just pure greatness
I haven't cried as much I did during this game's ending than I did watching Toy Story 3
Reviews for "After Years In Dark Tunne"
Don't loose hope
This is a refreshing change from the usual happy, cute and/or funny drivel usually made with fixel (see also: Robot Wants Ice Cream). You can really feel the sense of loneliness and despair coming from this game. Personally, I've come back to play this one on numerous occasions and have added it to my favorites list (It's the first fixel game to be added). Onto the formal review:
Plot:
Nice and depressing. As I said before, you get a sense of loneliness. There doesn't seem to be any other living thing on the planet which adds to the dreariness. One major plot flaw stands out which is the lack of a name for the player (although you could have a reason for leaving this out). I just have one question: How does one use a dead cat in making a homing beacon or repairing a space suit?
Art:
The pixel art is really well done. The artist seems to be well versed in working with a limited pallet (ie, checker-board shading). What I like are the statues. Not only are there a diverse assortment of them but they're scattered evenly acting as landmarks which makes up for lack of a map (to a degree).
My one complaint (and I hate to sound ungrateful) is that a few still images would have gone well where there was just text (ie, the intro story, the "use-the-parts-to-fix-her-suit-but-th en-you-both-die-anyway" ending).
Audio:
Minimal. Understandably, if there's no atmosphere, there's no sound except what comes from the player (ie, heartbeat). However, there could have been more like perhaps at least a jump and backpack noise.
Animation:
Now that I think about it while there wasn't that much apart from the main character and the ghosts but it seemed to work. I'd suggest that if you decide to revise or modify the game that you should make the character's walk change depending on his level of hope. Granted he slows down when all hope is gone but he always seems to swing his arm in a confident manner.
Gameplay:
Very hard. It took me a few plays to find all the parts and I have yet to see all ghosts and bodies. As it's been said before, a Map would have been helpful (and perhaps a hope meter). However, you seem to be going for simplicity, which is good so I guess both having more and having less has their advantages and disadvantages.
Misc:
I also found the ending B glitch but another one where if you come close enough to a "ship part" the text will activate. Overall, a great game. Learn from your mistakes, keep going and don't get discouraged (loose hope) .
difficult to figure out, but worth it
While it took *quite* a while for me to figure out what was going on, I really enjoyed it when I did. While I can understand people's desire for a map, the vastness and confusion I think added, rather than detracted from the game (though the battery was particularly difficult to find for me, despite it's easy location).
More than a map, I think something like a new+ would be nice, so I could track down the endings without doing everything again, though after once I found it not so bad.
*Bug*: after getting ending "B", every game I start begins me with an "X" below myself, allowing me to end the game immediately with the same ending.
cosmicmaher responds:
mm thanks didn't know about the bug
WOW!
Awesome game! I love games like this. I really enjoyed the concept of the dimming lights it took me a second to figure out how to "rekindle the hope". Great game cant wait for more.
@ Dragoon: Try "praying" that should help out tremendously : )
Great
Great concept. I'm not so sure what the story behind all this is, but I'm assuming we have crash landed on a distant planet and now I'm trying to account for all of my crew before launching the distress beacon? Seems easy enough to play, a bit creepy and myserious as well. The concept I love, and the music is great. Although it seems I have been able to locate almost all of the items, I seem to be missing a few crew members hmm.
It doesn't look like you've posted a walkthrough. I think you should also expand upon the game in your author comments section. Tell us more about it, the story, how long it took you to make, etc.
Keep up the good work.