qwerty741's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Dress Jill 2 (medal ed.)]

questions answers: 3 2 4 2 1 3 3 4 1 2
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buy backgrounds

lucky medal:
1.MANSION - green money on the floor near right stairs
2.BACKSTREET - corpse hanging from the left bus
3.CORRIDOR - corpse under jill, boxes behind jill
4.WHITE BG - none
5.CELLS - crevice in wall under bedding in rightmost cell
6.PARKING LOT - window of the white car in the back, money on the floor under blue canister (near jill's left hand)
7.STUDY - cash register, table drawer under cash register
8.LAB - money on the floor under rightmost cabinet
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quests:

herbs' locations: mansion, backstreet, cells, parking lot, study

find virus: mansion, above jill. safe solution is up,down,up,down

acid mix: get blue and empty flasks from study. get catalyst and green flask from lab.
read paper on the left desk to enable mixing. mix 3 blue, 1 green

blood sync: in lab, touch the console panel on the left side of the room.
go right 4 with A, right 2 with B, left 2 with C
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dress challenges (might be inaccurate):
assuming shop has been bought out, with 1 being the default outfit

(everything is default outfit unless stated otherwise)
pirate: hat 3, clothes 10, pants 9
RE1: hat 1, clothes 2, pants 2
RE3: default outfit, remove hat
revelations: remove hat, clothes 3, pants 3
BSAA: hat 2, clothes 5, pants 5
RE 5: remove hat, clothes 4, pants 4, add jewel
school: remove hat, clothes 12, pants 11, socks 2
nurse: hat 5, clothes 9, pants 8, socks 5
BDSM: clothes 17, bra 13, remove pants, socks 8
wet: remove hat, clothes, pants, socks, shoes; add wet body
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claire medal: hair 7, face 6, clothes 22, pants 16, shoes 13
secret medal: remove clothes, switch to bra 8 or 10. touch jill

[E-motion control-ercoaster]

back again with an attempt at a medal guide:

premise: 12 hearts, aptly numbered from left to right, top to bottom.
first row is 1 through 4 etc.

the game is less about specific hearts and more about the overall configuration (shape).
numbers will be used as an example of a configuration with the correct shape.
if multiple configurations are active at the same time, the "bigger" one will trigger.

sorted by medal order:
--

Stepoke: pick one heart, then execute (any of them works)

Stepunch: any two adjacent hearts in the same row (1,2)

Steppercut: any two adjacent hearts in the same column (1,5)

Stepsword: any three adjacent hearts in a row (1,2,3)

Stelbow Drop: three hearts in the same column (1,5,9)

Slapford: mirrored small gun (1,2,6)

Shootford: small gun (1,2,5)

Fordball: small L (1,5,6)

Tatsumaki Stepukyaku: mirrored small L (2,5,6)

Straygun: four hearts in the same row (1,2,3,4)

Stepfordriver: small square (1,2,5,6)

Shotgun Shellford: shotgun shape (1,2,3,5)

Soccerford: forward kick (3,5,6,7)

Splitford: upward kick (1,2,6,10)

Stompford: right boot (1,5,9,10)

Step(on me, mommy)ford: left boot (2,6,9,10)

Stepfobotomy: crowbar shape (1,2,5,9)

Timbord: mirrored shotgun (1,2,3,7)

Sparford: long L (1,5,6,7)

Stepfast: left spike (2,5,6,10)

Stario: small hat (2,5,6,7)

Stepfornado: small T (1,2,3,6)

Smega Buster: right spike (1,5,6,9)

Stepforyuken: mirrored small S (1,2,6,7)

Scorpford: small S (2,3,5,6)

Stelectrord: lightning (2,5,6,9)

Steppy Claws: mirrored lightning (1,5,6,10)

Ford You: letterbox (2,5,6,9,10)

Steppy T. Baseball Cat: small U (1,3,5,6,7)

Superford: long S (2,3,6,9,10)

Sargeford: big T (1,2,3,6,10)

Stepvord: small C (1,2,5,9,10)

Steathead: mirrored small C (1,2,6,9,10)

Stepfordmc: long right spike (1,5,6,7,9)

Stepfordonkeypunch: long left spike (3,5,6,7,11)

Screwford: tall hat (2,6,9,10,11)

Stelefrag: small bridge (1,2,3,5,7)

One giant Stepford, man: plus sign (2,5,6,7,10)

Stepforang: "boomerang" (1,2,3,7,11)

Sleepford: long Z (1,2,6,10,11)

Stepfockey: hockey stick (1,2,3,4,8)

Stepfore: very long L (1,5,6,7,8)

Stepfnf: mirrored big L (3,7,9,10,11)

Stepfnaf: "allen wrench" (4,5,6,7,8)

Stevada: hatchet shape (1,2,5,6,9)

Stehemoth: mirrored hatchet (1,2,5,6,10)

Smoochford: left shoe (2,3,5,6,7)

Cheford: meat clever (1,2,3,6,7)

Stat's All Fords: anvil (1,2,3,5,6)

Stepbomd: bomb (1,5,6,9,10)

Disarmd: right shoe (1,2,5,6,7)

Skupord: big L (1,5,9,10,11)

Stfu: upturned big L (1,2,3,5,9)

Stogieford: rising step (3,5,6,7,9)

Sockford: falling step (1,5,6,7,11)

Sbeerford: "nightstick" (5,6,7,8,10)

Stepforpg: mirrored nightstick (5,6,7,8,11)

Stedi: upturned nightstick (2,5,6,7,8)

Stepforvel vs Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes: long gun (1,2,3,4,5)

Castle Crashord: rotated nightstick (3,5,6,7,8)

Slaymord: horizontal rectangle (1,2,3,5,6,7)

Steprobe: vertical rectangle (1,2,5,6,9,10)

Stepfort Downey Jr.: long rectangle (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8)

Screamford: "music note" (2,3,5,6,9,10)

Stepfohn Cena: mirrored music note (1,2,6,7,10,11)

Stepformageddon: upturned music note (2,3,6,7,9,10)

Stepfoh dear: rotated music note (1,2,5,6,10,11)

Holy Shtepford: right-side cross (3,5,6,7,8,11)

Hellford: left-side cross (2,5,6,7,8,10)

Stareford: execute without lining up any move

Stairford: upward stairs (3,4,6,7,9,10)

Steppy Krueger: downward stairs (1,2,6,7,11,12)

Step on a landmine: "landmine" (2,3,5,6,7,8)

Stepfong Lao: upturned landmine (1,2,3,4,6,7)

Heartford (Connecticut): "photorealistic heart-shape" (2,5,6,7,9,10)

Holey Shtepford: mirrored heart-shape (2,5,6,7,10,11)

Step 1000 Fords: rotated heart-shape (2,3,5,6,7,10)

Stepball: upturned heart-shape (1,2,5,6,7,10)

Stepthord: left hammer (1,2,5,6,7,8,9,10)

Stepthor 2: The Dark World (everyone's favorite): right hammer (3,4,5,6,7,8,11,12)

Stepmara Forgan: square ring (1,2,3,5,7,9,10,11)

Stedding: left gem ring (2,3,4,5,6,8,10,11,12)

Stepflation: right gem ring (1,2,3,5,7,8,9,10,11)

Deaford: "grave" (2,5,6,7,9,10,11)

Stabality: upturned grave (1,2,3,5,6,7,10)

Stepfowl: "boiled egg" (2,3,5,6,7,8,10,11)

Siford: tommy gun (1,2,3,4,5,7)

Robord: mirrored tommy gun (1,2,3,4,6,8)

Stelestial: long bridge (1,2,3,4,5,8)

Stilt-a-whirl Backbreaker: big square (1,2,3,5,6,7,9,10,11)

Smilepford: "wide smile" (1,4,5,6,7,8)

Book of Stevelation: all 12 hearts

Sniperd: square hole (2,5,7,10)

Stet it fo: big X (1,3,6,9,11)

Spazzors: "cobweb" shape (2,4,5,7,10,12)

Stwiss Cheeseord: "grid" shape (1,3,6,8,9,11)

5tepford Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique: any five hearts that don't trigger anything else (1,3,6,8,9)

Steiko from Mortal Kombat Fourd: any four hearts that don't trigger anything else (1,3,6,8)

[MAGNETkid]

bonus 3 is in 3-6

you need to get to the other side of the pit on the first possible cycle, then immediately back to spawn position.
the bonus level entrance appears once you land on the platform with the regular exit.

[Duck Waddle]

PAR SOLUTIONS (not minimum moves)
(Left Right Up Down)

1-1 (9): 9R
1-2 (31): 3L 7D 3L 6U 9R 3D
1-3 (22): 2R 1U 1R 3D 5R 3U 1R 1D 1R 1D 1R 2U
1-4 (27): 7R 2D 2R 4D 4L 4U 2R 2D
1-5 (50): 3D 7R 3U 2L 1D 3L 1U 1L 3D 9R 2D 9L 2D 3R
1-6 (25): 1D 1R 2D 2L 4U 2R 1D 1R 1U 1R 5D 4L

2-1 (27): 3D 7R 4U 2R 3D 6L 1U 1R
2-2 (16): 3R 3D 2R 3U 5R
2-3 (33): 4U 6R 2U 6L 4D 2U 4R 1U 3R 1L
2-4 (48): 5R 1D 4R 3U 2L 2U 2L 1D 2L 4D 9R 1U 4L 2U 3R 2U 1D
2-5 (33): 3R 2U 2L 1D 1L 1U 1L 1D 1L 1U 1L 2D 2R 1D 2L 1D 4R 1U 2R 3D
2-6 (37): 6R 2U 2L 2D 4L 3U 1R 2D 4R 2U 2L 6D 1R

3-1 (34): 3R 1U 1R 1D 4L 5D 1R 1U 2R 4U 6R 1D 1R 1U 2L
3-2 (32): 4L 3U 4R 1D 1R 4U 3R 3D 1L 3U 4L 1U
3-3 (27): 1D 3R 1U 2R 1U 3L 1U 1R 1D 1R 1U 1D 2R 1U 1L 1D 1L 4U
3-4 (48): 2R 2D 6R 2D 6L 2U 2L 2U 2L 2U 6R 2D 2L 2D 2L 6U
3-5 (57): 2D 3R 5D 1R 1U 5R 2U 7L 2U 1R 2U 1R 3D 1R 1D 1R 1U 2R 2U 3D 1R 1D 9L
3-6 (54): 5R 1U 6L 4U 1R 1D 2R 2D 3R 1D 6L 1U 1R 1U 2R 1D 1R 1D 1R 5U 3R 2D 2L 1U
3-7 (86): 1U 5L 1D 1L 1D 3R 1D 2R 2U 1L 3D 1L 1D 1R 2U 5R 5L 1D 1L 3D 1L 1U 1L 1U 1D 4R 3U 5R 1U 1R 4L 1U 1L 4D 1L 1D 5R 2D 1R 2U 4R
3-8 (28): 2D 2L 1U 1R 1U 1L 1U 4R 1D 3R 2D 4L 1U 3L 1U
3-9 (38): 2R 1D 4L 1U 4R 1D 1R 4U 1R 6D 1L 1U 2L 1U 4L 2U 1R 1D

[GAPPY & THE RED EYESORE]

this one's gonna be a long review so sorry for the wall of text.

although it's using gappy as a character, this is an entirely different game in its own right.
it's not even remotely as difficult as the other titular games, as it's not meant to be: it's an easygoing platformer, with plenty of collectibles, and the costume change mechanic that allows for different movement and puzzles is an interesting idea.

it's meant to be a more enjoyable interpretation of what gappy is, which is entirely too difficult if you ask me, and i'm talking as someone who completed all of it.

however, what this games makes up in accessibilty for the players is brought down by a bunch of bugs:

the most concerning one is related to being locked out of playing levels more than once;
specifically, after clearing the tutorial, every time you complete a world, you unlock the next world (regardless of which world you cleared). moreover, after clearing a certain number of worlds, you become unable to access any of them outside of the tutorial levels.
i haven't been able to pinpoint the exact number since i'm unsure of what counts as a "world complete", but my guess is 7. that means you can play each world once, and then one more world before being locked out (excluding tutorial).

regarding minor bugs, some checkpoints cause the game to softlock, though this is fixed by being able to reset, or in the case of the finale, the time constraint.
an example of this would be the first time you get access to the gravity switch mode. the one-time tiles you pass through right before getting it don't disappear on death, and lock you in the beginning area (though resetting with A fixes this).
a more annoying softlock happens in the finale, where if you get to the switch checkpoint where the timer starts, and time runs out making the boss spawn, the timed walls will prevent you from dodging fatal damage, so you're stuck dying endlessly until the timer runs out.
refreshing the page on that checkpoint actually makes more bosses spawn, so that's also something to look into.

another minor softlock happens if you try to clear rocks faster by mashing down while mid-air.
if you don't give the animation enough time to end, you end up stuck on the ground mid drop animation; the game registers this as still being in the air falling down, so you can't jump anymore or dash. this forces a reset of the room with A.

finally, non-bugs that are still something i would like to address because they make the game somewhat less enjoyable.
for one, the palette being red is eye-piercing. maybe it's just a me thing, but it's really hard on the eyes?
i would appreciate if there was a way to switch palettes or something that makes it less straining on the eyes.
also, while the rest of the game is somewhat easy (as in, it's not supposed to be particularly difficult), the final boss in the finale is kind of BS?

it's already difficult dodging the boss because you lose your ability to dash (which gives you a brief window of invincibility) and thus movement speed that would help putting some distance from it, and having to replay the whole level again if you lose your one shot at it is kinda tedious (you can die whenever with minor setback the whole game, except in the boss room where dying is a full reset).
though if i were to say, the real problem is the 4 homing turrets in the boss room.
as i mentioned, movement is restricted due to the gun replacing your dash, and the slow movement speed (compared to the boss) plus having to turn around to shoot it means there's little room for error. having another 4 invincible enemies taking potshots at you while all this is happening is kind of overdoing it imo.

imma add an edit for the secret medal after i've found the last collectible, as i'm on my 4th full replay now since i couldn't get to the finale because i got locked out trying to find the other ones

------------------------------------
EDIT: the boss room turrets got removed, and it seems you can enter worlds normally now, so there's really nothing else to complain about. game's fun and it works great. the red is still eye-piercing but i suppose that's intended so it's part of the experience

tips for medal hunters:
it's possible to get all collectibles in a single playthrough, without replaying any world.

you get one collectible per world, so once you've found one you're free to clear the rest of the world without worry.
they're hidden in walls, and the entrance is denoted by a darker colored tile than the other ones.
basically they're perfectly visible as long as you know you're looking for different colored tiles in walls.

specifically, you can find a collectible in levels 2, 8, 13, 19, 25, 31 and 37 (the finale), plus another one in the world select hub, for a total of 8 collectibles.
the only ones that absolutely require the wall-jump upgrade from level 23 are 25 and 37.
moreover, the one in the finale can only be collected after triggering the switch at the end, although it's recommended to find it before then anyway because it's kinda awkward to reach.

for the timeout medal, easiest way to get it is to trigger the switch at the end of the level and just stay there the whole time, letting both timers run out without ever getting to the boss room

[Pizza Tower Defense]

spent way more time than i'd like to admit trying to figure out an optimal setup on the second level (thinking having walls already placed at the start gave me an advantage on the early levels) only to be absolutely demolished by the last wave due to sheer lack of DPS.

then i realized everyone else had cleared the first map instead:
https://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/d5aea8500da6b4c93d4ddbd446c7a536
ahah pizza tower go boom.
even this can probably be optimized if you upgrade some of the towers in the middle instead of adding the top layer (though you still need to place at least one near the spawn so they don't just hug the top wall)

my only gripe with this is the weird balancing issue (you never want the jalapeno tower because you need the money to set a path first, and on later levels more range = better damage overall), and the difficulty curve caused by not having a set path to follow.
personally it's the first time i've seen something like that, but with no in-game explanation for it i would have never figured out why the enemies seemingly picked a path at random every time i started a new game. gotta thank other reviews for that.

P.S. i'm assuming the scores are the highest wave reached.
honestly i have no idea why i got 40, since i only cleared wave 20 with this setup and then submitted score there

clarkiagames responds:

Jalapeno tower is good if you couple it with slow tower to optimize splash damage. Yes that’s the point it’s hard to optimize difficulty with creating your own winding path but that’s what make you want to go back to the game and try to find the BEST optimized path i think. The best path i think for the first map is creating a spirale. For the score i fixed it on the api side. Thanks for your feedbacks, much appreciated.

[SQUADADDLE]

did anyone even playtest the "harder" levels at all?
i understand that the game is supposed to be difficult, but i had trouble even with the early levels tbh; the difficulty seems to be all over the place. (this was on easy mode)
i figured i'm just that bad at it, so since i wouldn't stop dying i went with training mode to see if i couldn't figure something out.

i went all the way up to 25k points, until i could not clear a single level anymore.
i've been stuck on the same 10 levels loop for at least half an hour, and went all the way back to -1500 (yes negative points) before i just gave up.

for starters, there is simply not enough time to figure out which level you're on, and then execute everything flawlessly just to barely make it to the goal. even if the timer was double the current one it would be difficult, but the way it is now makes it almost impossible.
the air mobility and hitboxes seem to be all over the place, especially with the long jump.
i understand it's supposed to follow your side directional inputs, but it's way too sensitive considering how little room for error there is, plus the insanely short timer.
given this, having to hold down and a direction at the same time to perform it is also a bad idea, because you will be holding a direction while performing a jump when most of the time it's going to get you killed. having to hold down doesn't help either since you'll probably have to climb upwards right after a jump not to fall into spikes right below.

i've had my fair share of controls accidentally "not working as intended", but i reckon that's probably just the combination of game mechanics clashing against each other so i can't really say it's due to "unresponsive controls". might just be that the gameplay loop itself is too demanding to even realize if you're making a mistake or it's the controls not responding.

i would honestly like to see someone clear every level at least once with this time constraint. this would be even ignoring the bonus fruit on each level, since i personally wouldn't even try bothering with those considering how difficult the base game already is.
i liked the previous games so i feel like this one just happened to be a miss, or i'm simply not the intended audience for these types of games, though that's how i felt about it.
even then i probably ended up rating it lower than i would have normally due to the frustation i just went through. i'll see if i feel differently about it after taking a break; sorry about that

kaiakairos responds:

review is completely fair, my other games have been much slower paced but this one is a hard 180 in the other direction. every level is possible, yes, but it was definitely made for an audience that prefers a brutal challenge. Another reviewer said a “free play” mode to try any level at any time would be nice, I think i’d agree.

[Faces Of 2022 Collab]

https://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/19262f1fcac48ba2750de11dfb2d6859
made this around the time the game came out but i forgot to share it so i'm using this chance to do it now before i forget again.
dunno if the game has been updated since, otherwise it should still be accurate

Intrapath responds:

qwerty741 out here doing God's work! Great stuff!

[Maple's Maid Service]

i finally got my hands on a pc that doesn't run like internet explorer, so i managed to see how the game's actually supposed to be played. this time it only took me about 20 minutes instead of 200 to finish the game lol.
maple's even squishier than i thought she looked at first, really lovely character design.

decided to scrap my previous review entirely because fishing seems to have been reworked multiple times since.
i'll see if i can try to go for that fabled fish eventually

EDIT: the new "accessible mode" makes grinding so much easier and faster; you can also use the amount of fish caught (ignoring garbage) as an indicator instead of rough time estimate, which is a welcome change considering i used to not even bother catching fish with classic mode to save on time.

also i got blessed. about 30 minutes into fishing grind with the new mechanic and i got my shiny lol. my counter says 68 fish caught, although there was some garbage in-between
https://www.newgrounds.com/dump/item/7ce3440cc7a4c0f3058ac649e9ac10a2

Bleak-Creep responds:

Peti made the original concepts for Maple, with notes like "a friend" in the margins. I made a bunch of different faces for Maple when I was drawing her for myself, but Peti ended up choosing the one that looked most like the original. Hugability always came first. :)

[Pixel Mania!]

it's interesting because it's a "front game" that hides the real game.
i do enjoy the gimmick, but unless you figure it out early you're basically locked out on most of the game.

it does take a bit to get used to the "instant defeat" where the game immediately ends if you lose the chase or get hit 3 times in proto-world, but with how short the overall objective is i can see why that's the case. you could say it's perfectly balanced on that front.

however, i do have some gripes on the last boss fight.
although getting only one shot at it is consistent with the rest of the game, you need at least 10 diamonds just to get an attempt at it, which involves scouring the entire game regarless.
not an issue if it wasn't due to the fight being somehow harder than it seems?
i don't know if it's because the patterns having really narrow dodge windows, or because you have no idea how much health you still need to go through as it's not shown, which give you no indication of progress.

another minor problem i have is being unabled to skip the introductory dialogue, coupled with the really slow text speed. i'd recommend making some changes there if at all possible.

all in all the game's solid and original enough imo, so it's really good work nonetheless

edit: my bad, i keep forgetting these are contest games so they're on a time schedule.

i can understand the need to know the plot;
i was thinking you could make it so it shows all text with a button press so you can manually go through it faster, but i realize only now it's an entire cutscene so idk if that's a thing.

there could be an option that allows you to entirely skip cutscenes after a first playthough? though if you don't make it to proto-world at all that might also not work.
honestly i'm not sure

blit-blat responds:

Thanks for the review, this is really helpful! I was actually thinking to myself last night that the number of gems for the ship should probably be 5 not 10, so you’re 100% right on that front. And probably with the “real” game being too hard find - I wanted it feel amazing and fun when you found it, but it probably could have been sign posted a bit more, and the base game could probably be a bit more engaging!



As for the intro being slow, it’s difficult balance as people have different reading speeds. I also put purposely avoided a skip button as I wanted to people to know about the spaceship and what exactly was going on.

In terms of the boss fight there’s 3 attack patterns - lines of numbers, numbers that are aimed toward the player and numbers that are aimed randomly. For the lines there should always be gaps, the aimed you basically want to move up and down and for the random you’re in the hands of RNGesus! In hindsight, again you’re probably right that an enemy health bar and a continue screen would probably be needed. Truth be told, I was running a bit tight on time to release on Pixel Day, so these features fell by the wayside! Next year I’ll start development earlier! Thanks for playing and for the review! :)