metroid prime hunters was an okay-ish quake III arena clone but I always felt it was a shame that it never got a sequel because it meant we were deprived of more weird space freaks. i'm glad retro hasn't forgotten them entirely

Happy to announce Zelda is the protagonist.

...okay YES it's like 30 years too late and YES the core mechanic is summoning stronger things to fight for you and not fighting them directly yourself (because you're a girl and a girl would never fight someone) and YES it's with a cutesy and completely infantilizing aesthetic but come ON what do you people WANT from us

They really should have done LEGO God of War instead of Horizon. Imagine tiny little LEGO Kratos whipping around his LEGO chains and bisecting LEGO men, exploding LEGO skeletons, all the LEGO brick noises and screams. Now that’s a game.

Phew, this is the last one. I am NOT playing 30+ demos again for future Next Fests, let me tell you

Arranger - A Role-Puzzling Adventure: GREAT
Delightful puzzle game, I love having sliding tiles puzzles that aren't bloody Sokoban. I don't have any more patience for getting crates stuck in a corner, sorry. Here the puzzles are based around sliding entire rows and columns that loop around, which can get tricky but feels fresh, and you never get in a unwinnable position. The writing is cute and light but not cloying, and it's really funny to see the chaos you cause around the village just trying to get somewhere.