It's that time of the year again. I've been playing demos since last week, 36 played so far. I'll only share my highlights, but if you're curious about the ones I'm not talking about here, those were:
An Action Roguelite for when you have 20 minutes to spare, Another Crab's Treasure, Astrea: Six-Sided Oracles, CaS-Puz: Camera Surface Puzzle, Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor, Été, Europa, Looks Good, Lose Ctrl, Minigolf Blast, Mojito the Cat, PixelJunk™ Eden 2, Pogo3D, RETRIS, Rolling Fur - A Cat Puzzle Adventure, Rush On, The Last Flame, The Shape Killer, Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom
Mosa Lina
It’s described as a hostile interpretation of immersive sim. What it means is that everything is randomised and it’s up to you to use the tools you have to complete each level. It’s a platformer and you just need to collect 1 to 3 fruits per level, and then get back to the exit. Levels aren’t procedural, they’re all pre designed, but you get a random set of levels. You also get 3 random items, and that’s where it gets complicated.
The fruit can be higher than your jump, so if you have boxes you can stack them, or a mushroom can make you bounce up. But if you don’t you’ll have to think. Maybe you have a bomb and can use the knockback. Maybe you have an antigrav projectile that lets you ride pieces of the level. Or you might just be able to shoot the fruit and push it offscreen, this also works to complete levels.
Sometimes it can be really hard, some levels and setups can just be impossible (though in the hour I played I’d say failing was mostly due to incompetence), but completing a level can be so satisfying. Reminds me of the feeling of capturing a target in Heat Signature by somehow throwing them into space and collecting them with your ship.
Less than a day left in Next Fest, though I'll keep playing whatever is still available from my list. I've gone past 50 demos played, and here are the ones I played since last time that aren't included in the post:
ARTIFICIAL, Sandy's Great Escape, SLIPPY THE FROG 🐸💦, Pluto's Island, Sandwalkers, Slime 3K: Rise Against Despot, Temple of Revi, The Last Faith, Rubber Royale, You Have No Time, Exhausted Man (累趴侠), Mars Tactics, Toroa
goblinAmerica
FPS speedrunner where you play (goblin)american presidents. The speedrunning part just seems to be the surface level though, because levels feel huge and full of secrets. Some are accessible through doors that require a specific medal on a level, and they can open shortcuts or reveal entirely new sections of the levels that are even bigger than the initial level. Like, after killing John Wilkes Booth, you can open a secret below the theatre and access an underground world with a lake and a temple.
There are also stuff that looked like quests with NPCs but I couldn’t understand what to do. Really cool game overall, spent a while just exploring. The speedrunning part though seems very dependent on the kind of items and upgrades (creams??) you unlocked, so it’s more part of the progression.
Tunnet on my list for looking neato