Steam Next Fest (June 2025) — Day 7
2025-06-16
The last full day of Next Fest! I'll have to leave some of my original list off because I can't get to it all.
The Lonesome Guild
Story-heavy action RPG
- Cute, optimistic tone
- A "power of friendship" story, with ability upgrades unlocked by friendship level
- Semi autobattler, entire party fights in real-time combat, but you only control one character at a time while the rest act automatically
- Combat is very forgiving, with enemies using slow, obviously telegraphed attacks (at least not surprising for a demo of the early game)
- Interestingly, you don't get a map item or minimap to take with you. Instead, you can look at maps lying around the area but can't take them.
- Distinct combat and puzzle/exploration modes, which feels like an import of an annoying aspect of games with turn-based combat
- I'm finding the pacing slow. Maybe I was hoping for more action
- Dang, lots of lore
- Kinda "solo co-op". Single-player game but you have to juggle multiple characters to solve some puzzles
Pass. I feel I lack the patience to properly enjoy this game, which is otherwise looking really promising.
MotionRec
Puzzle platformer — record your movements
- Simple but interesting mechanic, explained very quickly
- I can see potential for a good variety of puzzles involving this mechanic
- Pleasant, strictly monochrome pixel art with dithering
- I put this demo on my queue just because of the mechanic. Not much else to say. It looked interesting on the store page and it indeed was interesting when I played the demo.
Wishlisted
Mina the Hollower
Top-down adventure with Game Boy Color looks
- Top-notch retro-style presentation that feels authentic even if it's not strictly so, as expected from Yacht Club
- Why does this have Dark Souls combat?
- So how am I supposed to defend myself? I can't tell how I'm supposed to avoid certain attacks if I can't dodge underneath them
- No tutorials but there is an 18-page manual you can read in-game. Am I supposed to read this to play a 30-minute demo?
- Despite the excellent pixel art, visibility was a struggle. Is that a wall or an object? Can you jump over it? Is it a ledge you can drop down from? Is there a slight gap in the wall to burrow under? Is that enemy in front of me or on the catwalks above me?
Pass. I did not have enough fun.
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