Steam Next Fest Oct 2023 Thoughts

Just listing my thoughts on the demos I played during this next fest.

I played a few demos that don't have backloggd pages so i'll just post about them here:
-Apocalypse Party: Pretty good survivors-esque game with some unique things going on including a narrative, which is unique. The art and sound design was good, seemed to have decent skill and gun variety, overall pretty impressed, added this one to my wishlist.
-Skybreakers: Another survivors-like game but it takes more from brotato, with a more active gameplay system that felt really solid. Satisfying combat, sound design and plenty of enemy variety, and some cool, albeit easy bosses. Also wishlisted, seems really solid.
-Microcivilization: A wonderful idle civilization demo, really enjoyed it. Lots of different things to manage, quests to do, defending your civilization, managing heroes, ascensions, and more. If you enjoy idle games you should absolutely check this out

19 Games

Display

Sort by

RoboCop: Rogue City

Interesting demo. I have no real attachment to Robocop, i've never seen the film or experienced any of the media around it at all. This game is basically an RPG where you play as robocop. The dialogue is corny, in a way that i kind of enjoy. The gunplay is decent but nothing incredible, what really helps the gameplay in the demo section was the punching and throwing, it adds an absurdity to it that is really entertaining. I'm not sure if this is a get at launch game for me but I am interested.

Pioneers of Pagonia

Not a big fan. I would love an actually good high fantasy style city builder, but this doesn't feel great in the beginning at least. Theres no time speed function so i feel like i'm waiting around forever for things to be built, and in the bit i played i felt like i was just going down the objective checklist of what the game wanted me to build. Got bored pretty quickly.

Another Crab's Treasure

After playing through the entire demo, i can safely say this is a must buy for me. I love souls likes, and aggro crab is rising up on my list after going under, and this is feeling even better. There are tons of combat options, the level design was wonderful, and the art direction was perfect for what they were going for. Really great demo.

Sentry

Pretty good demo, Tower defense blend with FPS works well, game obviously needs progression but that is suppose to be added in the early access version, i wouldn't expect the demo to show everything but I would have liked to see some of that shown at least. I like the choices you have to make for what to bring, limiting you on your weapons and defenses is a good thing not just for balance but for replayability. Decent enemy variety, pretty good feeling gunplay for the most part. Looking forward to the full game.

Unawake

Just awful. Horrible performance, terrible feeling melee combat that makes skyrim look good, bad voice acting that I'm not convinced isn't an AI, random loot just carelessly laid out around the map, terrible enemy variety. I could get over most of it if the combat felt good, but it just feels awful. No impact at all. Just a bad demo

Go Mecha Ball

One of the most fun demos i've played in this next fest. The gameplay is fluid, fast and hard hitting. The pinball mechanics are really cool, and i can't wait to see them expanded upon in the main game. I only wish the boss of the demo utilized those mechanics more, it felt more like a standard roguelike boss when it should have leaned on the mechanics of the game more. This is a nitpick honestly, because from what they showed this seems great.

The Thaumaturge

An... interesting demo. I think i lean on it positively overall but it isn't without flaws. The combat is pretty good, turn based combat where you can influence turn order, kinda card-gamey. Not bad, a little basic, at least from what the demo showed. The dialogue is decent at times, bad at other times, definitely influenced by the poor voice acting. Most of it is just dry and delivered poorly in my opinion. I like the idea of exploring and finding details about people and the situation your in, the questing could be interesting in the main game potentially based on whats showed. Overall, pretty decent. Probably not a day 1 buy but i may be interested down the line.

Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor

I played the demo of this before the next fest, but since its a part of it i'll go ahead and add it. Its pretty good, so far. I like the different upgrade currencies to match with the mining based gameplay(you dont pay for any of it, dont worry). I found the sound design and crunchy feeling when you kill the hoards really satisfying, really important for this game type. It was fairly difficult but not overly so, and it seems to have higher danger levels for stages which is cool. Definitely interested.

Wizordum

It was, okay i suppose? Nothing exactly wrong with it, classic 90's style FPS, classic secrets, your standard fare. Nothing really exciting about it though, at least in the demo. Nothing to blow you away, show you something you haven't seen in a game like this before. Which isn't necessary to do, but if everything just feels fine AND you have nothing unique your gonna get lost in the shuffle. Seems okay, nothing more.

Pine Harbor

It honestly felt like I was playing the boat section in RE7. I wasn't having fun, so i honestly think thats what they were going for. Joking aside, not a great demo in my opinion. Gameplay didn't feel impactful, the monsters weren't scary in any way, and the exploration wasn't engaging from what i had played. Didn't play long, so i can't say its trash but i wasn't impressed.

Arksync

One of the best demos i've played of this next fest. Great pixel art, music was also pretty good, the story it was building had good pacing and was interesting, hopefully theres more of that and its not just in the beginning before the roguelike stuff starts. Really good feeling combat and movement, I bet it will feel great on Keyboard + mouse but I played on controller since the demo didn't seem to fully support KB+M. Anyway, it was really solid and seems like it'll be a great action roguelike when its done.

The Last Exterminator

Really satisfying demo. Gunplay felt great, sound design all around was terrific especially on the reloads. Felt Old school and modern simultaneously. Really short, just a level, but i liked it enough to replay it on hard and i'm glad i did, the enemy spawns and item spawns seem to change somewhat on the higher difficulties which is cool to know for the main game. Seems really good, hopefully the main game keeps it up.

Gunhead

Seemed pretty neat. I liked the planning that goes into your run when it comes to going through the map, the gameplay is fun and responsive, but a bit easy. The art design is not my favorite thing ever, but it doesn't look horrendous or anything. As long as the main game brings plenty of variety I could see this being great.

Cursorblade

Cute little demo, it wasn't bad, the sounds and animations are satisfying, the upgrades are nice but kinda limited, i assume just for the demo. The biggest issue is visibility, i found it quite hard to tell when an attack was coming since there was so much happening at once. It wasn't awful, though, it could turn into something good.

Against Great Darkness

Really great demo, the gameplay is tight and fluid, the art direction is simple but very effective, and the sound design is really satisfying. One thing I really appreicated compared to a lot of bullet hells is how easy it is to tell when a bullet is coming after you, or an enemy, or one of your own discs, if you get hit in this game its always your own mistake and not visual clutter. As long as the amount of content is there this will be wonderful game at launch.

Galactic Glitch

Another great demo. Varied and interesting weapon variety, cool grab mechanic that has a good amount of use, sometimes even more so than just using your basic weapons. Enemy variety is pretty good, and the boss shown in the demo was fun, if a bit easy. Art style was cool, but nothing mind blowing, sound design was mostly good. The UI could use some work though. Overall, really good.

Europa

A great demo visually, gameplay wise i was left unimpressed. The movement based platforming mostly feels good, the issue is you can basically bypass any potential 'puzzle' in the demo through brute force of just tapping the flying button as long as you have enough juice. It felt a bit lackluster. Still, at the right price, or if the gameplay improves throughout the game I think this will be solid, the art direction is wonderful, just hope the main game has enough variety in the visuals and gameplay to keep interest.

Empty Shell

It was definitely a tense experience, which is what i think they're going for. I'm not sure if like the muddy sound design and artstyle, I get that its probably indented for your senses to be lessened but it doesn't exactly feel great. The inclusion of a dodge roll for a game like this is also kinda silly. The guns felt pretty good though, and the enemies were occasionally creepy, and sometimes just silly. Overall, a mixed bag but it seems alright.

Sea of Survivors

This game is really cool but i think i'm awful at it. Moving the ship around is really cumbersome, i get its kinda suppose to be until you get upgrades but i feel like I get overwhelmed so fast its impossible for me to not take damage half the time. I think i found a survivors-like that i'm somehow just awful at, i do like the customization and the general direction of the game. Seems really solid, but i was having some issues with moving around without getting overwhelmed, again though I think i'm just bad.