mangled somewhat in translation. "Deforestation" as released in "Deforestation: The Complete Trilogy" has voice acting for all the dialogue, though I'm not sure the original release did. It might've been edited to fit in more closely with the sequels.

I can't say I'd really recommend "Deforestation" today. Without the context of the pre-release hype machine it's just a poorly told joke with an off-beat ending. You might check it out just to hear Spoonweaver talking like a girl. It's actually better voice acting than the dude's!

Score: 2/10
2011 Score (Per May 22nd): 65/100

Part of Gomey's 2011 Year In Review
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(Note: 2011 In Review is still underway, just leaking this bit early to highlight a bug in the latest nightly. Let's see one of JSH's reviews do THAT)]]> Tue, 17 Jan 2012 23:24:12 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4875 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4875 Posted by JSH357 in Reviews

HE WOULDN'T. HE SHOULDN'T! HE DID.

HNI: The Movie is an OHR film that was made just for fans of The Giz's previous works. I don't doubt that the average viewer would take a look at this and disregard it entirely, and rightfully so as it's extremely silly and probably offensive.

However, for those like myself who have enjoyed Giz's style over the years, HNI: The Movie is a treat. We have references to other OHR games and users too, so if you're invited to the party you'll have a ball. Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot going on for those who don't get the man's humor.

Well, scratch that, there's one thing. HNI: The Movie has some of Giz's best graphics to date, particularly the fridge flying scene, which shows how long his art has come since the 90s. I also enjoyed the running through the city sequence a lot.

This game's a tough one to rate. I don't know what some random person watching this would give it, so I'll just be honest with myself and say that I enjoyed it, even though it's technically not too impressive.

Rating: 5.5 Gallons of Blood on the Basement Floor out of 10]]> Mon, 16 Jan 2012 22:23:07 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4871 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4871 Posted by Gizmog in Reviews

A long-time lurker who finally joined the community early in May, DukeofDellot introduced himself with "This is me", a highly personal autobiography and look back at nearly eight years of gamemaking. Given his extensive pedigree, it would come as no surprise that he would eventually draw on that experience to make something bold and ambitious. The surprising part was that he did so just a week or two later. Expanding on the mythology of 2003's "Nordomin: Call of the Elements" and the character customization of 2004's "Quest of Creole", "Nordomin: Quest of Creole" is perhaps the closest an OHR game has come to the level of customization available in a Bioware RPG.

As the game begins, you're given a brief history of the world's goddesses and then asked which one you're aligned to. At this point you'll also choose your character's gender and these two choices decide your appearance and strengths. If you still don't feel in control, your character can have up to 3 possible responses to most lines of dialogue, though the shortness of the demo prevents these features from being as exciting as they could be.

Like many rpgs, our hero begins their adventure in bed. It won't take long for trouble to find them however, and when it does you'll discover another interesting DukeofDellot decision. The party is restored to full health before each battle, but to gain MP you'll have to land hits. This adds an exciting feeling of "If I can just stay alive two more turns", though in all the excitement it's sometimes hard to remember if you've fired five shots or six. Gaining MP in this way is crucial if you want to succeed and I wish this was explained in the game rather than the readme. If you think being healed between every battle means things will be easy, think again. DukeofDellot utilizes this to make every battle a life and death struggle.

If you get into trouble outside of a boss battle you can run away, however this cheats you of crafting ingriedients, another ambitious feature that the designer has managed to squeeze in. This abundance of features is perhaps "Nordomin: Quest of Creole"s strongest and weakest point. By the time you adapt to the battles and start to explore everything the game has to offer you, it's over. I can't help but feel that if a few of these options were left out maybe DukeofDellot would've had time to add more than one boss battle and tell more of his story. Instead we have a strong foundation for what promises to be a sturdy house, if it ever gets built.

Score: 8/10

2011 Score (Per May 19th): 74/100

Part of Gomey's 2011 Year In Review
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The concept of Monster Out of Six is really quite groovy. It's sort of Battle Royale meets Clue; you're supposed to walk around, figure out which inmate in the prison is guilty and free all the rest. Everyone remaining dies. This makes for a great set-up, but with this demo we only get to see an inkling of what it could be.

The demo was clearly rushed out the door for a contest (I forget which one) and doesn't function as intended. That said, we can at least analyze the idea and ponder on whether or not it could work. Personally, I think the overhead view might not be the best interface for such a game. I'm also not sure if a randomly generated innocent is the way to go.

Rather, if I were making this game, I would have gone for the visual novel/adventure game approach of having a story based around such a game. 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors accomplished this well, and I could see a great story being built off of Pepsi Ranger's game. As a virtual version of clue, though... it kind of falls flat. I'm not saying it couldn't work, but I'd much rather play this sort of thing with friends than as a solo experience.

Rating: 2 Revolvers in the Observatory out of 10]]> Fri, 13 Jan 2012 01:02:42 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4869 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4869 Posted by Gizmog in Reviews

"Kim und Jose" marks marionline's OHR debut and our first international release of 2011. The entire game is in German, which you might've deduced from the title. I'm not exactly qualified to judge this game as the only German I know is the kind bad guys in Indiana Jones use, but I'll try to muddle through anyway.

Tutorial mode started out surprisingly spooky. You start out surrounded by weird eyed dudes who one by one glide, not walk, to their positions. After explaining the controls, they invite you to play soccer. Unfortunately for you, the ball is guarded by a fox who wants to fight. He scares off easily enough, and you return to the group to play ball. During the soccer game there's a struggle and our heroes Kim and Jose are seperated from their group and teleported to a mysterious snowy land. They save a seal creature from a polar bear creature, and Kim threatens to eat him. Jose chides him for such foolishness. A-ha! It's a comedy!

I can't figure out where to go after this, but it's a good start. The graphics aren't perfect, but do manage a consistent style. Likewise, what I can decipher of the story is pretty standard OHR fare. It's interesting to see how RPGs are the same the world over. marionline wouldn't release another game in 2011, choosing instead to join the Random Collab Contest, compose a few songs and release a tech demo of day/night and weather effects. All in all, not a bad first year.

Score: 6/10

2011 Score (Per May 8th): 70/100

Part of Gomey's 2011 Year In Review
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I am hesitant to review this as so many stones have been thrown against it. I'm also have a slime of a time trying to figure out just why it doesn't work. Monster Lot seems a lot like a case where the creators put a lot of heart in to it, but the end result just didn't resonate with the audience like they were hoping.

First of all, I want to say that this plot probably would have worked better as an actual sitcom, made for television. I feel like the sprite-based art makes it tougher to appreciate the designs of the characters. The show seems heavily inspired by Futurama; an animation style similar to it would have helped this quite a bit.

There have been a lot of complaints about the show having too many characters, being too long, or having too much talking. Again, the OHR format is what really exacerbates this problem. If you were watching it on TV with better production value and editing, it would make a lot more sense.

I can't really make any direct criticisms of the plot because even after rewatching it, I honestly can't remember much about the movie other than it starring a hodge-podge of characters that reminded me of Zoidberg, Tow-Mater, and a few other cartoon stars. It just washes over me, like nothing's happening at all. The voice acting is fine, the graphics are above average... Monster Lot just doesn't come together the way it should. But hey, that's just my opinion. I'd love to hear a positive review point out some concrete reasons why it was enjoyable to them, as I know there were some people who rated it highly in the contest.

Rating: 3 Monster Mashed Potatoes out of 10]]> Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:21:48 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4867 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4867 Posted by Shizuma in Reviews

Transylvania Girls is a dating simulation/time management game by SDHawk and Gizmog. This title was produced under the context of the "Say it ain't so contest" which required pornographic content; so this game is only recommended for people of legal age who are OK with that kind of thing.

Like the typical dating sim it is built around tasks such as work, church and sleeping. These things take up your time but build your stats. This is not the most exciting type of gameplay but it has been done well by having short and cute scripted animations. The stats are for completing the objective of the game, successful courtship of a virgin so you can revive Dracula.

Reviving Dracula was a nice touch, it created a focus for the game that is strangely enough more familiar to games than simple courtship as well as creating a element of plot and humor. It also gave them an excuse to use Castlevania music and diversify the objective to include collecting the remnants of Dracula. As the courtship or dating elements take place you are involved with several decisions unique to each of the three girls you may meet throughout the game.

Regarding the girls in this game; I was a bit confused at first in that the girl who is the "right one" is random. This is very good for replay however since it wasn't clearly explained to me other than the authors eventually telling me. I may of potentially quit playing the game thinking it was broken if I hadn't been told.

The girls are interesting enough and distinct, and the dates are well-written, humorous and stimulating dialogue is found from start to finish with easy to understand and surprising consequences. It was a very satisfying game to defeat which is a good thing for any game although especially dating sims. The girls were not particularly appealing in the dating sense. This could be intentional due to the story but creating some interest from the player couldn't hurt much.



Despite the contest moniker, this game does not really contain much adult content whatsoever, and I feel a more widely acceptable release is called for as the elements are all hidden within the ending and are not particularly important anyway. It deserves to be remembered by more people as a classic.]]> Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:42:01 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4866 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4866 Posted by Shizuma in Reviews

First Fantasy is a mostly traditional RPG release game by G-Wreck. Starting out this game I saw a well designed title screen which then proceeds to a optionally skippable intro. The intro is one of those pitfalls I find to be plot-breaking. It tells a creation story of the world. The problem with these types of intros is they are mostly completely irrelevant for hours or forever and are often just boring. Putting it even more bluntly; be entertaining and relevant with intros or just don't bother.

Getting into the actual world and story in which game game takes place, you are thrust into the role of a unnamed man who upon defeating some birds in a rather impressive scripted sequence another troublesome plot element occurs; the Final Fantasy 6 (FF6) style introduction of this man. As long as OHRRPGCE has been around people have always attempted these. Sure it was cool in FF6, but it should never be re-attempted without major differences and a good reason. FF6 had the good reason of rapidly introducing over a dozen characters.

The overall story isn't bad, the dialogue is good, decently funny and gives you insight into the world and events. Past the bad introductions the game was doing alright. There is a bit of a problem as once you go into town; it's a good part of the game but it lacks direction and I found it often confusing on how to proceed due to some awkward choices in tile passability. I do complement this game on very clear graphics though. The graphics are a bit plain but good. However the tree and roof tiles lack the pronounced outline and solid appearance of the rest of the tiles.

When it comes to the world setting, there is a problem with the presentation I felt. It came with a expected almost "Flintstones" take on a primitive culture. This isn't always bad but considering the overall seriousness of the game it was a problem. The clearest way I can explain how to make an improvement is to point to the game "Zeno Clash" as a good example of how primitive worlds can take a very creative approach. The things I liked about First Fantasy reminded me more of that game rather than Final Fantasy 6.

The battles are too slow with not enough options other than brute force. The music is sometimes good, sometimes not (Such as the battle theme). It's overall a fairly short demo which isn't too focused on those things so much as it is on a story with a hand-full of scripted events and a first town full of NPCs. I think if the mistakes mentioned in the story are fixed this game will have something going for it. It ends on a rather compelling cliff-hanger so I'd like to see it continued. For the meantime, this demo has too many flaws that are hard to see through.]]> Thu, 12 Jan 2012 17:33:31 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4865 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4865 Posted by JSH357 in Reviews

When I first saw the title of this game, I determined that it had to be a newbie game and ignored it for an entire year. This was a mistake, because it turns out that Final Dragon Legacy is definitely in the top 10 for me for 2011. If you like games (heavily) inspired by Dragon Quest, you'll like this.

The introduction sequence gives the impression that FDL will be a game of resource conservation, not unlike Bliss, one of Camdog's earlier games. At first, this put me off. However, after learning that it was actually an introduction sequence akin to Lufia & the Fortress of Doom's, I stuck with it and pushed on to the true beginning of the story. This game is a well-designed, colorful, funny, and very faithful Dragon Quest tribute. It requires some minimal grinding to get started, then becomes all about exploration and questing.

The difficulty level is a bit high and might put less seasoned gamers off, but it isn't ever frustrating once you get past the first area. I was bummed that I ran in to a text box crash in the town of Chatham that effectively ended my run with the game, as everything leading up to it had been great. Even the music choices, though they contain default engine music, are well-made. (I hate the sound effects, but what can you do.)

If you're looking for a traditional RPG for the OHR this year that isn't quite as huge as Spellshard, look no further than Final Dragon Legacy.

Rating: 8.5 Free Throws out of 10]]> Thu, 12 Jan 2012 16:04:38 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4864 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4864 Posted by Gizmog in Reviews

The other half of the Fan Game Contest, Voltire's "The Tower" apparently pays homage to an obscure flash game. You play Firido, a young man dared by his friends to enter the titular tower. Quickly finding himself locked inside, the only way out is up. Your only friend is an unnamed witch who promises to sell you potions and equipment every ten floors, assuming you can find money. Fortunately, there's plenty of money to be found in the possession of your foes, in chests and just lying around.

You can also find equipment this way. Borrowing a page from Pokemon, each item has an alignment and presumably strengths and weaknesses to exploit. There are no random battles, the monsters are merely stationary NPCs who block your path until being talked to. The monsters have distinctive walkabouts, letting you know what you're about to get into. This adds a nice level of strategy and you can sometimes choose a route more advantageous to your current setup. Unfortunately, you can also run away from most, if not all, of the battles making the whole thing moot.

"The Tower" has a crisp visual style. Though simple, the maptiles are sufficient to the game's needs and the walkabouts fit with them nicely. Battles are well illustrated affairs and the game's music adds nicely to the atmosphere.

For all these nice things, there are some ugly mistakes. Some enemies are mis-tagged, causing two to disappear when only one should've. A "trap" staircase leads you to an area outside of the map without letting you know you've stepped into a trap, and making you think you're the victim of a poorly linked door. Coupled with the ability to escape any enemy and the inability to descend to previously explored levels, the game gives me the impression of a really well-polished 48 hour game rather than a month and a half fangame salute.

For all its faults, "The Tower" was still better than Weegee and deserved to win the contest. It knew its own limitations, stopping at 21 levels when the author ran out of time rather than trying to stretch that material across 100 levels of tower. It stands as a great start on a fun OHR experience, and hopefully one Voltire will return to in time.

Score: 7/10

2011 Score (per May 1st): 70/100

Part of Gomey's 2011 Year In Review
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Nathan Karr's "Weegee", an entry into the FanGame contest, is a celebration of memes gone by. It features some funny moments, a neat gimmick in which your enemies leave behind humorous corpses, and a somewhat interesting recreation of most of the first level of Super Mario Bros. 2. Unfortunately, "Weegee" overestimates its own charm, lasting about 4 times longer than it ought to and reusing every enemy so many times that whatever novelty they may have originally possessed is completely stripped away.

The game features "Weegee", a popular image macro of an off-model Luigi from Mario Is Missing, as he goes around doing god-only-knows-what. Along the way he fights his standard enemies, koopas and goombas, before eventually stumbling across villains as bizarre and far-ranging as Father Time, Dr. Robotnik and even Pikachu. The old man from Legend of Zelda will tell you things in a house at the start of the game using a nicely scripted conversation system and coming back to him throughout the game will present new dialogue options. These might've been funny, but by the time I came back to them it was 40 minutes in, I had a headache and I couldn't tell any more.

After walking across the world, which features an icy palette swap of the first map, the aforementioned first level of Super Marios Bros. 2 and an area reminiscent of Donkey Kong, you reach a dead end. Weegee even helpfully identifies it as such. At this point, I returned back to the start. It was an agonizing quest, as I had to replay almost every battle, and many of them repeat several times. There's no strategy to any of the fights. You simply hold down the enter key and watch as you and the enemies take turns missing each other till someone gets lucky a few times in a row. All enemies drop 9,000 EXP meaning you level up quickly, but gain insignificant stats from doing so. It does at least refill your health which makes for a minor bit of strategy. Music and sound effects make these kind of fun the first time, Guile's Theme makes an appearance as does the Pokemon Stadium theme from Smash Brothers, but like so many things about Weegee it gets old.

Not really his best effort, Nathan does show that he knows how to design an interesting map and has some interesting ideas with the battle engine. I give him credit too for drawing most of the graphics himself and keeping the rips to a minimum. Maybe he was trying to do something meta where the game's joke gets as old as the joke he based it on? I suppose that's a question for later historians to consider. I'd be more disappointed in Nathan, but as we'll find out in October, Mr. Karr is perfectly capable of combining his weirdness with a good game in "No Eat".

Score: 1/10

2011 Score (Per April 30th): 65/100

Part of Gomey's 2011 Year In Review
[url=http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=88783#88783]Previous[/url] [url=http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=88785#88785]Next[/url]]]> Thu, 12 Jan 2012 13:56:22 +0000 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4862 http://www.slimesalad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4862 Posted by Gizmog in Reviews

I've already mentioned his name a few times, so it should be no surprise that Willy Electrix was one of the most active members of the community in 2011. He wrote a number of great reviews and retrospectives for HamsterSpeak throughout the year, and also found the time to release 4 games. The first of which, "Castle on The Night Land" is a nostalgic throwback to the adventure games of old and a name I've heard thrown around all year. It's easy to see why.

Featuring monochrome graphics, the first thing you'll notice about this game is that it's a little hard to tell what's going on. My first time, I got killed by a wraith before I even knew the game had started. It feels good this way, though. What's an adventure game if you're not a little frustrated? Everything in the game will kill you unless you have the right items and if you didn't grow up on Shadowgate, that might take some getting used to. Once you've grown accustomed, you easily fall into a rhythm of exploring where you can, finding new items, backtracking and then doing it all again. Willy Electrix finds the sweet spot for this kind of gameplay, with everything taking just long enough to be satisfying but not so long as to be tedious. Some of the items are optional, only adding to your final point total.

Atmosphere is crucial for something like this to be successful. Black and white graphics help set the tone, but the music is what truly sets this game apart. Original compositions by the author manage to be old school and simple without becoming stale over the course of the game. Excellent writing seals the deal, with masterful death messages and item descriptions adding just the right amount of darkness without getting too fanciful.

Seeking a perfect score adds some replayability but once you've solved the puzzles you're pretty much done. Great while it lasts, "Castle On The Night Land" is a unique OHR experience and shows that you can do a lot with just a little. While plotscripts are employed for convenience, I think the game could easily have been made without them, a concept we'll hear a lot more about later on. Right now, Willy Electrix has left me excited for the remainder of his 2011 catalogue and put himself easily on top of my GOTY pile.

Score: 10/10

2011 Score (Per March 8th): 75/100

Part of Gomey's 2011 Year In Review
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Valentine's Day must've been particularly hot in OHR Land as the last 3 weeks of February came and went without a single release. Then March roared in and "Doodle Quest" with it. Afterwards, those quiet few weeks didn't seem so bad.

andy593646's "Doodle Quest" features Andy, a stick figure from Doodleton. We join Andy in the woods south of his hometown for no obvious reasons and follow him as he demonstrates textboxes, doors, inns and an agonizingly slow battle that will have you weeping in the aisles. Eventually your ol' pal Squiggle joins the party, which should satisfy anyone unhappy with playing a stick figure. The maptiles are predominantly white, presumably to simulate a sheet of paper and there's also some houses and trees. As you can tell, there isn't a whole lot to judge here. I will give some credit however, as Doodleton has the absolute worst theme song ever. It's like the entire town is built on the world's biggest cellphone and you can NEVER answer it.

If Nickismo's "Dungeon Quest" represented the mistake of a first game released too quickly, "Doodle Quest" represents the mistake of a first game released at all. The eye blistering white background, abundance of typos and total lack of content make you wonder what kind of reaction andy593646 expected. He clearly wasn't confident, admitting in the game description that the game had "awful graphics" and "needed work".

Following the release of "Doodle Quest" andy593646 wrote a few very short reviews and voiced his intention to make a fourth installment of Shigesato Itoi's "Mother" series, though this didn't come to pass. By the end of March it seemed he had followed so many of 2011's rookie class back into the ether from whence they came. Then in November he came back, responding to a scathing review Meatballsub had posted months earlier. He confessed again that "Doodle Quest" was crap, but at least closed 2011 with the hope of redemption in 2012.

Score: 1/10

2011 Score (Per March 1st): 71/100... it was a great Valentine's Day!

Part of Gomey's 2011 Year In Review
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