unfortunately, i'm a fan of hack dot series
and this too freaking same idea, beside the battles look so normal...
Reviews for "TOME Episode 01"
Wierd...
You know.... this has changed quite a bit from what I remember, Little 'Kirby' is no longer a puff ball, and Alpha/Flamegirl now have tails. Honestly I think Kirby no longer a puff ball, anyways I'll watch the rest and toss in a few more comments later.
man you done a super great job
i wish newgrounds do a online game like this :D awesome :D you rock my online gaming world
Whooosh
Angry Beavers reference?(muscular beaver)
So glad to see this back
I watched every episode of this back in the day, and was so sad when it got canceled. But now it's back! I'm so freaking happy! Not that you're going to read all 500+ reviews, but I figure I'd throw in my two cents about it. Having watched the original series, I'm pretty pleased with how you've redone it. When you originally switched to full animation, I didn't really like it. Since then though, your animation skills have improved and you've developed your own style, and it's really interesting to see this old memory redone in your new style. I like it. Also, the voice acting is better. Holy crap, the voice acting is better. You've got an amazing cast of voice actors now. This was an excellent reboot, and I'm sure you waited until you were certain you could do it justice, and it shows.
That said, there were a few things I'd like to offer a bit of criticism about. First off, while much was explained better than it was in the original, some things could do with a little more. I understood everything having watched the original series, but if I hadn't I might have had some trouble. I'm sure some of it will come in later episodes, but in particular, one thing needs a lot of work, and that's combat. What's the point of the battle grid?! That's what everyone will be thinking if they didn't know any better. As it stands, it's just a change of background, which is stupid. Why? Because I DO know better. In the original, the grid affected gameplay, and here, it doesn't at all, beyond a change of background. The conversation sprites and machinima-like animations were genius, giving the feel of watching the in-game engine at work. But the magic is lost in combat. The battle grid isn't present in any real sense, and there's nothing that makes the combat feel like it's a video game. It could be just another generic fantasy world fight if I didn't know any better. The fights aren't even that exciting. In the original, despite the sprite graphics, the fights were really interesting because you could clearly see how they were grounded in the mechanics of the game, and it was exciting to see how the characters would push the limits of the game and surprise us with unexpected things. With the reboot, it just feels like bland fantasy fighting. It's not too late to change things. We haven't even seen a legit, complete fight yet. Add some more elements to give the feel of seeing the in-game engine during combat. You did a great job with it outside combat, but combat needs work here. It was the fact that the fights were all gameplay that made them interesting in the original, and that same flavor should continue in the reboot. Maybe you intended to make the fights seem like gameplay, but it wasn't clear enough.
No other major complaints, but I feel I should say something in light of all the pointless criticism. First, I don't know what the hell Egoraptor is talking about. Your story is fine. He has no basis to say anything he said regarding characters and story after ONE EPISODE. If you even follow the original story at all, then I already know that the story is engaging and the characters interesting. They just need a little time for you to develop them. If you don't understand the story yet people, learn a little patience and watch the next episode! As for all those reviews criticizing your art here, I don't think I need to tell you that they just don't get the point. Rest assured some people do. I know I do at least. The animation isn't the best by certain standards, but then it's supposed to look like video game machinima animations and old video game cutscenes, and it does this well. This also makes it easier for you to make the episodes on a monthly basis without sacrificing story. I'd be pretty mad if you sacrificed TOME's story to polish the art. That's what makes the series great is its story. And obviously making the art into what the art critics are telling you to would defeat the purpose of making it look like a video game world. You're on the right track with this and it's sad to see how many people are missing the entire point.
Kirbopher responds:
Thanks for the kind words and glad you enjoyed it for what it is! I agree with what the majority of what you guys feel about the fight scenes. I've said this in a few other reviews, but in this first episode I sort of just flew by the seat of my pants as far as the battles' animation went. I'm going to be opening a feedback poll on the TOME facebook page soon for people to give their thoughts on -specifically- how the fight scenes should go. I'll admit I'm not keen on going back to the "Battle Network" style because, well it simply isn't my creation. However, the fights are obviously a key part of the show and I want people to be excited by them, so I'm completely open to change on those. Lemme know your specific thoughts on them later on. Thanks again!