zag's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Falling Chibi]

Is it new or interesting? You already answered that question.
Is it mind-numbingly entertaining anyway? A little bit.
Is it adorable? Pretty much

I did enjoy it, even if there isn't really all that much to be enjoyed.
An interactive high score system for Newgrounds would be nice.

[Helen Keller the Game]

Absolutely brilliant in the most simplistic way ever.

[Conversation With Death]

An incredibly interesting concept... the idea that you could talk your way into a certain fate with 'Death.'
The execution is fair, though I do feel as though my conversational choices can be a bit limited at times. For example, there are periods where I'm forced into using one line of dialogue... particularly, about Death's pet.

All in all, this is a fun little game though.

[Adventures of Mark SIM]

It's a fun little game, but it's also unbearably clunky.
For one, on the town map where you can either go to school or work, the fact that the screen moves with the mouse tends to actually make the mouse hover away from your target.
Also, the fact that you have to click the computer tower in your room is a bit of an inconvenience, though not a big deal.
There's also the fact that there's no way to actively save or check your stats. A menu screen would be nice for my second issue.

All in all, this is a nice addition to the already fairly large life simulation games.

[Steal this Election]

Ridiculous, but an unfortunately realistic portrayal of the political system, as far as parodies go anyway.

[South Park's Heroin Hero]

Fun, in its own way.
I do feel as though you left out a few lines of dialogue though and I recall the pathway going longer in the episode so you might have been able to get away with making each segment longer before starting over.

Even so, I quite appreciate this.

[Interactive Charmander]

One of the most adorable things I've seen on Newgrounds.
It's a huge shame it's not more in depth though.

[gogo Happy & Smile]

I can't give you too much credit, because frankly, this plays like a reskinned version of Alien Hominid, with only a couple of difference.
Even so, it's quite cute and very enjoyable. I love the art.

[Simgirls (Full Version)]

"this game is fuckin awsome.sim_man if u read this hurry the fuck up makin the final version."

That's what I had to say when I first played your game, eight years ago. In all fairness, I was only twelve at the time. Either way, let's see if I can't be a little bit more productive this time around ;)

First, I'll discuss the things that I enjoyed. The expansion of the school, allowing you to enter different sections at different times really added a new depth to the game and allowed you to better get to know the Simgirls. Furthermore, the augmentation of the modeling agency is one of the most impressive mini-games I've ever seen. The fact that you added as many events as you did was also nice. Perhaps most of all, I'm happy about the addition of the theater side story though. I found that interesting.

Now, a few things that I'm not so happy with...
First of all, there were moments when you censored various "offensive" language and I felt as though that detracted from the game and made the scenes feel somewhat corny. You already have a game that features nudity, so a few "fucks" here and there would hardly make the game more controversial. Also, there are moments where you make grammatical or spelling errors. None of them are too major, but I noticed points when you used "are" instead of "is" or vice versa. there were others but that's the first one that comes to mind, even if it's not the worst. I also recall a couple of spelling mistakes, though I regret that I can't recall examples.
Perhaps my biggest issue is that the story focuses so strongly around Tomoko. In my opinion, she's one of the weakest characters in the story, so I find that a bit disappointing. Even in Kotomi's ending (which I received) I felt as though Tomoko had more focus than the girl I actually picked.

But in truth, the ending is where logic really falls apart. Don't get me wrong. I actually quite liked certain parts of the end. It was quite cute when Kotomi came back and in general, you were fairly adept with what you did. I also found it amusing that Ami was dating 'Sim-man.' However, the end is most definitely not without fault.
First of all, the bulk of your ending is immensely cliche. Cliches are used frequently for a reason... because they're good. At the same time, they're also safe. I felt as though you could have been a lot more innovative with the ending. Beyond just being cliche, the ending is also mind-numbingly drawn out. I didn't count the number of frames you had there... but it was a lot. I feel as though you could have successfully conveyed what you were going for with about half the number of frames.
Moving on, the fact that Ryuji seems to come back no matter what I do doesn't make sense. Especially because I didn't actually finish the time machine in my story. Also, you create a time paradox by having me call Ami and have her destroy the machine... but frankly, you're not the first to do that by a long shot.
Another thing... it's somewhat unrealistic that, during the two years Kotomi is gone, my character doesn't contact her at all and things work out as they do. I would imagine some resentment and animosity... even worse though, after everything Ryuji does, Tomoko still forgives him... and that's ridiculous.

a few more things... it would be nice if we could buy gifts in bulk the way we do with other things. Also, I think medals would add new charm to this game.

The fact that I've gone into so much effort in writing this review says something... I truly respect and admire your work and I want to critique you honestly and in full. If not for you, I very well may have never made a Newgrounds account. The review I left for your game was the first I ever wrote and this is the most complex review I've ever written. Furthermore, without this game, I never would have watched DNA^2, which I quite liked.

Thank you so much for devoting your time to this game. The nostalgia I associate with it is nearly unrivaled and you'll likely never know how much I appreciate that. Thank you.

sim-man responds:

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Writing is my weakest link to begin with. I also have to admit that due to various reasons including time constraint, I am not giving these girls the same amount of attentions. At the beginning the game is designed to have Tomoko as the main girl and the others as supporting characters only. After all these years of development it is impossible for me to spend another few years to re-model all these characters, so I decided to finish it this way.

As for Tomoko being the weakest character, I really think it's all personal preference. She is probably not a protagonist material for most mainstream games and stories, but this is a H-game so I do think Tomoko has the best potentials for various crazy sexual fantasy. Again, all personal preference... I am sure you will get different answers from different people, and from reading your review, I bet Kotomi is your cup of tea? Hahaha.

One thing about the Time Machine: in the story you are just helping Ami to build it, and without you Ami will still be able to finish it at some point in the future. I guess due to my writing skills I didn't convey this idea clear enough in the game.