Ebonyte's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[Simple Tests]

That sound is entirely accurate

I actually tried to lick my elbow during recording for maximum accuracy.

ScaredyDave responds:

And it worked so well!

[Sarthak The Unforgivable!]

Awwww...

You actually animated me in there. ;)

ScaredyDave responds:

Aw you know I have to kill off everyone AT LEAST once! lol

[Mortal Kombat FAILtality]

Aw Hell

You know I love ya, Terry.

R1665 responds:

*points to face*

I'm UP HERE, dammit...

R1665

[the Last of the Dashkin]

Beautiful As Always

Music, sound and animation are, as ever, all top notch. I'm a huge fan of the series. The presence of a humanoid, for those who have complained about such, is nothing new. Let's remember the creature harvesting waterlollies, and the sprightly little man relieving himself upstream as Bitey took a gulp of water. We've never seen female of that species, so this is hardly beyond the pale.

That being said, while I can appreciate the narrator's lovely voice, one of Brackenwood's charms has always been it's ability to tell a story without resorting to straight exposition. The inherent understanding of emotion and motivation allows the viewer to form their own bond with the setting, imagining the all-important "why" to their own questions. Putting a narrative explanation amidst it, while not ruinous, robs it of one of it's primary strengths.

For the future (and I am loathe to deny another voice actor work), it might be best to reserve the narration for promos or extra features, a behind-the-scenes narration explaining Brackenwood to those who want it. For the primary storytelling, however, your historical use of empathy and demonstration of intent with action and non-linguistic verbals might be best. You've demonstrated great talent in pulling at our heart strings by transcending language thus far. It would be a shame to abandon it.

chluaid responds:

Good articulate review, all noted, thank you. I'm grateful and flattered that so many people are disappointed by the use of narration because that tells me they care.

However (and my fingers are blue from explaining this stuff) I'm not abandoning anything about the existing Brackenwood. I'm enhancing it with a plot and I can't fathom why anyone would imagine that's a bad thing.

The previous shorts have little -to- no plot so they don't need a tonne of exposition. They were simple. Brackenwood and Bitey's past though are complicated and, while they could have been told without narration, I don't feel it would have been as effective, interesting or economical if not told in the storybook style that I chose, especially for people who are new to the series OR had a problem with the lack of emotional depth in the previous episodes.

For me, what WOULD be a shame is if Brackenwood continues along on the same old plateau for all time, entertaining nobody but hardcore fans.

[HOSUE [sic]]

Extremely Ren and Stimpy-esque

The voice over might have been a bit better... but aside from that, outstanding.

TmsT responds:

Yep. Wanna audition? I need voice actors!

[Alucard vs Richter: SOTN - Rhapsody of Ruin]

Well Done

It's great to see a new Castlevania, especially one so stylishly done. Great too see Alucard and Richter again. Good fun.

As for a vote... it'd be better if you have Richter released from his possession, get some of the other characters into the fight. :)

The only thing that would have made this a hair better for me would have been the use of the better voice acting in the PSP version. The old PSX voice over was lovably atrocious, but atrocious nonetheless.

RopeDrink responds:

There's a huge conflict still raging over dialogue - For example someone released a YT movie of old SOTN dubbed with the more recent dialogue voices / script / changes and to be perfectly honest, I find them totally sickening.

Little things, like a 400 year old Vampire (Alucard) sounding like a squeeky clean uppercrust youngster, Death not sounding like Death etc - I also too heavily associate my SOTN experience to how it was back then, raw PSX version, so I guess I'm too stubborn to embrace changes to how I've seen it personally, even if the script/acting was/is better. We all get like that over things we like ^^

However if at all possible I may try to draw on any new material for sequels, and the idea of getting more people involved is most definately on the cards.

I won't call it a 'spoiler' because I haven't even planned / decided / thought of anything yet, but I'd personally love to see more of the Belmonts together, beit Trevor / Simon or god knows who, to go alongside Richter.

Richters possession is part of the story, so to is it that he is released, and it shall be so - How he gets released, well, thats something to consider in this potential little movie - Got a lot to think about, it'll start with a contemplative post on my page sometime later - And might even hit Swish and recompile a smoother set of sprites to get me in the mood for some movie making :>

Anyhow, thank you for watching, rating and reviewing :>

[The Answering Machine!!!]

Um...

Well, um... I'm flattered you made a flash movie out of my demo... I kinda wish you'd ASKED before you did it, but I'm flattered all the same. Keep on working on it and you'll get much better.

ScrewedComedy responds:

haha ok dude ill do that