Support NeoGAF

[VN1X]

Event Page
(19th - 26th of June)

Play free demos. Watch developer livestreams. Wishlist your favorites to get notified when they release!
New to Next Fest? Scroll to the bottom for more info, or just explore around to discover your next favorite game.

Trailer + Live Coverage


​

Couldn't find a thread for this year's summer edition of the Steam demo extravaganza but feel free to close if there's one already. I've got 26 demos downloaded myself (so far) and played a few as well! Will post thoughts later. Any recommendations GAF?

 

[VN1X]

Dungeon Golf - Fun concept and visuals but the camera and controls weren't very intuitive. Perhaps this was a fault of my own but during the three holes I played I constantly found myself struggling with lining up shots while also having the camera not spaz out on me when I was near an object. Could be fun with friends but they'll have to fix some of these issues first before I dive back in again.

Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition - Despite growing up during the time of its original release I never actually played ROTT back in the day. And while Night Dive seem to have done a good job on this port it just isn't for me. The movement, soundtrack, sound effects, visuals... they all feel "off" to me and I could only muster a few minutes before turning it off and uninstalling.

Luna Abyss - This was a rather short demo and while the art direction is definitely striking it also made for a dull gameplay experience. Because everything that is important is highlighted among the sea of dark, white and grey you quickly start to pick up on the signposting and interactable objects, leaving you holding W and moving from area to area while auto-targeting enemies and dispatching them with little to no difficulty. The audio levels also seemed all over the place or lacked polish. It looked like an interesting title from the trailers but after actually having played it I'm afraid to say it kind of left me cold. Returnal does everything this does but better really.

Captains of the Wacky Waters - A roguelite with pirate boats that leans heavily into its quirky sensibilities but one that I found myself wanting to turn off during the tutorial already due to poor controls and bright visuals (that came at the detriment of readability). At times I could barely see other elements such as the cannon trajectory or items to pick up. After having completed the tutorial it finally introduces some pirate boat action but thought that was far too cumbersome and simply no fun. Also, as far as I can see, you're just going across a light tinted texture masquerading as the ocean with no waves at all? Another hard pass for me.

 

[Wildebeest]

Nicely presented logic puzzles. Seems pretty chill and low stakes. It follows the rule that every indie game must now have cats as characters. Out of the three demos I tried so far, this was the best, and had the least annoying pop up click through dialogues, although they seem mandatory for every indie game. The worst demo was the one which didn't have any talking cats (as far as I know).

 

[bender]

Tried out some games:

Vampire Hunters - It's like a FPs corridor version of Vampire Survivors. You kill enemies, pick up souls to upgrades (familiars, more guns, gun upgrades). Neat concept but pretty clunky and the UI is horrid for Steam Deck. Probably the most fun I had though.

Toxic Crusaders - A painfully average beat'em up but maybe that fits with the theme of the source material.

Stunt Derby Demo - I think it's trying to be Track Mania meets Humans Fall Flat. It's ugly and doesn't perform all that well on Deck.

Wizard With A Gun - Great presentation and a neat little character creator. I then started punching boxes and trees to collect materials to craft guns and....pass.

Rise Of The Triad - Not my flavor of boomer shooter.

Blackout Protocol - Co-Op Twin Stick Shooter. Looks nice but performs poorly on Deck.

 

[Wildebeest]

Seems like a good first person puzzle game. Some nice, surprising things in the demo, although I didn't get to anything too challenging. Seems solid in terms of presentation and options, not some mobile port that doesn't even have fov or invert-y settings.

 

[drotahorror]

Kind of like a budget Max Payne? Excellent voice acting and writing was good. Gameplay is kind of ok? The actual game seems quite strange. I dunno, it's not for me personally.

An action game where you play a lady with a rapier. Pretty cool combat with the different environmental physics. Artstyle is nice and pleasant, voice acting is really solid. Lots of charm here. Added to my wishlist.

 

[bender]

Kind of like a budget Max Payne? Excellent voice acting and writing was good. Gameplay is kind of ok? The actual game seems quite strange. I dunno, it's not for me personally.

I wouldn't call the voice acting or writing good. It really, really wants to be Max Payne both game play wise and narratively. It's Max Payne mixed with Dusk Till Dawn. Feels good to play but performance is kind of awful on Deck which is disappointing considering the visual style being so modest.

Played Some More Games:

The Devil Within: Satgat Demo - Eh. Runs really poorly on Deck.

Ducky's Delivery Services - Level select with the tried-and-true mobile styled three star grading system. Meh.

God of Weapons - Vampire Survivors clone with an interesting inventory management system between rounds (think RE4). Looks really nice visually and runs great. But, still another Vampire Survivors clone so Eh.

Lords of Exile - Visually it reminds me of those Curse of the Moon offshoots of Bloodstained. Where those of very 8-bit mechanically, this play more like a 16-bit game. Not bad.

Alien Hominid Invasion - Buttery smooth but I'm not sure this is the sequel anyone is expecting as it isn't your typical run-and-gun. I need to spend some more time with it to see what the hook is.

Punch Club 2 - I was expecting a beat 'em up and I have no idea what I'm doing.

 

[Saber]

I'm already at it for Rise of the Triad Ludricuos Edition. Nightdive Studio sure made a name for themselves, looks like an excellent version of the game so far. Sad that Rott is not for everyone tastes though, but I'm happy to finally play the game I used to play when I was a little cub.

 

[VN1X]

Beyond Sunset - A Build Engine retro FPS (dare I say boomer shooter) that tries to mix together a bunch of mechanics such as movement options and Doom 2016-style finishers to give resources but I simply found it too clunky and unwieldy to enjoy. The combat encounters were extremely basic and the weapons themselves lacked any punch or feedback. You're (far) better off playing something like Viscerafest instead.

Death Must Die - Another Roguelite Survivor-type game but one that I very much enjoyed. So many of these feel like cheap rush jobs just to make a quick buck before the Vampire Survivor craze is over but thankfully this one delivered. Its got an attractive retro inspired art style reminiscent of something like Diablo and the upgrades themselves felt meaningful (and fun!). There seems to be a meaty meta-progression outside of the core gameplay loop with a surprising amount of story/lore tying it all together as well. On the wishlist it goes!

Doomsday Fodder - I'm a fan of their previous game "Doomsday Hunters" but this didn't do it for me. Another one of those VS-likes (lifting the assets from their previous title wholesale no less) but one that's too convoluted for its own good. The fact that you're constantly supposed to extract before a timer kills you is annoying as well.

Olliefrog Toad Skater - Not even the cutesy, albeit very simplistic, visuals can save this one. The camera is super jittery, the font used for the text plain bad and the soundtrack is outright annoying. I guess old-school Tony Hawk was a lot more polished than I thought it was. Pass.

 

[drotahorror]

Seems fine. I would just rather play Mario Kart though.

Not sure what to say, I guess I was expecting something else as I had this on my wishlist. Not my kind of game at all. Adventure/horror I guess.

 

[simpatico]

Any boomer shooters outside of Triad?

 

[drotahorror]

Death Must Die - Another Roguelite Survivor-type game but one that I very much enjoyed. So many of these feel like cheap rush jobs just to make a quick buck before the Vampire Survivor craze is over but thankfully this one delivered. Its got an attractive retro inspired art style reminiscent of something like Diablo and the upgrades themselves felt meaningful (and fun!). There seems to be a meaty meta-progression outside of the core gameplay loop with a surprising amount of story/lore tying it all together as well. On the wishlist it goes!

Doomsday Fodder - I'm a fan of their previous game "Doomsday Hunters" but this didn't do it for me. Another one of those VS-likes (lifting the assets from their previous title wholesale no less) but one that's too convoluted for its own good. The fact that you're constantly supposed to extract before a timer kills you is annoying as well.

Didn't know they were making another game. I, Dracula Genesis, what a crazy name it used to have. I had fun with it though.

Unfortunately the VS genre for me, has kind of worn it's welcome out. I wish Death Must Die was a thing when I was into it, as the artstyle and theme is really up my alley.

 

[bender]

Everyone should try Laika: Aged Through Blood. It's Motorcross Maniacs meets Metroidvania with a little bullet time thrown in. Easily my favorite demo from this event.

 

[Wildebeest]

Any boomer shooters outside of Triad?

I don't know what you mean by boomer shooter, never heard the term before. But go to the filter and select genre shooter then select your perspective, and you will get about 50. The most popular seems to be Fortune's Run, but I've not tried it because to me taking a perfect good FPS and putting rhythm action game elements in it or fighting game parry and combos in it is like shitting in my sandwich and expecting me to say thanks.

 

[Hydroxy]

The next fest page on steam is not loading, its showing blank for me. Steam has been behaving weird since the big UI overhaul. And it has become slow too.

 

[hlm666]

Everyone should try Laika: Aged Through Blood. It's Motorcross Maniacs meets Metroidvania with a little bullet time thrown in. Easily my favorite demo from this event.

thanks for the heads up hadn't heard about that and it looks about my speed.

I'm not sure if this is part of the event, but on a similar note this has a demo.

 

[Lucifers Beard]

thanks for the heads up hadn't heard about that and it looks about my speed.

I'm not sure if this is part of the event, but on a similar note this has a demo.

One of my favourite indie movies. Absolutely fantastic piece of work and I love Metroidvanias. Win win for me, thanks for posting.

 

[Wildebeest]

They seem to have spent a lot of their budget on their 70s space anime aesthetic, but the game seems solid as well. It basically seems to be the gameplay of something like Evil Genius with campaign elements of FTL.

The next fest page on steam is not loading, its showing blank for me. Steam has been behaving weird since the big UI overhaul. And it has become slow too.

It's just a web page, you can look at it in your browser.

 

[BennyBlanco]

 

[VN1X]

Any boomer shooters outside of Triad?

Check out Beyond Sunset and Fortune's Run, if you haven't already. Let me know if you find others as well!

 

[Pantz]

Above average for an anime game. With nice gore and relationship systems. I'm in!

 

[VN1X]

Catch & Cook: Fishing Adventure - Boring and lifeless. It's lacking a lot of audio effects to make the seafaring engaging and the actual fishing mechanic couldn't be more dull either. Everything's out of proportion as well in terms of size which was odd. A fun concept but poor execution basically.

\
Little Kitty, Big City - Good fun! Albeit a bit buggy and stuttery. I also found myself getting stuck behind geometry a lot but other than that it's very charming and even has some fun writing to boot. I wasn't able to complete the Crow's objective of getting 25 "shinies" but I'll save that for the full game as I'll probably snap this up at some point. Definitely recommended if you're up for a platformer with full Zoomies™ support.

ROBOBEAT - An easy to pick up and play Rhythm Roguelike(!) shooter with a lot of modern movement options (such as wallrun, dash, slide, slam, etc). It definitely has some boopin' beats and the fact that you can change the music on the fly is a really nice feature as well. The presentation itself is grating though and reminds me of DESYNC (and many others) where they go full on style over functionality. I really hope they make some changes for the full release in that regard as some of the UI was either too busy or barely visible. Overall a fun experience though but not sure if these Rhythm shooters are my cup of tea. Maybe BPM and/or Hellsinger can win me over though as I have yet to play them.

Van Hellswing - Another one of those Devil Dagger-likes and one that takes a lot of queues from recent Boomer Shooters in terms of presentation and mechanics. A fun little diversion if you're into high score type games, one that's well realized admittedly, but for me my time with the demo was all I needed. It's not bad... just not very exciting either. I found CROSSBOW: Bloodnight to be more enjoyable.

 

[Pakoe]

Awww yeahhh, love these events. Will follow the thread for tips.

 

[VN1X]

Moonstone Island - Pokémon x Stardew Valley, which sounds good on paper but felt more like work than anything. Slow gameplay & combat, unpleasant soundtrack, non-stop tutorialization... After having played both aforementioned games this brings nothing new to the table and is comparatively worse. Nice art style but that's about it.

Sea of Stars - This was fantastic! The presentation is incredible and I love how tactile it all feels. You're constantly interacting with the environments by jumping, climbing and puzzling your way through it and it has a lot of vericallity incorporated as well, which is neat for a game of this kind. Even combat encounters has your party and its enemies square up exactly where you engaged them without it going into a separate battle screen. Unfortunately I got stuck due to a bug near the end so I couldn't finish it entirely but otherwise I pretty much loved this! One that I'm eagerly anticipating now.

Toxic Crusaders - A fun little Beat-Em-Up based on the 90s cartoon of the same name (that I never watched). The snappy controls, punchy feedback and witty dialogue made it a fun ride for demo purposes but not sure how captivating it would be over multiple hours. Though usually these are shorter types of games anyway. I think it's something I'd only play if I could others on board via Remote Play, at the very least.

Mind over Magic - I like what I played so far but... I have no idea what I'm doing. I'll have to revisit this at some other time when I can get fully stuck in. If someone's also played this I'd love some tips lol.

 

[VN1X]

The Bookwalker: Thief of Tales - I already played this a week or so before the Next Fest but the demo's still up so I've decided it counts. It's an isometric Sleuth-Em-Up and I would recommend going in as blind as possible. I loved this.

Justant - Another game that had a demo out a few days before the event and one that I instantly adored. It's DONTNOD blending together Breath of the Wild x Tomb Raider x Ico and I can already safely say that it's one, if not the, best Climb-Em-Ups I've played. Can't wait for the full release!

Beastieball - If "obnoxious" was a game this would be it lol. This was one of those games that shows its hand early on and I didn't care for any of it.

Shogun Showdown - A turn-based strategy Roguelike that might look intimidating at first but its brilliance lies in its simplicity. I deliberately stopped playing on my first death as I still have plenty of other Roguelikes (and demos) to play and I don't want to get stuck on this one. Me likey!

 

[VN1X]

Alder Choke - I have no fucking clue what this is or how to play it. You're supposed to juggle the enemy that floats above you because when it crashes to the ground it's game over. I don't have the patience for this nor do I find it very engaging to begin with. I'd rather watch someone else suffer through it for my enjoyment instead.

Prison City - A NES inspired side-scrolling Shooter that both looks and plays the part. A bit too snappy perhaps (if that makes sense) and I kind of struggled with lining up diagonal shots or trying to hang and shoot at the same time while also dodging enemy projectiles. I think many will really like this but I'll give it a pass myself.

Rebel Transmute - If you're a fan of the original Metroid and, somehow, still crave more of the same then this is for you. I'm kind of over this style of Metroidvania myself and the fact that I could barely tell what was supposed to be an enemy, a platform or background art didn't do it any favours either. Not for me.

Voidborn - I loved this from start to finish! The From Software inspired aesthetics are worth the price of admission alone and they've really nailed the atmosphere as well. The combat itself is a blast and I love that the dash can be charged and used as an attack against enemies. Cool stuff! The only issue I have is the soundtrack which felt out of place at times and was on almost constant repeat. Other than that I'm really curious about everything it has to offer. I am excite!

 

[Buggy Loop]

Justant - Another game that had a demo out a few days before the event and one that I instantly adored. It's DONTNOD blending together Breath of the Wild x Tomb Raider x Ico and I can already safely say that it's one, if not the, best Climb-Em-Ups I've played. Can't wait for the full release!

Can't recommend this enough

I wishlisted the game soon as demo ended. It's a BEAUTY!

 

[drotahorror]

Justant - Another game that had a demo out a few days before the event and one that I instantly adored. It's DONTNOD blending together Breath of the Wild x Tomb Raider x Ico and I can already safely say that it's one, if not the, best Climb-Em-Ups I've played. Can't wait for the full release!

Fuuuuuh I was just about to rec this even though I played it a few days ago. I don't care for Dont Nod's other games, but Jusant was amazing. I actually stopped playing the demo after 15min or so and thought I'll just wait til release, this is fuckin sick.

Some other nice rec's I'll check out as well, thanks!

 

[Pantz]

A bit of a let down. It's a different kind of builder than I thought it would be. More of a puzzle game, hard to explain. Demo tutorial was too restrictive too. Maybe when it all comes together it could be good but still not what I was hoping for.

 

[Hudo]

I always feel that these Next Fests are like dumpster diving. Most of the games are indie-shovelware trash. But on very rare occasions you find something that looks cool enough. Only then to be disappointed by it anyway.

 

[Porticus]

I always feel that these Next Fests are like dumpster diving. Most of the games are indie-shovelware trash. But on very rare occasions you find something that looks cool enough. Only then to be disappointed by it anyway.

Completely agree with you, every time I try some demos and most of them are simply shovelwarem such a shame, they should have some kind of quality bar.

 

[KXVXII9X]

I always feel that these Next Fests are like dumpster diving. Most of the games are indie-shovelware trash. But on very rare occasions you find something that looks cool enough. Only then to be disappointed by it anyway.

This. I downloaded 9 different games and most just felt unpolished and half-baked. Eternights was kind of on my radar but sadly looked and felt like a game made in Dreams. The combat was clunky and the art and UI were amateur.

 

[VN1X]

I always feel that these Next Fests are like dumpster diving. Most of the games are indie-shovelware trash. But on very rare occasions you find something that looks cool enough. Only then to be disappointed by it anyway.

I mean I mostly use it to check out games I had on my wishlist. It's great to actually play something you were looking forward to as opposed to only being able to consume the marketing fluff for it and then eventually finding out it either lives up to expectations or is a complete dud. I think it's exciting to be able to try out all sorts of releases, some of which you might have never heard from before, on the chance that they might impress you and become an anticipated title.

Plus, seeing as Roguelikes and First Person Shooters are my favourite genre of games this type of push by Valve to highlight demos is fantastic as they rely so much on 'gamefeel' if that makes sense. If anything we should want more studios to follow suit and release trial versions of their titles. Bring back the olden days!

 

[Hudo]

I mean I mostly use it to check out games I had on my wishlist. It's great to actually play something you were looking forward to as opposed to only being able to consume the marketing fluff for it and then eventually finding out it either lives up to expectations or is a complete dud. I think it's exciting to be able to try out all sorts of releases, some of which you might have never heard from before, on the chance that they might impress you and become an anticipated title.

Plus, seeing as Roguelikes and First Person Shooters are my favourite genre of games this type of push by Valve to highlight demos is fantastic. If anything we should want more studios to follow suit and release trial versions of their titles. Bring back the olden days!

I am with you on releasing trial versions for everything. I am actually hopeful that this will be the norm with Valve's push on trials.

 

[VN1X]

Soulitaire - After playing this I'm not sure why I ever put it on my wishlist. I'm a sucker for card games but Solitaire is about the dullest thing imaginable. I guess I was hoping this would sway my opinion on that but adding a Visual Novel on top of an already boring pastime activity... no thanks. Quickly removed it from my wishlist.

Botany Manor - This was short but sweet! It's a Puzzle-Em-Up where you go around trying to grow plants that require specific requirements in order to blossom. Visually it's very reminiscent of something like The Witness but puzzle-wise it seems like it's something I could actually finish on my own as opposed to banging my head against the wall for multiple hours. I liked it!

Horror Stories: Harvest Hunt - Another wishlisted game that I quickly removed after having suffered through it. They tried to combine Hunt Showdown with Dead by Daylight but failed in pretty much every regard in my opinion. It's needlessly convoluted and simply not fun to play. Not sure who this is for really.

Fortune's Run - Now this is where it's at ladies and gentlemen! It combines the best of Half-Life, Deus Ex and Cyberpunk; seemingly without effort and concocts a brilliant immersive shooter that's brimming with atmosphere. I'd go so far as to say it puts big budget titles to shame what with how detailed the world is and the amount of freedom the player has in terms of movement, combat, stealth and exploration.

I loved it and ended up playing it for about 2 hours after which I had to force myself to quit. I've no idea how I wasn't aware of this before but it has now skyrocketed to one of my most anticipated titles! Even smaller things such as how save scumming is incorporated or that it features the messaging system from Dark Souls... I could wax lyrical for many more paragraphs but it's better if people just try it out for themselves. I very much recommend it.

(Oh and make sure you complete "the exam" after the tutorial ).

 

[drotahorror]

I mean I mostly use it to check out games I had on my wishlist. It's great to actually play something you were looking forward to as opposed to only being able to consume the marketing fluff for it and then eventually finding out it either lives up to expectations or is a complete dud. I think it's exciting to be able to try out all sorts of releases, some of which you might have never heard from before, on the chance that they might impress you and become an anticipated title.

Plus, seeing as Roguelikes and First Person Shooters are my favourite genre of games this type of push by Valve to highlight demos is fantastic as they rely so much on 'gamefeel' if that makes sense. If anything we should want more studios to follow suit and release trial versions of their titles. Bring back the olden days!

Yea I find it very hard to diss the game fests on steam. I mostly check out demos from my wishlist and look for more curated lists (like this thread) to get an idea of something I didn't have on my list.

This one has probably been the best games fest considering what I added and removed from my list.

So far, I've added En Garde! and Laika Aged Through Blood (wow this one caught me off guard, love the bullet time and combat (difficult to land in right position sometime, probably my fault with my bad vision)), and I've removed Unholy and El Paso.


I did check out Gord:

Not my kind of game but been on my wishlist for a while. It's a sort of survival/RTS hybrid. It seems pretty in depth and I'd rather just wait til release (or a sale) before diving in. Love the atmosphere and artstyle. The character models during cutscenes are very nice, and I was surprised by the voice acting and facial animations.

 

[VN1X]

Ode to a Moon - Well this was different. Not sure what it's all about but I like the aesthetics at least. Not sure how long I'll stomach all of the epileptic effects for a full game though but I'm keeping it on my wishlist for now.

Unholy - Well this was kind of awful. It's got a FOV so narrow it makes you look cross eyed and combined with the sluggish mouse movement it made for a very nauseating gameplay experience. The scares themselves were cheap and the same goes for the character models, some laughably bad even. Removed from the wishlist!

The Invincible - Firewatch but in spaaaaace. I quit this after 20 minutes, not because it was bad but because I want to get fully immersed with the full game.

Lies of P - Do we finally get a FromSoft inspired title that can live up to its FromSoft inspirations? This certainly seems to get close to that sort of quality in any case. Happy to note that it runs great as well, even with FSR 2.2 turned off. Looking forward to the full release!

 

[Wildebeest]

I'm fuming mad. Plants don't grow a particular way in volcanic soil because volcanoes are hot. It is because volcanic eruptions deposit a lot of minerals in the soil. What sorts of fools do these devs take us for? The notebook seems a bit useless since it doesn't seem to track the information you need, only what clues you have read. Other than that, it's fine.

 

[VN1X]

Coming up on the last remaining batch of games now and apparently I've been saving the best for last cause these have all been very promising.

Warhaven - Will definitely have to get some friends on to play this while it's still available as I can easily see this be the next big thing. I played this a while ago and the extra spit and polish since then definitely shows as it's getting better with every trial period. I usually don't play these kinds of competitive brawlers so for it to captivate me as much means it must be doing something right. Not too sure about its longevity but if it ends up as a F2P title I can see myself sinking quite a few hours into it.

MythForce - Another title best played with friends but also enjoyable solo. They've nailed the Saturday morning cartoon vibes and I'm happy to report that, for once, this co-op Roguelite FPS isn't a complete convoluted mess! It's very easy to pick up and play which makes the sell to friends also less difficult. I've yet to try out every class but I'm eager to check out what they have to offer. Looking forward to giving this a go some time this week with a buddy or two.

Go Fight Fantastic - Similar to MythForce it also leans heavily into comic book stylings although without the Roguelike mechanics; instead offering a standard co-op Hack & Slash adventure (from an isometric viewpoint). One that I actually found to be enjoyable with others. Flashy combat with plenty of customization as far as upgrades go? I'll take it! We actually put in a decent amount of hours into Conan Chop Chop which is the most recent of these I've played so I can see our crew appreciating this as well.

En Garde! - This oozes charm and personality! Everything from the vibrant visuals to the animations and writing is filled with whimsy. The voice acting especially sounds like the cast were having a lot of fun with their characters which made for an even more entertaining experience. Combat & controls were easy enough to grasp and it seems to offers plenty of mechanics and curve balls to keep things engaging. Some of it actually reminded me of Dark Messiah of Might & Magic (although I guess kicking foes from ledges will quickly do that lol). It's a title that wasn't even on my radar but after playing am really interested in the final release. Thanks for the recommendation drotahorror !

 

[hlm666]

A fun little Beat-Em-Up based on the 90s cartoon of the same name

They made a cartoon based on the toxic avenger? Now a game based on that cartoon. Pretty funny. Game looks cool though.

Just for reference

 

[Pantz]

UE5 is pretty cool. Sci-fi story was pretty cool.

Slay the Spire style hentai game. It has just enough depth to be interesting. I didn't beat the tentacle monster boss but it's OK to lose to the bosses, if you know what I mean. I'll buy it.

I like Fiora from League of Legends. Fun combat, I would play on a whim one day.

Nah, the game engine is too souless, not feeling anything for these pups. Maybe managing multiple dogs could be fun but it doesn't have any of that in the demo.

Furriness level is ok. Not a bad option if you're in mood for a half cooking and half dungeon game. Might be better options out there though.

Voxel art is good. I love train games. More puzzle than tycoon. Pretty chill, but could get more advanced later. I'll buy it for sure.

A step up from a mobile game. Anyway grid based strategy games are always fun. Just another one to add to the pile.

Psygnosis rolling in their grave. *joins lobby* (username): "Do you guys want to have car sex?". It's way too basic of a game, knocking over a few boxes with minimal physics was the most exciting thing.

It's funny, it's not good...... but it's funny. Good times will be had.

 

[VN1X]

Jumplight Odyssey - This is one of those glorified spreadsheet simulators. I turned it off after about 5 minutes, it's not for me.

I Am Future: Cozy Apocalypse Survival - Found this to be surprisingly enjoyable. It's a fairly straightforward survival game where you go around collecting resources in order to build bigger and better things. Nothing new but time flew by while I was playing it so that counts for something.

Laysara: Summit Kingdom - This reminded me of the original Pharaoh although I have to echo what Pantz said in that it's more of a puzzle game rather than a traditional city builder. I didn't even manage to beat the tutorial as difficulty quickly ramped up and I already lost track of what type of upgrade required certain prerequisites or resources. Not bad but not exactly in my wheelhouse.

Galacticare - Theme Hospital in spaaaaace. Aside from some of the UI elements this was already very polished. The ease with which you can make rooms, decorate them, move 'em after, etc is all very intuitive. I've yet to play Two Point Hospital (I know, I'm sorry) so I'm unsure how they compare but I enjoyed this and will stick it on the ol' wishlist!

 

[Pantz]

I want to play more and more UE5 games now! The metahumans (in this game) seem kind of dumb with too many weird facial expressions. I doubt it will be an amazing game but playing in UE5 is new and exciting.

 

[Krappadizzle]

Justant - Another game that had a demo out a few days before the event and one that I instantly adored. It's DONTNOD blending together Breath of the Wild x Tomb Raider x Ico and I can already safely say that it's one, if not the, best Climb-Em-Ups I've played. Can't wait for the full release!

Excellent demo, was very surprised. My only criticism would be that the animation still needs some work, especially on the slower walking/jogging transitions, but overall, fantastic. Very relaxing with a cool art style. I couldn't help but wonder though that if this same game was attached to a strong i.p. if it'd do better. It'd fit so well in a Nintendo brand. Either way, very much worth checking out.

-----------------------------

My favorite demos I've played so far have easily been Fortune's Run( likely the best Dark Forces-type game of the last decade or so) and Jusant.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Did any cool stuff come out of Steam's Next Fest this year?

What's everyone's favorite this time?

I played Jusant's demo. It was cool.

 

[Ishma3L]

Station to Station

Jusant

Wood & Weather

Jumplight Odyssey

Sludge Life 2

Viewfinder

Sea of Stars

SteamWorld Build

Davigo

Fortune's Run

 

[VN1X]

Laika: Aged Through Blood - Very interesting metroidvania with tight controls and, what appears to be, quite a violent narrative as well. This wasn't even on my radar before but have added it to my wishlist now.

Call of Saregnar - I initially liked the look of this but I already got fed up early on with the amount of flavorless dialogue that was spammed at the player in the form of plain text. Not for me.

The Foretold: Westmark Legacy - Slick presentation but found the main gameplay conceit uninteresting. I quickly noped out of it.

Gord - A Colony Sim with RTS elements. I usually don't care for these types of games and unfortunately Gord hasn't won me over either. I thought the tutorialization was also quite poor with too much info being presented at once instead of drip feeding it as you go along. Though it could just be a "me" issue as I don't have the patience for it.

 

[Pakoe]

Didn't have a lot of time to test some demos:

This demo was amazing! I love boomer shooters, this kinda felt like a lite imsim boomer shooter? Dunno, couldn't stop playing though.
Instant add to my wishlist.

Pretty chill puzzle game. Not my type of game but can see people enjoying it.

As soon as the game started I felt like this was something Devolver would publish. Great art and gameplay. Something I'll definitely want to play later on.
Also added to my wishlist.

A classic, but not for me. Respect to the OGs though.

Indie Max Payne. Idea is fun, but lacks a few things. Could be a fun game.

FPS version of Vampire Survivors I guess. Didn't enjoy it.

 

[simpatico]

Really liked this one. Took the whole demo to make me like it, but by the end it clicked. This is evil scifi Lovecraft horror, with floaty Destiny x First Person SHMUP combat. First few enemies you're just like "why are the enemy bullets big floaty blobs and I wondered why they would make it so easy. Once it gets going there is a strong bullet hell element, and as a SHMUP lover; I'm in. The aim has a lock on so you can focues on dodging, which I actually ended up appreciating too. The lore and visuals are really good. I dislike the main character though. It's a whispy non binary elf. I can overlook it if this fleshes out nicely.

This one seems early in development. The gameplay is a slower RE4, with some bad polish. Visual are a mixed bag. Environments are nice, enemies are fine in concept. It's enough that I'll follow it and hope it improves. I dig the RE4-like genre. The main character is absolutely horrible though. This seems to be a theme with this Steam Fest.

Both games are solid though and on the wishlist. Stray just to follow, but I think depending on price I'm in for Luna Abyss. As a $30-$40 release.