Delicious FruitElCochran90's Profile
Send a PMJoined on: Aug 25, 2018
Bio:
About time I updated this bio.
Name: Edgar Cochran
Country: Mexico
Currently living in: Mexico City
-God's servant and one of his blessed sons (John 1:12; John 3:16).
-Lover of the entire animal and plant creation.
-Film lover and reviewer for Letterboxd.com (https://letterboxd.com/elcochran90).
-Adjunct professor and personal tutor of Statistical Inference, Business Forecasting, Marketing Research and Portfolio Theory.
Fangaming experience began in August 2018, so only modest achievements here. However, I'll describe some relevant FAQs here made to me during my stay here since 2018:
Q: Are videogames art?
A: Yes
Q: Are fangames videogames?
A: Yes
Q: Why are your reviews long and unconventional?
A: I am a film reviewer; in a way, I sort of unconsciously dragged my style of film reviewing to the world of fangames. I often involve personal experiences in my writing. Expect that structure; I'm not planning to change it.
Q: How are you rating games? Do you compare fangames as normal games that your ratings are lower than all other people ratings or are you just a critical person?
A: My ratings are not lower than people's ratings all of the time regarding fangames, but they are most of the time. However, this is not my intention. I am rating them as normal games, as in, I don't have a different spectrum for rating "normal", "official" games than fangames. They are in the same scale, because they are all videogames. I don't like to think myself as a critical person; ratings are just subjective numbers. However, I have realized that I rate games more harshly than I rate films/short films, which I do more often.
Q: What are your favorite fangames?
A: I have not played enough fangames to make a comprehensive and representative list, but this can be answered by going to my Favorites list. Anything getting 6.7 or higher will be considered immediately as a favorite.
I've submitted:
382 Ratings!
382 Reviews!
792 Screenshots!
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382 Games
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ElCochran90
For: I wanna be the Locus
For: I wanna be the Locus
LAST CLEAR OF 2020
Rating includes extra. Difficulty rating also includes extra. Consider an equal difficulty for the main game.
This fangame is not as bad as some reviews have made it seem, imho. It basically follows the structure and logic of Device, which is not a good thing mainly, although it makes some good decisions like Device does. This one does more good ones. It is also equally divisive in ratings. The secrets, just like in Device, are the nastiest things in the game. Unlike Device, this doesn't have a boss per stage.
The game has basically has four stages plus an extra stage, each one featuring a different gimmick, and all of them featuring traps that ruin gameplay and are completely ordinary. It is not the same thing to add challenge to the platforming with traps than making gameplay unfair, and this one harms enjoyment. Just blocks that disappear and flying spikes. At the end of saves. Please just stop that.
Stage 1 is pretty much vanilla, and the secret is reasonable except for (take a guess) the trap at the very end, no matter how predictable it is. Despite being the most generic-looking, it does feel like a quality game. Soundtrack is nice and the challenge is mostly fair. Pretty straightforward and nothing remarkable.
Stage 2 is the most interesting visually and also has my favorite song in the game out of the four main stages. The main gimmick is reverse gravity and it shines in the design. It's basically a giant vertical scroller in which you must climb all the way up, and it has screen wrapping which is not unfair. The secret, however, is pure cancer and belongs in hell.
Stage 3 has good gimmicks completely wasted in unfair ways. One reverses your controls, which is ok; another one makes you go fast, which results in Super Fs and super precise jumps and timing. But the worst is the one that makes your kid invisible and the mere act of thinking of the final screen of this stage makes me scream in rage. I had 250 deaths on that screen alone and it is the stupidest thing I have ever seen in a non-impossible fangame. Who the hell thinks that a screen like that is a good challenge? Insanely idiotic trash. From there, we have a screen which uses the spotlight gimmick, so good luck buddy, because you'll die to many things that either you can't see or that were not there before you have to backtrack through the needle portion and then proceed AGAIN forward. This is the worst stage by far.
Stage 4 is fun and well-designed, and arguably the best. Good gimmicks, but it relies on underwater diagonals a bit too much and the secret, although fun as well, is very cryptic to find. I hate that kind of secrets.
The boss is dumb stuff and too easy to believe after the needle you faced. That is why you have to play the extra, because it is a waste of your time.
Extra stage is not necessarily the best, but it's the one that feels like the climax of a game and has fun sections. The scrolling screen with the moving blown platforms however is a try-and-guess game that becomes very frustrating very fast. It has very cheap moves at the end of every save, especially the first one. However, the visual quality is hands down the best. It even has slopes. Bruh.
And then comes the avoidance. Nice Ao no Kiseki song (the OST of that game in general is very nice) and it is also somewhat easy if, and only if, you are already familiar with that infamous Love Trap pattern. Once you know exactly what to do, it is good fun to pull off. The rest is very reactable. Still, I find it very funny that you get an ordinary-looking avoidance like this one after a top-production-value extra stage like the one you go through. It's like if a different maker had done it.
So it's a huge mixed bag, but this being an adventure fangame, traps don't add anything at all and should be dismissed.
[0] Likes
Rating includes extra. Difficulty rating also includes extra. Consider an equal difficulty for the main game.
This fangame is not as bad as some reviews have made it seem, imho. It basically follows the structure and logic of Device, which is not a good thing mainly, although it makes some good decisions like Device does. This one does more good ones. It is also equally divisive in ratings. The secrets, just like in Device, are the nastiest things in the game. Unlike Device, this doesn't have a boss per stage.
The game has basically has four stages plus an extra stage, each one featuring a different gimmick, and all of them featuring traps that ruin gameplay and are completely ordinary. It is not the same thing to add challenge to the platforming with traps than making gameplay unfair, and this one harms enjoyment. Just blocks that disappear and flying spikes. At the end of saves. Please just stop that.
Stage 1 is pretty much vanilla, and the secret is reasonable except for (take a guess) the trap at the very end, no matter how predictable it is. Despite being the most generic-looking, it does feel like a quality game. Soundtrack is nice and the challenge is mostly fair. Pretty straightforward and nothing remarkable.
Stage 2 is the most interesting visually and also has my favorite song in the game out of the four main stages. The main gimmick is reverse gravity and it shines in the design. It's basically a giant vertical scroller in which you must climb all the way up, and it has screen wrapping which is not unfair. The secret, however, is pure cancer and belongs in hell.
Stage 3 has good gimmicks completely wasted in unfair ways. One reverses your controls, which is ok; another one makes you go fast, which results in Super Fs and super precise jumps and timing. But the worst is the one that makes your kid invisible and the mere act of thinking of the final screen of this stage makes me scream in rage. I had 250 deaths on that screen alone and it is the stupidest thing I have ever seen in a non-impossible fangame. Who the hell thinks that a screen like that is a good challenge? Insanely idiotic trash. From there, we have a screen which uses the spotlight gimmick, so good luck buddy, because you'll die to many things that either you can't see or that were not there before you have to backtrack through the needle portion and then proceed AGAIN forward. This is the worst stage by far.
Stage 4 is fun and well-designed, and arguably the best. Good gimmicks, but it relies on underwater diagonals a bit too much and the secret, although fun as well, is very cryptic to find. I hate that kind of secrets.
The boss is dumb stuff and too easy to believe after the needle you faced. That is why you have to play the extra, because it is a waste of your time.
Extra stage is not necessarily the best, but it's the one that feels like the climax of a game and has fun sections. The scrolling screen with the moving blown platforms however is a try-and-guess game that becomes very frustrating very fast. It has very cheap moves at the end of every save, especially the first one. However, the visual quality is hands down the best. It even has slopes. Bruh.
And then comes the avoidance. Nice Ao no Kiseki song (the OST of that game in general is very nice) and it is also somewhat easy if, and only if, you are already familiar with that infamous Love Trap pattern. Once you know exactly what to do, it is good fun to pull off. The rest is very reactable. Still, I find it very funny that you get an ordinary-looking avoidance like this one after a top-production-value extra stage like the one you go through. It's like if a different maker had done it.
So it's a huge mixed bag, but this being an adventure fangame, traps don't add anything at all and should be dismissed.
Rating: 4.3 43
Difficulty: 75 75
Dec 31, 2020
ElCochran90
For: I wanna Meet the Ruka 3rd
For: I wanna Meet the Ruka 3rd
OH MY GOD THANK GOD IT'S FINALLY OVER I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOUR FACE AGAIN YOU TOOK ME LONGER THAN ANY GO THE DOTKID MIKU I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT THIS GAME GO TO HELL PLS THKS!!!
Tagged as: Avoidance
[2] Likes
Rating: 0.4 4
Difficulty: 80 80
Dec 26, 2020
ElCochran90
For: I wanna go the DotKid!
For: I wanna go the DotKid!
Merry Christmas!
I did manage to finish this before 2020 ended! I'm so glad. Oh, you legendary piece of old-school brutality... What am I supposed to do with you? How should I rate you?
Before I begin with my epic-length essay (not really), my mind begs the question:
Was this the first DotKid fangame ever? Like, the first fangame that ever featured the DotKid gimmick? Because if it is, for better or for worse, it just freaking happened! Imagine being introduced to the gimmick with one of the hardest fangame challenges ever back in the early 2010s, as I hear that K2 featured a screen or two of this.
What is key to understand about DotKid physics is that they are identical to regular Kid, but the point is that you only measure 2X2; however, you will still move three pixels per frame and a gate jump can still be done with a four-frame jump minimum. You're just smaller but all physics apply. This is interesting (and also convenient) because you know how the DotKid will behave purely based on muscle memory previously developed with regular Kid more than calculation, until you fully get used to it.
Go the DotKid is an insanely difficult challenge, not impossible, not one that is far off in terms of sanity, but certainly one that pushes the limits of many players, even experienced ones. It has four main stages which can be played in any particular order, each one featuring a Miku boss (and one of these featuring a miniboss), opening a penultimate stage with another Miku, and a final platforming section afterwards that ends... with another Miku, of course.
How to play?
First, pray.
Second, determine the experience you want to have. Difficulty ladder? From most generic to most creative in terms of level design (or viceversa, but why would you)? From most generic to most experimental in terms of gimmicks/visuals?
So! If you choose the difficulty curve path, the suggested order is:
1) Up
2) Down
3) Right
4) Left
If you choose the visual design/gimmick order, go:
1) Right
2) Up
3) Left
4) Down
If you go for level design/platforming, go:
1) Down
2) Up
3) Left
4) Right
I fully recommend the difficulty spike one so that you don't give up immediately. So go for up, down, right and left. Up and down are probably interchangeable.
-Up has water physics and very precise needle. The visual design is ugly, placing generic tilesets, spikes and cherries randomly all over the place (and freaking Nekoron!!!), but it has the shortest Miku.
-Down has a weird section with random visuals that I appreciate from time to time. It can be considered random visual trash by many, and understandably so, but it is not something you regularly see. So it's three screens that you don't know beforehand what kind of show they will throw at you. The grave thing about this section is that, after those three screens, you have to repeat them. What's the catch? No saves? No. Reversed controls? No. New traps? No. The screen is freaking upside down. Upside down! Want an easy way to add cheap difficulty? Just put it upside down. And good luck buddy, because the difficulty is multiplied by 3 even if it is exactly the same three screens. But the Miku is the easiest by far, and in rating standards, it is average. Shockingly compared to all Mikus.
-Right has the normal IWBTG tilesets, visuals and whatnot, so expect the most generic thing in the game, right? Well, no. It is probably the most fun stage. Mostly vanilla platforming with some water sections (Nekoron!). There is an infamous screen where you have to activate four switches in a go without intermediate saves to progress. I admit it is trash, but it is amusing and fun to pull off. Only two "traps" that could catch you off guard. However, the Miku here.... I won't deny that it was very fun to grind, but it was, hands down, the most difficult Miku for me, and it all comes down to one thing I'll mention in a bit that is a common denominator for all Mikus. It took me around 20 hours. I suffered. Ironically, though, it is fun and readable 80% of the times, even though it can wall/roof you from time to time in unfair ways.
-Left is a legendary path. Welcome to another generic design used by many: the classic metallic tilesets with a completely black background. These screens require timing, and suffering through traps before the end of a save. Expect that. Then there is a miniboss. After that, we have what I would argue is the most difficult screen in the entire game, which precedes a Miku that has become the stuff of bedtime stories. Red Miku is on a class of its own because of the final attack. Half of this final attack can be planned; after that, your plans get crushed during the second half thanks to oh-so-fun RNG. I'll admit that even though theoretically I can see this being the hardest Miku, it's the second one that took me the least time. Final bouncing blue cherries didn't choke me and I was past it. It was creative, fun and short, but I'll admit that the final attack just wants to screw you over.
So, you've passed your four main stages. Welcome to the penultimate stage. Same design than Left path stage (aye for variety!), but this section is also fun! It has a mechanic of red/blue switches, precise platforming that is not unfair because, by this point, you'll have your calculations already worked out, and even sections where you have to go fast before time runs out. After that, there is another screen loathed by many: an RNG screen where you bounce (very intuitive) on cherries, replenishing your double jump, and have to go across a large side-scrolling section. There is a "checkpoint" in the middle (not a save) which is just a line of water, and then you repeat the same thing but with platforms moving. Think of the Cheetahmen boss in Boshy when the floor breaks and you have to survive jumping on platforms before Cheetahmen become Megatron. However, in this game, it is way less balanced and fair. That is the part that rages.
Penultimate Miku is good fun, catchy vocaloid (almost no lyrics), reactable fast attacks and a nice sense of accomplishment when you beat her.
Enter the final stage. Boshy inspiration again. Think of the Tower section in the desert of Boshy's last stage where you have to go up and up in a moving platform while a giant Piranha Plant stalks you with a laser. I think it wanted to convey that vibe. Of course, there is no production value in here, so what happens is that there is an entire horizontal set of 16X16 water 3 blocks moving up, and you have to survive precise platforming and RNG cherries crap. It leaves the toughest precise jumps at the end, so good luck, buddy.
After you make it and cheer, you see this giant teleport that will take you to: THE FINAL MIKU.
Ironically, it isn't the hardest. It has the same dumb logic that Pi Miku (Right Path Miku) has: be readable and reasonable (even easy) until the final attack, which is just absolute bonkers. Also, you have to stand still for 10 seconds doing nothing, staring at Miku while she stares at you, every single attempt before you can start moving. Oh, so fun. The vocaloid is one of my favorites: The Intense Song of Hatsune Miku -InfinitY happy end, but only the second half, and thank God, otherwise it would drive me out of my patience[/spoilers].
Of course I have complaints. ElCochran always does. Traps. Generic, unfun, unfair, abundant and breaks the gameplay pace. Being this a brutal fangame, traps just are there to bother. They add absolutely nothing, like they would do in a well-made Carnival fangame (and I still complain about those). Mikus: every single one of them have their most difficult attack at the very end, and they are very long. Screw that. Why should I grind through easy stuff if I will lose to mostly luck-based trash??? Also, NEKORON WATER! Jesus Christ, you know how much trouble that gave me? It's not only in the water stages, but in the infinite-jump sections too. It is rather simple to one-frame jump with my keyboard, so you have zero idea how many times I "accidentally" one-framed after being consistent through many saves, only to be betrayed by the engine making a full jump because according to the engine's logic: 1 frame jump - 1 frame substracted by default in Nekoron = Full jump = Death. In the water stages, this was hell. In the penultimate Miku, this was worse. And it was the ugliest in the final Boshy-like final tower section before final Miku. I easily attribute 8% of my total amount to deaths to the Nekoron engine.
In short:
Platforming: Uneven, from very fun to cheap trash
Mikus: Very fun, until last attacks
Nekoron: Burn in the flames of hell
The challenge, still, I'd say is worth taking if you want to sharpen your needle skills. Even if you're DotKid, you train your muscle memory for future challenges.
This one was a difficult one, to appreciate, to rate, to enjoy and to review. It's a mixed bag, but you feel like a greater man once you say you are THE DotKid.
Not interested in the Easy version.
[6] Likes
I did manage to finish this before 2020 ended! I'm so glad. Oh, you legendary piece of old-school brutality... What am I supposed to do with you? How should I rate you?
Before I begin with my epic-length essay (not really), my mind begs the question:
Was this the first DotKid fangame ever? Like, the first fangame that ever featured the DotKid gimmick? Because if it is, for better or for worse, it just freaking happened! Imagine being introduced to the gimmick with one of the hardest fangame challenges ever back in the early 2010s, as I hear that K2 featured a screen or two of this.
What is key to understand about DotKid physics is that they are identical to regular Kid, but the point is that you only measure 2X2; however, you will still move three pixels per frame and a gate jump can still be done with a four-frame jump minimum. You're just smaller but all physics apply. This is interesting (and also convenient) because you know how the DotKid will behave purely based on muscle memory previously developed with regular Kid more than calculation, until you fully get used to it.
Go the DotKid is an insanely difficult challenge, not impossible, not one that is far off in terms of sanity, but certainly one that pushes the limits of many players, even experienced ones. It has four main stages which can be played in any particular order, each one featuring a Miku boss (and one of these featuring a miniboss), opening a penultimate stage with another Miku, and a final platforming section afterwards that ends... with another Miku, of course.
How to play?
First, pray.
Second, determine the experience you want to have. Difficulty ladder? From most generic to most creative in terms of level design (or viceversa, but why would you)? From most generic to most experimental in terms of gimmicks/visuals?
So! If you choose the difficulty curve path, the suggested order is:
1) Up
2) Down
3) Right
4) Left
If you choose the visual design/gimmick order, go:
1) Right
2) Up
3) Left
4) Down
If you go for level design/platforming, go:
1) Down
2) Up
3) Left
4) Right
I fully recommend the difficulty spike one so that you don't give up immediately. So go for up, down, right and left. Up and down are probably interchangeable.
-Up has water physics and very precise needle. The visual design is ugly, placing generic tilesets, spikes and cherries randomly all over the place (and freaking Nekoron!!!), but it has the shortest Miku.
-Down has a weird section with random visuals that I appreciate from time to time. It can be considered random visual trash by many, and understandably so, but it is not something you regularly see. So it's three screens that you don't know beforehand what kind of show they will throw at you. The grave thing about this section is that, after those three screens, you have to repeat them. What's the catch? No saves? No. Reversed controls? No. New traps? No. The screen is freaking upside down. Upside down! Want an easy way to add cheap difficulty? Just put it upside down. And good luck buddy, because the difficulty is multiplied by 3 even if it is exactly the same three screens. But the Miku is the easiest by far, and in rating standards, it is average. Shockingly compared to all Mikus.
-Right has the normal IWBTG tilesets, visuals and whatnot, so expect the most generic thing in the game, right? Well, no. It is probably the most fun stage. Mostly vanilla platforming with some water sections (Nekoron!). There is an infamous screen where you have to activate four switches in a go without intermediate saves to progress. I admit it is trash, but it is amusing and fun to pull off. Only two "traps" that could catch you off guard. However, the Miku here.... I won't deny that it was very fun to grind, but it was, hands down, the most difficult Miku for me, and it all comes down to one thing I'll mention in a bit that is a common denominator for all Mikus. It took me around 20 hours. I suffered. Ironically, though, it is fun and readable 80% of the times, even though it can wall/roof you from time to time in unfair ways.
-Left is a legendary path. Welcome to another generic design used by many: the classic metallic tilesets with a completely black background. These screens require timing, and suffering through traps before the end of a save. Expect that. Then there is a miniboss. After that, we have what I would argue is the most difficult screen in the entire game, which precedes a Miku that has become the stuff of bedtime stories. Red Miku is on a class of its own because of the final attack. Half of this final attack can be planned; after that, your plans get crushed during the second half thanks to oh-so-fun RNG. I'll admit that even though theoretically I can see this being the hardest Miku, it's the second one that took me the least time. Final bouncing blue cherries didn't choke me and I was past it. It was creative, fun and short, but I'll admit that the final attack just wants to screw you over.
So, you've passed your four main stages. Welcome to the penultimate stage. Same design than Left path stage (aye for variety!), but this section is also fun! It has a mechanic of red/blue switches, precise platforming that is not unfair because, by this point, you'll have your calculations already worked out, and even sections where you have to go fast before time runs out. After that, there is another screen loathed by many: an RNG screen where you bounce (very intuitive) on cherries, replenishing your double jump, and have to go across a large side-scrolling section. There is a "checkpoint" in the middle (not a save) which is just a line of water, and then you repeat the same thing but with platforms moving. Think of the Cheetahmen boss in Boshy when the floor breaks and you have to survive jumping on platforms before Cheetahmen become Megatron. However, in this game, it is way less balanced and fair. That is the part that rages.
Penultimate Miku is good fun, catchy vocaloid (almost no lyrics), reactable fast attacks and a nice sense of accomplishment when you beat her.
Enter the final stage. Boshy inspiration again. Think of the Tower section in the desert of Boshy's last stage where you have to go up and up in a moving platform while a giant Piranha Plant stalks you with a laser. I think it wanted to convey that vibe. Of course, there is no production value in here, so what happens is that there is an entire horizontal set of 16X16 water 3 blocks moving up, and you have to survive precise platforming and RNG cherries crap. It leaves the toughest precise jumps at the end, so good luck, buddy.
After you make it and cheer, you see this giant teleport that will take you to: THE FINAL MIKU.
Ironically, it isn't the hardest. It has the same dumb logic that Pi Miku (Right Path Miku) has: be readable and reasonable (even easy) until the final attack, which is just absolute bonkers. Also, you have to stand still for 10 seconds doing nothing, staring at Miku while she stares at you, every single attempt before you can start moving. Oh, so fun. The vocaloid is one of my favorites: The Intense Song of Hatsune Miku -InfinitY happy end, but only the second half, and thank God, otherwise it would drive me out of my patience[/spoilers].
Of course I have complaints. ElCochran always does. Traps. Generic, unfun, unfair, abundant and breaks the gameplay pace. Being this a brutal fangame, traps just are there to bother. They add absolutely nothing, like they would do in a well-made Carnival fangame (and I still complain about those). Mikus: every single one of them have their most difficult attack at the very end, and they are very long. Screw that. Why should I grind through easy stuff if I will lose to mostly luck-based trash??? Also, NEKORON WATER! Jesus Christ, you know how much trouble that gave me? It's not only in the water stages, but in the infinite-jump sections too. It is rather simple to one-frame jump with my keyboard, so you have zero idea how many times I "accidentally" one-framed after being consistent through many saves, only to be betrayed by the engine making a full jump because according to the engine's logic: 1 frame jump - 1 frame substracted by default in Nekoron = Full jump = Death. In the water stages, this was hell. In the penultimate Miku, this was worse. And it was the ugliest in the final Boshy-like final tower section before final Miku. I easily attribute 8% of my total amount to deaths to the Nekoron engine.
In short:
Platforming: Uneven, from very fun to cheap trash
Mikus: Very fun, until last attacks
Nekoron: Burn in the flames of hell
The challenge, still, I'd say is worth taking if you want to sharpen your needle skills. Even if you're DotKid, you train your muscle memory for future challenges.
This one was a difficult one, to appreciate, to rate, to enjoy and to review. It's a mixed bag, but you feel like a greater man once you say you are THE DotKid.
Not interested in the Easy version.
Rating: 4.4 44
Difficulty: 88 88
Dec 25, 2020
ElCochran90
For: Designer L's Wacky Randventure!
For: Designer L's Wacky Randventure!
Yo mamma's matrices have no transposition.
[0] Likes
Rating: 4.1 41
Difficulty: 70 70
Feb 30, 2020
ElCochran90
For: I wanna go the Trap Way 3
For: I wanna go the Trap Way 3
Right below Blocktroid 1 in my Erik ranking, whose support during my 100-mins stream (against his forecast of 30-50 mins for a veteran player) was well appreciated. My sentiments mimic Kurath's by a great margin: good first half (although the golden Sanic segment drove me madly impatient) and a second half that I found particularly bland. However, I recognize it as well made and the "HEAD" save trap is right there among the Top 10 funest traps ever made. Great final boss, bringing those vibes I utterly love about Erik's design.
He asked me politely not to rate this a 3/10, and I complied. Sorry for myself being a bad meme.
Play it; it's the best of the trilogy. For it's kind, I still remain with Bigger P****.
[0] Likes
He asked me politely not to rate this a 3/10, and I complied. Sorry for myself being a bad meme.
Play it; it's the best of the trilogy. For it's kind, I still remain with Bigger P****.
Rating: 4.8 48
Difficulty: 50 50
Nov 9, 2020
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