Reviews for the Last of the Dashkin

[madsweeney]

I have a lot to say!

I have been keeping an eye on your excellent output for years, and in fact made a newgrounds profile solely for the purpose of reviewing this, your most recent video.
Let me start by saying that every time I watch one of your brackenwood videos, they just make me feel good. Their simple narrative style coupled with the stunning detail of your animation just can't be beat anywhere else on the internet. Period.
This is why I was so dismayed by this last one. To me the addition of the narrator feels like a complete cop-out to save you the time and trouble of producing another amazing piece, and it frankly makes the whole video feel like a cheap movie trailer (forgive me, remember, this is only the opinion of a fan who has high expectations for your work). The narrator was, in fact, just artlessly describing the character traits of Bitey that have already been beautifully revealed by your earlier work, all without verbal explanation.
Brackenwood is great to watch because all of the character development is physical. And all of the character interactions are also physical. This lends all of your stories a sort of magical childhood feeling, which is hard to come by on an internet overflowing with crude jokes and over explained plot devices. The grandiose LOTR feeling I am getting from this story just doesn't sit right.

I understand that this video was more complicated and you are introducing a whole lot of new stuff to the bitey world. And maybe you think you need a more complicated narrative structure in order to handle that complexity. But I think some of us would like to see it done in a way that is similar in style to your old videos (by, among other things, keeping the focus on the characters and their interactions). I think that, instead of losing the ability to tell a complicated story by keeping the form simple and visual, you would in fact enhance those great plot future plot ideas you have because you would be telling them in your own unique, brackenwood way.
Anyway, you're awesome. I'm giving this a low rating, because I think it deserves it, but then I am immediately going to give everything else you have ever submitted a 10/10, because they REALLY deserve it.

[Beantins]

Weak

Worst by far in a brilliant series. Why do a story at all? There was a brilliant simplicity to the brackenwood story that told itself without any spoken words at all.
Not only that but it is a really unoriginal story. He's the last of his kind on a forest planet and an orphan? Oh and there's a wizard too?!
There seems to be a need by some writers to take something brilliant and simple and 'take it to hollywood'.
An example of this would be Primal War. The early episodes are all done without any dialogue at all and the character of the white gorilla is shrouded in mystery. But as it progresses there is more and more story and less action. Misterho does pull it off, however, because the story is more of an explanation of why the animals are fighting a load of dinosaurs. But Brackenwood is essentially a brief snapshot into the forest (why did it need to be a forest planet?) along the lines of a John Steinbeck story. In East of Eden there is no 'quest' that the charcters are on. Or even Grapes of Wrath; although the characters are heading to California, the story is like a snapshot into their lives.
To sum up this flash is like saying Postman Pat is the last of the postmen on the planet of Greendale. Oh, and there's a wizard...

[Trom]

Lack of ending

I usually enjoy your work because your animation is very smooth. The lack of ending, however, really bothered me this time. You shouldn't post an animation if you do not intend to finish it. Work harder next time and try to finish what you start!

[Shallow]

Hmmm...

Not sure if I like this idea of giving the Brackenwood series a story.
The previous Brackenwood videos had a simplicity so perfect that story given to it seems like it would ruin it. At the same time, however, I am interested to see how this will play out.
Interesting how, though the protagonist being the last of their kind is an almost over used idea, the sheer beauty and imagination of this series keeps the viewer from taking too much notice of it.
I am sure that "The Last of the Dashkin" series will turn out wonderful. You have a great gift for this sort of work. Keep it up!