Yakoob on 21/6/2021 at 04:12

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(So I was considering if should make a new thread for demos or Steam Next Fest, but given it's almost over, I decided to just post here)

I checked out the Steam Next Fest and between the 700 demos (oof) I saw a few that piqued my interest (and I have not at all been snooping on their stats via steamdb for market research <_<). Here's some of my thoughts:

(https://store.steampowered.com/app/941460/Death_Trash/) Death Trash - my favorite demo from the fest. It has a dark oppressive atmosphere and art style that's very evocative of the OG isometric Fallouts. The premise is also quite interesting (you're rejected from a human colony and sent out to live on the planet with the rest of rejected humans. Except the planet grows meat all over the place for some reason? And also sentient robots are keeping peace?) While the combat was frustrating and clunky, the story and atmosphere alone make it worth it. Check it out.

(https://store.steampowered.com/app/1069690/Rogue_Lords/) Rogue Lords - A strategy rogue-lite where you lead a party of horror creatures (dracula, bloody mary, headless warrior etc.) onto randomly generated branching encounters ala Slay the Spire. I don't know how to feel about it. The premise is cool, but it also feels like the devs threw literally every mechanic they could think of into it. There's turn base combat, tons of buffs/status effects, evolving/merging skills, freeform exploration, story and visual-novel-esque events, an (admittedly cool) "cheat system" where you can use your demonic powers to literally re-write the status of events (like change an enemy's HP or transfer their buffs to yourself), there's relics, there's random teleports, there's terror and and.... I dunno, it feels a bit directionless and all over the place, and I have a feeling the combat may be a little too RNG for my taste.

(https://store.steampowered.com/app/1593030/Terra_Nil/) Terra Nil - The game that has probably gotten most coverage out of all the Steam Next Fest demos (hello Devlover Digital), so you probably heard plenty about it. Seems alright, but more puzzle than strategy, will sell like hotcakes

(https://store.steampowered.com/app/1307580/TOEM/) Toem - a cute little isometric adventure where you're a kid with a camera. The game changes into first person mode that lets you take photos to complete quests. Maybe someone wants you to photograph all soup ingredients? Another person wants you to photograph all monsters, etc. The game has fantastic style and oozes cute atmosphere and refine setting, but it has the same issue that makes it hard for me to get into Miyazaki movies - there's no reason to any of it. There's cute ghosts that talk to you... because. There's a periscope that comes out of a trashcan and sends you on a mission... because. There's a bear that runs a motel... because. Call me cynical, but I have a hard time getting into worlds that seem to be cutesy and creative for just the sake of being cutesy and creative.

(https://store.steampowered.com/app/1592110/Spirit_of_the_Island/) Spirit of the Island - an Animal Crossing-like with controls janky AF. Definitely needs more time in the Early Access oven. Also, I feel like there's a whole bunch of Animal Crossing/Stardew Valley-likes coming out right now so it's hard to even pick one over the other.

(https://store.steampowered.com/app/1598910/The_Excrawlers/) The Excrawlers - played for only 10 mins but couldn't get into it. Perhaps I'm not "git gud" enough but it felt like a generic top down slasher where you can use ok melee and weak ranged and there's way too many repeating enemies with spammy ranged attacks that take you out too quickly. I died quickly and nothing about it rally made me want to keep trying again.

(https://store.steampowered.com/app/1576370/REPLIKATOR/) Replitkator - another one I couldn't get into. The game didn't really explain what to do at start so somehow I picked up a rocket launcher I ran out of ammo in 5 shots, and when I finally found tutorial area I just couldn't do anything than use my weak melee. Also I think the music bugged out and tried to play the main menu music over the in-game music. Needs a serious testing pass imho.

Yakoob on 21/6/2021 at 22:15

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I see what you did there ;p

In case of RoYP there is a rationale why everything is the way it is - it's all imagined by a little kid, so it all looks toy-like. (There's also a deeper story about his mom and the weatherman that ties into it, but it's much more sublime). That being said, there aren't really too many "invented/magical realism" things in the world itself. Everything is just based just on our world - a wedding, a school, a coffee shop, etc. etc. So besides the clouds and talking frog, there isn't much to "explain" really.

(And even Dr. Dryspell has an origin story if you read his cutscenes!)



Yeah I get that, and it's entirely a subjective personal preference. I'm more rational/logical and I like social structures, politics, etc. (I got a masters in that haha). So I like to understand HOW the world functions, not just what it is.

So to give a concrete example from Toem - there is one point when you walk up to a trashcan and a periscope comes up and asks you to take a photo of a shady guy in a cloak. It just feels really random and playing off of the spy tropes, but I would appreciate it so much more if there was some backstory to it - maybe there's an underground spy organization that's crowd-sourcing its spy operation by asking kids in parks to take photos for them (thus also creating plausible deniability)? Maybe the guy in a cloak is an agent gone rogue trying to stop the organization from using kids to take photos for them?

Also, why are some animals completely humanoid while others seemingly wild? Why are there ghosts casually hanging around? Why is a horse ghost a seemingly intelligent character while there is a cow kept in enclosed farm like a livestock animal?

(As another point of reference, Turnip Boy puts you in a village of sentient vegetables and at one point explains it all (turns out there was a nuclear explosion that wiped out humanity and made the vegetables sentient. You can discover the remnants of human civilization and the great explosion and even find some humans hiding in a bunker somewhere! - I loved that shit and that whole segment was the highlight of the game for me)

Aja on 28/6/2021 at 16:31

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I bought Paper Mario: Origami King last year and ignored it for the most part. But I've been playing it again for the last few weeks, and I've grown to love it. "Generous" is the best word to describe it: its world is enormous and detailed, and it's totally committed to a papercraft aesthetic, so everything has the look of being made from paper or cardboard or aluminum foil, which never fails to charm. And it feels like a proper adventure, with a big cast of characters and a strong sense of progression.

I like the small touches, like how the sound of Mario's hammer changes when swung against different materials or the way the controller vibration subtly accentuates your actions. I still get confused by the tile-shifting combat sometimes, so it's remained a challenge, and the boss battles are brilliant if a bit trial-and-errory (I try to play them carefully and have only had to restart one or two).

Reviewers decried the lack of XP, but for me it's a welcome change; the devs just streamlined it so that you're basically progressing as you would if there were XP but without having to worry about stats. The writing is sharp as always, and -- the ultimate humour litmus test -- I've laughed out loud on several occasions. I never finished Thousand Year Door, but I think I'll wrap this one up :o soon.

henke on 4/7/2021 at 11:21

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Eastshade - played the first 30 min of this ages ago, bounced off it, randomly fired it up again and now I've been playing it all weekend. There's something very compelling about running around this fantasy island doing errands and painting-commissions for folk.

Mario Golf: Super Rush - just finished the story mode and I gotta say, if you're looking for a singleplayer golf game on the Switch, definitely buy Golf Story instead, its story and characters just puts it way above Nintendo's typically bland storytelling, and also it's a lot cheaper. The golf gameplay is... ok I guess, but nothing to write home about. And by "write home" I mean "post on ttlg".

Undertale - I just played through this for the second time. It's lovely. You probably knew that.

Stephen's Sausage Roll - I don't like this because I'm too dumb to do the puzzles.

A Monster's Expedition - I like this because I'm smart enough to do the puzzles.

NUTS - first person adventure/squirrel surveillance simulator with kinda a Firewatch-esque narrative and stark artstyle. The story isn't quite Firewatch-level, but it's compelling enough to keep me hooked for its 3h runtime anyway, and the squirrel surveillance gameplay is fun. Recommended!

Garlic - challenging and fun platformer with some WILD character animations. I like it a lot, will keep playing. I mean look at this.

[video=youtube;2WhwFN36MgY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WhwFN36MgY[/video]

Yakoob on 5/7/2021 at 03:46

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Wait it costs $79.99 ???

EDIT: oh fuck I'm here I might as well write some CONTENT

Dysmantle - isometric action survival-craft zombie game with a twist that you get resources from dismantling things. Every. Things. Trashcans. Chairs. Desks. TVs. Trees. Fences. Walls. WALLS. I put like 15hrs in and it definitely scratched the itch for repetitive gathering need in me, but I think I'm getting a little over it. It has some weird pacing issues and things aren't entirely clear so I'm finding myself stuck on progressing forward. Either way, solid production values and recommended if you're intrigued.

The Colonists - I got suckered in with idea of logistical bliss, smooth graphics, and cute robots. But after 2 missions I'm just... not digging it? I think what bugs me is that there's just too many screens and clicks to find out what you need. Want to know if you have enough resources to build a hut? Click on the resources button, then click on wood, then click on summary tab. Then click on resources. Then click on stone. Then click on summary tab. It just feels like everything is burried under menus instead of available at a glance. Plus, any lack of logic to the world - everyone is tiny robot, so why am I building fishing villages? Why does growing trees require energy, but growing an orchard does not? Why do I even need to provide them with food? Why is alcohol a level 2 luxury item? They're robots yet all I'm doing is herding sheep and mining iron ore. So much potential for original recourse trees wasted just to be another generic village builder...

Ara Fell: Enhanced Edition - a highly reviewed modern indie JRPG. Played for over an hour and, while the art style is nice, there's literally nothing happening to grab my attention. I finally got to the first big bad and it feels like another generic "oh no great evil is upon us" story. Eeeehhh... I might give it more chance but it didn't convince me it would be anything than bunch of tropes with somewhat lacking polish. Also, a woman has her baby walking around the floor while the other room has a LITERAL FUCKING HOLE IN THE GROUND WITH CLOUDS BELOW IT (the whole game is on floating islands). GG PARENTING WHY! And why does everyone walk on dirt when carpets clearly exist? It just feels like there's 0 thought put into how this world would actually function, it's just "haha floating islands are cool!"

Tales of Vesperia - just started on this one and I hope it scratches the JRPG itch. I'm not in love with the combat, but at least the world and overall presentation seems promising. We shall see.