arachnid98's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Idle Dungeon Master]

Not a bad idle game! Despite the simplistic graphics, it's held my attention for quite a bit by this point.
If I may, though, there are a few things that could improve the game some.

Firstly, it'd be nice to see a few stats. I'd really like to know just how much gold each goblin rakes in, and how many research points each mage provides. Being able to see things like the health, attack and defense levels of my battle units would be handy, too, as well as more detailed descriptions of what each one can do. Funny though the meme is, I still have no idea what skeletons are supposed to be good for...

It would also help to know what each room actually does. I left for dinner a while ago, and when I came back my mages had come up with... casinos. What... what are casinos for? Assassins started appearing in my bestiary about the same time, so I can only assume they're connected, but... how?

Also, it's a bit of a small thing, but I would like the ability to back out of the overworld once I click on it, instead of being forced to commit to the attack immediately. Being able to subtract forces would be nice too, in case I change my mind about deploying all of my houndlings and want to send out just a few instead. As it is now, once I've committed a number of units to battle, they're all marching onwards, whether I like it or not.

The battle report screen could use one little tweak too: instead of listing "survivors," it'd be a lot more helpful to see a list of casualties, since we can't always remember how many of a given unit we sent out, and therefore can't tell how many we've lost. Better yet, displaying the number lost out of the number we sent out would be immensely helpful and a lot clearer.

And lastly, though it's not the most important thing ever, it'd be nice to see some kind of art or animation for the battles. Nothing too fancy, just something to look at besides rapidly-changing numbers while my fellas go at it.

All in all, this is a pretty solid game, and with a few improvements, it could be epic!

[Stick Fight]

Before I get into this, let it be known that I've never played One=Finger Death Punch. I therefore know only enough about it to know that this is indeed a version of that game. I cannot, however, draw any comparisons between the two, so everything I say, I say about this game and this game alone.

Now that that's out of the way, firstly: I really like the gameplay. It's immensely satisfying, watching my little stick fellow dash all over the place, splattering the crap out of his enemies. The controls are nice and simple, making the game quick and easy to pick up. The environment is visually pleasing as well, and isn't something I'll tire of looking at quickly.

If I have one complaint, it's the weapons. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to have all those options for murdering these faceless foes, but it'd be even nicer if those options felt like... well, like options. Aside from aesthetics, there is no difference at all between the various weapons. They even make the same slashing sounds when they hit--even the ones that are supposed to be bludgeons. I would love it if each weapon was a little different--if some slowed you down just a tad, while others allowed you to move quickly. If some had better reach than others, or if each had a special attack of some sort.

Hell, even if you still wanted to stick with aesthetic differences yet keep them functionally the same, that'd be fine--just add a little variety. Different visuals, different sound effects, different killing blows... Say, for instance, a flaming sword that trailed fire and made enemies explode gloriously when you killed them with it, or a lightsaber that emitted that trademark hum and sliced your opponents cleanly in half, or a baseball bat that gave off that satisfying THWACK sound as it clobbered sticks in the head (or the equally-satisfying CLANK, if it's a metal bat).
That's a lot of typing for one minor complaint, I know... Really though, I rather enjoy this game, and I intend to play it for a good while longer.

[Fathom]

I honestly have no idea what to say about this beauty of a game, other than that I loved every moment of it, and that it certainly wouldn't break my heart to see it made into a longer, more involved game; the potential is most certainly there!

[Little Phobia]

Excellently made! I love how perfectly you captured this classic child-like fear; uncannily accurate, really. XD The atmosphere was so well crafted that you actually had ME closing my eyes when I heard that hag coming.

[Dinosaur Killer 3D]

It's definitely got potential. The graphics are wonderful, and the gameplay is smooth. However, the player can't really look around. This leaves us with little to no warning when the dinos attack. Sure, they roar, but we have no idea where they're coming from. This could be remedied easily by adding the ability to strafe. It would also help the game to include a few extras: a wider variety of dinosaurs, a few pick-ups, and some more weapons, for instance. Aside from these, I could certainly see this becoming an excellent game.

[The funeral corpse]

This is a very well-made game. The art is fantastic, the gameplay is entertaining, and it carries with it the nostalgia of old side-scrolling games. I did notice one glitch, however; while playing as Sonson, I transformed into her giant monkey form and never changed back, remaining a giant monkey for the duration of the level. It happened once in the fourth level, and again in the fifth level, just before fighting the mid-way boss (I had transformed several times before that with no incident, but stayed a monkey for the rest of the level). In this perma-monkey state, I seem to be incapable of dying; every time an enemy hits me, I just disappear, respawn a second later, and keep fighting like nothing happened. It is worth noting that I had just purchased the "rebirth" when the first perma-monkey occurred. As fun as it is pummeling enemies to death as a nigh-immortal giant primate, I think the game would be much more enjoyable if this glitch were fixed (although it would make an excellent cheat!). Other than that, this is one of the best fighting games I've played in a long time.

[Dinosaur Hunter]

It's definitely not a bad game, but I do have two complaints. One, the eggs don't stay in the truck very well, which I guess is part of the challenge, but it's a real nuisance when a sudden stop or bump means that half of my eggs are now gone. It's an even bigger nuisance when the bigger ones get stuck under the truck, preventing me from moving forward and requiring me to restart the level. Secondly, with games like this, it's usually a good idea to allow the WASD keys to be used in lieu of the arrow keys. Call it a minor gripe, but having both of my hands on the right side--one on the arrows and one on the mouse--tends to crowd my hands and makes the game uncomfprtable to play. Aside from these, though, the game had great art, decent sound, and entertaining gameplay.

[DRAGON BEAT]

Not too bad, it's definitely an ideal representative of its genre, although some story would be appreciated.

[Misadventure]

This is a pretty creative game! I love the different things that go on outside the TV each time you die, and I think the Atari-style gameplay and graphics combine well with the unique plot.

[MiniMai]

It's quite fun to play, and the 8-bit graphics are pretty good. There are only two things wrong with it: one, there doesn't appear to be any plot or storyline. Just a guy with a staff fighting through random enemies to get to a random boss. Secondly, that music is rather annoying. :P