Delicious FruitCthaere's Profile
Send a PMJoined on: May 25, 2020
Bio:
I play fangames or stuff.
I try rating game compared to what they are trying to achieve rather than compared to fangames as a whole, and with knowledge of what you're getting into; If I rate a corridor needle game, I assume the person reading the review wants to play corridor needle, as if they don't they shouldn't bother playing it anyway. With that said, I tend to be very generous on needle ratings while being very skimpy on avoidances (although you likely won't see it as if I'd give it less than a 7 I just won't clear it instead).
with extremely rare exceptions, 9/10+ is reserved to games that have left deep emotional impact, while 10/10 is reserved for games I love unconditionally.
If I reviewed it and the review doesn't say otherwise, it's safe to assume I cleared it. I try adding my clears to df but I never really cared to keep track, so some might be missing.
don't expect diff ratings to be very accurate.
I've submitted:
236 Ratings!
157 Reviews!
9 Screenshots!
236 Games
157 Reviews
Cthaere
For: The Avoidance Complex
For: The Avoidance Complex
It is always bittersweet to see an unfinished passion project finally laid to rest after long years in "I might pick it up at some point later" limbo, and this one feels even moreso knowing Max and his journey with fangames and gamemaking as a whole. In a way, I feel quite biased; Even if I hated playing the game, so long as it still showed genuine care, effort, and the tiniest smidgen of polish, I would still look at it fondly. However, while I will say the game has issues (as would be expected from an unfinished release), it is still very worthwhile playing, with most of the content ranking at "fairly enjoyable if a bit flawed" with a few exceptions in both directions.
The game is split into 4 areas: Tiers 1 through 3, each with 4 full length avoidances, and a "minivoidance" room with a few 20-40 second song fragments. Outside of the minivoidance room, which serves as a break more than anything (even if iru hank is still pretty hard), the levels of both quality, polish, and difficulty get a significant jump with each tier. Unfortunately, given that you have to beat all 4 avoidances in a tier to advance to the next one, this makes the game a hard sell for those who would get stuck in T1 for too long, as they would spend all of their time butting heads against the worst content in the game (most of which is still decent, but there is one avoidance I consider genuinely bad in there), only to be rewarded by a tier 2 that is miles more difficult. It is clear that Complex is best played at around the same skill level needed to beat Fish (preferably under 50 hours), and that while being better won't diminish much of it, being worse absolutely will.
As for the avoidances as a whole, the vast majority are mostly-simple barrages with a couple more "gimmicky" attacks thrown in, with a big focus on just pure reading of basic attacks with some spicing up. There are several recurring issues, being long boring intros, attacks that have high level of difficulty variance depending on RNG, attacks that serve as big diffspikes, and several visually inelegant attacks (as in, the way the bullets move feels unnatural and unfitting). However, as Iru has put it, "while far from being a shining example of immaculate avoidance design" the issues are still minor enough that overall the game manages to maintain a good level of enjoyment.
With that out of the way, I would like to take a moment to review all 12 avoidances, as a comprehensive review does not seem to exist.
T1:
Rock my emotions - decently fun barrage. simple visuals but they work pretty well. has a long intro problem (everything pre infjump is too easy and not very fun to play). The squares attack later into the fight is also pretty bruh. Without those issues, it'd probably have been best in tier; It's still a good contender for it.
Reve of mirrors - barrage with apple sprites. Hardest in tier, and easily the worst avoidance in the game. Extremely slow intro and it's infjump so you HAVE to be focused on it the entire time, highest bullshit potential overall, several attacks that are just mindbogglingly boring, difficulty is mostly concentrated in the latter half... In short, while a lot of it would be fun in a vacuum, as a full experience it is miserable especially if you get stuck for longer than you feel like you need to. It is worth clearing if only to get further into the game, and clearing this is a mark that you've been through the worst of it, but I would much rather this was not necessary to beat to advance to the next rank.
Cursed - basic barrage, very effective visuals even if they're a bit simple, was the most enjoyable overall but I fluked pretty big chunks of this and I'm fairly certain if I didn't I'd hate this more, and that also means I don't really have that much to say about it unfortunately.
Power attack - standard barrage (who could have guessed), decent visuals, inter-attack difficulty variance is pretty high. Pretty easy and basic, not much to talk about it.
T2:
Rolling Girl: a pretty barragey miku, but still the most patterny boss in the game. Basic visuals that mostly work really well, but definitely feels like it's missing more work. Long boring intro problem. Can bullshit you especially with the black spiral. Decently fun but generally just a fairly mediocre fight. Didn't mind it all that much though.
Octane: standard barrage, decent visuals, pretty long, intro problems. Has a few really bruh attacks, such as the arrows coming towards the center on the 1st attack on the big center platform, platform snapping inconsistency in the segment with moving platforms, and several attacks that can give really bad RNG on the bottom middle platform, in addition to the circle pattern on it being kinda weird and very late into the fight. Probably enjoyable if it takes you less than 3 hours, but it didn't for me and as a result it transformed from "decently enjoyable" to "mildly irritating". Also hardest in tier, which is a shame since it's probably the least enjoyable by a tiny margin under rolling girl.
Vicious Heroism: Standard barrage, very simple visuals but they work extremely well, by far the best standard barrage thus far with good pacing, fun attacks, decent mapping, and just overall very well executed. Good job.
Hotline miami: one of the more interesting fights overall, especially for a T2 avoidance. Apparently was originally T3 but was then swapped with another T2 avoidance. Great visuals and ideas, but middling execution: Out of the 3 intro segments (circles, circles + tp, waterfall + tp) the 1st is boring, the 2nd is great if sometimes feels bs, and the 3rd is both boring and garbage on your hands. These issues hold back the avoidance to a painful degree, as it has by far the best visuals, mapping, and overall ideas in the tier. Thankfully, it gets very consistent, and everything else is fun, but it's still a massive shame that greatly holds it back. Unfortunately, it's also the easiest.
T3:
Peer Gynt: Standard barrage. My favorite of the bunch, even over Moon. Visuals work extremely well, bullet movement is very clean, intro that gets very consistent and is still fun to play once mastered so you don't really care about the fact that the difficulty is all backloaded, amazing overall feel. To be honest, I was skeptical the game would be able to reach this level of quality, and I was very pleasantly surprised.
A fool moon night: Standard barrage. Long, hard, well made, good attacks, visuals, song, everything. Simplicity (with a good share of spiced up attacks and ideas) executed at a high level, similar to vicious heroism, except even better. The only avoidance I haven't beaten yet, on account of being the hardest, however I've gotten relatively far into it, put a good amount of time, and watched the rest to gauge that my opinion would likely change mostly in regards to the overall grind process and pacing, rather than the general level of quality.
Tempestissimo: Probably the worst out of the bunch, and I have had an extremely negative experience with it on top. Attacks are the hardest individually outside of virtual stigmata, and feel inconsistent and frustrating to die to. The indicator game adds very little to the avoidance. Visual design is worst in tier and one of the worse ones overall. This alongside Reve nearly docked the rating down from 9, however playing Peer Gynt (and to a lesser extent Moon) afterwards restored it. Do not take it to mean that this is all that bad, however; It's still a decent barrage, just one that I have had a really bad experience with, and would likely be much worse to play if you are not at a sufficient level of avoidance skill (which I am evidently not).
Virtual Stigmata: Short standard barrage. Slow intro problem. Hardest individual attacks, highest RNG difficulty variance within attacks, highest attack difficulty variance in relation to each other. A collection of 4 seconds attacks that either overwhelm you or disappear before they reach you, with very little inbetween. There is a good amount of room for skill, but it always feels like it's a matter of whether the avoidance wants you to pass or not. However, the final 30 seconds change everything, and are without a doubt the single best segment in the game. Simple but great concept executed beautifully. Bravo.
Overall, it was a very fun experience and a pleasant surprise given my lower initial expectations of what I would find in here compared to what I got. I would only recommend the game to those who have beaten several 70+ diff barrages, and I would say that even then you could choose to delay playing it until you have beaten a just-below-HoF barrage (fish, count 0, bye the entrance, etc.) or harder. However, once you have gotten to a certain level in your avoidance journey, this is a game you would regret not checking out.
The game is split into 4 areas: Tiers 1 through 3, each with 4 full length avoidances, and a "minivoidance" room with a few 20-40 second song fragments. Outside of the minivoidance room, which serves as a break more than anything (even if iru hank is still pretty hard), the levels of both quality, polish, and difficulty get a significant jump with each tier. Unfortunately, given that you have to beat all 4 avoidances in a tier to advance to the next one, this makes the game a hard sell for those who would get stuck in T1 for too long, as they would spend all of their time butting heads against the worst content in the game (most of which is still decent, but there is one avoidance I consider genuinely bad in there), only to be rewarded by a tier 2 that is miles more difficult. It is clear that Complex is best played at around the same skill level needed to beat Fish (preferably under 50 hours), and that while being better won't diminish much of it, being worse absolutely will.
As for the avoidances as a whole, the vast majority are mostly-simple barrages with a couple more "gimmicky" attacks thrown in, with a big focus on just pure reading of basic attacks with some spicing up. There are several recurring issues, being long boring intros, attacks that have high level of difficulty variance depending on RNG, attacks that serve as big diffspikes, and several visually inelegant attacks (as in, the way the bullets move feels unnatural and unfitting). However, as Iru has put it, "while far from being a shining example of immaculate avoidance design" the issues are still minor enough that overall the game manages to maintain a good level of enjoyment.
With that out of the way, I would like to take a moment to review all 12 avoidances, as a comprehensive review does not seem to exist.
T1:
Rock my emotions - decently fun barrage. simple visuals but they work pretty well. has a long intro problem (everything pre infjump is too easy and not very fun to play). The squares attack later into the fight is also pretty bruh. Without those issues, it'd probably have been best in tier; It's still a good contender for it.
Reve of mirrors - barrage with apple sprites. Hardest in tier, and easily the worst avoidance in the game. Extremely slow intro and it's infjump so you HAVE to be focused on it the entire time, highest bullshit potential overall, several attacks that are just mindbogglingly boring, difficulty is mostly concentrated in the latter half... In short, while a lot of it would be fun in a vacuum, as a full experience it is miserable especially if you get stuck for longer than you feel like you need to. It is worth clearing if only to get further into the game, and clearing this is a mark that you've been through the worst of it, but I would much rather this was not necessary to beat to advance to the next rank.
Cursed - basic barrage, very effective visuals even if they're a bit simple, was the most enjoyable overall but I fluked pretty big chunks of this and I'm fairly certain if I didn't I'd hate this more, and that also means I don't really have that much to say about it unfortunately.
Power attack - standard barrage (who could have guessed), decent visuals, inter-attack difficulty variance is pretty high. Pretty easy and basic, not much to talk about it.
T2:
Rolling Girl: a pretty barragey miku, but still the most patterny boss in the game. Basic visuals that mostly work really well, but definitely feels like it's missing more work. Long boring intro problem. Can bullshit you especially with the black spiral. Decently fun but generally just a fairly mediocre fight. Didn't mind it all that much though.
Octane: standard barrage, decent visuals, pretty long, intro problems. Has a few really bruh attacks, such as the arrows coming towards the center on the 1st attack on the big center platform, platform snapping inconsistency in the segment with moving platforms, and several attacks that can give really bad RNG on the bottom middle platform, in addition to the circle pattern on it being kinda weird and very late into the fight. Probably enjoyable if it takes you less than 3 hours, but it didn't for me and as a result it transformed from "decently enjoyable" to "mildly irritating". Also hardest in tier, which is a shame since it's probably the least enjoyable by a tiny margin under rolling girl.
Vicious Heroism: Standard barrage, very simple visuals but they work extremely well, by far the best standard barrage thus far with good pacing, fun attacks, decent mapping, and just overall very well executed. Good job.
Hotline miami: one of the more interesting fights overall, especially for a T2 avoidance. Apparently was originally T3 but was then swapped with another T2 avoidance. Great visuals and ideas, but middling execution: Out of the 3 intro segments (circles, circles + tp, waterfall + tp) the 1st is boring, the 2nd is great if sometimes feels bs, and the 3rd is both boring and garbage on your hands. These issues hold back the avoidance to a painful degree, as it has by far the best visuals, mapping, and overall ideas in the tier. Thankfully, it gets very consistent, and everything else is fun, but it's still a massive shame that greatly holds it back. Unfortunately, it's also the easiest.
T3:
Peer Gynt: Standard barrage. My favorite of the bunch, even over Moon. Visuals work extremely well, bullet movement is very clean, intro that gets very consistent and is still fun to play once mastered so you don't really care about the fact that the difficulty is all backloaded, amazing overall feel. To be honest, I was skeptical the game would be able to reach this level of quality, and I was very pleasantly surprised.
A fool moon night: Standard barrage. Long, hard, well made, good attacks, visuals, song, everything. Simplicity (with a good share of spiced up attacks and ideas) executed at a high level, similar to vicious heroism, except even better. The only avoidance I haven't beaten yet, on account of being the hardest, however I've gotten relatively far into it, put a good amount of time, and watched the rest to gauge that my opinion would likely change mostly in regards to the overall grind process and pacing, rather than the general level of quality.
Tempestissimo: Probably the worst out of the bunch, and I have had an extremely negative experience with it on top. Attacks are the hardest individually outside of virtual stigmata, and feel inconsistent and frustrating to die to. The indicator game adds very little to the avoidance. Visual design is worst in tier and one of the worse ones overall. This alongside Reve nearly docked the rating down from 9, however playing Peer Gynt (and to a lesser extent Moon) afterwards restored it. Do not take it to mean that this is all that bad, however; It's still a decent barrage, just one that I have had a really bad experience with, and would likely be much worse to play if you are not at a sufficient level of avoidance skill (which I am evidently not).
Virtual Stigmata: Short standard barrage. Slow intro problem. Hardest individual attacks, highest RNG difficulty variance within attacks, highest attack difficulty variance in relation to each other. A collection of 4 seconds attacks that either overwhelm you or disappear before they reach you, with very little inbetween. There is a good amount of room for skill, but it always feels like it's a matter of whether the avoidance wants you to pass or not. However, the final 30 seconds change everything, and are without a doubt the single best segment in the game. Simple but great concept executed beautifully. Bravo.
Overall, it was a very fun experience and a pleasant surprise given my lower initial expectations of what I would find in here compared to what I got. I would only recommend the game to those who have beaten several 70+ diff barrages, and I would say that even then you could choose to delay playing it until you have beaten a just-below-HoF barrage (fish, count 0, bye the entrance, etc.) or harder. However, once you have gotten to a certain level in your avoidance journey, this is a game you would regret not checking out.
Tagged as: Avoidance
[2] Likes
Rating: 9.0 90
Difficulty: 90 90
Dec 23, 2023
Cthaere
For: The Maker Medley
For: The Maker Medley
The Maker Medley is an IWM-themed medley game consisting largely of maker maps, but also drawing heavily upon fangame pop culture to create a hybrid game that gives a great entry level to fangames.
As a medley, the game is relatively short: Only two stages with their own boss (and sometimes a mid-boss), followed by a handful of guest stages, a medley of all the content from the first two stages, and a final boss. To summarize my experience with those, The first two stages are pretty fun, but not really outstanding. The first boss feels a lot more like an avoidance than a boss, which I appreciate and approve of, however it's understandably not got that much to draw upon; Making flashy avoidance attacks in maker at a fitting difficulty level is a nigh impossible task. Second boss was actively unfun for me; Both it and the final boss suffer from extremely awkward design around shooting, with limited shooting windows coupled with short iframes that still incentivize mashing and a health pool that feels too big even if realistically it's not. As a result, the first attack was highly annoying to play through. In the final phase, the timing of the warning signs feels like complete guesswork, and failing it sends you back to the 40 second avoidance beforehand, which is also a source of frustration. The guest stages are extremely good, although they all feel like there's a lot of trial-and-error to them, which can be a bit tedious for the longer ones. The medley stage was mediocre, and really didn't feel like it was handled the best way possible; It just felt like replaying everything, except a lot more watered down, and was pretty disappointing. Final boss is great, and visually and theming wise it popped off big time, although I would appreciate it if it indicated phase transitions better.
As far as the overall theming is concerned, the game is heavily themed around both IWM and fangame pop culture. Music and assets are mostly taken from IWM, although it's clear that in a lot of cases they've been transformed or enhanced to be able to do things that cannot be accomplished in IWM. As a result, the game feels like you're playing a collection of random maker maps for the first two stages, which cheapens the experience for me a bit. From boss 2 onwards, though, the production value goes up significantly, and more unique elements begin to appear. The game also features numerous cutscenes which form a short, humorous story, although how funny it ends up being to you is going to be extremely subjective. All in all, I suspect people coming from IWM would end up liking this a lot, while those who find the IWM music and assets to be soulless and overused are going to be much less appreciative.
All in all, a pretty fun game, a great beginner game, and a stellar introduction to fangames for IWM players, but not an experience I would consider essential.
[3] Likes
As a medley, the game is relatively short: Only two stages with their own boss (and sometimes a mid-boss), followed by a handful of guest stages, a medley of all the content from the first two stages, and a final boss. To summarize my experience with those, The first two stages are pretty fun, but not really outstanding. The first boss feels a lot more like an avoidance than a boss, which I appreciate and approve of, however it's understandably not got that much to draw upon; Making flashy avoidance attacks in maker at a fitting difficulty level is a nigh impossible task. Second boss was actively unfun for me; Both it and the final boss suffer from extremely awkward design around shooting, with limited shooting windows coupled with short iframes that still incentivize mashing and a health pool that feels too big even if realistically it's not. As a result, the first attack was highly annoying to play through. In the final phase, the timing of the warning signs feels like complete guesswork, and failing it sends you back to the 40 second avoidance beforehand, which is also a source of frustration. The guest stages are extremely good, although they all feel like there's a lot of trial-and-error to them, which can be a bit tedious for the longer ones. The medley stage was mediocre, and really didn't feel like it was handled the best way possible; It just felt like replaying everything, except a lot more watered down, and was pretty disappointing. Final boss is great, and visually and theming wise it popped off big time, although I would appreciate it if it indicated phase transitions better.
As far as the overall theming is concerned, the game is heavily themed around both IWM and fangame pop culture. Music and assets are mostly taken from IWM, although it's clear that in a lot of cases they've been transformed or enhanced to be able to do things that cannot be accomplished in IWM. As a result, the game feels like you're playing a collection of random maker maps for the first two stages, which cheapens the experience for me a bit. From boss 2 onwards, though, the production value goes up significantly, and more unique elements begin to appear. The game also features numerous cutscenes which form a short, humorous story, although how funny it ends up being to you is going to be extremely subjective. All in all, I suspect people coming from IWM would end up liking this a lot, while those who find the IWM music and assets to be soulless and overused are going to be much less appreciative.
All in all, a pretty fun game, a great beginner game, and a stellar introduction to fangames for IWM players, but not an experience I would consider essential.
Rating: 7.7 77
Difficulty: N/A
Feb 27, 2023
Cthaere
For: I wanna Odoryanse
For: I wanna Odoryanse
The avoidance is relatively well-known, and I don't have much to add that hasn't been said. Very fun, relatively consistent however sometimes it decides to not play nice. To note, I've gotten worse situations from at least 5 other attacks than I did from blood 2, so I don't consider it that bad, but I know others have a different experience with this. Such is RNG.
[1] Like
Rating: 8.8 88
Difficulty: N/A
Feb 26, 2023
Cthaere
For: Dadu Needle
For: Dadu Needle
TL;DR: I played this because I've heard this was pretty bad and thought it looked decently fun, with the reputation being exaggerated and the game itself mediocre at worst. I was wrong.
Dadu needle is a 50f jtool needle game. Visuals and needle style (and presumably maker) changes every 5 floors. None of the visuals are particularly appealing or ugly, and I had the game muted so I wouldn't know if the music changes too.
As far as the progression goes, the first 20 floors are completely inoffensive if unmemorable and mostly serve to ease you in. The rest is a mixed bag, both in regards to style, jtool gimmicks used (with most stages being pure needle), and quality, with 2 particular stages later on that stand out unfavorably. In the first, the design constraints movement in a way that can be best described to as "minimalist modern FTFA-like", forcing the player to make long horizontal jumps without hitting spikes that restrict their height. The other gave me the worst hand pain I've ever experienced while playing needle through the worst vine usage I've ever played, requiring precise positioning on vines to clear extremely cramped sections, with the jumps themselves being either fulljumps, low jumps off of vines, or just holding the jump button for 20 seconds trying to frantically hop from vine to vine using the precise spot where it works.
As far as the general needle design, the game has a tendency of randomly throwing jumps at you that are far more precise than you'd expect. There are only 3-4 stages mostly exempt from this after the first 10 floors, including the two mentioned above where all the jumps are equally obnoxiously precise (although at least the first of those has some short save screens). It is painfully obvious that this game was insufficiently tested (with only 1 tester credited in the readme).
All in all, I feel as though the current reviews understate how bad this game gets at its worst, to the point I came into it with low expectations and morbid curiosity yet still managed to be left disappointed and frustrated. While I will note that I have not played needle in quite a while prior to it and was a bit rusty, I do not think it was a significant factor in my experience. Would absolutely recommend to avoid playing this.
[0] Likes
Dadu needle is a 50f jtool needle game. Visuals and needle style (and presumably maker) changes every 5 floors. None of the visuals are particularly appealing or ugly, and I had the game muted so I wouldn't know if the music changes too.
As far as the progression goes, the first 20 floors are completely inoffensive if unmemorable and mostly serve to ease you in. The rest is a mixed bag, both in regards to style, jtool gimmicks used (with most stages being pure needle), and quality, with 2 particular stages later on that stand out unfavorably. In the first, the design constraints movement in a way that can be best described to as "minimalist modern FTFA-like", forcing the player to make long horizontal jumps without hitting spikes that restrict their height. The other gave me the worst hand pain I've ever experienced while playing needle through the worst vine usage I've ever played, requiring precise positioning on vines to clear extremely cramped sections, with the jumps themselves being either fulljumps, low jumps off of vines, or just holding the jump button for 20 seconds trying to frantically hop from vine to vine using the precise spot where it works.
As far as the general needle design, the game has a tendency of randomly throwing jumps at you that are far more precise than you'd expect. There are only 3-4 stages mostly exempt from this after the first 10 floors, including the two mentioned above where all the jumps are equally obnoxiously precise (although at least the first of those has some short save screens). It is painfully obvious that this game was insufficiently tested (with only 1 tester credited in the readme).
All in all, I feel as though the current reviews understate how bad this game gets at its worst, to the point I came into it with low expectations and morbid curiosity yet still managed to be left disappointed and frustrated. While I will note that I have not played needle in quite a while prior to it and was a bit rusty, I do not think it was a significant factor in my experience. Would absolutely recommend to avoid playing this.
Rating: 3.5 35
Difficulty: 80 80
Jan 23, 2023
Cthaere
For: I wanna realize
For: I wanna realize
Good short light-gimmick needle on the easier side. Simple gimmicks that we've already seen without really treading new ground, but it's solid, fun, and accessible. There are several funny moments already mentioned by other reviewers, but they don't detract from the overall experience in my opinion.
After first clear, you get to try your hand at beating each stage deathless; 1 is relatively easy, 2 are challenging but reasonable, while the last one is probably going to be a Moment. Nonetheless, they're fun to attempt so long as you do not intend on seriously grinding them down.
Song choices are good, and alongside simple-yet-effective visuals invoke a strong (although not fully immersive) atmosphere.
I know I've said little about this game compared to my usual inflated reviews, but it really is what it is: A well designed, short & fun accessible version of an amalgamation of new wave gimmick needle. Would definitely recommend.
[4] Likes
After first clear, you get to try your hand at beating each stage deathless; 1 is relatively easy, 2 are challenging but reasonable, while the last one is probably going to be a Moment. Nonetheless, they're fun to attempt so long as you do not intend on seriously grinding them down.
Song choices are good, and alongside simple-yet-effective visuals invoke a strong (although not fully immersive) atmosphere.
I know I've said little about this game compared to my usual inflated reviews, but it really is what it is: A well designed, short & fun accessible version of an amalgamation of new wave gimmick needle. Would definitely recommend.
Rating: 8.8 88
Difficulty: 60 60
Jan 4, 2023
2 Games
| Game | Difficulty | Average Rating | # of Ratings |
|---|---|---|---|
| I wanna Musiclock | 74.7 | 9.4 | 18 |
| I wanna Xanadu | 59.4 | 8.2 | 6 |
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143 Cleared Games