Reviews for Parallel Memories: Ep 1-1

[Budj]

Well... well... WELLLLLL!!!!!

I guess the first thing to touch on is the length. I mean by my clock it went for like 40+ minutes, which to me is way WAY too long. I will mention the fact that you put alot of care into the sprite animation and the action sequences because it really does show, but as teejay said the whole thing story wise was too thin. I found the fight with that little bird thing extremely confusing too, I dunno if I missed something or what but then the random characters popping in got a bit annoying, and I didn't know whether to laugh because it was making fun of itself or if these characters were part of the story somehow and it was just confusing.

I see potential with this series, thus I implore that you DO NOT use SMBZ/DBZ styled fights in the series. It's overused and hurts the experience I think, I appreciated the fact you used different sound effects for the punches and kicks too. Also voice acting instead of text boxes is always a big plus, and I thought the voices were pretty good.

Overall I will admit I found it interesting, and the use of sprites was exceptonally good and I am interested to see what happens next. Remember anyone can do sprite fights, but only those with REAL talent can write a good story so you should focus on making that. Go for a bit shorter next time, maybe around 15-20 minutes maximum? Apart from that, keep it up.

Pienkaito responds:

First of all, thanks a ton in acceptin' my request.

Yep, a few mentioned that it's a very lengthy flash animation. I'll try my best NOT to overdo the animation next time and keep it straight-forward.
The story continues in episode 1-2 for real, so it's no big deal.

About the junkyard scene, don't crack your brain about it. It's like commanding a banana to be a melon.
There's no sense to it in any way and has absolutely nothing to do with the plot.
Don't worry, I'm a guy who tries to be unique. I can assure you that I'll try not to mimic any animation style, since it's really not my type.

Thanks for praising the VA by the way. Even though I'm pretty bad at it.

And again thank you for taking your time and writing this helpful review, which is very helpful.
Did I mention that it's helpful?

[Slirun]

I like some events and the best part was when mario fight the bird but the ending is a little bit bad :(.

[DaffyTheDuck]

decent... but the mario pikachu dude needs better voice acting.

Pienkaito responds:

...okay. =(

[XwaynecoltX]

Great design

The animation is nice but not awesome, Doesnt mean it cant be awsome its actually decent work and is in a pretty goos shape of quality, B utit still needs some Tweaking there and here and all around for some better outcomes It does have some interesting and entertaining things. all about it though and thats what drew me to this. I would like to say that just the menu alone and all the extras from scene selection to settings and so one was a very good idea and it gave this flash a more "FULLER" feel and touch so props to you on that aspect of things, Now as for the actual animation, The "AUDIO" to me was not the best of quality, there was some slight scratchy sounds with mic it seemed, maybe that can be looked into, The "VISUALS" are really good though, you showed some impressive results and the "SPRITE" and or "PIXLE" work was really good The "STORY" was ok could have had more depth and more story to the characters. And with this flash it was actually pretty good, iliked the effort you put forward on this but there are still a few more things here and there that could make it even better, ihave posted a few ideas i hope they help to improve on this so good luck, and i hope to see improvments soon, or in the near future. But untill then this was a decent piece of flashworks.

~~THINGS TO IMPROVE ON~~
So while this was a pretty nifty flash movie here there were some tweaks and changes that can be addressed, as mentioned throughout the review aswell as here, you can put that extra improving for an overall better outcome with some more quality added, so here are some thing i found lacking and or needeing some changes. audio was abit low quality some scratchy sounds in the recordings it seemed, someting you can look into later i suppose.

Pienkaito responds:

Outstanding review right there.
I'll keep the things you mentioned in mind and correct those flaws as good as I can.

Thank you very much for your constructive review.

[fasdit]

I am having a nostalgic day and logged into Newground's to watch some Flash. You have clearly stated you are not making a continuation and are not very active on the flash scene. With that understanding I did see noteworthy aspects to apply in new projects if you want to get back into it.

Positives
+Menu: Good music, sound effects, and organization. The scene selection was helpful and I liked the quaint alliteration of titles such as 'Lethargic Laboratory'.

+Intro: On point and easily my favorite part ('Interplanetary Indoctrination'). The 3rd person perspective of different video game characters on their respective worlds watching the test subject fly through space in the blue beam was incredible. Loved the upbeat Asian music and how it changes in the song were synced with changes in the animation. The looping animation of the blue beam background inside the beam was cool. At the end you joked about not having credits. You didn't need them because you already nailed it here.

+Camera work: Very cinematic. Dramatic angles. Utilizing the foreground, middle, and background. You even had decent faux 3D. EX: When Marichu wakes up in the grassy field.

+ Animation: Loops such as the computer screens in the lab or grass blades moving in the wind made the world feel alive. Rain on the window of May's car with wipers a cool effect.

+ Sound work: Loved the little touches. Like the music on the radio in May's car. You could still hear it slightly muffled after she opens the door and steps out.

Negatives
The entire video comes off like an art project where you are just testing animation techniques and have no coherent story or character's.

-Pacing: Too long for the attention span of the average Flash movie viewer. Very slow and boring after the lab and intro. Many things could have been cut down without sacrificing the artistic message and you would have increased viewer retention. Forgetful Fields and Sanity Scrap Yard are the biggest offenders. You joke about the length in the description and at the end even have a joke argument with the other writer about the ridiculousness of the junkyard fight scene. It's not a joke. Take your own advice.

-Voice Acting: Male voice acting was bad both in delivery and audio quality. Kira is a pro and as expected did okay as May, but even she sounded uninspired and unsure of what you were going for. Create more interesting characters and explain their objectives to your voice actors. The rest will come through naturally.