I played a bunch of demos the past few days, here are the ones that stood out to me. I mostly focus on Action/Platforming/Exploration games, so if you like those genres, you might wanna check these out!
Gravity Circuit Probably my favorite of the demos i played, this is a Mega Man-Like with a grappling hook and beat-em-up combat, which leads to some pretty fun interactions: you can grapple to enemies, smash them up, and then throw them at another enemy. I also really like that the upgrades are in the form of chips that you can switch out to suit different playstyles for different areas.
The Last Case of Benedict Fox A Jazz-Age Lovecraftian Metroidvania dripping with style. It seems that there is also a layer of adventure game style puzzle solving around the mansion, but i didn't get too far into that through the demo. The movement and combat strikes me as a bit clunky, but I'm wondering how much of that is not having enough upgrades. The visuals remind me a bit of Inside, a 2D environment with lots of detail in the fore and background with very moody lighting.
Mika and the Witch's Mountain Kiki's-Delivery-Service-Like, which is a genre i didn't know i was missing. Deliver packages to inhabitants of a cozy seaside village by flying around on your broom. Also has a gorgeous 2D animation style for the cutscenes. The demo scope is a bit small, and the trailer hints that there will be some larger exploration and puzzle solving as well.
Nocturnal A moody puzzle-platformer where you play as warrior returned to his homeland only to find it overrun by a dark mist. You must carry forward the flame with your sword, constantly relighting the dwindling flame to solve puzzles and to give you bonuses in combat. The environmental effects are the standout element here: The constant rain in the wilderness outside, the swirling dark mist inside the palace, the flames burning up the overgrown vines.
Shady Knight First person hack and slash 3d platformer with snappy movement and combat. You have a grappling hook and the ability to teleport to weapons, which allows you to quickly move around combat arenas and complete the 3D platforming sections in creative ways. Reminds me of Enchain, another first person grappling hook platformer i enjoyed from last next fest, I'm happy to be getting more of these.
Vividlope Incredibly charming arcade game where you play as a bunny running around 3d grids in order to color them. You can collect powerups to color faster or dispose of enemies, and once you've completed a certain percentage of the grid, you go into a fun sort of sudden death mode where you can color the remaining tiles as long as you avoid the already colored ones. The interface and visual design reminds me of dreamcast games.
Went back and tried a bunch more demos, this time focusing more on puzzle/visual novel games that I saw recommended on the #Steam Next Fest tag here on cohost, and I have a batch of 6 more recommendations!
1000xResist Very weird vibes on this one in a good way. You are a clone of the last human in the far future, going exploring in a school to gather more information about a crying plague that caused an apocalypse, and also reliving your original body's memories of her classmates. Also there are headless glowing giants.
Amarantus A visual novel about a bunch of messy teens setting out on a perilous journey to try and start a revolution against an oppressive dictatorship. Very good characters so far, excited to see how this goes off the rails.
Chants of Sennaar A puzzle game about trying to decode a foreign language. You show up to a large temple in the desert and are presented with a series of glyphs and puzzle elements, and you slowly discover what elements of the language mean through context. Really gorgeous environmental design.
I Did Not Buy This Ticket Very moody visual novel about a professional mourner who finds herself on a dreamlike night bus. A gorgeous abstracted collage visual style that reminds me of Madoka witches. Pretty short demo but I'm excited to see where it goes.
Mindhack Unsettling visual novel about a mindhacker, a doctor who forcefully rewrites the personalities of criminals by turning their undesirable traits (Bugs) into overly pleasant ones (flowers). Gives big dystopia vibes, and the first person presentation with your gloved hands being how you emote and interact with the world is very stylish.
Ribby: the Game Sweet little Game Boy-esque game about a lost frog girl in the forest and making friends. the demo scope is fairly limited but the character portraits have a lot of personality and I'm interested to see what the other game mechanics are. The end of the demo implies there's some kind of combat or at least conflict resolution mechanic.