Thanks for making this game, it's sure bring back old memory :)
Reviews for "JUGGERNAUT: Awakening"
TheEnkian responds:
Thank YOU for playing the game :)
I don't know what exactly causes the white-out glitch... but apparently looking at the menu after some odd combination of variables causes the glitch, as it was after I did that (after looking at numerous other variables) that I caused the glitch. I tried replicating the act by viewing the menu alone at the start, but that didn't seem to do it. Still, might want to take a look at the menu code and make sure it functions properly.
I know it doesn't result from refreshing (or Flash crashing) when you're outside Vana, during a fight, or when you're on the map, nor does it result from Aura joining your party (well, that variable alone). I don't have much patience to beta-test this further, but I figured I may as well state what I did test.
I do not claim to be a professional beta tester, just somebody with an analytical mindset who knows the scientific method.
Anyways, the game is definitely playable besides the loading glitch (loading DOES work most of the time, as my testing has shown!) although it's also a bit too slow-paced at the beginning. My solution to the slow pace and the grinding needed to level up is to increase Jash's, Tyson's, and Amara's level 1 stats to what they would be at level 6, then decrease the starting level to level 1, keeping everything else the same. Essentially, start them out with the stats they should have at Level 1! I'd do something similar for Aura (but of course have him be a few levels above the kids to start out).
I'd play it more if I knew how to avoid that loading glitch, or if said glitch was fixed.
TheEnkian responds:
I appreciate you checking out the game and doing some investigating for that glitch, thanks.
Based on a lot of the feedback we've got, we're likely going to go for a bit of an overhaul to the engine, controls and stats so it's quicker paced and that loading glitch isn't there.
I have been trying to get my game to Load, but I have yet to be able to make a successful load. Not sure if this game isn't comparable with Google Chrome.
TheEnkian responds:
I don't think that Chrome is the issue as I use it too. It just seems to be a bug that occurs for some people for an unknown reason. Very sorry about that!
Always nice to see a new RPG making the rounds, but this definitely could use some work:
Presentation - The story is a bit simplistic, but I understand that this is only the first in a series, and that more interesting content is on its way. The visuals are pretty low quality; it's fine to want to emulate the JRPG style, but even early final fantasy games managed to stay visually interesting, and Chrono Trigger is still fun to look at now in 2013 even though it was made in 1996. Visuals are especially important during fighting sequences. The fighting gameplay in JRPGs is going to be repetitive no matter what you do, but making the attack into a jumping strike for Jash or giving the elemental attacks a bit more pizzaz could go along way to keeping the game exciting until the end.
Gameplay - The JRPG already has a wonderful, successful framework to draw from, but in this day and age, certain expectations have been put into place. One is customization. Being able to choose what the main character's sprite looks like would be great, and being able to choose what element each character becomes (Wild Arms style) would be fantastic. Just naming the main character has been pretty standard since the early days, and with an intro this long, it shouldn't be hard to squeeze in a short customization/tutorial section. The walking and battle system are fine, but it would be a huge improvement to be able to play the whole game with just the mouse. There's no reason not to, and with the amount of options every fight has, it's a very nice convenience to use a soul extract with three clicks rather than hitting the arrow keys and S key half a dozen times each. There was also never any sort of tutorial explaining how to open the inventory, and the kinds of items that the enemies dropped were confusing at first, especially the lack of gold (chests seem like an ok idea, but enemy drops have always been the preferred method, and there's no point in changing that unless it's integral to the gameplay system). The difficulty was jarring at first, and leveling up took waaay too long for level one characters. New weapons and gear would have seemed more attractive if it actually caused the a change in how the character or his/her weapon looked.
Conclusion - All in all, a very nice start to what I hope is a great series, but some minor (and major) tweaks should really be applied to bring this RPG to the next level. Don't be afraid to experiment, and remember that this is just a JRPG; sometimes fun is more important than logic, and you can't this world to seriously if you want it to be interesting. Thanks for reading my review, I sincerely hope it helps.
TheEnkian responds:
I appreciate all the great feedback you've given here, a few new points that haven't been mentioned yet which always helps.
This was my first real game and I've never done a lot in the way of sprite before this except for recolouring old ones. This time around I went for my own custom sprites from scratch. They were mostly done back in October and I feel confident in saying that the next games will have a massively better look to them. A lot more variation in the maps too.
I think part of my problem with the gameplay is that I tried to be too 'realistic' with the progression and battles. This made the game suffer considerably though, it seems. The main issue with naming the protagonist in JUGGERNAUT is that he's gone by the end of the game and one of the previous party members takes his place as the lead for the next three games. I wanted the characters to be known by a little more than just Protagonist or Player. There'll definitely be a lot more chance to customise the player with weapons and accessories in the next game which I'm sure will be appreciated.
Hopefully you stick around to see the next game in the series and it'll impress you more than this one. Thanks again for the feedback!
It's supposed to be Darkness not Shadow. And it's not VOID it's supposed to be Electric. Wish we could actually choose who we were, and custom make characters as well... That's a real RPG to have there. Changed my rating from 1.5 Stars to 1 star for that.
TheEnkian responds:
It's not "supposed" to be anything. I chose to make it Shadow and I chose Void as a standalone element. Electricity/Lightning is part of the Air element in my world like it is in a lot of games.