Gaming

Neverlooted Dungeon: Comedy dungeon crawler inspired by games like Ultima Underworld and Arx Fatalis. The demo consists of a tutorial and a small open-ended area to explore, with a focus on avoiding traps and interacting with physics objects to navigate and find loot. The demo doesn't really show off Arx-levels of complexity, but it's fun to explore and genuinely funny at times.

Stop Dead: Fast paced first person shooter where you attack enemies by using telekinetic powers to hurl objects and bodies to deal damage. The weapons work kinda like Mirror's Edge, in that instead of getting your own loadout you pick dropped guns up off the floor and get rid of them once they're out of ammo. Also, if you stop moving for more than a moment, you die. Demo is quite varied, and ends with a challenging mid-game level to show off the mechanics a bit more.

Mr. Run and Jump: Challenging 2D platformer with a lot of different moves that can be chained together in slick ways. There's not much of a narrative and the neon visuals kinda look dated in a not-even-retro way, but the movement really carries the whole game.

Echo Point Nova: New shooter by the developers of Severed Steel. Has a lot of the same mechanics (slow motion, destructible terrain, etc), but makes the levels a lot more open and adds a grappling hook and hoverboard for a different style of mobility. There's a bit of jank, but it's very satisfying to play.

El Paso, Elsewhere: Indie Max Payne. I'm not exaggerating, it plays like Max Payne 2 and looks and feels like Max Payne 1. Swap out the main character and it could pass as a phenomenally faithful fangame.

Phoenix Springs: Stylised neo-noir narrative-driven point and click adventure. I usually don't have the patience for these sorts of games, but I found the writing and visuals very compelling.

Fortune's Run: Sprite based RPG FPS with level design that feels a bit like the classic Deus Ex, but with the fast paced combat of a boomer shooter. Has a Star Warsy rough and gritty sci-fi setting, if you're into that.

The Next Fests are my favourite Steam event by far, already looking forward to the next one!

I've played several, mostly games I've been following so no huge surprises. My highlights were:

Lies of P
Great soulslike built on a grim take on Pinocchio. Borrows a lot from Bloodborne, oppressive and interesting world, satisfying combat.

Sea of Stars
Super charming JRPG I've been looking forward to for a while, great pixel art, fun combat system with timed hits, great music.

LunarLux
Very similar to a Mega Man Battle Network game, but combat leans more towards the turn based side of the spectrum. Has some Undertale influences as well. The art being as cute as it is might turn some off, but it's a plus for myself.

Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew
Strategy game from the folks behind Shadow Tactics and Desperados. You control undead pirates with unique and fun abilities, and the game encourages you to rewind time as needed to experiment and play around.

Honorable mentions go to Eternights and Viewfinder. Fantastic games all around, the following months are looking great!

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.

Some pretty good demos out there:

Lies of P- People said this was like Bloodborne and they were not wrong. I enjoyed this a lot, and that the demo lasted up until the second boss made it fairly meaty.

Fortune's Run- Interesting pixel art style deus-ex type game. Seems to have a lot of gameplay mechanics, but it was also really hard, I was not able to finish the demo, but I enjoyed what I saw.

En Garde!- Fun sword-fighting action game. The parry system was simple and the use of the environment made fights more interesting. Combat felt a little too samey, unsure if it will expand further as the game progresses.

Goodbye Volcano High- I enjoyed the characters and the voice acting, but the demo was fairly short, so I'm not entirely sure its going to go somewhere interesting, but dinosaurs are cool, so that gives it extra marks.

Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical- Wasn't sure what to expect from a musical, but it was definitely different. The demo jumps around a bit to different scenes which threw me off, but I liked what I saw and the singing definitely sets it apart.

Eternights- The gameplay and setup seemed interesting, but I was annoyed at how horny the game was. I feel they went way overboard in that department and was their go to for any light-hearted comedy.

Trepang2 - an okay shooter

The invincible - great atmospheric adventure in space

Little Kitty, Big City - Cute game, nice art, not-so-great camera. Got a little motion sick.

Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical - More or less what I expected after the gameplay reveals on Fig back when it was Chorus, but the dialogue mixing needs work. Levels were all over the place.

Station to Station - Voxel train-based puzzler. The art is quite nice, but the game play loop didn't draw me in. It's basically a puzzler of matching inputs to outputs via train tracks.

Paleo Pines - I'd say this is Stardew Valley or Animal Crossing but with dinosaurs! Cute, but couldn't really get a sense of how it'll develop; life sims take a bit to get going. Liked what I saw so far. Dinos are really cute too.

Jumplight Odyssey - Star Trek meets FTL meets late 70s/early 80s cartoon aesthetic. Ship management sim, liked what I saw so far. FTL-mechanic of having the big bad chase you might be off-putting to some. A difficulty level slider to tweak the speed of the chase might be welcome.

Eternights - A game which takes inspiration from the Persona series, but doesn't take itself too seriously which really gives a great unique separation from Persona. It is filled with SOVL. Voice actors are absolutely top-tier (Hu Tao's and Riuji's / Itto's VA-s are present as I feel it).

Little Kitty Big City - As a cat, you need to get back to your home which is atop of a tall building. It's game where you combine Untitle Goose Game and Stray into eachother. It's a really wholesome and funny game, with some 4th wall breaking lines in the demo. It sold the game for me.

Sea of Stars - It reminded me a lot of older SNES RPGs from the past (looking at you, Chrono Trigger). I enjoyed this one a fair bit and looking forward to its release.

Enternights - The gameplay was interesting but pushing the whole horny thing a bit too much. The facial animations look like they could use a bit more work as they looked quite jarring/didn't seem to go with the rest of the game. The music was enjoyable though.

Wizard with a gun - I really enjoyed this one. Can't wait to try the finished game coop with friends

The Invincible - Looks promising, the story sounds great but the controls were pretty unintuitive

Gord - The Settlers meets Grimdark. I enjoyed it

Grand Emprise: Time Travel Survival - A pretty janky hobbyist project. Pretty impressive for a solo dev but I don't see it going anywhere

Station to Station - Looked great visually but very easy and very little depth. Not a sim but a simple puzzle game.

Dragonheir: Silent Gods - Clearly fishing for a D&D license. I can smell the microtransactions coming a mile away. Little depth or strategy. No thank you.

While the iron's hot - Stardew Valley but you're a blacksmith. I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected.

My personal highlight was Genopanic. I cute-spooky pixelart metroidvania-inspired platformer with a good mix of exploration, puzzles and combat. No aspect is super deep, but nicely done.

Stray Gods — the demo did a great job of demonstrating what the gameplay will be like! the art is gorgeous and the voice acting is solid. I just have a few minor critiques: the soundscape of the VO felt weirdly empty and echo-y. I would have loved some additional room tone ambience, additional SFX like fabric swishes when characters turn their heads: imo it needs a little something to make it all feel cohesive. The demo was also structured so that you get a taste of later songs, but without clearly communicating that the new gameplay section was from a new part of the game, which confused me. It also made it harder to care about those choices because I'm missing the context.

The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood — I can't believe they let us play for so long in the demo?! I kept thinking ok it's going to end now but it didn't! That's always a nice surprise in a demo. The card design mechanic was enjoyable, and detailed enough to provide room for personalization but not too complex to be overwhelming. The mechanic also appeared in an interlude where I wasn't expecting it (which also had a later influence on dialogue) - that was a delight, and I think is a good sign of further depth in the full game. I like that the main character has a distinct personality and isn't a generic character or too self-insert-y. Can't wait for the full release of the game!

Venba — the demo is short and sweet, but enough to let me know I'll like the full game. the recipes-as-puzzles is fun, and a neat introduction to the world of Indian cooking. and ofc the art and animation is lovely - I especially loved the menu and options screens.

Saltsea Chronicles — there was clearly a lot of thought and care given to this demo. I really appreciated the initial context they provided around "here's what's happened in the story so far", and the little glossary pop-ups when characters used new words was a great touch. Charming characters and world building. In dialogue choices, it wasn't clear which character you're making the dialogue choice for, but as I got further along I think it's more about the vibe and not picking specific dialogue choices. Keeping my eye on this one for sure!

Slay The Princess — this is an older demo that I hadn't tried yet. 10/10, this sucked me in for several hours. There are so many interesting options and paths to choose, and the voice acting and art is amazing. I'm very curious where this will go in the full game!

Laika: Aged Through Blood for sure. Wild mix of ultraviolence and being a mom for your cute daughter. The motorcycle gameplay is hard but it feels so good when you get it right, and the demo gives you so much to work with

Reverse Collapse: Code Name Bakery

The remake of the cult classic bakery girl finally gets a demo after it's 2021 release date came and went. And it was pretty good. Runs well, shows the progress Mica made as a studio. Very excited for the full release to scratch that Fire Emblem style itch that Engage didn't really satisfy.

Captain Wayne - Vacation Desperation: A fun little boomer shooter with some absurd premises and humor. Really fun and whacky.

LunarLux: I really like the art style of this one. The gameplay is turn based combat with a bit of some active/QTE elements.

Hammerwatch II: Sequel to Hammerwatch, a top down dungeon crawly twin stick RPG kinda game. Nothing too crazy, but it's a good gamer to relax to.

Eternights: A lot of people say this is just a lowe quality Persona 5 knockoff, but to me I see more Scarlet Nexus. It has some romance stuff in it, and the combat itself isnt anything too special but I found myself really liking what I played, and the music is really really good IMO

Devil Spire: This is a very retro inspired dungeon crawler that is oozing with atmosphere and charm. I really like this one

Sea of Stars: This is the one I've been patiently waiting on. Pixel art indie JRPG (Those are a dime a dozen really), but this one is punching way above it's weight class. The art is incredible, the music is catchy. Combat is engaging and enjoyable, and I need this game to hurry up and launch

Do the demos generally become unavailable after the fest is over?

The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood was a lovely experience. I loved the part where you crafted your own tarot-like cards and the dialogue and plot was nice as well. Big recommendation for people who like text heavy games like disco elysium or maybe citizen sleeper.

Sea of Stars was the only one I tried, and what they had looked really good.

Coreborn was very nice. Cannot wait for it to be released next month.

It is a bit like Valheim and Rust but more chilled. Especially at the start. Very unique world based on a german Pen and Paper series.

Mob Factory -- Fun demo, tower defense crafting game. Zones don't get progressively harder, so once you have something successful you can just let it run for resources from the mobs and move onto a new area or add more mob spawners to increase loot

Viewfinder -- Short demo, great concept, can't wait to see more

Station to Station -- Cute puzzle game. Not a sim/transit game, trains are just the theme for the puzzle. Very pretty looking though

Laysara: Summit Kingdom -- City builder on a mountain, with different elevations and castes of workers (including yaks). Didn't get a great grasp on how much space management and avalanche control would affect the game.

Gord -- Grimdark survival city builder. Seems fun, has a story and will reset your town but keep the people as you move through the dark forest.

Thronefall -- More tower defense. Run around and shoot/kite as the king to keep enemy mobs busy. Balance more towers/soldiers vs economy. Extra modifiers for more challenge. Fun time killer, not sure how much I'd actually play it personally. Can only build in predefined spots, can't choose what goes where.

Wizard with a Gun -- Survival Crafting Roguelite with ~~guns~~ ~~spells~~ spellguns. Scanning enemies with the book while they're running around is annoying, but otherwise this was pretty fun. Supposed to have coop multiplayer, so I'd play it with friends once it's out

Kingdom Eighties is a branch off Kingdoms Two Crowns, and is storyline based instead of rougelite. You basically have a 2d side scroller kingdom to build an economy with and defend nightly. It's a cool aesthetic, fun gameplay. I love any content I can get from Raw Fury. Minimalistic but well done pixel art, good music, intense battles.

Loddlenaut - A cute little trash collecting game. It seems pretty chill and fun. I didn't get to the point of meeting the titular Loddles because I want to save that for release, but the satisfaction of cleaning up the environment and picking up pieces of trash is already a solid loop even without adding additional mechanics. Potato computer friendly.

One Lonely Outpost - It's a bad sign when you get frustrated by repetitive, uninteresting tasks in the first 30 minutes of the game. From a design perspective, it needs to answer "Why?" a lot better. Why are we gathering archeology fragments? Why are we doing these irritating and honestly unfun tasks? And not in a "Well we're making the world habitable", the answer needs to be more direct: "We're looking for soil analyzer blueprints to be able to tell where to plant our crops". It might have some magic fun hidden later in the game, but I was thoroughly unimpressed with the demo.

Wizard with a Gun - Neat concept and fairly fun to play. I find isometric non-tile-based games clunky, and this game doesn't change that feeling. I might pick it up if my friends show interest in playing co-op.

Grand Emprise: Time Travel Survival - Interesting concept, but extremely jank. Poor UI, mechanics aren't that tight or interesting, animations are extremely clunky and 'combat' is laughable. It almost feels like an asset flip.

Paleo Pines - Cute, but something feels off. I'm not sure if it's the animations, the shaders, or something else, but something gives the game a visually half-finished feel. I'm interested to see where this one goes and what further polish it receives.

Mr. Run and Jump - The transition between the first level and the second was really neat. The gameplay is fairly fun.