Bean-Summoner's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[[REVAMPED] Renascence Demo]

Another long one. I'm bad at compiling ideas ._.

Great job! I'm surprised you did so much so soon!
From tiny things like the menu screen or the random stranger in the hallway, to the bigger additions like the glitchy hallway or the whispers within it, all of those tiny details truly improved the game!

Some more suggestions I have are making the doors (specifically the faculty doors) be at the end of a hallway (so you can't see the main room from the door). This could help build a sense of isolation from the rest of the school. You could also do this with the science door, to isolate the faculty from it on the walk. It would also increase the mystery surrounding ????.

I liked the addition of the whispers in the hallway, definitely what it needed! Just make them quieter, more subtle. Consider making the track more like a "scripted sound", that fades in at a certain time, hangs out for about 5 seconds, then fades out, so then you don't have to deal with a weird cut and loop halfway down to the door. Also the glitch was perfect, exactly what the hallway needed to show that you're not in happy school land anymore.

The Game:
The enemy speed change was very helpful, and made deaths more reasonable (I'm assuming you're still working on the hitbox system itself).
I also like the new intercom, it initiates the story, as well as (according to the fast lines it has) truly starts the lore.
I have a few questions about the intercom though:
Is the intercom being sent from the school or facility? (Or….both..?) Are they genuinely worried about the student? Why should this happy school have access to a research facility's intercom..?
Also, aside from fixing its speed, I think the intercom along with most if not all dialogue, should be unskippable for a few seconds, to keep you from missing anything.

Other tiny optional tweaks:
-Door open and close sounds (quieter when happier, more noticeable when locked in a room)
-Footsteps after entering faculty room
-Is the facility abandoned? Is it running strong, and in control? Do they think they have it under control? Is it chaos? Just want to know so I can give better feedback on the story. Whichever state you chose it to be in, try and make the environment (floors, walls, equipment) reflect that.

Also, would a kid normally be brought to the CPA through the way the player has gone? If so, consider adding labels on the wall that make sense. For example: "CPA Experiments 10-20 ahead. For dropoff of Subject (main character), proceed to room F6." Or something else, like "warning. experiments in this area are currently uncontainable. procede with caution." Unless this area is for visitors/supervisors, in which case the signs about "don't worry we totally got this under control" would make sense.

Even Smaller Tweaks:
-Change/ Remove Teachers dialogue after telling you to explore (something like "we're not ready yet, go explore first!" would work)
Why is the screen black when talking to mom?
-Consider removing the option to skip dialogue; I find myself missing information by accidently skipping more than anything!

Aside from that, I think the numerous improvements you made in such a short time is awesome! I truly can't wait to see the full thing! Great job :D
Also thanks for the shoutout!

nulledwine responds:

Thank you again for the amazing feedback!
I had to do a lot of research to figure out how to make glitch effects and stuff. Also my friend drew the title page, cause she's really good at art.
I've had the idea to expand the map for some time now, the door isolation idea you have is perfect! Definitely going to change the map. Thanks for the info about the whispers too, I kinda had the same idea.
So for the lore, the facility is placed underneath the school. Cause you know, there's kids in schools so a lot of subjects to experiment on. The school is able to access both intercoms; the one in the school and the one in the facility. Because no one else is currently in the facility the school used the cameras to locate the student, and the intercom to communicate that he was lead into the wrong room.
As I said, the dialogue is still a bit buggy, and I am currently working on making the cutscenes unskippable.
More lore, the facility is usually under control, but the teachers/employees are not happy working there, scared of the children they experiment on. It was the principal's idea, to create a perfect child.
As for leading the experiments to the facility, they were usually brought by teachers, (They were told someone need to see them etc.). The player himself had just been falsely leaded there on accident. I like your idea for the signs though, definitely going to implement that as well.
To add onto the lore, I'm planning to have teachers journal entries around the place so you can learn about what happened.
Probably going to implement all of your small tweaks, and my buddy is helping me make sound effects for the game as well.
Thanks again for your amazing feedback!

[Learning project #1]

Cool game, reminds me of this one:
ttps://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/308040?random

[[BTNverse] There is nothing here.]

Cool game dude! I like the music, concept, everything! Going to go play the sequel now!

adriendittrick responds:

Have fun!

[HecTix 3.5]

Cool game bro!

[Riddle School]

Always loved this game series, awesome job you guys!

[Aground]

Another cool game snoboxstudios! You guys are awesome!

[Renascence Demo [OLD]]

I love small horror games, and loved this ones concept, so this one's gonna be long but hear me out please!

Overall, great game!
I love the way you achieved a good horror atmosphere without having to use extra stuff! I loved the music cut when entering the closet too, really helped set the mood. The game feels overall like Petscop (because of the creepy dead kid stuff and music cuts to show that something is off), Undertale (because it also uses music well, also similar to gasters "experiments"), Bendy and the Ink Machine (for tar-ish character models and player tracking), and, of course, Kindergarten (because its a pixel "mystery" game disguised as a cute kindergarten simulator but you slowly discover a secret operation using kids for experiments). I'm not saying that's a bad thing, I'm just saying you can take inspiration from all these stories to help you build your story (unless you already have one, in which case I can't wait for the full game!) Overall awesome!
If you don't mind me giving some tips, I would recommend a few things:
First (and most importantly) CHANGE THE BUTTONS! I know there isnt much use for them yet, but I would like a Q and E combo.
Secondly, adding somethign else to highten the mood, such as whispers or footsteps could help a lot too.
Thirdly, I'm assuming you already have plans to flesh out the intro more, but if you don't, I'd recommend a slightly different sequence to how the player ends up in the room other than getting supplies right away. Maybe he's on his way to get supplies when bullies catch him and throw him in there as a prank. Or maybe he gets lost and someone mysterious falsely guides him there. The possibilities are endless.

Now, for the actual game.

I just want to first say great job again for setting the eerie horror mood! Definitely put me on edge, and yes the jumpscares got me quite a few times. Great work!
Firstly, the deaths were kind of annoying. They would trigger when you weren't even that close to an enemy. I understand that when you're that close the enemy can easily close the distance. But I have some things that could help prevent the situation in the first place. Firstly, you could make the trigger for the jumpscare even smaller, maybe even smaller than the player model. So mobs have to be on top of you to kill you. Or, you could make the character faster or the mobs slower.

The other thing I was wondering about was the level design. I was literally mapping out the level, and I found that there were certain areas I couldn't map out all the way due to the "glitchers" (the red ones that look like the game over screen) these ones I'm assuming were made fast and no-clipping (more than other mobs) for a reason, but what will they be in the full game? currently there seems to only be 2, that stay in there general area unless provoked, but when provoked... well, you know.
Lastly, I was wondering about your future plans for the game. Will it be level based? Will it be errand based? What will you add? More characters? Enemies? I can't wait to see the full thing! good luck to you and your team! Best of luck on this game and others!
(and thank you SO much for reading my hella long review)

nulledwine responds:

Thank you so much for the feedback man!
Now this is the kind of review I was hoping to get.
Yes, I have adapted some aspects from other games, but they are likely to change in the future.
I've had a lot of trouble with creating cutscenes, and I know the player is kinda thrown into the monsters a little too fast, but I love your ideas. Probably going to use the mysterious guide.
So there are two enemies types: wandering and stationary. Both have an attack radius and both have a kill trigger. Thank you for telling me about the trigger situation, I will be fixing that. You should be able to outrun the mobs, however the stationary mobs have a much bigger range to spot you and usually not outrunnable. I probably should nerf a lot of the enemies.
The glitchers (They're actually called homicides in the game files) are meant to be fast and unavoidable. I should probably nerf them as well.
The full game will be more likely area based, puzzles, more enemies, and bosses. I have everything planned out.
Thanks again for the amazing feedback!