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HershallCook

2 Game Reviews w/ Response

All 2 Reviews

As someone with a fondness for developing story-focused games, I appreciate what "The Shyning" attempts to do. The variety of endings, some of which are achieved through choice, and others through gameplay (drinking yourself to death, for instance), makes for an entertaining game from a plot standpoint.

Unfortunately, the gameplay kills much of the replayability, as some of your mechanics are tedious. Take the beer drinking, which is a core tenet of this title. Instead of taking fifteen beers to get drunk – and by extension, roughly half a minute – why not make it a lower number, like four or five? Then we, the player, wouldn't need to waste as much time pressing the spacebar and waiting for an animation to finish.

That said, I'm willing to stomach mediocre gameplay for a good story. However, the story in your game failed to engage me. Part of this was due to the writing: if English isn't your first language, which is what I'm assuming, you should reach out to the Newgrounds community in search of someone to help you with grammar.

Moving past your grammatical errors, I see a story without much of a takeaway. At times, it seems like you are trying to be dark and funny. Look, you tell us, you can play video games until you die. But this approach contrasts with your painful story about an abusive lover. This woman "breaks weak healthy men," you say, and then you force the player to become one of those men.

When these two tones mix, it results in confusion. Is it supposed to be funny that I can shoot my girlfriend in the game's final scene, a jab at how so many video games are built around guns? Or is my decision to pick up a rifle – to struggle with the decision of whether or not to pull the trigger – supposed to demonstrate how much she has broken me?

In the end, there wasn't enough direction for me to say either way.

I view "The Shyning" as a commendable attempt at a story-focused game, and I look forward to seeing what you come up with next.

Raeldor responds:

I really like and apreciate your indepth review.

English isn't my first language, yes, and sometimes I have some issues with it. Maybe the problem with this particular game is that I intended that "He" and "She" was used as a name and that makes the sentences look weird (Maybe I shouldn't had done something "experimental" while not being so proficient in english)

It's a fun concept, but it needs polish. I want to replay levels, rather than die in a single hit and return to the main menu. I also dislike having to wait several seconds as the "cars" cross paths before starting the game.

That, the moment to moment gameplay is enjoyable. I'd like more variety, but it's a good start.

Writer and producer. Ridiculous with a side of morbid.

Age 32, Male

Internet

Joined on 8/17/16

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