It’s that magical week once again as the floodgates are opened on Steam and we all are collectively drowned in a torrent of demos. Despite the number of games that are already out which I haven’t had time to play, I find it impossible to resist the siren call of seeing what’s on the horizon. For the first time, I will be documenting the games I tried in an attempt to highlight what has the potential to be worthwhile. The list below is in alphabetical order and without further ado, let’s begin.
The Demos I Played
Anomaly Agent seems like a perfectly functional 2D beat ’em up. The first 15 minutes were relatively uninteresting as you mashed the same 3-hit combo relentlessly but there were hints of depth towards the end. You get access to a parry, electrified business cards, a satisfying gun-kata finisher, and a baseball bat the sends enemies flying Smash Bros. style. Could go either way but this is a title I think it worth keeping an eye on.
There are times when I wonder if Vampire Survivors is the worst thing to happen to video games in the last 5 years. Not because I dislike the game, I have an unhealthy amount of hours in it, but because it feels like every indie dev is now trying to capture that genre. It really feels the same as 10 years ago when every MMO wanted to be the “WoW killer,” or how so many AA devs keep trying (and failing) to make a Souls game. Deep Rock Galactic Survivor sounds like it would work pretty well on paper since the original game already involves fighting off alien hordes. However, that game works so well because it’s as much a social event as it is a video game. Few gaming communities are more eager to hang out and share positive vibes than the people playing Deep Rock Galactic. Survivor strips that element away and leaves you with a game that is boring. The weapons are lame, the power-ups are lame, and mining while steering a horde is also lame.
I love the Dungeons franchise. I know the whole Dungeon management plus Overworld RTS mash-up is something that turns a lot of Dungeon Keeper fans off, but it has always worked for me. This seems to be mostly the same game I played with Dungeons 3 with some added Underworld incursions. I am happy with that as I don’t need each entry in a series to re-invent itself. If the formula isn’t broke then just let me do what I’ve always done with a fresh coat of paint and some new mechanics. The writing is as horrible as ever and I love it.
What if there was a game that combined: The Binding of Isaac, Children of Morta, Hyper Light Drifter, and Metabots? Hard to tell if that is going to mesh together to form a satisfying long-term gameplay loop but you better believe that I’m going to find out at launch.
The first Forgive Me Father was fine. It had a neat comic book aesthetic and it worked. I didn’t love it, I didn’t hate it. It was okay. The sequel looks to be going in some very interesting directions and I left this demo actively looking forward to launch. The movement feels more like DUSK, the gun sound effects are punchy and loud, the maps have some actual design put into them, and the soundtrack is the kind of tearing metal I would normally expect from Mick Gordon or Andrew Hulshult. My primary concern is that it’s way too easy even on hard mode. All enemies died in one or two shots and I never needed any of the many health pickups scattered across the levels. Headshot hitboxes also seem far too generous as my pistol felt like it was firing tree trunks instead of .357 rounds.
I was so ready to love Ghostrunner 2 with ever fiber of my speed-running heart. The original game was such a pleasant surprise with how it combined first person platforming with one-hit kill death mechanics. I played it over and over for better times and was so excited when the sequel was announced. Ghostrunner 2 is more Ghostrunner and now you have a sick ass cyberbike. Sadly, the demo runs like shit. Given that the game releases this month, I am very worried about the state that it will launch in. Stuttering has been a huge problem in PC gaming this year and Ghostrunner 2 has the worst I’ve seen. My excitement has gone sad.
Gunhead is from the same developers that brought you Cryptark, which was another game that I didn’t like. The difference now is that I don’t like it in 3D instead of 2D. Aside from some non-functional menus, the mech you pilot just feels a bit too floaty while also managing to constantly get stuck on nothing in the environment.
I’ve always wanted to be one of those people that is way too into racing games. I dream of one day constructing my own sim racing cockpit and investing thousands of dollars to getting a PB on my favorite track. This isn’t going to be one of the games that I do that in. While it seems to be a perfectly functional Forza-like I’m actually way more interested in cruising around the Japanese countryside in the car from Initial D. I’m here for the vibes more than the thrills.
Hands down the best game that this Next Fest had to offer. AAA gaming offers no shortage of climbing sections like in Uncharted or Tomb Raider but Jusant makes an entire game of them. The controls are buttery schmoove and intuitive. The demo even ran well which was not the case for most other entries on this list. I can’t wait for it to be released on October 31st because I will start my playthrough the moment it is available.
Leave it to the furries to make a budget Souls game that doesn’t feel like complete trash to play. Most of the animations are clearly unfinished but it doesn’t have that hulking, unresponsive slowness of most souls pretenders. Might be worth checking out further down the road to see if it forms an actual identity beyond “Dark Souls but you’re a cat.”
I have a sneaking suspicion, just a tiny one, that these devs like Bloodborne. Now there’s nothing wrong with that, I like Bloodborne; it’s in my top 10 games of all time, but it would be great if they had any ideas beyond that. You don’t have to do something just because “that’s how they did it in Bloodborne.” No one likes having to farm for healing items. It’s the one bad thing in Bloodborne and it sucks just as much in The Last Faith. Hit detection feels off and block being mapped to two buttons is as clunky as it sounds. I see no reason to play this even if those issues were fixed. We’ve got Blasphemous at home and it actually aspires to be it’s own thing beyond gesturing at the other thing you already like.
A one-bit spooky adventure game that seems to be going for a more grounded form of scares than the aesthetically similar World of Horror. The actual interactive parts of the demo were fairly frustrating as some controls simply didn’t respond to my inputs. I am going to follow this game as the scant bits of narrative that I could find in the demo were intriguing. Hoping the screen effects can be toned down or disabled outright because they hurt my eyes and create very muddy visuals.
Noreya is an ideal example of why it is such a bad idea to have your demo just be the start of the actual game. It’s billed as a Metroidvania so I have to assume that you will gain abilities and movement options as you progress through the campaign. However, what I could access in the demo didn’t excite me. Most enemies wanted to rush at me for contact damage and you don’t start with a dedicated dodge option. Mitigating damage is accomplished by jumping away from the enemy then running back in to spam some more basic attacks. It’s a very disruptive game feel and a bad first impression. The trailer shows off air dashing, ranged attacks, and a grapple that looks extremely sick to use but you won’t be doing that here. Pretty backgrounds though.
Sentry is a tower defense game that you play in first person. That’s it. You slap some paltry obstacles together and then shoot at everything that walks through the door. The shooting part of the equation is underwhelming as the weapons are bog standard and lacking in audio-visual feedback. Enemy AI doesn’t get more complicated than them rushing for the objective and your build options are no more exciting that your guns. You can put garbage on the floor that enemies walk into, or turrets that will shoot them. I believe this genre mash-up can work but it needs to have more going on than what Sentry does.
There is only one thing that you actually need to know about Tevi: it’s the latest game from the maniac that brought us Rabi-Ribi. If you know, you know. If you don’t, you’re doing it wrong and should take this time to work on yourself.
Unawake is a very accurate title for this game, as it is impossible to stay conscious while playing it. The controls don’t feel great to start with and the absolutely abysmal performance certainly doesn’t help. I couldn’t get a stable FPS even after dropping all settings to low at 1080p on my 3070ti. I can tolerate some bad optimization for a demo, but Unawake is not ready for anyone to see in its current state. Less of a demo and more so a half baked idea.