While I’ve been posting showcase videos all week from the event, it’s time to sit down and actually pick my overall favorite demos and games I really want to play when they are released.
If you want to catch all the videos, you can watch my playlist from the event.
With that, here are my picks in order of me playing them.
Mohrta
My first pick is for what appears to be a mix of Dark Souls with Doom. Mohrta is from Scumhead who has been a favorite of mine since playing Vomitorium. For this one, they are aiming to make a slower-paced shooter with progression and upgrades. While I’m not sure if the balance is quite there yet from the demo, I did enjoy the different pace compared to other shooters/soulslikes I’ve played.
Windblown
Motion Twin became an indie staple following the success of Dead Cells and they’re now trying their and at the 3D roguelite with Windblown. From my time with the demo, they’re trying to take the crazy combination of weapons with different effects into 3D. While I didn’t get a chance to play the meta game side of things, I did enjoy the combat, and having up to three-player coop is certainly a plus.
DieselDome Oil & Blood
Finding new FPS to get excited after playing Selaco and Ultrakill may prove difficult, but DieselDome is looking promising as both an FPS and arena shooter. You must keep the masses entertained as you run, jump, slide, and shoot your way around the coliseum. I’m not sure what the legs are for this kind of game, as they are aiming for a similar progression in the Bullet Heaven style, but the shooting felt good and if they can nail the replay value, this could be a great shooter to play.
Symphonia
Rhythm games are not my thing, so I’m happy to be playing a game about music that focuses on platforming rather than timing. Symphonia looks gorgeous along with having great music (of course). The level design is looking to be on the challenging side, but it’s hard to tell from the demo just how demanding this symphony is going to be.
Hark the Ghoul
Another game in the growing “King’s Field Like” genre, Hark the Ghoul is shaping up to be an impressive entry. The game is trying to bridge the gap between the brutally difficult examples like the original King’s Field with more modern entries such as Lunacid. Expect maze-like environments, few but impactful upgrades, and dying… a lot.
Spirit X Strike
It’s been what seems like forever since we got a spectacle action game, and Spirit X Strike could be a standout game. Combining aspects of Bayonetta, Godhand, and Fist of the North Star, the game wants you to feel like a badass fighting groups of enemies at once who aren’t afraid to all fight you at the same time. If they can work on some of the timings for defensive actions and the camera, this could easily be a must play game for anyone missing the heights of the action genre.
Everwarder
Doing something different in the tower defense genre can be a hard sell at this point, but Everwarder is looking good. This is a roguelite where you’ll need to balance building defenses and pushing out in procedurally generated areas to deal with threats and gather the resources you need. There is an extensive meta-game of unlocking new towers and features while raising the difficulty up.
I really enjoyed this one and it is a must play for any tower defense fans reading this.
Guidus Zero
Another roguelite for the list, this time combining the mystery dungeon format with a real-time combat system. What is often the problem for me enjoying traditional roguelikes is how slow they can play, including the mystery dungeon spinoffs, but Guidus Zero is controlled entirely in real-time, adding both challenge and speed to the proceedings. While I didn’t get to see the full meta-game, I am looking forward to playing more of it.
Popucom
The makers of Arknights is going in a very different direction with this one, making a casual coop 3D platformer using match 3 design. The big aspect I liked was the sheer variety of environment and level design. The entire game is filtered through the coop with both puzzle and action gameplay. While we didn’t see anything too challenging, at least for one person, there is a lot of charm to this one.
And with that, there are my final picks from Next Fest for 2024, with the next one coming in February, be sure to tune in then for me to start covering this all over again.
