Under rating threshold (hideshow)
As so many other flash games, this one has stopped working recently with the newest browsers etc. You can play the first level, and that's it. It just never progresses afterwards.
Under rating threshold (hideshow)
I said I'd never come back to this game again, but part of me did actually enjoy it back then. But having come back to it after all that time, it's just as frustrating as it was before.
I still have the same critiques. There is still far too much of a randomness element; for many levels it's pretty much impossible to complete unless there's luck in the initial set-up to get that first spell. It's not a matter of skill in those cases; the level order doesn't reflect difficulty at all despite the addition of mechanics later on.
But other than that, some things I wish this had were that 1) the game ended once you got all the stars after completing all the objectives, so you don't have to just click to get the extra moves, and 2) it would be nice to have some sort of score tracker so you could see your top scores in each level.
Under rating threshold (hideshow)
This game is hard and does require quite a few restarts. If I don't have a combo to start with and there is no way to set up one in the first try I'll restart. Even with strategy most of the levels above 25 require as much luck as they do strategy.
Under rating threshold (hideshow)
i really hate to beat a dead horse, as im sure the horse was innocent, but i have to agree that this game is really dependent on luck. I also really feel each spell triggered should do damage to the blocking pieces within its range. its kind of ridiculous when you trigger like a huge stream of spells around a blocking piece and it only counts as one spell.
the art in this game is beautiful though, and i like playing it! its just that theres many levels where you need to start with a good set of tiles to even get close to winning. if this was a game dependant on strategy you'd be able to make any tiles you were given work. thats not the case here.
Under rating threshold (hideshow)
Too many levels are impossible without perfect luck. This has the makings of a really good game, but it's not really playable as it is.
Under rating threshold (hideshow)
Many congrats on keeping me interested for a good number of weeks and getting to 179/180 stars, but I've spent 5-6 days on level 61 and I'm finally at a rage quit point. Probably worth looking into badges, but without a definitive way to clear certain levels, I can only justify 4/5.
Under rating threshold (hideshow)
if the game is not going to give me all the combos possible from a particular move, can I at least choose which one I get? Combined with the special requirements, an incorrect special causes a restart of the level. Tried but can't find this fun. Worse the creator can't seem to understand the ton of comments so this won't get any better.
Under rating threshold (hideshow)
random setups, seemingly random falling placement screwing up combos, a turn counter, score limit, and stage hazards. i want to say skill is involved but there's too much random elements messing up everything and anything.
Under rating threshold (hideshow)
I think level 82 has defeated me. I've been working on it for 2 weeks without being able to complete either objective, let alone both.
Under rating threshold (hideshow)
Nice music, but I feel like the rules keep changing during the game. Blocking pieces change health seemingly randomly without notice.
Could also do with click+hold=light up affected pieces.
Under rating threshold (hideshow)
@Darvious: the heart in the upper left corner was, while the game was in beta, a count of how many lives you had left. When you ran out, there was supposed to be an advert you had to watch before you got 5 more lives. That never happened, just a spacer.
Under rating threshold (hideshow)
Sometimes, when gems are held up by a blocking piece, they can fall into the column next to them. As far as I can tell, this movement happens completely randomly. This game is far too difficult and based on luck as it is without the direction pieces are going to fall being random too.
On other websites, you lose a life each time you lose a level. When you get to 0 you have to watch a short ad to refill them. Kong doesn't allow outside ads so I had to disable it here.
Under rating threshold (hideshow)
Expanding on what narutohidanlove was saying, I wonder how well tested the requirements (and move totals) are for the later levels particularly. A lot of the time it seems to require everything to break nearly perfectly to pass the requirement (hitting a combo on basically every turn, say). It seems like "more moves" or "a lower score requirement" in some cases would mitigate a lot of the frustration.
The later levels aren't tested as much as the earlier ones, so there might be a bigger variation in difficulty. However, at least 3 of my testers got 180 stars (we all did a lot of score/move/requirement tweaking together) and I had done lots of testing myself before this. It looks like a fair number of people have gotten 180 stars on Kong, too, so everything is possible.
Under rating threshold (hideshow)
This game is so infuriating. I find that almost every time I meet the requirements for the level (clear the blocks, get the stars, etc.) I lose because I didn't reach the required score. I feel that to improve this game special levels like that shouldn't have a minimum score requirement, especially when whether you win or not is almost entirely luck based.
Under rating threshold (hideshow)
The most succinct way I can describe this game: "It's almost fun." It could have been fun. It should have been fun. It's not.
Under rating threshold (hideshow)
I seem to lack of strategy here... Stuck in level 30. Maybe the developper would be gentle enough to make a tutorial of strategic skills required to achieve this "non-luck based" game for us half-witted. ;)
Under rating threshold (hideshow)
Level 56 is stupidly impossible. I have yet to reach the 14k required score. Ever. The funnel effect makes determining fall order impossible. The requirement of 5 specials dropping can actually block the base, making elimination of the bottom row impossible. Even if I succeed in not blocking, I frequently need 5-7 moves to line up potential falls so I can let the specials exit. Will require stupid amounts of luck to pass.
Under rating threshold (hideshow)
At first I thought everyone was complaining too much. The first few levels gave up their maximum score too easily. But then oh my! Level 30+ is where it really gets hard. I would love a rewind button, like on "Blocks" by Gibton on this site.
Under rating threshold (hideshow)
There's a bug on level 21. Once you clear the block in the center, you can select the block that replaces it, even though the area has a "no click" overlay
Under rating threshold (hideshow)
At the first time I reached a difficult level I was thinking this is a frustrating game, but after a few tries I thought it was great. Sure it is luck involved, but on the other hand, in war luck is a big factor, yet you call the most successful military leaders great "strategists". In business life it is the same, every business needs a strategy, yet they don't know precisely what will tomorrow bring.
I think it's all about adapting to the actual situation, just like in this game. Sure you can't tell what kind of new gem will fall under if you click on a piece, but if you think a few steps ahead and you aim to form a certain combo (e.g. a + to destroy a blocker or glass on the side), you can actually calculate your moves and reach your goals. Sometimes you just have to quit playing and continue on the next day with fresh brain. I'm at lvl 40 and I need the urge to play with this game every day. :) Modified my 4* rating to 5*.
Under rating threshold (hideshow)
I normally like to either beat or give up on beating a game like this before giving a rating, but I made an exception. If the game were half the length, I'd have beaten it and decide its 5/5. And I won't punish Kajenx in rating for making a longer game when that doesn't mean withholding a story conclusion. If you must, pretend everything past stage 40 or so is a bonus map pack which is sometimes times ridiculous. But that's okay.