A time to, I believe, appreciate the little things. The kind of things that involve playing multiple games of their short build just to get the taste of what's to come. It's Next Fest from Steam as the store now have upcoming games with demos available to play.
So, me myself playing these demos, I wanted to do a 5 games preview. I tried out as much as I can with the time I had, but here's about 5 games that will be highlighted by me based on my personal experiences.
1 - Wandering Village
Think Populous, but instead of expanding towards available area and conquering others, you are trying to make the best out of the back of a giant creature after the land has become too toxic to inhabit. Thus, you have to make due with this gentle giant by giving back some.
The game is mostly about survival and resource management. You have a group of villagers whom you need to feed, give jobs to, and help grow out the village. Gameplay is pretty simple, but a few instructions lacking here and there have made it a bit of a hassle for me to grasp it playing.
But after playing through it, I realized that the goals aren't to just base build and help the villagers settle, but to also take care of the giant known as the Onbu. Building structures that communicate with the Onbu on whether to stop or not, taking care of him in case it gets poisoned, and feeding it food. All involving a symbiotic relationship with the being.
Some quirks that need sorting out, but I am putting my on this game for the next few months, I am interested to see how it comes to be during release.
2 - Card Shark
Oh boy, another Devolver game, the last one I played recently was Inscryption, and that game pulled my leg quite a bit. This one, they just had to ante up, because this game can really put you on a roll.
Here's one game involving you checking out the other opponent's cards, while you pour a perfect amount of drink without spilling it. Try to do both, not so easy. You have to practice with sound and fast visual memory. I kept practising and even then, I wasn't still good enough.
The next involves you tricking someone into trying to pick their card with two others shuffled around, trying to get this right isn't easy with simply timing button prompts right, but if this is hard, you'd be having a gruelling time getting the others right.
That's Card Shark, based around 15th century France, you play as this up and comer card shark who tricks and cheats his opponents all the way to the bank. There's an intricate and well written story too, great visual style, and some pleasing renaissance era music. This one is close and dear on my list of games for 2022, and I don't think I can go wrong.
3 - Turbo Overkill
A cyberpunk world where mass killings are a thing, and you play as this one guy who feels the need to wreak havoc on the underworld without much reason? Sounds OK, I assume.
3D visuals with 2D aesthetics which are obviously inspired by doom clone games of the 90s, Turbo Overkill pits you against enemies that are either mutants, enhancement freaks, or hordes of gun toting freaks to take you down. You keep momentum from one level to another, as you find new weapons, and earn currency to make upgrades.
A fast-paced shooter where you mow down enemies, with sliding mechanics that also acts as melee because you have a literal chainsaw on your leg. Upgrade your character, and weapons, but also explore many areas of the level to get most of it out.
This game has derivations of Doom, Quake, Ultrakill, Strife, and so on. But I am hoping to see that all those aspects fit into its gameplay, and world. I like Cyberpunk stuff, praying this doesn't come too cheesed in.
4 - Ixion
Usually a poster like this would tell you that it's probably a 4x space strategy game. It isn't. It's more subdued as you dive into space stations revolving around planets in our solar system, Sol, and other places in the galaxies.
You play as an administrator for a ship, where you handle contructions for the workers in the ship. As far as I played in the 1st hour, I build stockpiles where resources are stored and later used. You manage your ship with cargo the likes of food, alloy, wood, medicine, etc. All of these need to consumed abundantly. Of course, in some emergency situations whenever I ran out of manpower or resources, I would have to ask directors of the large ship to lend some resources, albeit with some perk costs.
The scope for this seems large, maybe outside the demo I've played, I'll have to take different approaches to resource management with different planets since the one I got to play was orbiting around earth. And if you don't do things right, people will either die, they'll riot if morale is low, or something worse possibly imaginable.
If games where heavy-handed story pieces and science fiction make you snore, well this one will put you right to bed. But I implore you to try if you really want to play something that feels like the lore is well substantiated, and even if this is nothing unique, I want to see whether this game finds its way to shine.
5 - Neon White
This is a speedrunner game, this is also an anime visual novel, and an FPS. This is a game made by the creator of Donut County, and I can safely say it speaks very well of the creator's eccentricities. This is also one of two games in this list that has me completely spell bounded.
It's a card based system, where you only get to use the weapons you pick from the cards provided in the same level. Each card has particular powers, like the pistol I've used has elevate. Right-clicking it activates the power, but it's a one-time use only, so I had to utilize them tactfully.
A high-concept game with a lot of different personalities, and some wacky shenanigans going on. All these characters are people who used to kill for hire, but got yanked out of hell right to paradise just for reasons involving plot premise.
At one point, after seeing one of my friends leaderboards topping me in one of the levels, I took the challenge to outdo him with like 7 different tries. It was really fun. I didn't finish the demo, but I sure as heck want to right now while writing. The soundtrack also carries the game throughout the levels, it has this Shin Megami Tensei/Dangenronpa kind of feel to it.
Honorable Mentions
Tinykin
This is a pretty charming game, while it's not something I'd look for, I can see myself playing this in some time later. I had good fun playing it, and seems to be an inventive adventure game with many different minion mechanics, where little doodads do tasks for you.
Core Keeper
An 8 player co-op Dungeon survival game. Here, you explore, craft, mine, and create weapons to fight against whatever is coming after your core. It's like playing Stardew Valley, and Enter The Gungeon. But elements of those games fused into one.
Little Orpheus
A remastered release of a game exclusively released for the Apple Arcade, it's now coming out for all major platforms. A 2D platformer game where a soviet cosmonaut got stuck in a land, running away from dinosaurs, and other dangerous creatures. Of which might even include aliens.
So that is my list, this was a long one. I think Next Fest is still going on till the end of this month, so there are plenty of games you can pick and try out on. Distinctly across all genres and types.
Hope you guys had a good month, I'll be off to a little corner now, knowing I'll be full broke this year.