Curious to get the community's thoughts on the demos they loved in the latest Next Fest!
To start things off, here's a few that I absolutely loved and played through as much as I could (or stopped myself if I knew I'd like it).
Viewfinder - A first person puzzle game a la Portal, The Witness, Antichamber, Entropy Center, etc...I played enough to see the hook of using images to solve puzzles and backed away quickly. This was a game I didn't want to spoil too much for myself when I saw how cool it was.
Beyond Sunset - This was a "boomer shooter" recommendation I saw on Lemmy and checked it out because it seemed neat. I got really into the storyline and art style of the game and saw it through to the end of the demo. I almost gave up on the final boss but when I said no and wanted to push through, I knew I was hooked!
Galacticare - In the last few years, "simulation games" seem to have become my preferred genre and managing an outer space hospital was really engaging. I enjoyed designing each room and trying to optimize the flow of patients. The style and humor of the game worked well since sometimes the humor can feel a little "try hard" but it came together nicely. I don't purchase a lot of games Day One any more but this might be one of them.
One Lonely Outpost - I've had this on my wishlist since it was announced during a stretch of time I was playing Stardew Valley, but this was the first time it's been playable. I enjoyed the interactions with the world but I'm not sure what exactly it would build to (since the planet you land on is desolate). It may be about creating the town/outpost yourself. The demo seemed to overstay its welcome a bit BUT Stardew Valley-likes are super slow in the beginning, so I'm in a "wait and see" mode since I did enjoy parts of it and the unique setting.
Anything that ended up on your radar after this Next Fest?
The Invincible - A walking sim I guess, not my cup of tea, it looks pretty good though
Little Kitty, Big City - you play as a cat, which is nice, it has some fun parts, but didn't like this one, I found the controls a bit clunky
Station to Station - a puzzle game where you connect different buildings through a train network. It could be alright, but the two levels I played were a bit boring. The puzzle part comes from limited money I guess, and you get different cards, like cheaper rails or bridges, that you can use
Gunbrella - 2D Metroidvania, you have a gun umbrella, that can shoot different types of ammo, and also for movement abilities, like a sort of double jump or glide. Plays pretty smooth, so I'll keep an eye out for this.
Three Kindoms Zhao Yun - looks like some sort of ARPG in a Three Kingdoms setting, but it didn't run very well, I gave up after a few minutes, most of which was cutscenes. You have different skills, but I just didn't play that much to really say anything about it
I still wanna give Eternights and Lies of P a try, but dunno when I'll get to them.
Gunbrella is made by the folks who did Gato Roboto, which is a short and snappy metroidvania - super stoked to see they're working on a longer game with similar vibes!