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Joined on: Jun 28, 2017

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if you're reading this i'm asleep

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33 Ratings!
24 Reviews!
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24 Reviews

TheNewDerf
For: I wanna go the Spookventure
A game made in one month that many creators would kill to have made in six, if at all. If Freezemind didn't confirm it: Erik is a very talented gimmick needle maker. I really enjoyed the thoughtful use / combination of gimmicks here, and I remain impressed by Erik's ability to make me enjoy fangame bosses (however, I found some projectiles on the final boss were very hard to see, which was slightly annoying). Great game.

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[4] Likes
Rating: 9.5 95       Difficulty: 55 55
Nov 1, 2022
TheNewDerf
For: I Wanna Fine-House
Great atmosphere -- it reminded me of a long-lost RPG maker game at times (in the best way). Particularly loved the feeling the snowlands gave me (and the snowman is amazing).

Sadly, however, I struggled with the gameplay. The central mechanic -- a toggle -- is something I don't find that interesting, and it was often used in ways that felt like busy-work. To foreground what I am about to say: I know this is a jam game, and that comes with severe limitations. In that context, this is a really impressive game. The main reason I'm outlining some of my issues with the wider design is because I would like to see this game fleshed out -- I think it has a lot of potential.

I think the Factory is pretty emblematic of how I felt about the game. In theory, I *really* like the idea of pausing and restarting cycles -- particularly because it lets you have slightly different jumps every time you try a room, and that just feels fresh. However, the issue with the execution for me is that a lot of times the level design essentially amounted to doing a jump, toggling power back and forth until the next jump was lined up, and then repeating that process until the next save. Some obstacles also felt like I was supposed to just randomly toggle until it happened to line up (like the frenetic dick spike). I found the platforming in snowlands awkward and bitty in exactly the same way -- though I appreciate more effort was put into making you toggle mid-air, which maintained a sense of continuing movement must better.

The final screen in the Factory is the exception -- it's really fun and has great flow with minimal stopping+starting. The idea of cycle needle with some level of control over the speed / position of arrangement is really cool (for instance, the ability of the player to hold shoot to slow cycles down is interesting), but I'm not sure the toggle gimmick was the best way to use it.

The Junkyard was sort of my breaking point. I did not enjoy the maze puzzle, billboard puzzle or toggling numbers puzzle; they felt a bit to me like the limits of the toggle as a mechanic. On the other hand, however, I thought the newspaper puzzle was really fun. I'm split on the flowers puzzle -- I think it has the same problem as the puzzles I didn't like (the core premise is quite boring: the information you need is split into two, and you can only see one half at a time), but it felt more puzzly because the solution was in a place I hadn't visited since the start of the game. I think contextually, it works.

My final thought is that I wonder if the toggle would have been more interesting to me if it were more closely tied to the theme of time travel. At the moment, past and present are almost identical, and so it never felt like I was moving through time, just swapping some objects around. This is probably just a product of the inherent limitations of a game jam, though. Most of this issue could have been alleviated with visual cues and those are going to be low priority in a jam -- and, in any case, the visuals are clearly already at such a high quality, I can see why anxKha did not make two sets for each level.

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[4] Likes
Rating: N/A       Difficulty: N/A
Aug 31, 2022
TheNewDerf
For: Frankie Teardrop
Fangames are challenging. But in what way are they challenging? Most are technically demanding. Others test our patience. But there is a small group of fangames that are, I think, psychologically challenging. I Wanna Walk to the Store being one of them. Frankie Teardrop being another.

It's a work of genius to transpose a radio challenge aimed at dissuading listeners from finishing a song into a fangame of the same nature. Marc's trademark deployment of symbolism is, of course, on show: the two spikes poking out of the grounds like twin graves to Frankie's wife and child; the imposing, but ultimately hollow heart; the slow walking speed. It's a minimal game, but an impactful one.

Marc asked me to play in a dark room with headphones on -- I recommend you do the same.

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[3] Likes
Rating: N/A       Difficulty: N/A
Aug 19, 2022
TheNewDerf
For: YoYoYo Engine (Verve Edition)
Let me Observe, Verve, the engine you Serve...
To give the praise you Deserve, all my energy I Conserve.
Cars will Swerve, as I shout from the roof of the Federal Reserve;
Waiters I'll Unnerve, as I proclaim over Hors d'oeuvres!
I'll tell them all, Verve, that when it comes to GMS 1.4, my sanity you Preserve.

Love, Derve

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[21] Likes
Rating: 10.0 100       Difficulty: N/A
Feb 6, 2022
TheNewDerf
For: I Wanna Catch the Clown
Fangame Awards 2022 needs to have a "Best Vibes" category just for this game :P

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[8] Likes
Rating: 8.5 85       Difficulty: 60 60
Jan 30, 2022

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