https://store.steampowered.com/sale/nextfest
Steam Next Fest is a week-long celebration featuring hundreds of FREE playable demos as well as developer livestreams and chats. Players try out upcoming games on Steam pre-release, developers gather feedback and build an audience ahead of their Steam launch, everyone wins!
Post your favorite demos that you played in the comments, guys. I have a number in the pipeline and will update once I review them all
Lies of P feels fantastic
The Invincible looks really good, and seems to have a compelling story, but the execution is off. You basically click on things in the world, get some dialogue with your handler, then move on to more things to click.
Sometimes the dialogue runs really long, and you are prevented from taking most actions while it goes on. I ended up sitting still for multiple long periods and it just completely took me out of it. Could be a good book.
The Invincible seems to be more of a walking simulator by design. Provided the story is suspenseful and compelling, that seems fine. The main gripe I had was the extremely low FOV. Hopefully that is not by design
I’m okay with a walking simulator, but I’m not a fan of a standing simulator. There was way too much sitting and listening to keep me interested.
I loved firewatch, and I didn’t get that feeling from it. It could just stand to be a little bit more interactive. It’s very pretty though, I love the art and the design and the setting.
It is true, “show what you cannot tell” could be applied here. Seldom is it fun to have a talking head blabber at you and lose agency. I can’t remember, does it lock you into place, though? I seem to recall that in the later portions you are moving around with your radio while talking on comms. Maybe at the beginning outpost? More games should apply the design philosophy that Half Life showed us years ago, which is to not put the player in stasis when dialogue happens. Worst feeling
I mean, you can move, sure. The parts I’m thinking of are in the first rover you come across, and the 2nd transporter. As well as the bushes, when you learn more about those.
You can walk around a smallish confined area, and you are locked out of other interactions until the dialogue ends. It’s probably not as big of an experience killer in the full game, but it really turned me off in the demo.
That’s funny, I was wondering why none of this sounded like the demo I played. I looked it up and they released a new (different) demo for Steam Next Fest. The one I played is from earlier this year. I had no idea what you were talking about with bushes, lol. Guess I’ll compare the new one.
Ah, I tried to be as vague as possible, so you shouldn’t be spoiled on it at least. Maybe I’ll give it a shot when it goes on sale.
Thanks, I noticed that and appreciate it.
Wizard with a Gun has the potential to be a great roguelike hit. I describe it as Gunfire:Reborn and Hades had a baby in terms of how it controls and feels ( not the story). It’s still super early for them, but I liked what I played a lot, and has controller support for comfy couch gaming too.