MalFromed's art Reviews on Newgrounds

[No escape, you must work!]

Truth be told, I kind of wish I had a machine like this...

Batfeula responds:

Are you sure?
Once you wear it you cannot disconnect until you have completed your 13 hours of daily work!

[Ya'll live like this?]

Looks better than my place.

[Mi(iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii)ku]

Who's been puttin' Mikoo in the migouwave again? >:B
(Read as if you are listening to one who is suffering from severe congestion.)

[I don’t remember this enemy]

What? You didn't know about the Secret Doll Encounter on Floor 6 in [Mōhitotsu no Rengoku: Mū e no Michi] (Or [The Other Purgatory: Road to Mu] if you're a Pleb...)? Pfft, I bet you don't even know how to beat it... Then again, it doesn't help that you first have to have been to Floor 27 to get the Mirror AND have the idea to equip it to your head... It also doesn't help that the item description simply reads, "It's just an ordinary mirror."

I'd love to say that after you know that, you practically won the fight. But... Uh... I'd rather not ruin the surprise~...!

Side Note: It's a shame they didn't get to make the other two games they had planned, especially with that cliffhanger! You know, when you get to the end, and you fall for what seems like forever? The first time I saw it, I thought I was falling through space until I saw those things off in the distance before finally hitting the ground, finding the sarcophagus, and putting in what's revealed to be the first key of 3. (I have to say that I thought it was a bit cruel that they expected the players who got to the end to wander around for like 10 minutes before they found the thing. Wouldn't blame them if they thought that there was simply nothing and turned off the game...). The moment you turn around and see Ayami fully transformed still catches me off guard (That part when she crushes the cure right in front of you after all the work you went through to get it... Who would have thought the most pathetic character in the game would wind up being the one to wipe the floor with the player? What was her problem anyway?). The fact that, after the impossible to win fight, you see the Old Man again (Forgive me for not remembering his name. After the tutorial, he's in 3 scenes and has, like, 10 lines.), and he says something like "Don't worry, you'll wake back up. You always do." coupled with the picture after the credits of your rival pinned to the throne by the Tall Lady with the spiral mask was a clear indication to me that they had more planned.

It pains me that I know the story's incomplete, but I'm worried if they tried to do some sort of follow-up nowadays, it just wouldn't hit the same, ya know? They might be too tempted to modernize it, and I'd hate to lose the vibe of it, especially when it comes to the Sprite Work!

Now, I don't know where you stand, but I certainly don't feel like it was primitive for the time. I feel it was a deliberate choice and was done for the sake of the atmosphere, which I feel was a good call. Better to do your own thing than run around chasing trends.

By the way, what section was your favorite? Mine was the Wax Area in the 40Fs with all the Talking Mannequins that slowly go missing, and then you find them right before the boss all merged together. Great Stuff!

Esperance responds:

Ah I see yeah I played it first using only a translation script before the fan patch so I didn't even realize the mirror was equippable!

It makes sense though cause the bestiary was only 98% full in my old playthrough. They say there's another secret enemy nobody has found yet but I think it's probably was meant to be a teaser for the sequels rather than a proper encounter

Yeah I remember I thought my game was bugged and had reset it to the last save and had to do the final area again cause there's only one save point there

Wasn't very fun but yeah those ending twists made it all worth it! Though also the old man I figured was gonna be fleshed out more since there was that one cut dungeon you can glitch your way into and his sprite is there but with no way to interact

It's so interesting how ambitious this game was especially with how much of Ayamis dialogue was hidden. You can see some of her alternate personality if you trek back to the starting area after the Jellyfish War section

I saw a few former devs wanted to try to do a spiritual successor but the original director/writer is apparently a sky diver instructor now so I dunno how it'll be since it was such a passion project

Especially since his best friend (RIP)fought against the company to have that graphics style even though it wasn't popular at the time. Without that combo I can't see it ever feeling quite the same. Unfinished it is but it remains that odd dream like experience that kinda works for it.

The wax area was great but this is a weird take but my favorite is the Hall of Bread area. People hate that minigame but I would often go back and replay a save for that dungeon it was oddly relaxing even now.

They just don't make games like this anymore huh

[Newgrounds CD Cover]

YO! You did a great job capturing the Y2K Aesthetic! Always love to see it~!

Mantis responds:

Thanks Mal! My computer almost caught on fire rendering only like a couple of times

[Commission]

I FUCKIN' LOVE MELTING! AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!

[Lights out |██████|]

Lights on |DUDE|

Esperance responds:

Gotta fight for your right to light dude!

[Metroid 37]

Yo, shout out to Zoomer & Ripper in the bottom left corner!

[gross dont do that]

She found that in the trash, didn't she? DIDN'T SHE!? See, that's why I can't invite people over...! >:[