Various miscellaneous demos thoughts
1-3 are day 1
4-14 are looks good wishlisted
15-22 not fully convinced/wait for big sale
24-25 you would have to pay me
Steam Next Fest lists
February 2023
June 2023
October 2023
February 2024
4-14 are looks good wishlisted
15-22 not fully convinced/wait for big sale
24-25 you would have to pay me
Steam Next Fest lists
February 2023
June 2023
October 2023
February 2024
25 Games
Oct 2023
This was great, but it was really jarring to go from 90s WADs to this. It was like somewhere in between a boomer shooter and a modern shooter, but I don't have much experience in either. You have some sort of glory kill that gives tons of resources, a deflect on your katana, a dash, a double jump, a ledge grab?, and still your usual guns. The guns could stand to be a bit better, but nothing awful.
This "prelude" was large too, with a nice little boss, and they show six or seven more missions to go. How large is this going to be? They say their patreon has early access to E1, and I see some blogs about E3. Early access is also happening soon, so I doubt this game will be fully complete anytime soon.
The only issue I had was that whenever the autosave happened, my game would keep freezing for a few seconds, kind of ruining the flow. Hopefully it gets fixed, or maybe it's an issue on my end?
This was great, but it was really jarring to go from 90s WADs to this. It was like somewhere in between a boomer shooter and a modern shooter, but I don't have much experience in either. You have some sort of glory kill that gives tons of resources, a deflect on your katana, a dash, a double jump, a ledge grab?, and still your usual guns. The guns could stand to be a bit better, but nothing awful.
This "prelude" was large too, with a nice little boss, and they show six or seven more missions to go. How large is this going to be? They say their patreon has early access to E1, and I see some blogs about E3. Early access is also happening soon, so I doubt this game will be fully complete anytime soon.
The only issue I had was that whenever the autosave happened, my game would keep freezing for a few seconds, kind of ruining the flow. Hopefully it gets fixed, or maybe it's an issue on my end?
1
Jan 2024
Donkey Kong with a duck and a turtle. I was already sold on the first stage, so I didn't try anymore. It feels great to control, with maybe just a slight annoyance of glide not being on the same key as jump. It even lets you use playstation buttom prompts or xbox! I'm already excited to hunt down all the bonus stages.
Donkey Kong with a duck and a turtle. I was already sold on the first stage, so I didn't try anymore. It feels great to control, with maybe just a slight annoyance of glide not being on the same key as jump. It even lets you use playstation buttom prompts or xbox! I'm already excited to hunt down all the bonus stages.
2
Oct 2023
What a crazy and frenetic game! It really doesn't let up ever throughout the first level. What a great idea it was to use the jump kicks to boost yourself around. There's an endless mode here too, with three unique stages, but I'd rather save it for later. The only issue is that the humour is a bit over the top for me.
I think the demo is using the bad gzdoom version, where you can't save your resolution changes.
What a crazy and frenetic game! It really doesn't let up ever throughout the first level. What a great idea it was to use the jump kicks to boost yourself around. There's an endless mode here too, with three unique stages, but I'd rather save it for later. The only issue is that the humour is a bit over the top for me.
I think the demo is using the bad gzdoom version, where you can't save your resolution changes.
4
Oct 2023
I think this just has too many bells and whistles for me. You can pick up and interact with lots of stuff like an imsim; all these text logs are just mush; combat is like out maneuvering a squad of generic guys with guns; it's almost a cover shooter, but not really; there's random challenges in the level; and there's a lot of emphasis on extra modes in the full game (even the demo has one). I can see and appreciate the effort, but I may just not be too comfortable with it yet (still need to play Blood, Duke Nukem, Shadow Warrior, etc).
I think this just has too many bells and whistles for me. You can pick up and interact with lots of stuff like an imsim; all these text logs are just mush; combat is like out maneuvering a squad of generic guys with guns; it's almost a cover shooter, but not really; there's random challenges in the level; and there's a lot of emphasis on extra modes in the full game (even the demo has one). I can see and appreciate the effort, but I may just not be too comfortable with it yet (still need to play Blood, Duke Nukem, Shadow Warrior, etc).
5
Oct 2023
Pretty small two levels that look similar to Quake. The difficulty is pretty low, even on hard, which is a bit disappointing for what seems to be a long-time doom mod creator. The developer does say it is a very early build, and they are already working to change the monsters to not be copies. Though the lost soul variant is a jumpscare every time.
Pretty small two levels that look similar to Quake. The difficulty is pretty low, even on hard, which is a bit disappointing for what seems to be a long-time doom mod creator. The developer does say it is a very early build, and they are already working to change the monsters to not be copies. Though the lost soul variant is a jumpscare every time.
6
Oct 2023
I could see this being fun, but I was also getting tired of it near the end. I think 11 stages per world when they're so similar is a bit much. It's still a good time, but you might have to just play it in bursts.
I could see this being fun, but I was also getting tired of it near the end. I think 11 stages per world when they're so similar is a bit much. It's still a good time, but you might have to just play it in bursts.
7
Jan 2024 v0.18
I'm not the biggest fan of blackjack, and this was still a great time! There are lots of weird cards, with some being references to other popular things and having strange effects in general. It's clearly still in an early version, with some art missing and the font being a bit hard to read on cards.
I'm not the biggest fan of blackjack, and this was still a great time! There are lots of weird cards, with some being references to other popular things and having strange effects in general. It's clearly still in an early version, with some art missing and the font being a bit hard to read on cards.
8
Oct 2023
A 2D-pixel art doom clone with some awful level design. 99% of your playtime will be just going forward and killing anything in your way without much thought. Hard felt way too easy, so I switched to extreme halfway at the hub, and it made projectiles a lot faster. They seem to give you nearly infinite ammo for any important fight throughout the level. Hopefully it's just a demo balance because, with these bland level designs, it starts to get boring 20 minutes in.
A 2D-pixel art doom clone with some awful level design. 99% of your playtime will be just going forward and killing anything in your way without much thought. Hard felt way too easy, so I switched to extreme halfway at the hub, and it made projectiles a lot faster. They seem to give you nearly infinite ammo for any important fight throughout the level. Hopefully it's just a demo balance because, with these bland level designs, it starts to get boring 20 minutes in.
9
April 2024
This is just a very early part of the game as a demo, so everything is pretty basic. The weapons and mods seem cool, and I liked just finding them. I do see all the crafting materials and a tab dedicated to it though, hopefully I can ignore them. Cautiously optimistic.
This is just a very early part of the game as a demo, so everything is pretty basic. The weapons and mods seem cool, and I liked just finding them. I do see all the crafting materials and a tab dedicated to it though, hopefully I can ignore them. Cautiously optimistic.
10
Oct 2023
It was just a short tutorial level, but I really liked the movement. Only shown a couple of enemies here and your 1 gun, so hopefully there is going to be a lot more to it later on. Getting ranked on each stage too is interesting, but it could put people off if they just want to play through it once.
It was just a short tutorial level, but I really liked the movement. Only shown a couple of enemies here and your 1 gun, so hopefully there is going to be a lot more to it later on. Getting ranked on each stage too is interesting, but it could put people off if they just want to play through it once.
11
Jan 2024
2D mario-like with a couple of different modes. It seems like a Mario 3 world map with some annoying dialogue imo and just a normal level into level for the 2nd mode. I didn't play much because I got the gist of it, and there were quite a few frame drops, so I didn't really want to ruin my impression.
2D mario-like with a couple of different modes. It seems like a Mario 3 world map with some annoying dialogue imo and just a normal level into level for the 2nd mode. I didn't play much because I got the gist of it, and there were quite a few frame drops, so I didn't really want to ruin my impression.
12
Oct 2023
An okay attempt at trying to mix a metroidvania and a boomer shooter. I appreciate the no-mouse look, and the dashing crouch is pretty enjoyable, but I'm not sure how to feel after getting the charge shot. It's annoying that it doesn't charge while sliding, but it's also so strong. It's a very old demo, so I'll have to see how the game is now.
An okay attempt at trying to mix a metroidvania and a boomer shooter. I appreciate the no-mouse look, and the dashing crouch is pretty enjoyable, but I'm not sure how to feel after getting the charge shot. It's annoying that it doesn't charge while sliding, but it's also so strong. It's a very old demo, so I'll have to see how the game is now.
13
Oct 2023
More of a puzzle game than a shooter. It is very easy to get confused about your situation if you go off from the intended path, and secrets are tough to figure out. Apparently I insta-killed the boss at the end by teleporting on them, but I am not entirely sure what happened.
More of a puzzle game than a shooter. It is very easy to get confused about your situation if you go off from the intended path, and secrets are tough to figure out. Apparently I insta-killed the boss at the end by teleporting on them, but I am not entirely sure what happened.
14
April 2024
It's way more of an RPG than I was expecting and has some annoying dialogue for me. Maybe I'll warm up to it more later on.
It's way more of an RPG than I was expecting and has some annoying dialogue for me. Maybe I'll warm up to it more later on.
15
February 2024
You can go lick insects for battle effects, and they turn into charms at save points. I'm not sure where Metroidvania is coming from since this is just a straight line with a couple of fights and a boss, but I'm interested.
Apparently there was an older demo with a lot more stuff to do, multiple bosses, and areas, but now it was just replaced with this "weak" one until release...
You can go lick insects for battle effects, and they turn into charms at save points. I'm not sure where Metroidvania is coming from since this is just a straight line with a couple of fights and a boss, but I'm interested.
Apparently there was an older demo with a lot more stuff to do, multiple bosses, and areas, but now it was just replaced with this "weak" one until release...
16
February 2024
It looks like a Celeste clone at first, and while it does have some aspects of that, I really liked the new grapple mechanic. I'm not the biggest fan of precision platformers, but it did keep me entertained to the end.
It looks like a Celeste clone at first, and while it does have some aspects of that, I really liked the new grapple mechanic. I'm not the biggest fan of precision platformers, but it did keep me entertained to the end.
17
Oct 2023
This is split into 2 demos: exploring a house while solving simple puzzles, and a combat tutorial with a roguelike mode. I liked the first one, and forcing you to play in Polish really added to the atmosphere. I hated the combat, and it might just put me off the game entirely. I'll see how much combat there really is.
This is split into 2 demos: exploring a house while solving simple puzzles, and a combat tutorial with a roguelike mode. I liked the first one, and forcing you to play in Polish really added to the atmosphere. I hated the combat, and it might just put me off the game entirely. I'll see how much combat there really is.
18
Oct 2023
I played this with a friend. Idk, it's obviously very fun to move around, but is the entire thing just going to be going across platforms in the void fighting enemies in a circle arena? It gets old real quick, and I thought there would be more level-based areas. The collectathon with the hats makes me think this is more like a game you just fuck around with friends.
I played this with a friend. Idk, it's obviously very fun to move around, but is the entire thing just going to be going across platforms in the void fighting enemies in a circle arena? It gets old real quick, and I thought there would be more level-based areas. The collectathon with the hats makes me think this is more like a game you just fuck around with friends.
19
February 2024
Like a simpler trials and with more explosions. Some of my flips weren't counted randomly, and other times a backflip would = frontflip.
Like a simpler trials and with more explosions. Some of my flips weren't counted randomly, and other times a backflip would = frontflip.
20
Oct 2023
The enemies just stand there when you hit them once, which is pretty funny. I could see screenburn happening for a lot of text pickups too. It seems like it's inspired a lot by old horror games with all the notes, and the lightning is something awful. Turn it up all the way, and it looks awful, but leave it on default, and it's hard to see any offbeat path.
It's alright, but I'm just not too into it because of bullet time, and it's pretty tedious to keep consuming enemies.
The enemies just stand there when you hit them once, which is pretty funny. I could see screenburn happening for a lot of text pickups too. It seems like it's inspired a lot by old horror games with all the notes, and the lightning is something awful. Turn it up all the way, and it looks awful, but leave it on default, and it's hard to see any offbeat path.
It's alright, but I'm just not too into it because of bullet time, and it's pretty tedious to keep consuming enemies.
21
Oct 2023
This is a really rough one. It is very unfinished in almost every aspect. Enemies hardly have any sound cues or animations, let alone reacting to your shots. The map is just a boring stock area, movement feels so stiff, and the shotgun seems like it has a hitbox issue.
I quit pretty fast to not ruin the game entirely for me after phantom fury...
At least the atmosphere was there.
This is a really rough one. It is very unfinished in almost every aspect. Enemies hardly have any sound cues or animations, let alone reacting to your shots. The map is just a boring stock area, movement feels so stiff, and the shotgun seems like it has a hitbox issue.
I quit pretty fast to not ruin the game entirely for me after phantom fury...
At least the atmosphere was there.
22
Oct 2023
The demo is very short and really doesn't show what the game (I hope) will be about. There's no thought to any of these rooms or enemy placement, and secrets are almost right out in the open. These enemies are just awful and blend into the environment easily. Most of the effort looks like it went into the style of the game, which I like, but theres really nothing else going for this.
The demo is very short and really doesn't show what the game (I hope) will be about. There's no thought to any of these rooms or enemy placement, and secrets are almost right out in the open. These enemies are just awful and blend into the environment easily. Most of the effort looks like it went into the style of the game, which I like, but theres really nothing else going for this.
23
Dec 2023
It is a very short demo, and it is pretty slow, to be honest. While it might be fun to figure out what each problem is, I could start to see the creepypasta come in, and that just ruins it for me.
It is a very short demo, and it is pretty slow, to be honest. While it might be fun to figure out what each problem is, I could start to see the creepypasta come in, and that just ruins it for me.
24
Oct 2023
I was really only interested in this because of Carrion. Unfortunately, this one feels awful to control, and after completing the first level, I saw there was a skill tree for your two different forms. Not for me.
I was really only interested in this because of Carrion. Unfortunately, this one feels awful to control, and after completing the first level, I saw there was a skill tree for your two different forms. Not for me.
25