Steam - Next Fest

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The Steam Next Fest has started. Time to try those new demos!

HOW TO NEXT FEST

Play Demos: Hover over any game and you'll immediately find a button to install the playable demo. Try one! Or try a dozen.

Watch Livestreams: At the top of the festival page, you'll find a schedule of livestreams. In most cases, it is the dev teams themselves playing their game and answering your questions. Click on the chat icon immediately below the livestream to open the chat window and join the conversation.

Wishlist Your Favorites: Find a game you want to hear about when it launches? Hover over any game and click the star icon in the upper-right corner to add it to your wishlist. You'll get a spiffy email notification when that game releases.
Here is the long list of known RPGs that we have spotted in this festival:

And potentially this one (we have covered previous games of the franchise):

But it's normal we didn't spot more of them since they're essentially new games. Don't hesitate to report others you have seen or tried.

More information.
 
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I browsed through the selection last night and was a little disappointed. Compared to the last couple of Next Fests, there aren't a lot of demos that caught my attention. I've only downloaded and played three so far and only wishlisted 1 game.

I played…

Scathe - A pure shooter that's sort of like a cross between NuDoom and Serious Sam. Seems ok, but it doesn't bring anything new to the table.

The Machine that Breathes - Retro game in a post-apoc setting. The description made it seem interesting, but it's way too simplistic.

Daymare: 1994 - Prequel to Daymare 1998, a survival horror game that plays a lot like the newer Resident Evil titles. I wasn't blown away, but I wishlisted it because I liked the first game, and I think it has potential.
 
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I've tried a bunch and many got uninstalled within a few minutes - mostly just not my thing or games I know nothing about and no clue where to begin.

Ex, USC: Counterforce has potential depending on your tastes. Right off game tells you your units will die (not my thing in squad based tactics types of games). Translation was noticeably off right away. To gain new units you do a job interview process that was a little too realistic for my tastes and about 1000% over the top for any game not called job interview simulator. I dunno, maybe that appeals to someone.

Core Keeper has elements similar to other games I've played - was enjoyable to dink with and solid quality though and I wishlisted it.

The Wandering Village was already on my list but I don't think I tried a demo for it until just now and it's got some interesting things going on and solid production values. I could keep playing this but wishlist is enough for now.

No new demo for Urban Strife. Bah.


PS - side note regarding not liking units dying in XCOM-likes - been playing 40K Mechanicus a lot lately (bought it on sale years ago and never played it - typical backlog silliness) - fun game - and it handles this issue well IMO - you get your core "hero units" that level up and develop, and you then fill out your group with "troops" (basically disposable fodder used like gear) each mission. It's double win because for one, you get to have full sized encounters right from the start (instead of the usual slow build up to real group size) and you have a mechanism to help keep your beloved hero units from dirt napping.
 
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I'm sad too that we won't see Urban Strife.

The devs told me that one cannot participate in two consecutive Steam Next Fest, so we won't see any of the demos and streams we saw last time.
 
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I'm sad too that we won't see Urban Strife.

The devs told me that one cannot participate in two consecutive Steam Next Fest, so we won't see any of the demos and streams we saw last time.

That seems like a strange policy considering how far apart these events are. I think devs should be allowed a demo every Next Fest as long as it's significantly different from their previous demo.
 
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Like I've said in another thread, the only demo I played from this Steam Next Fest was The Iron Oath.

The game looks solid but it surely needs some little tweaking in UI and perhaps some balance adjustments but nothing that will demand an excessive rework, I believe. I asked the devs on their Discord channel if they can increase the font size amd they said that's not possible without reworking the elements in UI screens and menus. They hope to address this on the future.

I asked them about a more precise ETA, other than just Spring'22. "Our release date announcement trailer is dropping in a couple weeks, so you'll know then".

Also asked about move and sprint, how can I move AND attack on the same round? "If you move to the green hexes, they can still move and perform an action afterwards. The grey hexes are a sprint that allow them to cover more distance, but it ends their turn. There is an issue with the green and grey looking similar to those with colorblindness, so we'll be tweaking the look of those hexes so they can be more easily told apart". Yeah, that was my case, I suppose :p :p

They'll be adding more flag customization options (not immediately, though). According to them, "The player could also edit the files themselves if they want to make a unique flag". (I think I might try this, perhaps doing a more simple Brazil flag using three geometric forms)

For those who are fans of pixel art, it is very well done so if you're fan of such art style you'll be in good hands here.
 
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