The Great 2011 Review Contest [Reviews: 200]

Make games! Discuss those games here.

Moderators: Bob the Hamster, marionline, SDHawk

Post Reply
User avatar
SDHawk
Metal Slime
Posts: 673
Joined: Sun Apr 27, 2008 8:46 pm

The Great 2011 Review Contest [Reviews: 200]

Post by SDHawk »

Another year's gone by and that gives us time to reflect on it. With this year's game of the year voting having started, it'd be great to have well-rounded commentary to supplement it. Maybe you didn't get around to playing some of the games and need some incentive to get to it, or maybe you could use some reviews to remember what you played last year. Either way, everyone benefits.

THREE WAYS TO WIN:
  • * Write reviews of 2011 games, post/link them in this thread! The more you write, the better your chances at the raffle prizes!
    * There will be a voting phase at the end for the best reviewer too!
    * If you write a review for all of 2011's games, you're entered into the pool for a GRAND PRIZE!
RULES:
  • * Every review you write for one of 2011's games gives you a raffle ticket.
    * Every review must be at least 3 paragraphs long, with each paragraph being roughly 3-5 sentences long. It should be well written with proper grammar and spelling. The length rule is fairly lenient, just don't write one sentence reviews and you'll probably be fine.
    * Your reviews should sound like you actually played the game.
    * Every 5 entrants to the contest adds another winning raffle ticket to the pool, up to 20 people total (hence, 5 winning tickets).
    * There will be a voting round for which person you felt wrote the best reviews during the contest- the winner will be given a winning ticket as well. Voting will take place before the raffle drawing, and the results of both will be revealed at the same time.
    * All you have to do to be entered is list your reviews in this thread.
    * No one person can win more than one prize- if they get a winning ticket, then their other tickets will be ignored.
    * If you review all 54 games that were made this year, you'll be entered into the pool for winning the GRAND PRIZE. If you made one of the games, then you should do a retrospective/making-of/commentary/etc on it as a substitute for a review.
    * The deadline for reviews is March 25, 2012.
    * You can post your game reviews wherever you want- on slime salad, on CP, in this thread, in Hamster Speak, your website, etc.
    * Reviews written before this contest started are still eligible, just show me a list of them so I can sum them up.
PRIZES:

So what's the prize for a winning ticket? You'll get a video review in similar style to the JSH Story of a game of your choice. If you're unfamiliar with the JSH story you can see the samples here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UXQqh0eQts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbDiR1hocjs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3L2xXSQAUeM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfQZcJl2Jlk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-4s7IduuOQ

The GRAND PRIZE will be a video review series of your complete gameography to date.

Prizes will be delivered some time this year, though the grand prize will probably span multiple years if you have many games.

FAQ

Q: I've never written a review before / I'm bad at writing! I shouldn't enter, right?
A: WRONG. One of the worst parts of this community is that most games only get one review EVER, if they even get one. It makes the authors feel isolated from the community and never bother to come back because why bother if no one is going to play their games? So for once, let people KNOW that you played their games and what you thought of them. Even if your writing isn't the best, authors still appreciate more feedback.

Q: I have like 2 months to write these things! Whoooo! Time to forget about this for 2 months!
A: There are FIFTY FOUR GAMES released this year. And some of them are pretty dang long! If you want to take a decent chunk of reviews out you need to start playing NOW. So set aside your laziness, and start to reminiscence on 2011 before it's too late.

Q: If I win the grand prize do I also get one of the other prizes?
A: No, the grand prize will be drawn before voting begins. Other grand prize eligibles will still get a shot at the other prizes, though.

Q: The Harry Potter games are like one joke for 3 times! How am I supposed to write 9 paragraphs on THAT?
A: Since the HP games are incredibly similar, I'm allowing 1 paragraph reviews for them (or 3 paragraphs of the series) as a special exemption.

Special Thanks
James Paige - Sent the missing copy of Escape the Zombie Hordes.
Willy Elektrix - Sent in the missing copies of The Hall and Spectrum.
JSH - Graciously hosting the missing games.

List of 2011 Games

Unlike the GotY voting, all games, movies, and porn contest games are eligible for reviews.

Armored Devil [JSH357] [Charbile] [Spoonweaver]
Arms Race [Gizmog1] [JSH357] [Charbile] [Spoonweaver]
Angel Whispers [JSH357] [Charbile] [Spoonweaver]
Black Heart of Exile [Charbile] [JSH357] [Spoonweaver]
Bufanda: A Tale of Three Ghosts [Charbile] [JSH357] [Spoonweaver]
Cardians of Lore [JSH357] [Charbile] [Spoonweaver]
Castle on the Night Land [Gizmog1] [Charbile] [JSH357] [Spoonweaver]
Don't Push the Button 2011 [Gizmog1] [JSH357] [Charbile] [Spoonweaver]
Doodle Quest [Gizmog1] [Charbile] [JSH357] [Spoonweaver]
Doom RPG [JSH357] [Mewmew] [Charbile] [Gizmog1] [Spoonweaver]
Dungeon Quest [Gizmog1] [Charbile] [JSH357] [Spoonweaver]
Deforestation [JSH357] [Gizmog1] [Charbile] [Spoonweaver]
Deforestation 2 [JSH357] [Charbile] [Gizmog1] [Spoonweaver]
Deforestation 3 [Charbile] [JSH357] [Gizmog1] [Spoonweaver]
Escape from Strong Castle [Charbile] [JSH357] [Gizmog1] [Spoonweaver]
Escape the Wolf OHR [Mewmew] [JSH357] [Charbile] [Spoonweaver]
Escape the Zombie Horde [JSH357] [Charbile] [Spoonweaver] [Gizmog1]
Fat Frog the Movie [JSH357] [Charbile] [Gizmog1] [Spoonweaver]
Final Dragon Legacy [Gizmog1] [JSH357] [Charbile] [Spoonweaver]
First Fantasy [Shizuma] [JSH357] [Charbile] [Gizmog1] [Spoonweaver]
Forsaken [JSH357] [Charbile] [Spoonweaver]
Grayscale [JSH357] [MewMew] [Charbile] [Gizmog1] [Spoonweaver]
Grey Star Lives [JSH357] [Charbile] [Spoonweaver]
Habla no Ingles: The Movie [JSH357] [Charbile] [Gizmog1] [Spoonweaver]
Harbinger 6EQUJ5 [JSH357] [Charbile] [Spoonweaver]
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets [JSH357] [Charbile] [Gizmog1] [Spoonweaver]
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone [JSH357] [Charbile] [Gizmog1] [Spoonweaver]
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban [JSH357] [Charbile] [Gizmog1] [Spoonweaver]
Heart of the OHR Tribute [Gizmog1] [JSH357] [Charbile] [Spoonweaver]
Kim und Jose [Gizmog1] [JSH357] [Charbile] [Spoonweaver]
Labyrinth (Master K) [JSH357] [Charbile] [RMSephy] [Gizmog1] [Spoonweaver]
Labyrinth (RM Sephy) [JSH357] [Charbile] [Spoonweaver]
Metal Gear Duck [JSH357] [Charbile] [Gizmog1] [Spoonweaver]
Monster Lot [JSH357] [Charbile] [Gizmog1] [Spoonweaver]
Monster out of Six [JSH357] [Charbile] [Spoonweaver]
Motrya for Casuals [Gizmog1] [JSH357] [Charbile] [Spoonweaver]
Mostly Involving Robots [Gizmog1] [JSH357] [Charbile] [Spoonweaver]
Nordomin: Quest of Creole [jsh357] [Gizmog1] [Charbile] [Spoonweaver]
[18+ ONLY] NO EAT [JSH357] [Charbile] [Spoonweaver]
Princess Flesh Cartoon RPG [Gizmog1] [JSH357] [Charbile] [Spoonweaver]
Quest Game [JSH357] [Charbile] [Spoonweaver]
Ruin (25% Demo) [jsh357] [Charbile] [Spoonweaver]
[18+ ONLY] RAEP Dungeon (PM Fenrir-Lunaris for link)[jsh357] [Charbile] [Spoonweaver]
Spectrum [JSH357] [Charbile] [Spoonweaver]
Spellshard: The Black Crown of Horgoth [JSH357] [Charbile] [Spoonweaver]
Star Quest [JSH357] [Charbile] [Spoonweaver]
The HangovOHR [JSH357] [Gizmog1] [Charbile] [Spoonweaver]
The Hall [JSH357] [Charbile] [Spoonweaver]
The Tower [Gizmog1] [JSH357] [Charbile] [Spoonweaver]
There is Nothing Left [Gizmog1] [JSH357] [Charbile] [Spoonweaver]
Triangle [JSH357] [Gizmog1] [Charbile] [Spoonweaver]
[18+ ONLY] Transylvania Girls [Shizuma] [JSH357] [Charbile] [Spoonweaver]
Virtual School 2 [JSH357] [Charbile] [Spoonweaver]
Weegee [jsh357] [Gizmog1] [Charbile] [Spoonweaver]

List Adjustments

Angel Whispers' 2011 demo was added to the list since there was no apparent reason for its absence. Forest Temple has been removed from the list on grounds of being a tech demo. Motrya for Casuals was also added to the list earlier.

Review Leaderboard
JSH357: 54 (Grand Prize Qualifier #1!) [Summary]
Charbile: 54 (Grand Prize Qualifier #2!) [Summary]
Spoonweaver: 54 (Grand Prize Qualifier #3!) [Summary]
TheGiz: 32 [Index] (Index has Bonus Content!)
MewMew: 3
Shizuma: 2
RMSephy: 1

Current Prize Pool: 1 grand prize, 1 vote prize, 2 regular prizes (7 entrants).
Last edited by SDHawk on Mon Mar 26, 2012 8:33 am, edited 76 times in total.
User avatar
JSH357
Liquid Metal Slime
Posts: 1341
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2007 7:38 pm
Location: Columbia, SC
Contact:

Post by JSH357 »

So I put all the games in a spreadsheet and I’m rolling them at random here. I have no idea if I’ll actually finish, but when I have time I’ll get to these.

JSH’s 2011 OHR Game Blog #1 – RAEP Dungeon by Fenrir-Lunaris

RAEP Dungeon was Fenrir-Lunaris’s entry in 2011’s Say It Ain’t So Contest. Unlike other users, Fenrir opted to create more what one would expect to see in this kind of contest—a vanilla RPG with nudity and adult content used in lieu of more traditional art. While I did think RAEP Dungeon was technically the second best entry in the contest, I can’t help feeling the game is hurt because of its approach. There’s nothing especially interesting about the mechanics of the game, which ultimately lends to it being forgettable, whereas other entries were not.

The art is, simply put, reminiscent of Fenrir’s previous work, notably Final Fantasy H. This aesthetic works for the target audience, and there’s nothing really wrong with it. I think the tiles look a little rushed when compared to the sprites (though I doubt many were paying attention) but it doesn’t distract too much. The music is all ripped and gives the game a… Family Guy episode feel. Yeah, I don’t even know how else to put it. If the game is accepted in a humorous light, I suppose this works for it rather than against.

So why am I not going to rate this any higher than I am? Well, personal distaste for furry erotica aside, I think RAEP Dungeon falls victim to the “zone out” quality a lot of OHR games possess. You don’t really need to pay a lot of attention to the battles, so you don’t, and in turn you don’t pay a whole lot of attention to the rest of the game. It ends up just being a maze you’d prefer to F11 through, and it’s a shame because I hate to see any game become that. I can’t recommend this title unless you really enjoy furry art, don’t mind the nudity, and don’t mind playing a pornographic game with two hands.

Rating: 4 Salivating Wolves out of 10
Last edited by JSH357 on Mon Jan 09, 2012 8:56 pm, edited 2 times in total.
My website, the home of Motrya:
http://www.jshgaming.com
User avatar
JSH357
Liquid Metal Slime
Posts: 1341
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2007 7:38 pm
Location: Columbia, SC
Contact:

Post by JSH357 »

JSH’s 2011 OHR Game Blog #2 – Ruin by Meatballsub

I want to love this game. It’s clear there’s a ton of love and dedication being put in to it, and it has a lot of little things that add up to make it special. Great work with the menus, original music, lots of flavor text and little puzzles, lots of variety in enemies, a BLUE MAGE, and more. If you haven’t checked Ruin out yet, you really need to. Even though the graphics aren’t perfect, the music has some annoying loops at times, and the game needs someone to clean up the text boxes better, you still get the sense that this was somebody’s dream game coming to fruition. I have the utmost respect for the creator for continuing to polish it after all this time. I want to get this out of the way because I don’t want my major criticism of the game to sound so harsh—I hate the flaw, not Ruin.

My problem with Ruin, and too many OHR games to count, is that the bulk of challenge in the game comes from attacks missing. I can lose to a boss fight because, despite preparing for it and using all the right moves, my characters decide they’re never going to land a blow. You don’t see this happen in professional games too often these days, and there’s a good reason for it. It’s frustrating and professional playtesters are bound to complain about it. I’m not knocking Ruin’s playtesters—there are so many improvements from the last time I played this that I’m extremely impressed. However, I do find it odd that either nobody noticed this or the creator did not do enough to abet it. It’s doubly frustrating because the battles seem so meticulously crafted. For instance, we have the first boss with the jellies that evolve over time. It’s a great battle concept, and I would think it’d be ultra hectic even without the evasion problem. I don’t NEED my attacks missing constantly to feel the pressure here, but the pressure is coming from all the wrong places. I could make the same complaint about various random encounters leading up to this boss. This is artificial difficulty at its worst and both my experience and the game’s quality in and of itself would be vastly improved if it were easier to hit enemies. You can still have accuracy and evasion, that’s fine! But I should be spending more time exploring your game and enjoying it than cursing because the attack I burned MP on missed and now I have to wait on the turn meter to fill up.

Ruin is on the road to being one of the best OHR games. It’s overcome a lot of its shortcomings, and I believe that the creator will have made something he can be proud of in the end. Maybe he’ll fix what I’m talking about and maybe he won’t—this is just one man’s opinion, but as long as I’m reviewing these games, I want to be completely real. The game is not going up in my book until this is addressed.

Rating: 7 Ribeye Steaks out of 10
My website, the home of Motrya:
http://www.jshgaming.com
User avatar
JSH357
Liquid Metal Slime
Posts: 1341
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2007 7:38 pm
Location: Columbia, SC
Contact:

Post by JSH357 »

JSH’s 2011 OHR Game Blog #3 – WeeGee by Nathan Karr

Weegee could potentially be called a transitional game in the Nathan Karr canon. It’s a game that appears to be straining to become something solid but still holding itself back. Looking at the game critically, it’s an awful Youtube poop/TV Tropes adventure game with no lasting value beyond the day of its release, if said release had any value in the first place. Even from a formalistic standpoint, there’s no value here. The battles offer nothing to the player, and the structure of the game does not allow for any entertaining interaction.

Nonetheless, when taken at face value we can see that Karr intended for this to be entertaining, and unlike many of his previous releases it has an audience in mind. It’s hard to talk about this game without also discussing NO EAT, but as that title was also released in 2011 I want to hold off a little. Suffice to say, without producing Weegee, Karr never would have made a game on the level of NO EAT, so there’s something to be said there.

Unfortunately, all of this is essentially only feeding the creator’s ego, as to classify Weegee as anything other than a waste of a few minutes is to do a disservice to thousands of other less horrifying mediocre games. I should say that it’s a least a boon that Mr. Karr never graced us with his myfriendsandme RPG, but I have to wonder if what we got was any better. Weegee certainly isn’t, and yet it is his seventh released game or something. Even thinking about this again is hurting my brain.

Rating: 1.5 Pineapples Under the Sea out of 10
My website, the home of Motrya:
http://www.jshgaming.com
User avatar
Gizmog
Metal King Slime
Posts: 2622
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2008 5:41 am

Post by Gizmog »

Gomey's 2011 Year In Review #0 - The Preramble

I remember 2011 being a good year. There was a bit of a fall-off from 2010's HOTOHR hype, and fall-out from some controversial contests but still a pretty good showing of the OHR's talent. From ambitious newcomers remaking classic shooters and budding filmmakers battling it out to two old school gentlemen completing their eight bit epic, 2011 showed just how much is possible with our beloved engine.

Memory can play tricks, however. Novelty can wear off. Greatness can be forgotten. Was 2011 really a good year? Did it produce anything that will stand the test of time? Walk with me, friends. Together we will look and together we will see.

Table Of Contents

Chapter 1: The Broken Promise of Princess Flesh
Chapter 2: Hot OHR Tributes
Chapter 3: Final Dragon Legacy
Chapter 4: The Fight Battle Contest
Chapter 5: Motrya... For Casuals!
Chapter 6: there is nothing left
Chapter 7: Arms Race
Chapter 8: Don't Push The Button 2011
Chapter 9: Mostly Involving Robots
Chapter 10: Dungeon quest
Chapter 11: doodle quest
Chapter 12: Castle on the Night Land
Chapter 13: The Fangame Contest
Chapter 14: Weegee
Chapter 15: The Tower
Chapter 16: Kim und Jose
Chapter 17: Nordomin: Quest of Creole
Chapter 18: Film Festival Contest
Chapter 19: Deforestation
Chapter 20: Metal Gear Duck
Chapter 21: Deforestation 2
Chapter 22: Triangle
Chapter 23: Deforestation 3
Chapters 24,25, & 26: Harry Potter
Chapter 27: The HangovOHR
Chapter 28: Habla No Ingles: The Movie
Chapter 29: Fat Frog: The Movie
Chapter 30: Monster Lot
Chapter 31: Grayscale
Chapter 32: Doom: Evil Unleashed
Chapter 33: First Fantasy
Chapter 34: 48 Hours Contest, Part 1/Ludum Dare "Escape"
Chapter 35: The Labyrinth
Chapter 36: Escape the Zombie Horde
Chapter 37: Escape from Strong Castle
Last edited by Gizmog on Wed Feb 29, 2012 2:11 am, edited 17 times in total.
User avatar
Fenrir-Lunaris
Metal Slime
Posts: 768
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2007 10:45 pm
Location: OHR Depot

Post by Fenrir-Lunaris »

JSH357 wrote:I can’t recommend this title unless you... ...don’t mind playing a pornographic game with two hands.
Shortened for brevity, but that's pretty much the best synopsis yet. And really, I'd prefer people play my games with both hands...

Interestingly enough, the discussion thread for the game is STILL going strong, and for better or worse I'm committed to finishing it up. If I've learned anything from making that game, its creating more interesting battles (chaining, transformations, every enemy having unique skills) and those are gimmicks I'd like to add to my other projects.

The joke about man-eating guinea pigs is still hilarious. :v:
User avatar
JSH357
Liquid Metal Slime
Posts: 1341
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2007 7:38 pm
Location: Columbia, SC
Contact:

Post by JSH357 »

JSH’s 2011 OHR Game Blog #4 – Nordomin: Quest of Creole by Duke of Dellot

You know what? I’m betting on Duke. Nordomin is an interesting little RPG that has a lot of potential in its present form. It tries a lot of things most OHR developers don’t. You’ll notice you have a lot of options from the start—several heroes based on various elements, a selection of gender, and tons of branching dialogue. This makes for a rather unique experience. I personally opted for an egotistical male Wind magician, and only ended up with one complaint about the demo. There’s also a crafting system, teleportation, and some basic puzzles that are unobtrusive enough to be engaging.

Nordomin has a simple visual style that reminded me immediately of Wandering Hamster. It’s cartoony and reasonably effective. The game also contains (what I assume to be) an entirely original soundtrack. It’s not the best stuff, but it’s not the worst I’ve heard either and could be improved as the author gets better. Major props have to go out for making an entirely original work. I also enjoyed that the game thrust me right in to the action, with the two main characters escaping their home from the very beginning. The pacing is nice, though perhaps the threat originally presented could have been a little more prevalent during the escape sequence. I don’t know; something to chew on.

The battle system is also interesting, pretty reminiscent of games like Sword of Jade. First, battles are initiated Chrono Trigger-style, which is a plus. You gain MP by using your spells, and then can unleash more powerful spells by burning the gained MP. Unfortunately, because the demo is so short you don’t get to see this battle system truly flex its muscles. The enemies in the first area are simple and don’t require thought beyond spamming your spread attacks. This isn’t actually a bad thing—as the game expands, the easy start should prove to benefit the game.

The only thing I really have to whine about is the first boss. It’s really hard, as in has an attack that one-shots both of my characters hard. I could probably handle it with a bit of grinding, but as I mentioned previously, nothing in the first areas gave me a clue that the difficulty was ramping up. I think Duke of Dellot needs to nerf this boss a tad and make the second wave of regular enemies a bit tougher, just to show a progression.

Overall, I was impressed. Nordomin is one of the better OHR games released in 2011, even though it’s a 30 minute demo. I hope the Duke updates this, and that it doesn’t become his Duke Nukem Forever.

Rating: 7 Babes Captured out of 10
Last edited by JSH357 on Tue Jan 10, 2012 7:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
My website, the home of Motrya:
http://www.jshgaming.com
User avatar
JSH357
Liquid Metal Slime
Posts: 1341
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2007 7:38 pm
Location: Columbia, SC
Contact:

Post by JSH357 »

JSH’s 2011 OHR Game Blog #5 – Triangle by SDHawk

Triangle was an entry in the wild hotbed of insanity that was the 2011 OHR Film Festival Contest. Wherever you stand on the issues that went down, it’s hard to deny that this game had an effect on people. Was it a vile attack against the contest organizer? Was it a bit of satire made with the intent of reminding us all what once was? You can be the judge, but I think it better to look at the game on its own merits.

I believe that Triangle was more like a true artful film than any other entry in the contest. In the words of Hachi-Roku, “after a certain part of the movie, NOBODY SAID ANYTHING,” and yet you knew what was going on. The emotion was felt, whether it was disturbing or not. The dialogue was silly and atrocious, but it was effective in painting a picture of Mr. Triangle as the director saw him. The hand-drawn backgrounds were eerie and used to great effect.

I must mention that Triangle, in concept, is meant to reflect a game I made the year before—Duck. It’s a darker, more serious take on a character created by a new OHR user. The difference, though, is that the director of Triangle did not create the character he chose to analyze, so it was inevitable that the game came off as an attack. (NOTE: I realize what I’m about to say here is probably controversial, but please understand that I think it needs to be said) I can say now that if RMZ did not in some way regret what his Mr. Triangle character once was, he’s either a disgusting person or a liar; the fact that the character has taken a less homophobic turn since is testament to this. If RMZ had made a game like Triangle with the same goal (revisiting the original character, warts and all) before Triangle got released, it should by all rights have had a similar take on the character. The reboot planned afterward seems more like revisionist history than actual acceptance.

In short, this game cannot escape from the controversy it represents. It IS the controversy. But that’s okay with me, because this is a subject that more authors should really try and deal with. What do we think of our past works? Do we regret things we’ve said, things we’ve done? Can we accept them how they are and grow because of it? Sometimes it’s better to put these things to rest, or kill them as we saw in this visceral OHR film. Come at me if you have a problem, bro.

Rating: 7 5-O’Clock Shadows out of 10
Last edited by JSH357 on Tue Jan 10, 2012 9:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
My website, the home of Motrya:
http://www.jshgaming.com
User avatar
JSH357
Liquid Metal Slime
Posts: 1341
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2007 7:38 pm
Location: Columbia, SC
Contact:

Post by JSH357 »

JSH’s 2011 OHR Game Blog #6 – Grayscale by Master K

Grayscale by Master K is a game that could be good if it were less immature, more complete, and a whole lot better balanced. The visual style of the game is very nice, and I have little issue with it. It uses the default OHR music, which probably needs to be changed simply because it’s all unfitting. I really like old Game Boy games, so seeing the monochrome style made me smile, but I wish it was used in a better game.

The references have to go. Yeah, most of them are to Pokémon, which is sort of fitting, but they come off as too kitschy and gimmicky. The author needs to let Grayscale stand on its own because he has a decent idea for a setting. I don’t mind the silly dialogue, but when half the NPCs are either making fourth wall references or just saying “Hey” there’s not much to get here. Instead of just having the plot be generic and make reference to the fact that the world’s monochrome, why not have the fact that it’s monochrome be important to the plot? Maybe a sorcerer cast a spell that made everything gray, and the hero must embark on a quest for color? It’s not going to win an Oscar, but it’s better than the motivation present in the game, which is nil.

Balance is also an issue in the game. Your character has thousands of magic points and spells that cost 2 or 3, kills all enemies including bosses in one hit, and never gains relevant stats besides Speed from armor because the numbers are scaled so high. I don’t mind playing an easy game, but at least give me the illusion of difficulty. This game needs work, but it has a cool enough aesthetic that it could be good if the work is done.

Rating: 3 Running Shoes out of 10
My website, the home of Motrya:
http://www.jshgaming.com
User avatar
JSH357
Liquid Metal Slime
Posts: 1341
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2007 7:38 pm
Location: Columbia, SC
Contact:

Post by JSH357 »

JSH’s 2011 OHR Game Blog #7 – The HangovOHR by Skullduggery Studios

The HangovOHR is an intro sequence that probably shouldn’t have been released. I assume this is based on the movie The Hangover, but as I haven’t seen it I can’t confirm this. The intro is well-scripted and has pretty decent graphics, but ends before anything particularly interesting happens.

I enjoyed the use of browns very much in the visuals. The browns helped to elaborate on the setting of the dismal jilted wedding stand, and I could feel it in my bones. The bright blue of the text boxes also made me feel sad, standing in opposition to the more humorous tone of the dialogue.

Perhaps strangest of all was the absence of any sound. I propose that this silence is purposeful; it is meant to reflect the bizarre stillness that accompanies the end of a relationship, the stillness that washes over the heart although everything has changed. Truly Skullduggery Studios has begun what will become an OHR classic, and is not in any way an act of plagiarism.

Rating: 1.5 Slovenly Affairs out of 10
Last edited by JSH357 on Tue Jan 10, 2012 10:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
My website, the home of Motrya:
http://www.jshgaming.com
User avatar
Mewmew
Red Slime
Posts: 47
Joined: Thu May 05, 2011 5:19 am
Contact:

Post by Mewmew »

Mewmew's Review Of Grayscale

Grayscale is Master K's first game to hit Slimesalad. The story starts off with Body having a thirst for adventure, which leads him to a forest outskirts of the town...

Version 2 of Grayscale starts Brody off at level 99 making each random encounter in the game a breeze. It's difficulty to judge the true balancing of this game, since the hero starts off at level 99 for testing purposes. Unfortunately, there isn't much to see for this one after the forest event. You can explore the Forest Manor and Canus City. (I loved the Forest Manor's atmosphere)

The graphics in this game is adorable, but some of them unfortunately... stood out a bit sorely, the trees in particular, seem a bit odd with the spacing between them-- making a forest with this tile set would be very difficult. I found the in game achievement system a really neat idea... but felt it was kind of odd how we can bring up the level 99 shop from it and purchase completely overpowered gear XD

The conversations in the game seems a little off place. You'll have people referencing a lot about pokemon, while others have simple one word sentence in the text box. Perhaps giving NPCs a more suited text that reflects their environment, events or life? (However, I did enjoy the silly Slime Cafe dialog!)

In the end, Grayscale has potential but leaves much to be desired. It is very good work for first game though--- this is definitely Master K's stepping stone game for better games to come!

Rate: ♥♥♥♥ / 10
ImageImage Arien and Fran HD Sprites
User avatar
Gizmog
Metal King Slime
Posts: 2622
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2008 5:41 am

Post by Gizmog »

Gomey's 2011 Year In Review #4 - THE FIGHT BATTLE CONTEST

It never takes long for a contest to get started in OHR-ville, and 2011 was no exception. 90% of any OHR Contest is fighting and scrapping over the rules, the results, the prizes, and through the year we'd see plenty of that. Eerily enough, the first contest of the new year was a contest about fighting, Moogle1's "Fight Battle Contest".

Starting at midnight of January 6th and continuing to February 1st, the rules were simple enough: Make a game with one battle and make the heroes can only have one attack. Debate raged. "Can that attack heal instead of harm? Can there only be one enemy? How many attacks can the enemies have? Can we make our own battle system? Where do babies come from?" While Baconlabs and Shizuma poked and prodded at the regulations, forcing Moogle to simplify and explain everything, a real menace was sneaking up from behind. 6 hours into the contest, 6 days into the year, JSH had made the first unofficial entry, "Motrya for Casuals".

For the next few weeks, Baconlabs continued to challenge the rules and debate whether or not he wanted to enter, even posting at one point three teaser images and asking the community which one he should make. He seemed to be the forerunner, but as the deadline grew on the horizon, no one had released an actual entry until the wee hours of January 26th, when Shakeyair finally got the contest started with his chilling masterpiece, "there is nothing left". RMSephy would throw his own "Arms Race" into the ring that evening. Continuing the trend early on the 31st, I would release my first game of 2011, the aptly titled "Don't Push The Button 2011" and Momoka would finish things up that evening with one of the best named games of the year "Mostly Involving Robots".

Baconlabs, for all his questions and promises, was nowhere to be found, possibly for the best. What followed would be one of the most anemic voter turnouts in OHR History. Excluding contestants, only 3 people bothered to vote. Momoka abstained from judging and Shakeyair refused to judge his own entry and was unable to play Sephy's. I don't believe results were ever published. The final tally of public votes in the thread is as follows:

Shakeyair's there is nothing left = 24*
RMSephy's Arms Race = 16*
Momoka's Mostly Involving Robots = 15
TheGiz's Don't Push The Button 2011 = 9

* = games ShakeyAir was unable to vote for, though he would've been unable to change the outcome.

Part of Gomey's 2011 Year In Review
Previous Next
Last edited by Gizmog on Wed Jan 11, 2012 3:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Gizmog
Metal King Slime
Posts: 2622
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2008 5:41 am

Post by Gizmog »

Gomey's 2011 Year In Review #5 - Motrya.. FOR CASUALS

Motrya was the undisputed game of the year in 2010. A unique RPG borrowing elements from many of JSH's favorites in the Final Fantasy series, the only complaints were that the card games were too darn addictive and the battles too darn hard. It was inevitable that JSH would try to eliminate these "problems" to appeal to a wider audience. The result was Motrya For Casuals.

Even on the title screen, you can tell there's something off. Motrya's haunting main theme has been replaced with a Mitch Hedberg routine. Exsoin and Murlor face off for a duel in the Yormus Academy. Punching Exsoin does no good, so you try just healing yourself and letting Exsoin damage herself with her Blood Blade technique. Gradually she weakens and weakens until... something's going on in the music. Something familliar. It's then that you realize it:

JSH just trolled you. God damnit! Nobody thought anything of it then, but this was a foreboding omen for the rest of 2011, in which no contest would be safe from JSH's trolling. Though disqualified for breaking the rules, Motrya for Casuals was a pretty good gag and a memorable part of the Fight Battle Contest.

Score: 10/10

2011 Score (per January 6th): 357/100

Part of Gomey's 2011 Year In Review
Previous Next
Last edited by Gizmog on Wed Jan 11, 2012 3:10 am, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
Gizmog
Metal King Slime
Posts: 2622
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2008 5:41 am

Post by Gizmog »

Gomey's 2011 Year In Review #7 - Arms Race

RMSephy is a guy who's been around the community forever and one of my favorite people. He's talented and friendly as hell. 2011 was a good year for us Sephy fans, as he managed two releases. His second one, a Live Like You're Amish entry was the last game released in 2011, and thus the last game I'm going to review here but, it's time now to talk about his first game from January 26th, "Arms Race", a Fight Battle Contest entry.

"Arms Race" has no story, features mostly stick figures and yet was the most unique of the FBC games. Our four stick figure heroes, conveniently named after their colors, fight a random progression of enemies. It's all done in one battle, taking advantage of transmogs or spawning or something crazy. It reminds me a little of a pinball machine; when hit, each enemy boosts one of your heros' stats, and so there's a strategic element of keeping enemies alive long enough to get the most benefit, or letting one guy really buff up. Each enemy has their own gimmick, and learning which one does what is fun.

The random progression makes things well, random. Some playthroughs you'll get really lucky and others you won't. This adds a little replayability, but can hurt long-term strategy. If all goes according to plan, you'll get the legendary sword and beat the final boss using the same logic as previous enemies and go home a winner. Otherwise, try your luck again. The game keeps track of how many times you've won and how many times you've lost which is a cool touch and further encourages replayability.

A fun little game, "Arms Race" demonstrates RMSephy's mastery of the OHR battle engine and makes me long for the day when he'll finish something longer. In hindsight, I think this was a better game than "there is nothing left" and a great demonstration of at least 50 ways you can make a battle more than "Hold down the spacebar".

Score: 10/10

2011 Score (per January 26th): 80/100

Part of Gomey's 2011 Year In Review
Previous Next
Last edited by Gizmog on Wed Jan 11, 2012 3:09 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Gizmog
Metal King Slime
Posts: 2622
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2008 5:41 am

Post by Gizmog »

Gomey's 2011 Year In Review #8 - Don't Push The Button 2011

This was mostly just an excuse to fuss around with the battle system, as I recall. I've never been too good with it, and given the recent addition of battle text and all that nonsense I thought it'd be a neat concept to try out. I remember having a weird sense of deja vu throughout development, especially about the miniature version of the title screen that served as the game's enemy.

I know I didn't use the original "ticktock".bam because for some reason a .5 second bam crashed the OHR, though I can't remember if I made a replacement or borrowed JSH's "Don't Push The Button OST Remix" thing. I also know I really half-assed it on the commentary, there's only like 15 as opposed to the original game's 100, and I went for some kind of a meta "Make This Game" thing which in hindsight seems really dumb.

Still, I learned a lot about the battle system and shook the rust off. Finished last in the contest and deservedly so, but when I started it didn't seem like anyone was going to seriously enter. Compared to my work later in the year, this is really a stinker but hey, at least I didn't get disqualified!

Score: 1/10

2011 Score (per January 31st): 66/100

Part of Gomey's 2011 Year In Review
Previous Next
Last edited by Gizmog on Wed Jan 11, 2012 3:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
Post Reply