Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders (PC) (Demo)

Overview: Skiing game.

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20241123:
I tried this demo today. I played the blue route of the first level several times until I unlocked the black diamond route. Then I played the black diamond route once.

Setup: Xbox controller. The game detected my steering as screen steering, but that was likely a perception of how their tutorial was designed. However, as indicated by the game, it's available to change in the options. I immediately changed it to left/right steering which is more intuitive to me.

Steam Game Time: 40 minutes

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First Impressions:
I went for trying to unlock the black diamond route of the first level and this challenge was somewhat fun. What I didn't like about the game was that it was third person with a fixed angle. This meant that there are times the camera angle reveals the path ahead that wouldn't be known to a real skier and sometimes it fails to reveal what would be in sight of the skier. I feel like a first person skiing game or third person with camera behind the player is much more representative of how one reacts to the elements. Of course there's a beauty to the way it's done here. I acknowledge the beauty, but gameplay is what keeps me playing.

I did like the use of checkpoints through the run, but again the camera angle was such that avoiding crashes requires a combination of trial-and-error and memorization.

Aesthetically, the landscape view was pleasing to look at - in particular the fluffy snow all around combined with the look and feel of the skier traveling through it.

After running the black diamond route of the first level, I had my fill of the game, even though the demo had more levels to offer.

Demo Rating: 3.0 out of 5

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Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders (PC) (Demo)

Relevant Links:
Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders (Steam Store Page)

Hyper Beat (PC) (Demo)

Overview: A 2D rhythm game.

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20241123:
Tried this rhythm game today.

Setup: Keyboard and Mouse.

Steam Game Time: 19 minutes

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First Impressions:
While I was expecting a rhythm game (from the title of the game), I was surprised by the execution. Hyper Beat has the player character moving around within a circular area - typically around the edges, and hitting discs. Some discs require a left or right slash and some are tunnels which the player must follow in order to get points.

This initially seemed not too bad but I often felt disoriented as I didn't know where my cursor was. It's possible the game is easier with a controller.

I would praise the game for its tracks which sounded great and seemed to work well with the beats the player has to hit. However, I wasn't a fan of the art style. With that being said, I think the game was too difficult for me, and that was the true reason I didn't enjoy it. If the game had been acquired by Nintendo and themed with Mario and Mario-universe graphics, I think that would have extended my time with the game by at most half an hour.

Demo Rating: 2.0 out of 5

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Hyper Beat (PC) (Demo)

Relevant Links:
Hyper Beat (Steam Store Page)

RAM: Random Access Mayhem (PC) (Demo)

Overview: 2D roguelike shooter. Take control of robots and strategically swap host robots throughout the course of the game.

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20241118:
Continue to make my way through previously downloaded demos, I decided to play RAM.
Setup: Keyboard and mouse

Steam Game Time: 24 minutes

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First Impressions:
Interesting game. I frequently used the shotgun character. I felt its ammo was reasonably easy to use. I had trouble, however, using its secondary fire.

Overall, in theory it does seem like a cool, fun game, but not one that suited me. Reflecting, the ability to swap is likely core to success and I was really only using it to stay topped off on health with other shotgun characters. However, I should have instead swapped to any character that was getting upgrades. Maybe I'll try it again.

Demo Rating: 3.0 out of 5

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20241123:
I played the game a little more and was more open minded to play two other characters. The game has a learning curve, but I can see how mastery of all the robots would be rewarding. While I would bump up the rating by a few notches, I think the only outcome was that I felt I wanted to install and resume playing Hades.

Steam Game Time: 36 minutes (cumulative game time) / 12 minutes (session game time)

Demo Rating: 3.4 out of 5

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RAM: Random Access Mayhem (PC) (Demo)

Relevant Links:
RAM: Random Access Mayhem (Steam Store Page)

Maseylia: Echoes of the Past (PC) (Demo)

Overview: "Maseylia : Echoes of the Past is a 3D animated metroidvania. [...]" - Steam Store page

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20241118:
I tried playing this demo before going to bed.

Setup: I initially played with keyboard and mouse and then tried playing with controller.

Gameplay Log:
Got the dash
Got the shooter
Dying from platforming began feeling no good. So I stopped playing

Steam Game Time: 17 minutes

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First Impressions:
The visuals for this game are pleasing, and the movement on land felt smooth. Unfortunately, I felt the game lacked visual clarity on where I should go. The entire world kind of visually blends together and it just feels jarring. On the topic of visuals, I found it odd that I couldn't see the front of the player character - except for when I'm looking at the map.

While the game initially looked promising, it soon began to spiral down as I continued to play it.
- combat did not feel rewarding (e.g., enemies just disappeared with a slash); I think early on enemies should require two or three swipes to give a sense of weakness and interaction
- on that note, there's a lack of enemy density
- platforming felt excessive; while the game is self-described as a Metroidvania, it feels more like an adventure game (e.g., Zelda). But what I think about when I enjoy in a Zelda game is being able to take in the world around me as I travel from one place to the next, not having to worry about jumping from platform to platform
- I dislike the map system. It's too difficult to understand, it'd 3D, and it contains information beyond the areas I've explored.
- there's absolutely no story and no motivation to the game
- there's a lack of clarity on what causes death and respawning at the last game save

Overall, there was an initial beauty to the artstyle but ultimately the colors didn't work and the gameplay didn't do much for me either.

Demo Rating: 1.0 out of 5

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20241118 Comment:
The game aspires to be a 3D Metroidvania, of which there are some, but most Metroidvanias are 2D and I think the genre is better off that way. Though maybe I'm just a 2D oriented player. For example, I still like the original Risk of Rain over Risk of Rain 2. In any case, I'm sure as the genre grows, more and more games will become less familiar to what I'm used to, but I grew up playing the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS entries in the Castlevania series, so that's my baseline for what forms a Metroidvania (I also played part of Metroid Fusion). While the game demo had aspects of unlocking abilities and non-linearity, I feel it failed to capture the essense of how this is done in a Metroidvania. With other Metroidvanias, there's often an NPC that applies some context to the game within the first 10 minutes of play. Also within the first 10 minutes, the game typical guides the player through the controls via the environment.

As another thought, early on I collected the dash power-up which seems like for free. I think a more standard Metroidvania formula would be exploring an entire area with some areas along the way having jumps that cannot be assessed due to the lack of a dash. Then at the end of that initial area, there's a boss. Upon defeating the boss, the player gains the dash. Immediately the player needs to use the dash to escape a room, ensuring the player knows the purpose of the dash. A lightbulb should go off in the player's mind that the player should backtrack to a previous point in the game to use the newly acquired dash. As such, while elements of a Metroidvania are in fact non-linear exploration, ability-based progression, and backtracking, I feel the order of the elements is also a key characteristic of the Metroidvania.

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Maseylia: Echoes of the Past (PC) (Demo)

Relevant Links:
Maseylia: Echoes of the Past (Steam Store Page)

ROGUE FLIGHT (PC) (Demo)

Overview: "A breathtaking arcade space combat game inspired by prestige anime." (Steam Description)

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20241107:
After trying Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel, I decided to play this demo.

Setup: Xmbox controller

Steam Game Time: 22 minutes

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First Impressions:
The storytelling was amazing.

Among games I played, this game reminded me most of Star Fox 64, which I later read is the sequel to Star Fox. As I'm familiar with Star Fox 64, I'll keep my comparisons to that game. For fundamental gameplay, ROGUE FLIGHT shares in being an on-rails shooter where movement, shooting, and dodging (barrel roll) fire feel just like Star Fox 64. In addition to the basic controls, the game also extends this with a tail swipe maneuver, and missiles instead of bombs.

Moving onto the gameplay experience, the differences in this game from Star Fox 64 made for an overall worse experience. Item pickup felt unintuitive in comparison to that of Star Fox 64 (I think because the item pickups in Star Fox 64 are large and visible). Level design generally felt plain in comparison to that of Star Fox 64 - at least from what I specifically remember in the first level run on Corneria.
Demo Rating: 3.0 out of 5

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ROGUE FLIGHT (PC) (Demo)

Relevant Links:
ROGUE FLIGHT (Steam Store Page)

Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel (PC) (Demo)

Overview: Action roguelike survival game with a Norse theme.

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20241107:
Tried this game today.

Setup: Keyboard and mouse. Ultrawide monitor. Kept fire on smart, but switched aim to manual as gameplay felt more engaging this way.

Gameplay Log:
Completed Easy difficulty (Seeress).
Played Normal difficulty (Seeress) and died. Underestimated how careful I had to be compared to Easy difficulty.

Steam Game Time: 31 minutes

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First Impressions:
The game looked good, but I initially missed that there was a dash. It was funny because part way in I said this game has the feel of an action RPG except it's missing a dash. A few minutes later, I saw the keybind for dash to the far left of my screen.

The first boss on Easy was underwhelming. But I didn't reach the boss on Normal difficulty, which was actually difficult.

One problem I had with the game was not giving sufficient hints regarding various keywords. This made selecting skills difficult for a first play through.

At the end of the day, I'd much rather just play an action RPG.

Demo Rating: 2.8 out of 5

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Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel (PC) (Demo)

Relevant Links:
Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel (Steam Store Page)

An Unfinished Game (PC) (Demo)

Overview: A puzzle platformer which is largely a parody of Portal.

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20241105:
I tried playing this game today, and it felt like it aspired to being a parody of Portal. Unfortunately, I was too tired and had to stop my session early.

Setup: Steam Deck

Steam Game Time: 9 minutes

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20241108 Comment:
Today I was looking at the Steam Store page. The game is tagged with "Walking Simulator" but the game discription mentions "small puzzles, platforming, meta gameplay."

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20241116:
I finally got around to playing more of this game. Today I started over from the beginning on my computer.

Steam Game Time: 34 minutes (cumulative game time) / 25 minutes (session game time)

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First Impressions:
The game is funny at times, but not enough to keep me interested. As the game revolves around being a parody of Portal and perhaps games in general, it should really lean into that. Instead, I think at times it tries to be a serious platformer, which is hard for (I assume) a single developer. In contrast, because there was a team of developers, Portal is able to be an extremely polished platformer with the occasional humor (with top-notch execution when it is applied).

I think the game should have a lot more "bugs" and have that be part of the fun - kind of like in Goat Simulator.
Demo Rating: 3.0 out of 5

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An Unfinished Game (PC) (Demo)

Relevant Links:
An Unfinished Game (Steam Store Page)

Microtopia: Prologue (PC) (Demo)

Overview: Autoamtion / base building game with a robot ant theme.

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20241102:
Waiting for the kids to fall asleep, I played this on the Steam Deck.

Setup: Steam Deck. Bind R4 to middle mouse button.

Steam Game Time: 2.1 hours

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First Impressions:
I had fun with the demo. Having played and enjoyed Factorio which falls in a similar genre, I couldn't help but think about comparisons. Building in Factorio falls along a grid and in a way more satisfying. As such, the appeal of this game is more towards the ant-based mechanics.

Overall, being able to enjoy the demo on the Steam Deck, I think the game would be even more fun on the computer with keyboard and mouse.

Demo Rating: 4.8 out of 5

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Microtopia: Prologue (PC) (Demo)

Relevant Links:
Microtopia: Prologue (Steam Store Page)
Microtopia (Steam Store Page)

Heroes of Hammerwatch II (PC) (Demo)

Overview: A rogue-lite.

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20241101:
Decided to play this demo today. I previously played Hammerwatch and thought it was like that game. I think in a way it is, but like Heroes of Hammerwatch before it, Heroes of Hammerwatch II is a roguelite.

Setup: Keyboard and mouse

Steam Game Time: 59 minutes

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First Impressions:
This game runs full ultrawide! Very beautiful looking game for pixel art.

The gameplay was partially fun and partially underwhelming. I think the pace could be tweaked to be more exciting.

One thing I didn't understand was in my first run I died and my earnings were penalized, which makes sense. In my second run - where I realized the levels are procedurally generated - I abandoned it during level 2 where it was getting dangerous and my earnings were penalized again. That begged the question, what is required to keep all of one's earnings?

Overall, when I finally pulled away from the game, I felt that I'd much rather play Path of Exile over grinding out this action rpg roguelite.
Demo Rating: 3.6 out of 5

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Heroes of Hammerwatch II (PC) (Demo)

Relevant Links:
Heroes of Hammerwatch II (Steam Store Page)

Dice Gambit: The First Act (PC) (Demo)

Overview: A turn-based strategy RPG whose battle mechancis is a mix of Yahtzee (roll dice to make actions and rerolling) and deckbuilding elements.

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20241025:
I played this game while waiting for the kids to fall asleep.

Setup: Steam Deck

Steam Game Time: 61 minutes

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First Impressions:
First off, the game had a character customization section! Love how such a feature is looking strong in the demo.

Second, the game has great artwork and style. The overall feeling of the game with the way characters are introduced and the story builds up reminds me of Hades, which I'm saying as a compliment.

One problem I had with the game, and it could be due to playing on the Steam Deck, was that it was sometimes hard to select enemies, because one needs to point at the hex they're on and not just at their body, which makes sense. And in one instance I used the character's special move which deals damage through all enemies he/she passes through and I wasted the attack because I didn't actually go through any enemies. With that being said, the game does indicate if an enemy will be damaged, and I just hadn't noticed. I suppose what this means is that there is a small learning curve with respect to the game's interface.

One question I have is the it's possible not to throw all the dice. But I'm wondering what situation there would be not to throw all the dice. Just to build suspense?

As an aside, the demo had some minor bugs, but none that affected the gameplay.

Overall, I think this game has potential, and I like it more than the Knights in Tight Spaces
demo I played yesterday.

Demo Rating: 5.0 out of 5

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Dice Gambit (PC) (Demo)

Relevant Links:
Dice Gambit (Steam Store Page)

Knights in Tight Spaces (PC) (Demo)

Overview: A turn-based tactics deckbuilder.

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20241024 AM Hours:
I loaded up this game at around 1 AM, and it seemed interesting, but I was getting sleepy and had to stop after 6 minutes.
Setup: Mouse

Steam Game Time: 6 minutes

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20241024:
After a long day working, I was ready to resume this demo. I played until being defeated.

Steam Game Time: 84 minutes (cumulative game time) / 78 minutes (session game time)

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First Impressions:
I enjoyed the strategy involved with this game. The controls are simple and the various icons are easy to understand but can be a bit much to take in all in even with the tutorial. Even so, I like the spatial component of the game as opposed to most deckbuilder games where the strategy is mostly focused on attacks instead of movement. However, it is hard as a beginner to the game to understand the turn order. This, however, is a problem that would go away with sufficient gametime.

On a different note, I love the artwork and animations.

Overall, the game seems like it would be a lot of fun, but I'm reserved to give it a 5.0 since I think there are plenty of games I'd rather play instead of it. At the same time, I do think it's more my style of game when compared to Karate Survivor which I gave a demo rating of 4.8.

Demo Rating: 4.8 out of 5

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Knights in Tight Spaces (PC) (Demo)

Relevant Links:
Knights in Tight Spaces (Steam Store Page)

Somber Echoes (PC) (Demo)

Overview: A Metroidvania.

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20241024:
I was putting the kids to sleep and whiel waiting for them to fall asleep I looked at the demos on my Steam Deck and decided to play Somber Echoes.

Setup: Steam Deck.

Gameplay Log:
Got energy ball jump
Got float down (what's the point of this power?)
Got spear

After a few deaths and not wanting to retrace my steps anymore, I decided to stop playing.

Steam Game Time: 89 minutes

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First Impressions:
Right off the bat, I like the narration. The game has a strong focus on the story. However, deeper into the demo, the game sometimes mentions names from Greek mythology without any context. It makes for a superficial feeling story. In contrast, to how characters are introduced in Hades. Every character in Hades is tangible and I got hooked into learning more about them and their role in the story.

With that being said, the game eventually introduces a mechanic that's fun to use: a launch jump (enter an energy ball and choose a direction to launch the player character). The energy ball state can also be used to enter small tunnels (similar to Samus ball).

Moving from fun to not so fun, I was less excited about the parry and deflecting projectiles from certain enemies. The player character starts out with three health and the basic projectile enemy hits for one health. That means three failures to parry an enemy attack or deflect a projectile means having to start over from the last save point. This feels brutal - at least for someone like myself who is beginning to focus less on the challenge of games and more on the fun of games.

Finally, the element that bugged me visually was the jump animation. It often feels like the character is snapping onto a high ledge, that visually looks out of reach but the game allows a buffer zone to latch on. I think it would feel and look better just to give the player character some extra height in the jump to alleviate this weird uneasiness of feeling as if I'm constantly not going to make a jump.

On the topic of visuals, I sometimes liked the character model and sometimes I thought it looked weird. And I liked some of the attack animations, but I didn't like others. Overall I had mixed feelings on the game's look and feel.

Ending on a high note, I thought the spear was cool. The player character eventually gains a spear which can be thrown, but cannot be thrown again until retrieved (or reset when a new area loads).

Demo Rating: 3.0 out of 5

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Somber Echoes (PC) (Demo)

Relevant Links:
Somber Echoes (Steam Store Page)

Trainee Death Simulator (PC) (Demo)

Overview: You're a Trainee Death making choices to survive as long as possible.

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20241023:
Before going to sleep, I decided to play this demo.

Setup: Mouse

Steam Game Time: 35 minutes

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First Impressions:
Basic rules/mechanics are similar to Reigns / Reigns: Her Majesty except with a different theme: the player is presented with story cards and makes one of two options. Options will increase/decrease the player character's four attributes and the player's run ends when an attribute is completely filled or completely defeated.

The artwork here is a mix of anime and chibi drawings. The story is the player is a Trainee Death (i.e., a Death-in-training) and must harvest souls to pay off a debt. The debt seems to act as a secondary loss condition, where the player may succeed in maintaining the player character's attributes, but fail to harvest enough souls to meet the debt. In this manner, the player cannot be too conservative with attributes staying in the middle, since this will likely result in falling short of souls.

Overall, the theme is decent and I didn't really encounter any particular element that clearly pointed to the game being clearly better or worse than Reigns: Her Majesty (I have yet to play Reigns).

Demo Rating: 4.6 out of 5

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Trainee Death Simulator (PC) (Demo)

Relevant Links:
Trainee Death Simulator (Steam Store Page)

As We Descend (PC) (Demo)

Overview:

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20241021:
Next up on the demos I have downloaded is As We Descend. It will also be the last demo for the day as I'm feeling sleepy.

Setup: Mouse. Initially ultrawide, but then a function for rerolling a card didn't work until I resized the screen to 1920x1080.

Steam Game Time: 64 minutes

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First Impressions:
The game says there is no tutorial, which I love it being upfront about. But in fact, the options for play are intuitive and the game mostly eases the player in. The player can also opt into learning about the mechanics by choosing dialogue to learn more.

One element I didn't quite get was healing. Units heal at a base rate when they are not used in battle and at a reduced rate when they are. However, that is likely my fault for not fully understanding the instructions. A different aspect, however, which was less obvious to understand was the usage of favors. It became apparent during my last battle (in which I depleted my favors and losing the battle) that some cards have a favor cost in addition to the heat cost.

While I spent some time with the game, I felt there was just too much reading involved.

Demo Rating: 4.2 out of 5

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As We Descend (PC) (Demo)

Relevant Links:
As We Descend (Steam Store Page)

Mandragora (PC) (Demo)

Overview: "2.5D side-scroller action-RPG with deep Metroidvania and Soulslike elements"

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20241021:
Next down the list was Mandragora. I had thought about skipping to another game but then I realized from the Store Page that Mandragora was a Metroidvania.

Setup: Keyboard

Gameplay Log:
Defeated the giant rat
Talked to Commander Clayborne
Briefly explored Wickham Sewers. After a successful run in a loop of the area, I went to save and decided to stop playing. Moreso because I figure I would potentially play this game in the feature so it'd be a waste to continue on now

Steam Game Time: 78 minutes

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First Impressions:
From what I played, this game potentially has some depth with multiple classes (though only one is available for the demo), a passive skill tree, loot, and crafting.

One great feature I found tucked away in the menu screen was the Glossary. The Glossary explains all the terms used, including what the various attributes do. Prior to finding it, I was wondering which attributes I should allocate to the first triple attribute node I came across. Note that each allocation within the node requires a skill point and one doesn't need to fill all three unless one wants to get the bonus passive. Early game it might be better just to allocate one passive and pass through the node.

In any case, due to the nature of the game, it's possible to grind XP and loot if one is having difficulty with an area. Related to grinding is the subject of the penalty incurred when dying: losing all XP gained. The game gives the player a chance to recover the XP by returning to the location of death (or rather the safety point before death, e.g., when falling from a great height or into a pit).

While I was enjoying and focused on the gameplay, the graphics were of decent quality. Overall, I believe the amount of time I naturally spent with the game is an indication of how much I liked it.

Demo Rating: 5.4 out of 5

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Mandragora (PC) (Demo)

Relevant Links:
Mandragora (Steam Store Page)

My Arms Are Longer Now (PC) (Demo)

Overview: Play as a very long arm and steal items from people

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20241021:
This was the next demo on my list of recently downloaded games.

Setup: Keyboard

Gameplay Log:
Hand was stuck under the train, and had to restart
I didn't know remember how to have the hand elevate up and had to restart again
Apparently the necessary key when using the keyboard is the "Shift" key. This would have resolved the hand being "stuck" as well.
Completed the demo

Steam Game Time: 15 minutes

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First Impressions:
The demo was short but comical. Note that I had to restart the game because I didn't remember how to have the arm fly up (to break the glass with the hammer); it was the "Shift" key. I also had to restart

While moving the hand around can feel clunky (and perhaps the developer intended it to feel this one), the game has funny dialogue. In fact, I would say the focus of the game is moreso the funny dialogue as opposed to the gameplay itself. One could say the game is also about the player creatively interacting with the NPCs.

Overall, I don't see myself picking up this game and playing it myself, but I would enjoy watching someone play it or speedrun it.

Demo Rating: 4.0 out of 5

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My Arms Are Longer Now (PC) (Demo)

Relevant Links:
My Arms Are Longer Now (Steam Store Page)

The Spirit of the Samurai (PC) (Demo)

Overview: A 2D action adventure. Play as a samurai named Takeshi, a Kodama, and a cat.*
*I did not play far enough in the demo to play as the Kodama or the cat, but they are in the trailer.

---

20241021:
Officially Next Fest is ended, but I'm going to go down the list of demos I have installed and play them. The first such demo was this game.

Setup: Xbox controller.

Gameplay Log:
Got to the training exercise.
Couldn't figure out what turning when covered meant.
Exited the game. Came back had to do the training agian.
Finally figured out that "covered" meant "defending." I think the developer should have explicitly instructed what keys to press. I nearly quit playing the game because of this.
I found the woman in the well, but she asked me to go find a root. I stopped playing the demo there.

Steam Game Time: 54 minutes

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First Impressions:
Straight away, it's clear the game has amazing graphics, particularly beautiful cutscenes, and excellent story telling.

I find the fighting mechancis to be underwhelming relative to the excellence of the graphics and story telling. In particular, I think the window for parry can be widened to be a little more forgiving.

As a more minor nitpick, the game has stats that can be improved, but it isn't explained what the stats do for the character. As another minor nitpick, I dislike the feel of the short pause that occurs after a parry is successful.

Unfortunately the trailer shows more to the game, but I did not reach that portion of the demo.I would give the game a demo rating of 4.4, but some players may find the fighting mechanics to be perfect in which case the game would be at least a 5.0 for them.
Demo Rating: 4.4 out of 5

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The Spirit of the Samurai (PC) (Demo)

Relevant Links:
The Spirit of the Samurai (Steam Store Page)

The Precinct (PC) (Demo)

Overview: An open world police game.

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20241021:
Various players highlighted this game so I gave it a try.

Setup: Xbox Controller

Gameplay Log:
First mission with pursuit
- the player needs to shoot the suspects. I don't recall being instructed on how to do so while in the vehicle, but eventually I saw the word shoot at the right of the screen (along with the letter (A) on the gamepad
End day 1.
Parking violations
Graffiti fines and arrests
End day 2.

Steam Game Time: 35 minutes

---

First Impressions:
The game opened with a great visuals followed by some quality narration. Then the game appropriately sets the stage and introduced the player character.

The first mission is exciting and the instructions were generally clear. The next day starts with parking violations and graffiti infractions. The game has a handbook which indicates proper procedure. As such, even the tutorial of something mundane as a parking violation was - at least in the demo - a neat action.

As an aside, this game, if I recall correctly, is the only game that I launched on PC thus far which plays at the full resolution of my ultrawide monitor (5120 x 1440).

Nowadays, I think the only open world games I'd want to play would be comic based (e.g., Spider-Man, Batman). However, the demo of The Precinct indicates the game will be a great one - perhaps even attract enough gameplay to become a fairly popular game.

Demo Rating: 5.2 out of 5

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The Precinct (PC) (Demo)

Relevant Links:
The Precinct (Steam Store Page)

Empire of the Ants (PC) (Demo)

Overview: A real-time strategy game where you play as an ant, "103,683rd," and command legions of ants in tactical battle.

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20241021:
This game was mentioned on Reddit and I decided to try it out. I completed the initial tutorial and then initated a mission, but decided to end it there.

Setup: Keyboard and mouse

Steam Game Time: 28 minutes

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First Impressions:
The first thought is this is an amazing 3D game. The ants look real.

My second thought is that the UI looks great and easy to understand.

Even as someone who is not really interested to play real-time strategy games of this nature anymore, I felt a slight pull to spend more time with it. As I wanted to move onto other demos, I opted not to. Overall, while I wouldn't want to play it myself, I would highly recommend it to those who do frequently play RTS games.

Demo Rating: 5.0 out of 5

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Empire of the Ants (PC) (Demo)

Relevant Links:
Empire of the Ants (Steam Store Page)

Karate Survivor (PC) (Demo)

Overview: A survivor game where the player character is fights enemies similar to being in a Jackie Chan movie.

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20241021:
Back to randomly choosing demos (as opposed to focusing on Metroidvanias), I decided to play Karate Survivor.

Setup: Controller.

Steam Game Time: 66 minutes

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First Impressions:
This game is awesome! Because I was catching up on work last week, I didn't have much time for demos. As such, I tried to play as many demos as I could today. In particular, I was intending on playing one about every twenty minutes. I could not, however, put this one down and I was shocked to find I played it for 66 minutes before stopping.

Although many advanced upgrades are blocked in the demo, the demo still features a variety of awesome attacks inspired by Jackie Chan movies:
- throw items at enemies (e.g., plates, bottles)
- use everyday objects as weapons (e.g., broom, bread)
- roll over surfaces (e.g., countertops)
- push objects into enemies (e.g., shopping cart)
- use the environment to attack enemies (e.g., open a refrigerator door)

While progression is slowed by upgrades, I believe this is typical in survivor games. Unfortunately, the only survivor game I am currently familiar with was a temporary game mode for League of Legends: Swarm. What I felt was different between this game and Swarm is how the upgrades help defeat higher difficulties, but that skill or correct choices are sufficient in succeeding at the lower abilities. In contrast, the progress in Karate Survivor feels slower, which is not fun.

Overall, while I was hooked, I think the game needs to be tweaked. Items feel so much stronger than attacks, but I think the gameplay needs to revolve primarily around the attacks. I think with the right tweaking this game could be 5.0 or over. As it stands, I'll give it a 4.8.

Demo Rating: 4.8 out of 5

---

Karate Survivor (PC) (Demo)

Relevant Links:
Karate Survivor (Steam Store Page)

THE GOOD OLD DAYS (PC) (Demo)

20241020:
The last of five Next Fest Metroidvania recommendations found in a Reddit post.

Setup: Xbox controller

Steam Game Time: 9 minutes

---

First Impressions:
The premise had some humor in it, and the game seemed neat. However, I felt it was progressing too slowly for my liking. This perhaps may be in part how the pacing of the game contrasts with the pacing of the demo I just played, Voidwrought..

Demo Rating: n/a

---

THE GOOD OLD DAYS (PC) (Demo)

Relevant Links:
THE GOOD OLD DAYS (Steam Store Page)

Voidwrought (PC) (Demo)

Overview: Metroidvania.

---

20241020:
I look back to a list of a Redditor's favorite Metroidvania or Metroidvania-adjacent demos during the Next Fest. That list mentions five games and, including Voidwrought, I've played four of them.

Setup: Xbox controller.

Steam Game Time: 60 minutes

---

First Impressions:
This is perhaps the only true Metroidvania I have played during this Next Fest and it's a killer one. Here are some aspects I love about the demo:
- great artwork
- cool execution of traditional mechanics (attack, dash, charge attack, and grapple)
- relic / accessory system to upgrade

One aspect I didn't always love was the speed at which the player character moved. Sometimes the player character moved too quickly for my liking, making it hard for me to latch onto a ledge.

As a minor gripe during the demo, I felt the mini-boss required too many hits to defeat.

Demo Rating: 5.2 out of 5

---

20241126 Comment:
I've been going through and adding pictures to my posts. When I came across this one, I was surprised by the 5.2 rating. I distinctly remember the dissatisfaction I had with the speed of movement. I would downgrade to 4.8. Especially consider the other demos I enjoyed more.

Demo Rating: 4.8 out of 5

---

Voidwrought (PC) (Demo)

Relevant Links:
Voidwrought (Steam Store Page)

Symphonia (PC) (Demo)

Overview: A difficult platformer.

---

20241020:
Of the demos I had installed on PC, I randomly decided to try this demo next.

Setup: Started off on keyboard but then my controller vibrated and I realized I could use my controller.

Gameplay Log:
Found four notes
Reached the end of the demo

Steam Game Time: 18 minutes

---

First Impressions:
The demo was very short, and didn't have a boss. As such, the demo focused solely on the platforming aspects of the game. While there were some novel movements, and the controls felt great, the difficulty of the game was mostly in not knowing how to pass an area until failing to pass it a few times. Personally, I find this type of gameplay to feel unpleasant.

For example, there's one area where the player makes a jump and must follow with a bounce to get over spikes. But it would be uncanny for someone to react to the existence of spikes to execute the bounce in time. Necessarily the game expects the player to fail and correct the second attempt with a bounce. Only to find there needs to be yet another bounce. This iterative style of gameplay is not enjoyable in this setting. To me, the magnificence of artwork and music in this game needs to be paired with obstacles that are fully reactable - or perhaps closer to 90% reactable with the occasional 10% to slow the pace of the game down.

With that being said, as I mentioned in passing, the artwork was top-notch. It reminded me a little of Teslagrad, perhaps simply for a steampunk kind of vibe.

As a remark, for a game titled Symphonia, I felt the musical aspect of the game to be lacking. That is, while the soundtrack is good, I thought mechanically music would be more involved than occasionally playing the violin to open a door.

Overall, despite the amazing graphics, solid controls, and good music, there seems to be a missed opportunity in pairing gameplay with the music. As such, I'll have to give this game a lower demo score of 4.0.

Demo Rating: 4.0 out of 5

---

Symphonia (PC) (Demo)

Relevant Links:
Symphonia (Steam Store Page)

Dinocop (PC) (Demo)

Overview: A graphic adventure game where the player character is a Dinocop (a dinosaur cop).

---

20241020:
Arrived home, but in transitioning/downloading some games to PC, I first played Dinocop on my Steam Deck.

Setup: SteamDeck.

Gameplay Log:
What's the jerky?
Escape from the ZOmbie Humans
Only found 11 out of 12 before 6 pm
Be a victim

Steam Game Time: 34 minutes

---

First Impressions:
The demo mainly revolves around Dinocop's ability to smell. Some minor usage of the magnifying glass is also used. Overall this mechanic was okay.

I think the main appeal of the game was the funny and witty dialogue. However, the dialogue is very much for adult players because the themes and topics include profanity, philosophical musings, and political-adjacent commentary.

Overall, I probably wouldn't play the game when it released, but I found the demo to be a decent half hour experience.

Demo Rating: 4.2 out of 5

---

Dinocop (PC) (Demo)

Relevant Links:
Dinocop (Steam Store Page)

StarVaders (PC) (Demo)

Overview: Build a deck and fight against aliens on a grid.

---

20241017:
Steam Game Time: 118 minutes

---

First Impressions:
This game pulled me in. It is in the same/similar genre as Slay the Spire: roguelike deckbuilder.

Even though I gave Rift of the NecroDancer a demo rating of 5.0 out of 5, I think I would also want to give this game a demo rating of 5.0 out of 5. I might downgrade later.

If Slay the Spire didn't exist, I would consider getting this game. However, Slay the Spire does exist, and I've barely scratched the surface of it. As such, I don't think I would get this game until I exhaust the gameplay in Slay the Spire (which may never happen). Overall, this game, at least as displayed in the demo, seems much simpler in strategic depth when compared to Slay the Spire.

Demo Rating: 5.0 out of 5

---

20241021 Comment:
Based on other ratings, I will downgrade this to 4.6.

Demo Rating: 4.6 out of 5

---

StarVaders (PC) (Demo)

Relevant Links:
StarVaders (Steam Store Page)

Rift of the NecroDancer (PC) (Demo)

Overview: Rhythm game set in the NecroDancer universe.

---

20241016:
I played through Rift of the NecroDancer today and played up to the last track available on medium difficulty - 9x skull intensity; I did not beat it yet. I've yet to try any tracks on Hard.
Setup: Keyboard

There was some idle time because I was multitasking.

Steam Game Time: 63 minutes

---

20241017:
Steam Game Time: 104 minutes (cumulative game time) / 41 minutes (session game time)

---

First Impressions:
A fun rhythm game with the music similar to that found in Crypt of the NecroDancer. Currently the demo's "Story Mode" is locked. I'm excited for that, because I found the story to be part of what made Crypt of the NecroDancer an all-around excellent game. With that being said, even playing through the limited tracks which are available, I couldn't help but repeatedly saying "one more try." To be clear, I could have spent forever with the tracks available in the demo, but I wanted to ensure I could get some time in with some of the other demos available during NextFest - especially because I would actually probably buy this game when it comes out.

I would say one really neat feature when first launching the game was the calibration for audio and video latency. After the initial calibration, the game does a double-check and adjusts the game again. It was magical how the adjustment magically resulted in hitting perfects.

As this game is a rhythm game, one can't help but focus on the intricacies of the track to help defeat the enemies. In contrast, while the music was equally exciting in Crypt of the NecroDancer, I recall being much more focused on defeating the enemies. Of course, I like how there was much more on-the-fly thinking in Crypt, whereas the current basic gameplay here leans towards memorization. Watching the developers pre-recorded stream, it seems there may be some sort of mode that is less memorization-based.

Demo Rating: 5.0 out of 5

---

Rift of the NecroDancer (PC) (Demo)

Relevant Links:
Rift of the NecroDancer (Steam Store Page)

Leaf Blower Sim (PC) (Demo)

Overview: Clean up leaves with a leafblower

---

20241015:

Setup: I lowered the resolution (1920x1080) and framerate (60fps) to get a smooth experience. Windowed. But I also increased the quality settings.

Steam Game Time: 30 minutes

---

First Impressions:
I was excited to play this game, as it looked like a fun casual game. However, I felt the gameplay was underwhelming. While the game offered different nozzles, they failed to differentiate themselves enough to suggest any importance. Perhaps, at the end of the day, I would have preferred a non-casual leafblowing game where cleaning up the leaves as quickly as possible and with some sort of other hectic motivations would make the game exciting.

As an aside, I was experience a slight headache. This generally happens to me when playing first-person shooters and possibly third-person shooters, as well as a mix of how much caffeine I've recently had. However, I recall intaking caffeine well before noon and it is now the evening time.

Demo Rating: 2.0 out of 5

---

Leaf Blower Sim (PC) (Demo)

Relevant Links:
Leaf Blower Sim (Steam Store Page)

From Dust (PC) (2011)

20241008 Snapshot:
Steam Game Time: 3.3 hours (cumulative game time) / 3h 19m (Playnite)
Last Played: 20120909

---

20241008:
Going down the list of games I previously played, today I came across From Dust. And while I started my original blog back in 2009, well before the 20120909 date attributed to the time I last played this game, I don't seem to have a post for it. The game, however, is referenced in my post for Reus.
Setup:
Had to play on UHD instead of ultrawide monitor because the game wasn't adapting correctly to the ultrawide.

Gameplay Log:
During Mission 4 The First Power, the game crashed as I was sending a person to the power

Steam Game Time: 3.8 hours (cumulative game time) / 0.5 hours (session game time)

---

Thoughts:
Pros:
Decent visuals

Neutral:
Initial gameplay involves picking up and release either dirt or water...

Cons:
Without a workaround, requires Ubisoft Connect
Game crashed

Rating: 2.0 out of 5

---

Summary:
The game was midly interesting, but when the game crashed, I was okay to call it quits. I would note that the game had decent visuals.

---

From Dust (PC) (2011)

Relevant Links:
From Dust (Wikipedia.org)
From Dust (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
From Dust (steamdb.info)
From Dust (Steam Store Page)

The Alters (PC) (Demo)

20240617:
I started playing this game today. It was getting late and I stopped some time after getting the message from a mysterious person. Thus far the game looked good. I found there was something off about the look of the rain, but that's a minor detail, especially for a demo.

Setup: Changed resolution to 4K.

Steam Game Time: 19 minutes

---

Summary:
None at this time

---

The Alters (PC) (Demo)

Relevant Links:
The Alters (Steam Store Page)

Two Souls (PC) (Demo)

Overview: Control two characters at the same time and figure out how to escape each level. Oh, and don't die

---

20240617:
Simple, but fun.

Setup: Initially tried to play with Xbox controller but it felt inconsistent and I switched to keyboard. Using the keyboard, the characters moved faster and the game became playable.

Steam Game Time: 16 minutes

---

Two Souls (PC) (Demo)

Relevant Links:
Two Souls (Steam Store Page)

Europa (PC) (Demo)

20240617:
Not only did the game look beautiful, but the movement and controls felt smooth and satisfying. That is, the animation for the player character's actions look amazing, but during execution and in between. For the most part, I felt like I knew where I was going, but sometimes I felt there could have been so much to explore. The developers did a great job of putting cues into place such that the experience was directed despite the world feeling big. Speaking of directed, the game did a great job of introducing all the movement incrementally and queueing key interactions with the world. I particularly like the color choices, with the magic color blue contrasting very well with the color palette of the world. Finally, I already mentioned the motion felt smooth, but a particular mention to the pure awesome feeling of the follwoing three actions: gliding on water, flying into the air, and gliding.

Perhaps the only minor downside is that the story is told through journal pages which can only be listened to in a single spot. I'd rather listen to the story while continuing on with the adventure.

Setup: Xbox controller

Steam Game Time: 23 minutes

---

Europa (PC) (Demo)

Relevant Links:
Europa (Steam Store Page)

World's Worst Handyman (PC) (Demo)

Overview: A comedy stealth game where the player character is trying to save an animal shelter from going out of business by taking on handyman jobs.

---

20240617:
Steam Game Time: 36 minutes

---

20241124 Comment:
I remember having some fun with the demo. While the game does have stealth elements, I recall it feeling a lot more hectic and casual than other games I've played in the stealth genre.

Demo Rating: 3.6 out of 5

---

World's Worst Handyman (PC) (Demo)

Relevant Links:
World's Worst Handyman (Steam Store Page)

Glyphica: Typing Survival (PC) (Demo)

Overview: A typing-based horde survivor game (level up to choose weapons and upgrades)

---

20240614:
This game is simple, yet fun. Initially I thought it would be like the survival mode in Epistory, but it ended up being way cooler than that. The game makes use of the horde survivor formula and differentiates itself by combining it with the typing genre.

I could have played more, but opted to stop playing after two runs in order to get some sleep and play other demos tomorrow morning.

Setup: Balanced difficulty

Steam Game Time: 44 minutes

---

Glyphica: Typing Survival (PC) (Demo)

Relevant Links:
Glyphica: Typing Survival (Steam Store Page)

Dungeons of Hinterberg (PC) (Demo)

Overview: Somewhat typical action adventure game.

---

20240614:
I saw this on a list of demos people were interested in playing. While downloading the game I saw the developers playing and the hoverboard power seemed cool. As such I was excited to try the game. However, the demo itself was underwhelming. In particular, defeating the first dungeon didn't appear to offer any significant reward. After defeating the first dungeon, the player returns to the town where she is supposed to meet various NPCs. I decided to stop playing at this point. Overall, I didn't see anything in this game that was novel or executed in a way that's better than what games before it has accomplished.

Setup: Xbox controller

Note: At one point in the game I was stuck, but apparently I didn't see a switch (triggered by the player character's beam)

Steam Game Time: 56 minutes

---

Thoughts:
Pros:
Artwork is great

Neutral:
The game talked about targeting enemies but I didn't catch how to do it... Not knowing how to target was frustrating against the first dungeon boss
There's some sort of time mechanic which I'm not sure seems fun or not
One part in the first dungeon had the player walk around a sphere similar to the core gameplay of Super Mario Galaxy. It seemed to be a superficial inclusion as there didn't seem to be a reason why the physics of the dungeon should work in such a weird way

Cons:
Hoverboard is cool for transitioning between areas, and speedy movement, but the movement is a little nauseating, the player can't jump and do any simple tricks (seems like a missed opportunity when it comes to implementing a snowboard/hoverboard mechanic)
The character doesn't jump and moving forward to jump platforms removes engagement; in addition, it can cause the player character to fall off which then becomes the game's fault... at least allowing the player to jump and missing the jump is the player's fault
Some areas in the beginning are devoid of enemies making for a slower start to the game
The heavy magic attack was hard to judge distance and I often missed. I feel like that attack should be smarter.
The player character should have a greater run speed and slower board speed. The camera for using the board seems to move the camera, which is annoying and likely contributes to the nausea

---

Dungeons of Hinterberg (PC) (Demo)

Relevant Links:
Dungeons of Hinterberg (Steam Store Page)

Tiny Bookshop (PC) (Demo)

Overview: Run a book shop.

---

20240613:
The demo was short, and it hardly satisfied my interest in the game, i.e., I wanted to play more and didn't expect it to end so abruptly. I felt the developers could have at least let me repeat the one location. With that being said, the game looked beautiful. While I enjoyed the graphics, I would have liked a button to fast forward, because waiting for customers to come at the start of the day was boring. Overall, while the game seemed promising, the length of the demo was too short to fully assess interest in the game.

Steam Game Time: 33 minutes

---

Tiny Bookshop (PC) (Demo)

Relevant Links:
Tiny Bookshop (Steam Store Page)

Dungeon Clawler (PC) (Demo)

Overview: Go through a dungeon, build an item deck, and use a claw machine to collect those items.

---

20240612:
This game shares a common concept with Slay the Spire, except with a very distinct gameplay mechanic with the claw machine. Overall had a lot of fun with the game and I intend to play more of it.

Setup: Keyboard

Gameplay Log:
Played the first character
Played the second character and won. Easy strategy around metal items and collecting coins. The coinbased weapon is eventually very strong and basically one-shotting all the enemies.
Played the third character.
Played the fourth character.

Remark: while the game has a clever name, it also put itself into a hard position as being difficult to search for (searching the game title will bring up results for Dungeon Crawlers)

Steam Game Time: 3.8 hours

---

Dungeon Clawler (PC) (Demo)

Relevant Links:
Dungeon Clawler (Steam Store Page)

Aestik (PC) (Demo)

20240612:
This game had good artwork, but the gameplay felt too simple, there was a lack of variety in enemies, and the plot/lore was uninteresting. Overall, I felt the game failed to contribute to the Metroidvania genre in any noteworthy way.

Setup: Xbox controller

Game Time: ~27 minutes*
*For some reason the Steam Game Time is sitting at 6 minutes, but I recorded for about 27 minutes

---

Aestik (PC) (Demo)

Relevant Links:
Aestik (Steam Store Page)

Valfaris (PC) (2019)

Overview: In this action platformer, players take control of Therion who lands on his home planet of Valfaris to gun and slash his way through enemies in hopes of finding and killing his dad. Layered throughout the game is elements of heavy metal.

---

20240423:
I acquired this game as part of the Killer Bundle 23 on Fanatical. I decided to play it today, and I was surprised by how fun it was. In part, this was in comparison to an average gameplay experience I had with the shoot 'em up Astebreed. In fact, I had mentioned that Astebreed was missing a transparent component of skill or challenge (especially when compared to a shoot 'em up like Ikaruga. Valfaris, in contrast to Astebreed, presents players with difficult but defeatable bosses and areas such that success feels rewarding, and failure doesn't result in simply giving up.

Setup: Steam Deck.

Steam Game Time: 62 minutes

---

Thoughts:
Pros:
+ reasonable checkpoint / save system; gives the game a reasonable amount of challenge
+ thematically awesome (heavy metal theme, but not in-your-face)
+ decent variety of platforming mechanics; some involving the planet inhabitants

Neutral:
~ multiple weapons to collect and upgrade throughout the game, but while often weapons have an obvious utility in some games when they're first acquired, in Valfaris, it simply seems to be a preference
~ the game offers two CRT modes, which I was tempted to turn on, but ultimately I opted to play the game on the default setting.

Cons:
- the developers chose to have certain enemies respawn which results in pressuring the player to keep moving; while understandably this is an action game, I would sometimes still like to stand and enjoy the view after defeating the enemies in an area

Rating: 4.6/5

---

Summary:
None at this time

---

Valfaris (PC) (2019)

Relevant Links:
Valfaris (Wikipedia.org)
Valfaris (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
Valfaris (steamdb.info)
Valfaris (Steam Store Page)

Astebreed (PC) (2014)

Overview: A shoot 'em up with a mecha theme.

---

20240421:
I tried playing this game today and I found the graphics were cool but there was so much going on that I couldn't process the strategy required to play it. This was an unsatisfying experience. In contrast, I still remember Ikaruga - a bullet hell shoot 'em up which revolves around switching polarities and feels very satisfying to master.
Setup: Steam Deck. Arrange Mode.

Steam Game Time: 56 minutes

---

Thoughts:
Pros:
+ many types of attacks means this game gives a lot of options of players to strategize on how to beat a level and get the most points

Neutral:
~ This game is too fast-paced and has too much going on for me to enjoy

Cons:
- Some dialogue/story occurs during gameplay when I'm mainly focused on just trying to survive...
Rating: 3.8/5

---

Summary:
None at this time

---

Astebreed (PC) (2014)

Relevant Links:
Astebreed (Wikipedia.org)
Astebreed (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
Astebreed (steamdb.info)
Astebreed (Steam Store Page)

Ultros (PC) (Demo)

20240223:
This game has a great style, excellent animation, and fun gameplay. All around I liked it. I suppose at times the artistic style of the game was too much and it was sometimes hard to see the enemies. However, the demo featured unlockables which made for diverse combat options.

Comparing this demo to the demo of Never Grave: The Witch and The Curse, I would lean towards playing Never Grave off of a general feeling, but subjectively I find Ultros has better made animations (even though I really liked the Never Grave animations) and a better selection of combat (though the protagonist in Never Grave does have a ranged attack). Ending with a point for Ultros, Ultros seems to actually have a more compelling story coming out of the demo whereas the demo of Never Grave did not let on to any significant story.

Steam Game Time: 54 minutes (cumulative game time)

---

Mark of the Deep (PC) (Demo)

20240223:
While the artwork was beautiful, I wasn't a fan of the gameplay. In part, I've not played many Souls-like games and therefore I found the combat unrewarding. After an hour of playing and losing some earned gold (more on that later), I decided to stop playing.

Elements I did not like:
- Death system: if the player dies before being able to retrieve the soul of the previous death, then the gold dropped is lost.
- The first time I encountered the shop felt late. I think it would have helped to indicate the importance of gold earlier in the game
- I found it strange that there was a gap between earning the hookshot ability and actually using it
- enemy attack cycles, when asynchronous and in groups, is annoying and encourages running past them which is unsatisfying gameplay
- I felt unlocking the gun could have come a little sooner
- why does climbing a ladder require pressing an action button? I feel like it takes away from immersion to press a button to climb a ladder as opposed to just climbing the ladder

Leaving on some good notes. Again I love the look of the game. The two bosses I fought were challenging but also felt rewarding to defeat. Furthermore, fighting them did not feel frustrating (especially compared to some of the "normal" enemies).

Steam Game Time: 64 minutes (cumulative game time)

---

Bubblegum Zombie Hunter (PC) (Demo)

20240218:
This game has a simple opening which sets the stage and tone for the game. With the two girls, I was reminded of River City Girls. But in River City Girls, the player can choose between playing either girl. In this game, hwoever, it seems that the player can only play as the titular Kaylee Bu33le.

While I liked the voice acting and basic gameplay, I felt like I simply wasn't getting the hang of the game and decided to stop playing. However, I could tell it would be a solid game.

Optionally play arcade games inside the game. I got a "high" score of 11500 in this one

Setup: I played this game with my Logitech Gamepad, but using an arcade stick could be interesting.

Steam Game Time: 18 minutes (cumulative game time)

---

I... didn't do too well.

Lumnis (PC) (Demo)

20240218:
This demo is hands down the worst demo of all the demos I've played for the recent Next Fest. The intro was a series of pictures which passed by slowly. I made the effort of watching it hoping that it had some interesting story, but there was none (well it seems the player character dreamed of some symbol and then scaled a mountain to find the symbol, but somehow found himself stuck in a cave.

A screenshot of nothing - a reflection of my experience with the demo.

The first part of the game features gameplay that reminded me of the original Tomb Raider, but not nearly as satisfying. So not only did the graphics in this demo feel dated, but the gameplay felt like a joke. I couldn't help but think that the gam's developer was just making the game as a joke.

Due to how bad the game felt, I gave up. I then went to the Steam store page and was surprised to see a video trailer that looked nothing like what I was playing. The trailer showed an armored character fighting enemies, ice climbing up large walls, and other very cool looking experiences. As such, I find the demo was a huge disappointment.

Steam Game Time: 10 minutes (cumulative game time)

Never Grave: The Witch and The Curse (PC) (Demo)

20240217:
Holy moly! This demo excelled at elements of gameplay which appeal to me. In particular, the game had amazing art design, great sounding music, and the most fantastic animations. The gameplay with possession was neat but underutilized (especially in comparison to BIOMORPH; though overall I like the artwork and animation in Never Grave more than that of BIOMORPH). Making buildings in the village was neat and gave the game a roguelike element to it ("action roguelike" is one of the popular user-defined tags for the game).

The game has such beautiful animation and unfortunately screenshots fail to capture this.

One annoying platforming element were the spring platforms with spikes overhead.

Random note: the player character can use "dodge" to roll under small openings (it is not necessary to relinquish control). On that note, the player character can jump up to grab most ledges (again it is rarely necessary to relinquish control for the extra gain in height).

The player character respawns in the church after dying ("Never" going to the "Grave"?) 

A different random note: the candles are a form of currency. 1) at the end of an area, the flames can be used to purchase health potions. 2) there is sometimes a shop where the player can buy items (which will include tomato seeds)
Yet another random note: placed items can be moved or deleted by going into edit mode, hover over the object (in the matching layer) and there will be the option to replace or delete

Possessing an enemy (in the demo this is the only enemy that can be possessed)

I probably could make various remarks but the main statement is that out of all the demos I've played up until now, I not once had half as much desire to play the real game as I did when playing Never Grave. Worded more simply, I loved this demo and I'm going to play it after it releases!
Setup: Changed resolution to 2560 x 1440. Use gamepad (Logitech Gamepad F310). Though I should have gotten my gamepad with the rumble since this game had a rumble option.

Combat skill tree

Steam Game Time: 2.5 hours (cumulative game time)

---

20240218 Comment:
Today I was reviewing the recording and the tutorial actually informs the player to press "RT" (dodge) to go under the small opening, but I must not have noticed and logically decided to relinguish possession and go through the opening as just the hat.

My favorite item during a non-boss run