Yeeeeah, just by this demo I can tell I'll probably LOVE this game. Never played the first one, now I really have to. It's really uncommon for an indie game with this graphics to play well on my system. Demo features great puzzles, good optimization, and an interesting premise (even though I'm probably missing context from the first one). God, this Next Fest has been great.

★★★★ – Excellent ✅

I'm not a fan of anime, but I did enjoy some ghibli stuff and this is clearly influenced by it. It kind of looks like those super detailed ghibli backgrounds. In a way it feels like A Short Hike, where you can explore a cute charming world with a simple but satisfying traversal mechanic. Very straightforward, but left a great impression. Will check it out.

★★★½ – Great ✅

Similarly to Tenebris Somnia, very little shown but can't help but get intrigued by it. Story is kind of cryptic from the demo, but seems to follow a girl explorer left alone after her group investigates an exclusion zone (reminiscing Annihilation), causing psychological problems within it, with one of her friends jumping off a cliff. The protagonists never found her body, so the game takes you on the journey to uncover her mystery while surveying the zone.

What you do in the demo is walk around basically, but the sound design and the cinematic presentation earned my intrigue (comparable to Radio The Universe if you played it). Looking forward to this.

★★★½ – Great ✅

A Polish top-down survival horror game influenced by the usual classics like RE. There's two demos: The first one where you get a sense of the exploration, which I thought it was great. Progression, puzzles and overall ambience feels amazing, specially liked the use of the camera rotation and light mechanics. Then there's the second one, where it shows you the game's combat. This one is kind of rough... although it did get better later in the demo once you get newer, more powerful weapons. Also, probably needs some aim assist for controller players. Overall, really good. If you're into survival horror, give this one a try.

★★★½ – Great ✅

Very little shown, but after playing Faith I've been wanting to get on more 8-bit Horror, and this looks intriguing. Combines both retro aesthetic with live action cutscenes, and holy shit... the one cutscene you see is very well filmed.

After playing it I found out that it's a game from my country, which took me by surprise. Definitely will check it out once it releases.

★★★½ – Great ✅

A restaurant management game where you serve clients, while waiting for the apocalypse. Or something like that. I'm guessing that the game will deal with the protagonist's trauma more than the end of the world, though. Short demo, but looks promising.

★★★ – Good ✅

A soulslike with elements of platforming. Surprisingly competent for what it is, but I think it works better as a satirization of the genre. Tbh, I probably won't check it out since I'm kind of burned out of Souls stuff for now... but don't be afraid to give it a try because of the visuals.

★★★ – Good ✅

Another first person puzzle game just like others you know. This one is not as interesting as Talos Principle II in terms of puzzles and plot (although there's not much story shown here to be fair), and it has a really boring look. Not really interested, but that could change at release.

★★½ – Average ✅

Hmm, a lot of good, a lot of bad. Has a cool vibe, and progression feels solid, but so unfun to play. Similarly to all other 2D Soulslikes, actually. Spongy enemies, awkward controls (parry is a two-button combination?), healing item can't replenish... yeah, maybe I'll try it again, but not much hope in this. If you liked Blasphemous/Moonscars, you'll probably like this one the same.

★★½ – Average ✅

Next game I played after Tenebris Somnia, and it's another from my country, lol. I guess video game production is picking up here? This one though, not as interesting. Feels a little too derivative, and I'm not a fan of the synthwave aesthetic, but I'll probably try it in the future just in case.

★★½ – Average ✅

Like an amateurish Disco Elysium. Because of the ambiguity and dodgy visuals I couldn't get that intrigued by it. But yeah, if it means more games like Disco Elysium... Sure, go try it.

★★ – Bad, but playable ✅

Like a creepypasta meme thing... Eh, not for me, but it does have a cool Obra Dinn tribute.

★★ – Bad, but playable ✅

So straight forward that it thwarts the experience. It's a puzzle game that I'd probably only recommend to a teenager, maybe a little younger. Not saying it as an insult, just... too obvious.

★★ – Bad, but playable ❌

Goddammit, this was going okay until... In-App purchases. What? These are the people behind Journey, right? Wtf happened?

Supposedly this was already out as a mobile game. Never knew about it, and I don't want to know more about it.

★★ – Bad, but playable ❌

My 1060 can't even run it. Maybe bad optimization, maybe my GPU is old already, whatever.