i played an hour of the steam nextfest demo for caravan sandwitch, which has just fantastic vibes. it's a sort of cel shaded post-post-apocalypse adventure game about driving around the world and clambering on top of things, really charming and super gentle. a lot of that description reminds me of wind waker, and exploring the environments really feels the way sailing does to me even though it's not mechanically similar at all
despite the demo having a stilted translation (and no ability to save so even after an hour, i only was able to see the first half), i found myself really liking the characters. i especially liked the protagonist, sauge. she's not a silent protagonist at all, and the demo does a great job of selling her as a person that exists in this world and knows this community.
for instance, while you're poking around caves and old hydroelectric dams, she'll comment on how she used to hide in those places when she was younger. or when she talks to NPCs, they might berate her for having not been around the past few years, and one of them introduces her to their two year old and says "oh, i guess you haven't seen us as parents yet." i feel like it's still fairly unusual to see a video game protagonist that feels like she has a history and connections like this, that feels like someone who existed before you started playing.
(i also liked that since i started climbing on everything immediately, i joked that she just does that all the time, and that's in fact exactly what her dialogue said not long after! it's good characterization.)
also it's queer! one of the major characters uses they/them pronouns and there's an intersex progress flag placed near a door. we do love to see it.