@games Byte the Bullet
A 2D platformer that I classify as the comfort food of the retro gamer:
Tight controls, lots of references, a great degree of polish, and some tricks to make it unique.
However, one thing bringing it down and something I loathe about this type of games in general is the artificial difficulty: you can't shoot upwards or in diagonal, and you can't even duck, it would have been appreciated in the Castlevania style sequence
I hope the devs improve it for the release
@games Beacon of Neyda
Another Kingdom Two Crown-like, however, here the protagonist can shoot, scavenge, and build, and the setting is based in a futuristic post-apocalyptic world with killer robots.
There are also elevators leading to bunkers where you can find items and lore bits, watch out for the robot hordes!.
Personal irks include the lack of a map, the control scheme not optimized for mouse and keyboard, and the fact I could not issue to the bots, apart from this, it looks promising.
@games Voidwrought
This MetroidVania (or as I like to call them explorative platformers) belongs to the birthing category of Hollow Knight-likes, the graphic style, the subtle narrated story, and even the combat, resemble that of HK, the whole judgment hinges of whether the devs are going to be able to match its level of quality, if they will, that's going to be great! If they don't, it's going to be forgotten faster than the failed vessels thrown into the abyss
@games Sacre Bleu
Oh boy, it's absurd to pretend completeness during a demo showcase, but for this one ... I feel like it was released a bit too early for its sake: missing sounds, finicky controls, and overall not a good impression, one positive note is that it manages to blend 2d sprites with 3d environments better than others, but I do believe that the dev should have waited the next event and spent a bit more time cooking, because as now, it feels too much half-baked, even for a demo
@games Pipsqueak!
There is a niche set of developers who produce games under certain limitations, mechanical or thematical however may it be, I suspect that this project was born of a similar cloth, specifically from those who create games as if they were to run on a GBA, kind of like Goodboy Galaxy, it's an interesting way to create games, it has that feeling to it, and luckily, it also has the charm and a feel of polish for a game from such a console
@games And for today's theme: 2d platforming
With Ghost Knight: A Dark Tale
This charmingly Halloweeny game is a project I've been waiting for 4 years, since its reveal in 2020, and while we may still be far from its release, even in this small slice I could see the potential of a sweat little gem, this is a passion pet project through and through, and I can't wait for its maturing
@Aielman15 Thanks, I'm going to make a video recap of all the demos I'm playing at the end of this Next Fest
@games Silence of the Siren
I took me 2 minutes of playtime for a grin to start forming in my face, for I recognized what the project was aiming to achieve: this is a turn-based title following the same design principles of the Heroes of Might and Magic series, but in a sci-fi setting. It has everything: random resources on the map, stacked units, abilities, equipment, city management, the hexagonal battle map, plus some other unique tricks, this game is an instant wishlist.
@games NecroKing
I'm acquiring a certain taste for auto battlers, and this one has definitely a lot of charm, the graphical style reminds me a bit of Loop-hero, albeit in a more simplified matter, and the deck building is an interesting choice for progression.
My only doubt is about variety of enemy encounters, for now there is only the human kingdom, so I hope for more factions and more races in the future, still, I'll keep it in my radar.
@games EcoGnomix
Bizarre premise, and even more bizarre gameplay, it's a turn based economy and savaging game, economy because half of the gameplay loop is about constructing your city to reach the bottom and the treasure, the other half where you have to scavenge level by level the resources need to survive, mainly wood to hire gnomes and food to keep the bats at bay.
I came out of this demo with a perplexed face, I'll have to double think whether if this premise is appealing to me or not
@games Edge of Sanity
One genre that I can't get into no matter what are survival horrors, I like to murder stuff, and the idea of hiding until the scary thing goes away is unappealing to me.
Every time a game like this comes out, I try to figure out whether it's a survival horror with action elements, or an action game with survival elements.
Unfortunately for me, with its camp management, resource scavenging, and too strong creatures to overcome, this game belongs to the former category