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Steam Steam Next Fest: February 2024 Edition [Feb. 5th - 12th]

Joedev

Joedev

Shriekbat
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Steam Next Fest started today at 10:00AM PACIFIC. I thought it would be nice to have a thread to discuss the many demos that will become available and highlight some cool upcoming games.

What is Steam Next Fest?

Valve describes it as a multi-day celebration of upcoming games where you can explore and play hundreds of demos, choose from dozens of livestreams to watch, and chat with developers about their games. It's basically an opportunity for upcoming games to get a spotlight and build up some hype. One thing to note that I wasn't aware of until recently - Games can only participate in a single Steam Next Fest, so it makes sense to do it in the nearest one relative to your release date. In theory, that means that most of these games should be releasing within the next 2-3 months.

Any Highlights?

There are a few things that I'm looking forward to trying, but mostly I enjoy just trying random stuff.




Releasing on Switch that same date.



Is anyone planning to try out some demos, or is there anything in particular that you are anticipating?
 
Pepper Grinder is great, defo give that a try

Would recommend Children of the Sun




It has a very ‘Suda 51’ vibe, well worth a try
 
I've only played 3 games so far, but I'm hoping to jump into a few games each night.

Pepper Grinder - played through a couple levels and it seems pretty great. The core mechanic is pretty fun, but honestly not sure if it can carry a whole game.

Balatro - Fun poker based deckbuilder. I've spent hours playing the demo and it has become one of my most anticipated games.

Deviator - It's pretty blatant in its Hollow Knight inspiration... I was done after about 5 minutes. It's probably not that bad, but if you are copying a great game, it's easy to notice that everything is a big step down.
 
Joedev said:
Is anyone planning to try out some demos, or is there anything in particular that you are anticipating?
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This shit is off the chain- three of my "most interested games" are debuting demos and I'm ectstatic to jump in and see what's happening with them, literally installing right now:

Homeworld 3 is a holy grail item for me for quite some time, but I'm extremely wary with anything related to Gearbox and especially their handling of the previous Homeworld games. Still, I'm excited to try it regardless- the series lives in my imagination since I was young.




I've had my eyes on Flock ever since they announced the idea and early art, and boy, I love flying games if they're cool and this looks awesome, like Ooblets with atmospheric travel.




Pacific Drive seems to scratch an itch I didn't know I wanted until it presented itself- is this my Roadside Picnic simulator I've always wanted, without the colonial violence?




Crypt Custodian, Hauntii, and Synergy have my immediate attention as well- really interested to dive into these and form some first impressions, I've loved everything I've seen about them so far.






I'm also fucking living for the Studio Ghibli at home double feature of Mika and the Witch's Mountain and The Brew Barons, both featuring demos to try (not part of Steam Next Fest, but still cool and currently available.)


 


Emberbane is an Avatar: The Last Airbender-inspired Metroidvania I backed on KS.
 
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I've only played two demos so far, but this one stuck out to me



I love the artstyle and the gameplay is fun so far. Basically Slay the Spire with Mana and in first person.
 
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I gotta get better at keeping track of when these things are one of these days

they always sneak up on me every time and a week just feels so short when it's something you don't realize is coming till it's here
 
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If you're looking for a Metroidvania, Ultros and Biomorph are looking really promising

...



Ultros is pretty weird visually and it definitely seems like a "you'll never know what exactly is going on in this story but it sure sounds metal" kinda story. But the gameplay feels really smooth and it has some interesting ideas in that you get effectively graded for how you kill enemies, and that impacts their drops, which double as healing items and exp. Also apparently its got gardening and time loops but the first is minimal in the demo and the second is nonexistent

Biomorph is my game of the show so far honestly. Charming Saturday morning cartoon kinda vibe, with a Mario Odyssey inspired enemy transformation mechanic. Basically once you kill an enemy you can transform into it, and if you kill and transform into a certain number of that enemy (unique instances, it's not grindable) you unlock that transformation permanently. You can also continue this process to power up unlocked forms, which is a nice way to have enemies serve as an exploration reward. You've also got three slots for weapons on your main form (kinda feels like Ender Lillies in implementation), HK-esque charms, and a main hub you can collect blueprints for to unlock upgrade stations for your stuff. Basically, seems like a lot of content with some pretty creative ideas that so far seem implemented fairly well
 
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Mbolibombo said:
The lack of Stormgate in the thread is not good.

Try it out if you like competetive RTS in the vein of Starcraft 2 and Warcraft 3
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I tried it and it was a weirdly confusing experience.

Like, it clearly feels like an StarCraft spiritual successor of sorts, and that's good! But then the things they changed and/or added from StarCraft feel weirdly off and confuse me a bit.

It's a similar feeling to what I got with wargroove, basically. Will try it a bit more and see if it clicks. It doesn't help that the onboarding experience is a bit off right now.
 
Tangerine_Cookie said:
I tried it and it was a weirdly confusing experience.

Like, it clearly feels like an StarCraft spiritual successor of sorts, and that's good! But then the things they changed and/or added from StarCraft feel weirdly off and confuse me a bit.

It's a similar feeling to what I got with wargroove, basically. Will try it a bit more and see if it clicks. It doesn't help that the onboarding experience is a bit off right now.
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I'm not sure I think what's confusing?

However as it's in early beta stages there's definitely improvements to be made and the biggest improvement to the gameplay aspect I can think of is
unit and building clarity especially. Buildings and some units resemble each other a lot. I guess that could lead to some confusing moments

But the core foundation of a great RTS is there, and if they improve and build upon this I think we're havinga a very good game upon us.
Cant wait what the next major patch to the game will do.
 
Mbolibombo said:
The lack of Stormgate in the thread is not good.

Try it out if you like competetive RTS in the vein of Starcraft 2 and Warcraft 3
Click to expand...

I was really into the RTS genre when I was younger, specifically Starcraft, Warcraft 3, and Starcraft 2, but as I've gotten older I just can't really get into them anymore. It is just too much of a time commitment to try and get good and, in general, PvP focused games just aren't my thing. I am interested to see how the game does though, just because the pedigree of the people working on it.
 
Mbolibombo said:
I'm not sure I think what's confusing?

However as it's in early beta stages there's definitely improvements to be made and the biggest improvement to the gameplay aspect I can think of is
unit and building clarity especially. Buildings and some units resemble each other a lot. I guess that could lead to some confusing moments

But the core foundation of a great RTS is there, and if they improve and build upon this I think we're havinga a very good game upon us.
Cant wait what the next major patch to the game will do.
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Oh, mind you, I don't think the game is confusing by itself (Though the tutorial was a bit lacking) as much as my previous experience with SC2 tripping me up here. As in making me assume how units and strategies work instead of trying to figure out how they do.
 
Joedev said:
I was really into the RTS genre when I was younger, specifically Starcraft, Warcraft 3, and Starcraft 2, but as I've gotten older I just can't really get into them anymore. It is just too much of a time commitment to try and get good and, in general, PvP focused games just aren't my thing. I am interested to see how the game does though, just because the pedigree of the people working on it.
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There seem to be a pretty heavy focus on Co-op multiplayer as well - I used to be pretty good at competetive RTS, no longer the case but still enjoy it. But the Co-op part might be worth trying out if you still enjoy RTS games.

Tangerine_Cookie said:
Oh, mind you, I don't think the game is confusing by itself (Though the tutorial was a bit lacking) as much as my previous experience with SC2 tripping me up here. As in making me assume how units and strategies work instead of trying to figure out how they do.
Click to expand...

Ah yeah that's a thing ofc - with the amount of hours of SC2 (or other RTS's) in the backpack and trying to learn something entirely new it's going to be a bit of struggle
 
I grabbed demos for Balatro, Crypt Custodian, and Tiny Terry's Turbo Trip so far. I don't want to overwhelm myself.

Crypt Custodian and Tiny Terry look right up my alley. Balatro is something a little different, but it's gotten so much praise that I feel like I have to try it.
 
Duck Detective: The Secret Salami is one I am looking foward to. It is a point and click mystery adventure game with full voice acting as well. The demo is however only 15 minutes long so I would put on your wishlist if you are interested:



Beastieball is not part of Steam Next Fest but it has a demo. The devs are behind Chicory and Wandersong and I hope it comes out this year:

 
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Red Monster said:
I grabbed demos for Balatro, Crypt Custodian, and Tiny Terry's Turbo Trip so far. I don't want to overwhelm myself.

Crypt Custodian and Tiny Terry look right up my alley. Balatro is something a little different, but it's gotten so much praise that I feel like I have to try it.
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I played about 45 minutes of Tiny Terry and I like it a lot. The demo feels pretty limited, and there’s tons of jank (camera jank, lighting jank, getting stuck in the terrain jank, etc), but it’s funny and charming and I want to play more.
 
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Had to uninstall Balatro because I was playing it too much. Gotta save some playtime for the full release.
 
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I'm trying a bunch of stuff this year. I felt like sharing my quick thoughts of the ones I liked at least a little somewhere. There are a few that I did not have a positive opinion on. I won't mention those. I'll probably try out a few more in the future. So far, In order....



This is pretty cute. Very simplistic. I could see this being a good thing to play alongside binging some shows.


I'm always trying to find a good 4X game that could be as good as Civ... While I haven't found one yet, this may be good? It feels incredibly derivative, moreso than most, and the UI is quite bland and lifeless. That can definitely be improved, but we'll see. I'm not sold yet.


Now this is cool. I tried this on request from @Aurc and I think he'd get something out of it. It's not the type of thing I would probably play, but I definitely enjoyed the demo. It's got a decent vibe to it. There's no way to make this sound nice, and I do mean it as a compliment, but this looks like a mockup of a game. Like something that is entirely CG for a commercial or to represent a future product. I'd probably watch people stream this on release.


This is the game I was most looking forward to trying, and honestly, I'm disappointed by it. It's my own fault really, I was hoping it was more of a farming game than it was. It's more of a typical survival crafting game, but where the resource gathering loop involves farming. That said, it looks really good, the vibes are friendly as all hell (you can feed the surrounding wildlife!), and the game feels well thoughtout.
 
Metroid said:

Now this is cool. I tried this on request from @Aurc and I think he'd get something out of it. It's not the type of thing I would probably play, but I definitely enjoyed the demo. It's got a decent vibe to it. There's no way to make this sound nice, and I do mean it as a compliment, but this looks like a mockup of a game. Like something that is entirely CG for a commercial or to represent a future product. I'd probably watch people stream this on release.
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Thanks for the impressions, you pogged bloke, you dubious little creature. Glad to hear you feel generally positive towards it. I hope the PS5 version gets a demo too, so I can gametry before I buy.

seinfeld-thumbs-up.gif
 
Digging the Pacific Drive Demo a lot. Will be a purchase at launch.
The atmosphere is great like I hoped and I have an urge to discover everything similar like when I played Outer Wilds.

It's only very early impressions. Hopefully it pays of.
The UI and general inventory system / controls are quite overwhelming though. I don't know if that needs to be that complicated/convoluted.
Maybe they streamline it until the final release built, but I doubt it.
 
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Played ten minutes of Balatro and shut it off. I'm sure it's good, it's just not for me.

Played twenty minutes of Crypt Custodian and shut it off. Not because it was bad or I didn't like it, but because I thought it was excellent and decided it was an immediate buy.
 


Geometry Wars meets Vampire Survivor

is this a match made in heaven?
 
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Completely normal fishing game right here. Absolutely nothing to worry about. Play it immediately.

 
Got in a few more demos tonight.



Pepper Grinder is a cool little sidescroller with a unique traversal mechanic. When I saw the trailer in an Indie World I totally wrote the game off because I'm kinda sick of the pixel art style, but playing the game was fun. Visually it's blah, and the music was boring, but the gameplay is fun. I'll give it a look when it comes out.



Dungeons and Degenerate Gamblers is the less-hyped card game in this fest. Instead of Balatro's poker, here you play blackjack. The two games are pretty similar roguelike deckbuilders. I bounced off Balatro pretty hard, but I could see having a good time with Degenerate Gamblers. Good fun.

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I'm sad to see the fest end tomorrow! I've really enjoyed getting the chance to try out some really cool games. I've got my eyes on a good number of titles that I wouldn't have ever considered playing before. Can't wait for some of these games to come out, and I'll be looking forward to the next Next Fest!
 
I don't have Steam currently, but I just want to point out the new Inti Creates game, Umbraclaw (A Metroidvania where you play as a kitty!) also has a demo. It's by the Blaster Master Zero division of the company
 
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