The Demo Thread

cogwheel

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Mirthwood - Sandbox immersive sim. NOT my jam. But you know what, I keep trying, because you never really know. I've seen this in a few places now, but I learned about it from Alpha Beta Gamer.
Can you clarify on the genre on this one? A brief look makes me think it's similar to Stardew Valley, so a farming sim/dating sim/2D ARPG hybrid in the Rune Factory mould. Immersive sim isn't a subtype of "sim", it's a FPS/RPG hybrid that emphasizes exploration, world-building through found content, and multiple paths and playstyles.

A 2D immersive sim is theoretically possible, and would be interesting to see how well it works.
 

Diabolical

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Can you clarify on the genre on this one? A brief look makes me think it's similar to Stardew Valley, so a farming sim/dating sim/2D ARPG hybrid in the Rune Factory mould. Immersive sim isn't a subtype of "sim", it's a FPS/RPG hybrid that emphasizes exploration, world-building through found content, and multiple paths and playstyles.

A 2D immersive sim is theoretically possible, and would be interesting to see how well it works.
It’s just what the steam page says.
1716999828596.png

I haven’t played it yet, so I don’t know. it’s probably not how I would describe it. I have a sneaking suspicion I’m going to describe it as “Harvest Moon / Stardew Valley in ‘x’ setting and ’y’ graphics” with how I feel about it.

And I am NOT getting into more debates about what different genres are versus using it as a descriptor versus traditional viewpoints. I don’t find it helpful. And to be honest, that sort of thing really could be it‘s own thread. Genres versus descriptors and why user tags are wrong. I’ll look, but I won’t participate.
 

cogwheel

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And I am NOT getting into more debates about what different genres are versus using it as a descriptor versus traditional viewpoints. I don’t find it helpful. And to be honest, that sort of thing really could be it‘s own thread. Genres versus descriptors and why user tags are wrong. I’ll look, but I won’t participate.
Without getting into a discussion, I'd just say to ignore that part of the Steam page, for all games. The contents are effectively random. The actual developer tags are here:
Mirthwood Screenshot.png

and it looks like Bad Ridge Games calls it a "life sim", which sounds roughly like what Stardew Valley is, and avoids the existing term of art "immersive sim".
 

Diabolical

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Any further thoughts on Star Trek: Resurgence? I'm curious about it.
Have you played any Tell Tale titles? The reason I used it as a point of reference - the dev team is made up of ex-Tell Tale folks that came out of the fallout of those messes. Which means you get a lot of the same strengths and weaknesses.

Mechanically, that breaks down to multiple choice questions on timers, QTEs, and basic third person movement.

Graphically? It’s fine. But there are occasional hitches in the demo, and some of the facial expressions are a bit … off. Kind of what you expect from a smaller budget.

Story wise? It’s Trek. Very Trek. My understanding from listening to podcasts about it (and reading some articles) is basically a season long story arc, with one of the two playable characters focused on the ‘big picture’ problem primarily, while the second player character is more “problem of the week”. How it measures up as a Star Trek property is up to the individual viewer, but as a TNG fan above all other Treks? This hits me hard in that particular place. And my understanding is that some of the choices are a helluva lot deeper than you see from most Trek video game properties.

I’d HIGHLY encourage a try of the demo if you are interested. It’s a bit large (10gb if I remember correctly) if you are on a data limited internet plan, but otherwise? Queue that baby for download and give it a shot. That’s literally what it is for!

OH! And a big one - the game came out last year, and the demo is fairly recent. So I feel pretty confident in saying that this is indicative of the actual game.
 

Diabolical

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So, demos are starting to drop ahead of the Summer 2024 Next Fest, which starts on 10 June. I don't know when these demos will go away, as a lot of times they are only available from drop until the end of the Next Fest.

If a demo (between now and Next Fest) drops and I play it that specifically declares that it is a Next Fest demo? I'll break it out into it's own section until the start of the Fest.

And now? Demos!



NEXT FEST Specific Demos - Summer 2024

Eh?:
If it's free or cheap. Won't be on a wishlist.
  • SCHiM - (link) - {NEXT FEST DEMO - MAY NOT BE AVAILABLE AFTER: Summer 2024 Next Fest} : This one came OFF my wishlist after the demo. I played it through to the end, about 20 minutes. It's an interesting platformer / timing puzzle game where you jump from shadow to shadow. I found it more 'interesting' than 'engaging'. I want to like it more, but I just... don't. I don't dislike it, but I'm not going to go out of my way to buy it



As far as I can tell, these are normal/garden variety demos. At least they don't specifically call out Next Fest.

Oh HELLS yes!:
Not only is it wishlisted, it will be purchased/played sooner rather than later.
  • None in this post.
Yeah:
Wishlist == yes. Purchase? That's another story entirely.
  • Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Purgatory - (link) - It's a narrative visual novel with RPG elements. Just like their previous Werewolf game, Heart of the Forest. I liked that one. I suspect I'll really enjoy this one. Demo changes the characters and circumstances and story because it's a narrative driven game. Basis of this one is you are a Garou from Afghanistan who has just arrived at the border of Belarus/Poland, and are trying to get to the EU as refugees. Courtesy of rpgsite.net.
  • Kickback - (link) - Wow. That grabbed me a lot more than I thought it would! Top down KB/M only roguelite. Movement is based on your recoil alone - if you don't shoot, you don't move. REALLY retro art aesthetic, and it gets pretty gnarly! Honestly wasn't expecting to like this very much, and then I spent 20 minutes with it! Not sure how deep it goes, but that was pretty darn entertaining for what it is. Courtesy of Alpha Beta Gamer.
Eh?:
If it's free or cheap. Won't be on a wishlist.
  • Megacopter: Blades of the Goddess - (link) - 3/4's view arcade helicopter game. Controls are a little loose, and the view is a bit too tight. But in the 20 minutes I spent with the demo, I had a pretty mindless good time. Writing is juvenile, graphics are about what you'd expect - feels like an early-90's arcade title, before polygons overtook sprites. I had fun with it, but not enough to wishlist it. The game comes out on 21 June (3 weeks or so), so I don't know how long the demo will be available for. Courtesy of Alpha Beta Gamer.
  • Kill Knight - (link) - Top down twin stick shooter bullet hell. It is very much an arcade style game. I enjoyed my time with the demo, but I don't see coming back to it. I could easily see this being SOME ONE'S absolute thing though. It has all the arcade hallmarks - easy to get into a flow state, lots of different things to master, leaderboards, etc. I did have it wishlisted, but my time with the demo was enough for me.
  • Lethal Honor - Order of the Apocalypse - (link) - It's a hack in slash, 1/2 camera angle (a bit closer to horizontal than Hades). It has roguelite pretensions. The art style is very derived from comic books. Demons in a modern facility. It's not bad, but I found the demo a bit boring after 10 minutes or so. The combat is a bit rote, even if it promises "lots of builds". Eh.
  • Project Tower - (link) - Third person shooter with an interesting mechanic - you can (eventually) morph into enemies - good for traversal and for some combat. You can also change into non-living objects, which seem primarily set up for some basic puzzle solving. Interesting. But there are some QoL issues the devs need to address - it REALLY wants you to use a controller! Very small, four person dev team. It's interesting, but in a lot of ways unrefined. I'd recommend giving this one a look, if you are so inclined.
  • The Star Named Eos - (link) - Hidden object and puzzle game. Perspective is fixed first person, and you can swivel around in a 360 degree arc. Looks to be all hand drawn assets (emphasis on looks, because I don't know for sure). Seems wholesome as hell. Keeping it down here in the 'eh' because I certainly wouldn't say no if it was super cheap or free, but I'm not going out of my way for it.
Meh:
Outside my interest or just didn't grab me.
  • Mirthwood - (link) - As expected, not for me. A farming RPG in the vein of Stardew Valley, with even less narrative direction, less cheer/charm, and a MUCH different art style. The RPG elements have some interesting possibilities, but I didn't make it far enough to care. When you have me beating on rocks and trees for five minutes to gather basic resources, I quickly lose interest. Combat and actions feel… off… to me, but this is not a gaming space I find particular enjoyment in. It's NOT bad, or at least I don't think it is. Just not for me.
  • The Chronos Event - (link) - Third person shooter, roguelite stuff, yada yada yada. The time rewind mechanic is on the right mouse button. When you rewind, it rewinds the enemies too - if they were dead, they WILL come back to life. And if you shoot them during the rewind or move into their field of view, they'll change to shoot at the new you as opposed to the version of you that is still shooting. It's an interesting mechanic, but I don't feel like it's been implemented very well. Your opinion might be much different. And holy optimization needed, Batman!
  • Hidden Pass - (link) - Tactical RPG of the "XCOM light" variety with mechanics limiting ability use tied to both an Action Point counter AND a self-inflicted poison/madness gauge that 1) is filled by using abilities and 2) depletes over time. Ranged attacks DO NOT MISS, so that's nice. Not sure if there is a cover system - seems deeper than this thing wants to go. Fantasy steampunk-ish. I'm getting some Torchlight vibes, but not really any of the charm. Didn't grab me at all.
Broken:
Broken or badly managed mess.
  • Sea of Change - (link) - Wants to be a tower defense / sea exploration game. Key word is 'wants'. Oh man, this one needs some work. The localization is bad, it doesn't like to render in non-traditional resolutions very well, the Options menu is rediculous and probably only makes sense to the devs, the controls are aweful and you get get gold by punching trees - not every time, but some times. Might be something interesting here later, but now? Put this guy back in the oven for awhile.
 
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Diabolical

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And a real quick one:

Yeah:
Wishlist == yes. Purchase? That's another story entirely.

  • Wizard of Legend 2 - (link) - {NEXT FEST DEMO, MAY NOT BE AVAILABLE AFTER: Next Fest Summer 2024} - Plays like it looks. Nearly top down roguelike featuring a wizard and a bunch of different spells to play with. I enjoyed my time with it, and have had the first game in my wishlist for a long time and just never pulled the trigger. To be honest, I may dump that one and keep this one on the wishlist instead. Edit: Actually keeping both - I like the pixel art aesthetic of the first game more, but I suspect that the mechanics in the second will be more refined.
 

quarlie

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Chasing the End: 2.5D pixelated cinematic platformer with environmental puzzles set in Seoul 6 months before an asteroid destroys the earth. Some of the most evocative and atmospheric graphics I've seen lately. The tone is a downer but I was captivated. I didn't bother finishing the demo because I'm certainly going to play the game after release.

Schim: Isometric traversal puzzle adventure, nominally about jumping a little shadow frog critter from shadow to shadow. I had high hopes for this one but it wasn't working for me. There are these parts where you're controlling a guy instead of the shadow critter, which don't have anything to do with the shadow puzzle mechanic, and the two sides of the game just don't fit together very well. Also, near the beginning it introduces a "Show Objective" button which 80% of the time doesn't do anything. That said, the concept is cool and the line art graphics are great. I might give it another try later.

Pools: I couldn't figure out how to start this game. I'd hit what looked like a play button, it would play some clattering construction noises for a few seconds, and then it would appear to freeze and I had to alt-F4 to exit. Uninstalled after 2 or 3 attempts to start.
 
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Diabolical

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Oh, oh man, this was something I've been looking forward to for a while, and a demo just dropped, and it comes out in FREAKING JULY!?!



Oh HELLS yes!:
Not only is it wishlisted, it will be purchased/played sooner rather than later.
  • Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus - (link) - Metroidvania, heavily inspired by Hollow Knight and Japanese mythology/folklore. It looks great - I really notice how many parallax layers there are, now that I've been playing around them myself - background trees being transparent in the dark to give an otherworldly feel is a REALLY nice touch that I am totally going to steal! Movement feels really good, and there are some interesting twists on standard action platformer tropes - double jumps require enemies or objects you can hit, there is no wall cling (at least at first), etc. I had to MAKE myself stop playing, that's how much I liked this.
I would highly encourage everyone to at least go watch the trailer, because holy cow is this game pretty for being presented as a side scrolling action platformer.
 
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Diabolical

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Bō actually looks so similar in art style to Nine Sols that I'm beginning to wonder who started development first.

Either way, Red Candle Games is a developer whose work I've been in love with since Detention, so I'm probably getting both Nine Sols and Bō anyway.
I will say the combat in Nine Sols felt a lot more punishing than Bō. But that might be because muscle memory for Hollow Knight kicked in with Bō and was fairly applicable.

Both very, very enticing prospects. Bō is a bit more appealing to me because of that combat feel. But I wouldn't say no to either game!


Edit: I may be a bit biased, as Nine Sols kind of snuck up on me, and I've been following Bō for a couple of years.
 
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Frosty Grin

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Bō actually looks so similar in art style to Nine Sols that I'm beginning to wonder who started development first.

Interestingly, this wasn't my impression at all. Nine Sols is all about clean, thin pencil-like outlines, with largely white and minimalistic weapon/traversal effects and overall sci-fi/cyberpunk vibe. Bō features heavy outlines, more resembling brush strokes, with more color in the more pronounced weapon effects, and offers straight up exaggerated, maybe even a bit gaudy, folklore look. So, of course, they both are colorful takes on Asian folklore, but different enough that I don't see them being inspired by each other.

It's Bō that snuck up on me - I played the Nine Sols demo right when it came out. But I'm interested in both. And right now my interest in both is tempered by recent experience in Aeterna Noctis - another game in this genre, even as it looks (mostly) different.
 
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Sulphur

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I will say the combat in Nine Sols felt a lot more punishing than Bō. But that might be because muscle memory for Hollow Knight kicked in with Bō and was fairly applicable.
What I'm hearing is that Nine Sols' combat is quite similar to Sekiro - and I absolutely adore Sekiro even if it skewers me six ways to Sunday given the opportunity, so it looks like it's gonna be my jam.

Interestingly, this wasn't my impression at all. Nine Sols is all about clean, thin pencil-like outlines, with largely white and minimalistic weapon/traversal effects and overall sci-fi/cyberpunk vibe. Bō features heavy outlines, more resembling brush strokes, with more color in the more pronounced weapon effects, and offers straight up exaggerated, maybe even a bit gaudy, folklore look. So, of course, they both are colorful takes on Asian folklore, but different enough that I don't see them being inspired by each other.
They both feature a woodblock style that's reminiscent of ukiyo-e, with Sols leaning more towards Moebius-ish clean lines - if there's a Taiwanese equivalent to ukiyo-e, though, I'm unaware of it. Overall, if linework is the major differentiator, it's not a huge one.

Anyway, the fact that you're playing a cat in one and a kitsune (well, a fox blossom) in the other, both are apparently combat-forward Souls-like metroidvanias, and are about Asian folklore (though one's from a western dev) is a pretty interesting set of coincidences given they're also releasing fairly close to each other. As long as both are good though, I'm probably picking them up anyway.
 

Frosty Grin

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Overall, if linework is the major differentiator, it's not a huge one.

The major differentiator is the sci-fi vibe in Nine Sols - their term is "Taopunk". To the point that I don't really read it as a woodblock style. Reminds me more of the sci-fi segments of Aeterna Noctis, with the similar gradient fill. But even if you do read it as ukiyo-e - it's not like either developer invented it. Combat-forward soulslike 2D metroidvanias are a dime a dozen too. My point is that what matters is not the major influences, but what's different in the way the game uses them. So I guess mostly the cat and the fox? :D Will play the demo for Bo to see for myself.
 

Sulphur

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The major differentiator is the sci-fi vibe in Nine Sols - their term is "Taopunk". To the point that I don't really read it as a woodblock style. Reminds me more of the sci-fi segments of Aeterna Noctis, with the similar gradient fill. But even if you do read it as ukiyo-e - it's not like either developer invented it.
A 'vibe' is not an art style; plus whether it's sci-fi or fantasy is completely independent of what style the artists choose to execute it with. My claim isn't that the styles being similar is bad, it's that the artistic execution being so comparable for both within almost the same development and release windows is interesting to witness. It certainly doesn't define which one of them's going to be better than the other.

Anyway, since you prefer to differ, we'll just have to agree to disagree.

My point is that what matters is not the major influences, but what's different in the way the game uses them. So I guess mostly the cat and the fox? :D Will play the demo for Bo to see for myself.
Well, yes? That's why I'm interested in both. If they were both extremely similar in most aspects, logic would dictate I'd just go with one and not care about the other.
 
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Frosty Grin

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OK, I just tried it - and I guess a lot of it is just "Hollow Knight, but Asian"? Cute characters, volumetric gradients - at least they aren't doing the map thing. The baseball thing was neat. But I didn't like the platforming - it's at least one step behind Aeterna Noctis. And I ended up not enjoying the style. So it's just Nine Sols for me, when I'm ready.

Well, yes? That's why I'm interested in both. If they were both extremely similar in all aspects, logic would dictate I'd just go with one or the other and not care about the other.

Not necessarily. You can just as easily go for "more of the same" - if what they offer is what you want. Except I don't think the games are all that similar in any aspect.

Which reminds me that I have a considerable backlog of Japanese setting soulslikes while I keep playing the first Nioh. And demos... :)
 

cogwheel

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Bō: Path of the Teal Lotus - (link)
Definitely is pretty.

double jumps require enemies or objects you can hit
but this was a bad idea. Too many very tight timed inputs for something so very integral to basic movement. My right thumb is already hurting from playing the demo for a few minutes.
 

Diabolical

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Some house keeping:

On Friday, I'm going to throw a huge NEXT FEST 2024 Banner thing on a post that evening, put the disclaimer that demos during the Next Fest have a tendency to disappear afterwards. I'll also collate the known, already released Next Fest specific demos into that post (or subsequent ones, if it gets too long) to give us a good base line.

Why Friday when Next Fest starts on Monday? Because that way it'll give folks time to try things earlier than expected on the nominal weekend (it's not MY weekend - it's my Tuesday and Wednesday, but I digress!).

I'll also link to that post as the starting point in any the Rando thoughts thread as well. Probably put a link on the first post to that one as well.



DEMOS! WOO! Some Next Fest stuff, some distinctly NOT. Next Fest (or potentially limited availability) is something I'm going to try and highlight for the rest of the week for Next Fest and for other games beyond that going forward. See what happened with Nine Sols last week when the demo was there and then it wasn't.

Anyway, the latest batch, all derived (minus one in particular) from trolling through the Steam demo page. And a surprising number of "Yeah" this time around. It was nice!

Oh HELLS yes!:
Not only is it wishlisted, it will be purchased/played sooner rather than later.
  • None in this post.
Yeah:
Wishlist == yes. Purchase? That's another story entirely.
  • Sacre Bleu - (link) - {NEXT FEST SUMMER 2024}: 2d action platformer - notably NOT a metroidvania or a soulslike. It has some interesting bullet-time like mechanics with pretty much all attacks. You get effectively a quad-jump right at the start. I have two gripes - says it supports DualSense - it does not respond to inputs, but sure as shit will take to an Xbox controller. Also, it doesn't render very well on ultrawide - definitely some awkward clipping of the screen. Playing in window (or full screen windowed) renders oddly - some awkward clipping of the screen. Had to play in windowed to see every thing. Over all, I liked it. Stays on my wishlist.
  • Tactical Breach Wizards -(link) - {NEXT FEST SUMMER 2024}: What if a tactical team like Rainbow Six, except snarky wizards and magic and shit in a modern world with laptops and guns. With mild Xcom tactical turn based mechanics, a rewind mechanic, and FREAKING MAGIC. And guns. I played through the tutorial and a bit of the first mission (about 20 minutes), decided that yeah, I like this, and added it to my wishlist. From the same dev's as Gunpoint and Heat Signature.
  • Tavern Talk - (link) - {RELEASES 20 JUNE, POSSIBLE LIMITED AVAILABILITY}: A similar game to Coffee Talk. You run an Inn, make drinks for fantasy creatures in a seemingly medieval world. Not going to lie, I wasn't expecting to like this, and it sucked me in. Visual Novel with a LOT of text and some minor mixing puzzles.
  • Styx: Shards of Darkness - (link) - Not a Steam Fest Demo! In fact, is a demo for a 6 year old game - demo link is the "Download Demo" box on the right side of the screen instead of the big green banner. I've had Styx and Styx 2 on and off my wishlists for a while, and when I saw this? Decided that I should give it a shot. That is exactly what I was hoping for. Adding them back on to the wishlists.
Eh?:
If it's free or cheap. Won't be on a wishlist.
  • Machinika: Atlas - (link) - {NEXT FEST SUMMER 2024}: A point in click similar to the later The Room games but not as good. Doesn't like ultrawide - the common problem of trying to treat a 21:9 screen the same as a 16:9. Also, the game defaults to French, and even after switching to english a lot of the text and menus are still in French. Eh.
Meh:
Outside my interest or just didn't grab me.
  • Songs of Steel: Hispania - (link) - I suspect this is a Next Fest demo, but I'm not sure. Anyway, it's a unit-level tactics game set during the tail end of the Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage, with the focus being on the Iberian peninsula. Hence the name of the game. I didn't expect to like this, and within a few minutes that suspicion was confirmed. This isn't my normal cup of tea, so I can't judge it on it's gameplay or mechanics merits, can only say it wasn't my cup of tea.
Broken:
Broken or badly managed mess.
  • Dustland Delivery - (link) - Menu comes up in Chinese upon start up. Steam page says English menus and stuff. Well! Never mind then!
 

Diabolical

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So this is what I did to mentally recover from reading legislation. Play demos. A lot of Eh and Meh, with one very happy little surprise.

Oh HELLS yes!:
Not only is it wishlisted, it will be purchased/played sooner rather than later.

  • None in this post.
Yeah:
Wishlist == yes. Purchase? That's another story entirely.

  • Pyrene - (link) - {NEXT FEST SUMMER 2024} - I love being surprised. It's a turn based roguelike dungeon crawler with deckbuilder mechanics. I should hate this. I played it for 30 minutes, and was going to play more until I said "enough!". Everything in the world is represented by cards, the rules start stacking up but are never really complex, there is a village you build/rebuild, and multiple characters to run. Not going to lie - it got to me. Another one I saw on the OTK Expo stream skim.
Eh?:
If it's free or cheap. Won't be on a wishlist.

  • Stars In The Trash - (link) - A cute action platformer with a very distinct hand drawn art style. It really is pretty stunning - the animations look pretty good, and this is clearly someone's passion project. The cut scenes are cartoon worthy. The thing is? I don't think it feels all that good to play. Controls feel.. sticky, if that makes sense? Not "heavy" as it were, merely that button presses need to be done in distinct separation from other actions, and there seems to be a touch of a delay. Very pretty though it may be, I'm not going to wishlist it. Courtesy of Alpha Beta Gamer.
  • Wild Bastards - (link) - {NEXT FEST SUMMER 2024} - The sequel to Void Bastards, except now its "western" themed... sort of... in comparison to bounty hunter / scavenger themed. Eh. I wasn't the biggest fan of the first, not a big fan of the second. Nothing wrong with it, plays fine, looks fine, just doesn't rock my boat all that much.
  • Technotopia - (link) - {NEXT FEST SUMMER 2024} - It's "build a city with cards" game. Choices give you different card options, building things gives you both increases in revenue and increased upkeep costs. It was pretty engrossing for the 15 minutes or so I played. Not sure how deep it goes, but I feel I got my times worth out of it. It's a pretty stylized thing, where the buildings look like retro futurist pixel things, and the rest of it looks like a Tron grid. You play the AI in charge of the city. Interesting, but not enough to make me want to wishlist it.
Meh:
Outside my interest or just didn't grab me.

  • Kitsune Tails - (link) - {NEXT FEST SUMMER 2024} - Wow, okay. Someones best guess effort to recreate mid-90's Mario physics (and really seems like a meh clone of SMW) with a different character, at least mechanically. And they didn't do that very well. Pass.
  • Rogue Labyrinth - (link) - Nearly top down hack and slash roguelike. Tried it because I saw a clip on the OTK Expo stream that I skimmed through. And immediately regretted that. I see what they are doing here, trying to make a roguelike room clearer thing with a map function and an interesting story. But the demo clearly says they are changing the visual style, and the movement and combat feels eh. And the mechanics not feeling the best is ultimately what kills it. These kinds of games need to feel good to play, or they have no staying power beyond the 3 minutes I put into this before deciding that nope, I don't need to spend more time.
  • Threshold - (link) - A retro as hell first person thing that is supposed to be a horror game and was mostly just a very short, annoying experience. I "beat" the demo in 6 minutes. If you love the aesthetic, MAYBE give it a look, but otherwise? There are much better options out there.
  • Vindefiant - (link) - Saw on the OTK Expo stream thing that I skimmed. You remember that game Carrion, where you were a meat blob murdering thing? This plays kind of like that, except your a man with demon tentacles. Honestly, I think Carrion played better, looked better, and was just more fun.
Broken:
Broken or badly managed mess.

  • None this post.
 
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quarlie

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Welp, I can't get the Bō demo to start. Fades to black after the studio logo and then nothing happens. :confused:
Someone on the Steam discussions had the same problem and figured out that turning off Vsync in the Nvidia control panel solved it, so I was able to give the demo a try. Can't say I liked it that much, though. The hit-to-double-jump mechanic didn't feel great, the quests felt more like chores, and in general it just didn't grab me. Oh well.

On the other hand, I did have a good time with Clockwork Ambrosia, a run-and-gun Metroidvania with big pixelated sprites like 2D games of the Saturn/PS1 era. There's a weapon customization system that seems like it might be pretty cool, lots of gear to equip, straightforward controls, and mostly satisfying combat. It's hard to put my finger on what makes a Metroidvania hold my attention or not, but this one did.
 

Frosty Grin

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The hit-to-double-jump mechanic didn't feel great

Are you talking the idea or the implementation? Because it's been done by other games - but usually by rather hardcore games like Cuphead or Aeterna Noctis. I guess not everyone's going to like it in general, but maybe some people can get used to it. Personally, I barely even noticed this mechanic in Bo. :)
 

Diabolical

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On the other hand, I did have a good time with Clockwork Ambrosia, a run-and-gun Metroidvania with big pixelated sprites like 2D games of the Saturn/PS1 era. There's a weapon customization system that seems like it might be pretty cool, lots of gear to equip, straightforward controls, and mostly satisfying combat. It's hard to put my finger on what makes a Metroidvania hold my attention or not, but this one did.
Oooh. Neat, will pull that down in the near future.



Also, if anyone wants a more critic focused curation of potential Next Fest targets? Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and VG247 are doing a thing called “wishlisted” where they recommend demos. Decent length write-ups, too.

 
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Sulphur

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I finally got around to playing the Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden demo. The facial animations are a bit stiff, there's a perfunctory materials gathering loop (ugh), and the combat seems like it borrowed some basics from the new God of War but made all of it dull and one-note.

So I'm probably buying it come the imminent Steam sale! Obviously not because I'm a masochist (though I might be one), but because the VO and writing are immediately human and captivating, and wedded with the gothic gloom of its foggy mediaeval town beset by ghosts and curses and an eternal winter, it's evoking the atmosphere of some of my favourite stories from Dickens to Poe. Not that it's strictly comparable to either, of course, but it's ticking a lot of my boxes: I want to peel back the mysteries of this place, and I want to spend more time with its two leads and see what happens with their story. It's been an eternity and a minute since a game's made me feel like that.
 
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Diabolical

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Well, on the lead up to Next Fest next week? Here's this "Best Indie Games Summer Showcase".

Just mousing over the titles, a LOT of them have demos. A lot. I've got 12 more in the queue.

 

Diabolical

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And this wave...

One good'un. A mess of Meh. And some broken things. The dangers of simply perusing the newly released demos page.


Oh HELLS yes!:
Not only is it wishlisted, it will be purchased/played sooner rather than later.

  • None in this post.
Yeah:
Wishlist == yes. Purchase? That's another story entirely.
  • Clockwork Ambrosia - (link) - Courtesy of @quarlie - thanks for the recommendation! Metroidvania. I like the art style. The movement and combat feels okay, not the greatest. I'd really like to shoot UP as well. The customization is actually pretty cool, and how it can effect both movement options and combat options. Pretty darn neat. Oh! And dying resets to the screen you're in with the life that you had when you entered. That is DOPE. And the best sign? I had to MAKE myself stop playing the demo. Wishlisted!
Eh?:
If it's free or cheap. Won't be on a wishlist.
  • None this post.
Meh:
Outside my interest or just didn't grab me.
  • Monowave - (link) - 2d platformer. Very slow movement. Very distinct art style. I gave it a few minutes, it's not for me.
  • Barrhell - (link) - It's a "Getting Over It" like. You have grapple-ish ability that can only be used when your barrell is completely flat. The physics feel a bit wonky, and overall it feels more than a bit uninspired. Meh. Not for me.
  • Simulacro - (link) -Is this a game about a message of the horrors of climate change, or a picture taking simulator, or a collectathon with no real instructions, or a puzzle game, or just a waste of time? One thing that makes me sad? The voice actor sounds like she has some talent, but the recording quality is... well, it's not very good.
  • Story of the Lost Dot - (link) - A physics based game where you play a period making it's way down through a book page. You can roll left and right. Fall. And reverse time. There is no real in-air control. It just wasn't very fun.
  • Warden's Will - (link) - Third person bullet hell shooter in the vein of Risk of Rain 2. It's a bit more stylized in the graphical department, but has a LOT less polish. It feels okay to play, but there are some UI elements that need some work. Like how about some sort of visual cue that you've been hit? I stood still on purpose and was hit three or four times (again, on purpose) by beam weapons of sorts, angled the view in a way that it was mostly obscured, and the only indicator I was hit was the health bar dropping - nothing visual on the player character. No flash, no red numbers, no animation change, nothing. I'd much rather play Risk of Rain 2, if I'm honest.
Broken:
Broken or badly managed mess.
  • THE DARK SIDE OF CECLON - (link) - Yes, it's in all caps like that on Steam. :rolleyes:. It's a third-person survival exploration game on another planet, rough combat and vehicles and some crafting and all. This isn't something I would normally be into, but I found the short time I spent with it oddly compelling, if INCREDIBLY rough around the edges and all through out, really. There has been a lot of attention to detail with some assets but not others in the same class (like base walls), the interface is a bit pish, the localization to English is awful, and some of the mechanics definitely need some work. No ultrawide support, and if you run in Windowed it doesn't capture the mouse so you can just run right off the game window and click on, I don't know, an Excel document you use to keep track of demos. Even with all of that? I still found it compelling. Putting it down here in "Broken" because it needs a LOT of work, but there is something here that might be alright.
  • Lightbreak - (link) - It's down here because it broke, hard, but it could have easily gone in the "meh" column. It's a puzzle game with a garbage interface. The first two puzzles were identical color/sound match things that were insultingly simple, and then the game went to black and never loaded the third. The inter-puzzle little scenes require you to click on something in the scene to progress it, but there are ZERO indications as to what it is. Even when this is done cooking, I don't think it'll be worth the time.
 
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Diabolical

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Pulled from the linked-above Indie Showcase thing. Playing the dregs, so you hopefully don't have to.


Oh HELLS yes!:
Not only is it wishlisted, it will be purchased/played sooner rather than later.
  • HAHAHAHAHAHA Fuck no. None this post.
Yeah:
Wishlist == yes. Purchase? That's another story entirely.
  • Nope! Keep digging, Watson! None this post.
Eh?:
If it's free or cheap. Won't be on a wishlist.
  • Glyphica: Typing Survivor - (link) - A survivor like game where you attack incoming enemies by typing the word beneath them. Typical survivor-like tropes - weapons, lots of them, upgrades mid-game and to unlock new weapons, etc. No movement, because you are typing the whole time. I enjoyed my time with it, but the one run I did was enough to satisfy me.
  • EcoGnomix - (link) - Another oddly compelling game. It's a roguelike, in that it has runs, upgrades, etc. And a city builder where you construct buildings and have to worry about supply chains. And a turn based hex grid autobattler. And it's about delving too deeply as a bunch of Gnomes. I played through three runs. It's pretty easy, but the interface leaves things to be desired - they DEFINITELY need to work on the UI. But otherwise it kept me enthralled. I think I'm done though, but this one might be worth a look.
  • Rogue Command - (link) - A roguelike RTS. Interesting. Shit tutorialization, as in it is non existent. Neat, but I'm not going out of my way for it.
Meh:
Outside my interest or just didn't grab me.
  • Paraperstive - (link) - Puzzle game where you move a figure(s) across a landscape using M.C. Escher perspective tricks. The controls are very finicky, and I just didn't find it all that compelling - I feel like I've played other games recently that did this a lot better.
  • Sulfur - (link) - Nothing wrong with this one, just not for me. VERY stylized FPS adventure game / dungeon delver. I've read a lot of good things about it, just didn't grab me at all.
  • Marko: Beyond Brave - (link) - And action platformer metroidvania (self described). The art fees very much like a mix between halfway done animations and place holder art, including the terrain. The movement feels okay, but really floaty. The combat feels sticky and just.. not the best. It looks in screen shots like it might be interesting, but I found it to be.. not that. So many good games in the genre. This one needs some more cooking. Even then? I'm thinking no.
  • Moon Mystery - (link) - FPS on a desolate moon/planet (apparently it's OUR moon?!). There are robots you shoot. It's obsessed with visual recoil and the longest reload animations ever made. I get they want realism, but this isn't fun, it's tedious and nauseating. Feck off with that. Also, the menu is crap - you have to "return" via the "P" key to previous menus, or it won't save changes to the graphics.. .and you WILL want to disable motion blur. It's some of the most nauseating implementation of it I've ever seen. If you are extremely hard up to shoot things on a desolate planet/moon, go play Doom. I don't care that this is a "small project made by a few passionate people full time". It's still crap. The screen shots look MUCH better than this thing plays, which is a seems to be just a technical showcase for "look how realistic our reload animations our, in slow mo".
Broken:
Broken or badly managed mess.
  • Dross - (link) - It's a procedurally generated FPS full of jank and crashes to the desktop. Nope. I wasn't impressed with what I saw before it crashed - bad level design, piss poor guidance, controls are really meh, and I made it to almost 10 minutes in before it crashed - still no gun in this self described FPS. Even if they fix it, I probably won't play it.
 
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CuriouslySane

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Broken:
Broken or badly managed mess.
  • Dross - (link) - It's a procedurally generated FPS full of jank and crashes to the desktop. Nope. I wasn't impressed with what I saw before it crashed - bad level design, piss poor guidance, controls are really meh, and I made it to almost 10 minutes in before it crashed - still no gun in this self described FPS. Even if they fix it, I probably won't play it.
Truth in naming.
 
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Diabolical

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I know some of these are going to end up being Next Fest demos, but I don't really know which are specifically for that, and which are a bit longer term.

Anyway, some gems in this batch. And I'm done with demos until next week, when the Fest starts.

Aaaand this post is now in two parts, because 10,000 characters.


Oh HELLS yes!:
Not only is it wishlisted, it will be purchased/played sooner rather than later.
  • None this post.
Yeah:
Wishlist == yes. Purchase? That's another story entirely.
  • Pinball Spire - (link) - Courtesy of the Guerrilla Collective from 6 June. It's a pinball adventure game. I don't know if there is death, merely falling back to the previous screen/table. I put a few minutes into it. Turned off vsync to clean up the slowdown a bit, and let it go. You get abilities as you go and for completing objectives on boards/screens, and... yeah. I had a remarkably good time with it.
    .
  • StormEdge: Wind of Change - (link) - Courtesy of the Guerrilla Collective from 6 June. This is the stand-alone demo for StormEdge. Be aware - they take this down and put it back up from time to time as they make changes and updates. However, once it's in your library, it's in your library regardless of whether it's available for download again. It's a top down, action roguelike with a pixel art style and some interesting mechanics - a primary attack triggered on button/mouse click, and "elusive" attacks that happen on quick, successful dodges. It's actually pretty cool. Things can get a bit hectic, and the animation/UI notification you were hit by an enemy attack is a bit hard to discern from if you successfully dodged it. But otherwise? I liked it. I liked it a lot.
    .
  • Hollywood Animal - (link) - {NEXT FEST SUMMER 2024} - Courtesy of both the Eurogamer "Wishlisted" feature and the Guerrilla Collective from 6 June. Okay, yeah, wasn't expecting THAT to be as engrossing at is was. So, you run a film studio that you bought out of bankruptcy, mid century, which means that you decide what buildings to build, where to build them on the lot, who to hire for positions, what movies to make, what is IN those movies - plot points, genres, and on and on - who to cast, who will work on them, how it will be distributed, when it will be released, advertising, etc. There is a LOT here. Combine that with the people you hire have quirks and needs and their own problems? It got really interesting and pretty complex in a hurry. I liked it a lot. Definitely give this one a look if the building/management sim game is your jam, because this one? Yeah there is some promise there. Also, a LOT of polish for a demo!
    .
  • Monster Sanctuary - (link) - Played this demo of a 5 year old game because the dev's next title (Aethermancer) was advertised during the 6 June Guerrilla Collective. It's a side scrolling monster collector/fighter with turn based combat and metroidvania aspirations - monsters you collect have traversal/puzzle solving abilities. Don't have the right monster to float? Can't get to that spot. Et cetera. I liked my time with it, but it certainly won't be for everyone. Creature collectors (aka pokemon-likes) seem to be this dev teams bread and butter.
Eh?:
If it's free or cheap. Won't be on a wishlist.
  • Dungeon Clawler - (link) - Courtesy of both the Eurogamer "Wishlisted" feature and the Guerrilla Collective from 6 June. I spent a healthy amount of time with this and came away... not enthused? It's fine, it's also VERY early. As in it has music (ONE looping track) - no other sound effects. The gameplay is simplistic and often frustrating, which makes sense - it's based on the claw game, for crying out loud. Very early days, it seems like, but there is some potential there that might scratch someones itch.
    .
  • Castle of Alchemists: Prologue - (link) - Yep, the prologue to Castle of Alchemists, so it lives in your library forever. Top down-ish Action RPG / Tower Defense hybrid. Waves and runs, you know the drill with Tower Defense games. You also control and Action RPG gun-totin' character to murder the enemies on the paths. Different guns and abilities. Melee weapons in there too. I had a decent time with it, but got all I fell I wanted out of it. Definitely worth at least a glance, I think.
    .
  • Spilled! - (link) - A late edition, courtesy of the Eurogamer "Wishlisted" feature. It's a little game with a 3/4 perspective, and you run a little boat around a small body of water and sponge up oil or collect bottles and recycle them. You upgrade the boat to hold more oil, bottles, go a touch faster, and unlock zones once the little lake your on is clear. You collect animals. It's a cute little game, but I don't think I need to play any more of it.
 
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Diabolical

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And part 2!



Meh:
Outside my interest or just didn't grab me.
  • Elsie - (link) - Courtesy of the Guerrilla Collective from 6 June. 2d action platfomer, run and gun game. Movement is REALLY floaty - I don't like it. Some really obvious mistakes in the UI, so it's early days yet. It's got a really bright pixel art style as well, and it is, of course, yet-another-roguelike. Characters and weapons and options and runs. Oh boy. This one just didn't grab me, but it might float someone's boat.
    .
  • Beloved Rapture - (link) - Courtesy of the Guerrilla Collective from 6 June. Retro 16bit JRPG, albeit one that the devs are quick to point out does not have random encounters or mandatory grinding. Does NOT support diagonal movement, and if you want to use the keyboard (which all the menu prompts assume), you can not have a gamepad plugged in. Otherwise, it's very reminiscent of the 16bit JRPG era in both looks and general plays style. Be warned - there are LOTS of one tile gaps in this, and the creators seem to have an interesting idea of what path collision is supposed to be. It does have some gaemplay options to customized either fully turn based or a more active batttle system. Just not something I'm looking forward to right now, and there are enough other games in the genre that aren't going through these growing pains that I want to play that this title, unfortunately, is down here in the Meh's.
    .
  • Deathbound - (link) - Courtesy of the Guerrilla Collective from 6 June. Self described soulslike, with a really interesting mechanic - you have a party of four characters that you play at once, embodied in the same player character. You can dynamically switch between them to access different skills/abilities, combo strikes together, etc. Seems pretty neat! However, I am notoriously bad at these, and I don't like the controls. That mechanics is worth at least a look though at a gameplay video. It really is VERY fast switching - you can do it in the middle of a series of strikes. Apparently the "bound" characters will all interact with eachother as well, setting up interesting mechanical things? Ah well. I bet the eventual speed run of this is going to be epic as hell. But I won't be playing it.
    .
  • EvilVEvil - (link) - Courtesy of the Guerrilla Collective from 6 June. It's a co-op (3-playuer) campaign shooter (sort of like Left 4 Dead), except it's more than a little rough. Multiple classes have different abilities, but the amount of abilities you have aren't very wide. The gunplay felt pretty meh, and there is more than a little jank here. It oculd be neat, and I hope they can get it all straightened out before release in mid-Jul. But its not for me.
    .
  • The Land of the Magnates - (link) - Courtesy of the Guerrilla Collective from 6 June - it was a very quick, 15 to 30 second sting. Gave it a look. It's a 2.5d action adventure / platformer in a fully 3d world. So sometimes you'll move UP into the Screen or down TOWARDS the camera. It's okay, but could be implemented better. Combat is done by playing a sitar using specific button combos (the face buttons on a controller). Those face buttons also do basic puzzle solving stuff. Light stuff on fire with one, manipule an object with another. There is something about the movement that just rubs me the wrong way, which is why it's down here. It's an incredibly crowded space, and this just doesn't cut it for me.
    .
  • Owl Observatory - (link) - A point and click adventure game. Has a time / clone mechanic. Supposed to be spooky and comedic. In my short time, I found it to be clunky and badly written. It takes a LOT to get to me enjoy a point-and-click, and this doesn't even move the needle. Courtesy of Alpha Beta Gamer.
Broken:
Broken or badly managed mess.
  • None this post.
 
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Frosty Grin

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I'm the one around here who's into soulslikes. :) So, does it mean I'll rate Deathbound highly? ....Not really.

🔴 Deathbound

I already mentioned that I'm not into soulslikes just rehashing the same old gameplay. So the mention of new mechanics in Deathbound got me interested, So you have one character who's strong in ranged attacks, and another who's strong in melee, and you can switch between them at will. That's pretty novel, right? Actually no - it's pretty much the same as the same character switching between the sword and the bow. The actual novelty turned out to be subtler and more questionable. The characters have health bars of their own. But even this isn't groundbreaking - it was done in Darksiders: Genesis, for example. Deathbound goes further though - one character losing their health doesn't put them on cooldown temporarily or until a "bonfire" - no, it counts as a failure for all, and returns you to the last "bonfire", which is rather baffling for a soulslike. And the healing items are healing the active character at the expense of the other characters! On top of that, the difference between the characters is that some of them have no shields. So switching to the wrong character can have bad consequences. What makes things worse is that the game encourages you to switch the 4 assigned characters at will, with boons and punishments for certain combinations - which can be fun, but also ensures that you can't rely on muscle memory for switching mid-combat. Couple that with floaty camera and floaty movement and other issues, and combat gets rather frustrating, discouraging experimentation.

Well, maybe at least the story and the world are cool? Yes and no. Yes, they're doing something unusual. No, they aren't especially good at it - with questionable voice acting, boring, drawn out "echo" scenes, like in The Division, a lack of subtlety and believability. And the environments don't look that great, with low resolution textures, mixed bag art direction, and contrived, inelegant soulslike layouts, with scaffolding and barriers. Then it ends with a rather crude boss fight.

....So, at least they tried, I guess. But I can't recommend this game to anyone.
 
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Mister E. Meat

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  • Hollywood Animal - (link) - {NEXT FEST SUMMER 2024} - Courtesy of both the Eurogamer "Wishlisted" feature and the Guerrilla Collective from 6 June. Okay, yeah, wasn't expecting THAT to be as engrossing at is was. So, you run a film studio that you bought out of bankruptcy, mid century, which means that you decide what buildings to build, where to build them on the lot, who to hire for positions, what movies to make, what is IN those movies - plot points, genres, and on and on - who to cast, who will work on them, how it will be distributed, when it will be released, advertising, etc. There is a LOT here. Combine that with the people you hire have quirks and needs and their own problems? It got really interesting and pretty complex in a hurry. I liked it a lot. Definitely give this one a look if the building/management sim game is your jam, because this one? Yeah there is some promise there. Also, a LOT of polish for a demo!
Sounds like a spiritual sucessor to The Movies

  • Monster Sanctuary - (link) - Played this demo of a 5 year old game because the dev's next title (Aethermancer) was advertised during the 6 June Guerrilla Collective. It's a side scrolling monster collector/fighter with turn based combat and metroidvania aspirations - monsters you collect have traversal/puzzle solving abilities. Don't have the right monster to float? Can't get to that spot. Et cetera. I liked my time with it, but it certainly won't be for everyone. Creature collectors (aka pokemon-likes) seem to be this dev teams bread and butter.
I have this on the Switch and it (or Steam Deck) is pretty much the perfect platform for it. It's got depth to it but it's easy to pick up and play for a bit and feel like you're making progress.
 
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Frosty Grin

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My body's saying let's go, but my hollow's saying no. :oops: Actually, maybe. :)


🔰 Hollowbody

It's rather interesting seeing a project like Hollowbody in light of the upcoming Silent Hill 2 remake - and it maybe not quite living up to the expectations so far. Because, on one hand, the demand seems to be there, but on the other hand, for the remake to take the same place in the present that the original had in the past, is like jumping from one moving car to another.

What Hollowbody decided to do in order to "other" the environments is move the narrative into a rather distant future, with talking AI in hover cars, with the protagonist looking at our immediate future, wondering how people were bathing in bathtubs. Yet the game still conveys that Silent Hill atmosphere and gameplay structure. The inventory is somehow even clunkier! This is where one might start wondering why - but I think the more important aspect is that it mostly works, even coming from a solo dev - yet doesn't attempt to replicate everything from Silent Hill, because it wouldn't just be inappropriate, with the game not being an official SH game, but also because even in actual sequels coming from different dev teams, it's the replication that may lead to the uncanny valley, where the closer things are the wronger they look.

So, overall I don't see it ending up great, when it's this derivative, but it's worth taking a look, and can end up good. We actually haven't had that many attempts to accomplish something like this. And if you want something similar, yet original - take a look at Song of Horror, for example.
 
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Diabolical

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NEXT FEST SUMMER 2024 - JUNE 10th TO JUNE 17th

Start of the threads no kidding Next Fest coverage. It starts in a few days, but demos have been dropping for a week or so already, and lots more are coming out for both the Next Fest and in response to the summer presentation season (Summer Games Fest, Day of the Devs, PC Gaming Show, etc).

Pretty much everything on this page going back to this post is a newish demo that will probably be promoted during the Next Fest, and some are explicitly Next Fest demos. Going forward to the 17th, it's a safe bet that everything is going to be a Next Fest Demo.

Warning about the NEXT FEST:
Next Fest Demos tend to be timed releases - they have a habit of disappearing off of Steam in the days and weeks after Next Fest ends.



I have about 20 in the queue so far, including Dungeons of Hinterberg, Once Human, and a whole bunch more that were announced or showcased during the smorgasbord of presentations over this weekend. A LOT of games are already on the Steam demo page (scroll down and check Recent Releases and New And Trending for the latest stuff), if you want to get a head start.

So, it's time for demos!

..... but I'm at work! 😖. I'll start in on my queue tonight :eng101:.
 

Nauls

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Tried out Caravan SandWitch (link) and really enjoyed it. It's a narrative-driven sci-fi-ish 3D exploration platformer where you play as a woman in search of her missing sister. The setting is a largely-abandoned planet that's littered with remnants of modern technology and it's a treat to explore. To traverse it you've got this sweet little van to drive around, while much of the exploration is on foot. Oh and it's an ultra-chill game, per the official description - "no combat, no death, no timer, just you, your van, and the world." I am 100% down for this.

Fair warning on Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown (link) - In order to play the demo you need to set up an account with the publisher and link your Steam account with it, so feel free to nope out if that's a bridge too far for you, understandably. Putted around in it for a bit. First Test Drive game in over a decade. They give you a pick of 3 cars to start with, and of course you can test drive each one before you purchase it. Ironically, the test drives are limited to 2 minutes - not so Unlimited are we now, Test Drive? Of course after that you're free to rip around Hong Kong Island, which is supposedly recreated on a nearly 1:1 scale and most of it is surprisingly unlocked for the demo. Overall, the driving, customization and environment seem alright but not nearly as good as Forza Horizon, although that's a near-impossible watermark to beat for arcade racers.
 
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