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Steam Summer Game Festival is Live (over 900 demos)

nded

nded

Member
Nov 14, 2017
10,676
Man, I'm excited about indie games again. Downloaded Ultrakill and West of Dead demos and really enjoyed them. Bought Hardspace Shipbreaker just based on Homeworld nostalgia and it's strangely fun and relaxing for what is essentially a capitalist worker exploitation simulator.
 
Azai

Azai

Member
Jun 10, 2020
4,032


This game is in alpha I guess but so far it looks very promising. I really was getting alot of Half Life vibes when I played it.

Just like in Half Life you can lift alot of objects like barrels and so on. There are alot of puzzles just like in Half Life. The story so far seems interesting and especially:
the guy at the end of the demo made me really curious!

And also the gunplay already feels pretty good. Performance is a bit meh but its an early version so it probably will get better.

This game does everything I loved Half-Life 2 for!
 

Deleted member 5621

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
12,192


Awesome art, but unlike A Space for the Unbound, it did nothing to sell me on it besides it being a chill point and click.



I'm really feeling it.mp3
Just wish it had a Katana Zero style "show everything at once", at least per turn, to really sell the vibe they are going for.
 
SapientWolf

SapientWolf

Member
Nov 6, 2017
6,565
RKasa said:
Played the Patrick's Parabox demo last night. This game was already high up on my wishlist, but the demo was so good that it's now in the top spot. Give it a look if you like Sokoban-style, spatial, and/or mind-melting puzzle games:

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I played that at IndieCade and it completely blew my mind every 10 seconds.
 
Truly Gargantuan

Truly Gargantuan

Still doesn't have a tag :'(
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
8,034
An amazing RPG made by a black guy, featuring a cast that is mostly (all?) PoC. Mix some Persona, some Earthbound, and a story that deals with mental health, anxiety, and dreams. I haven't finished the demo but I'm in love.

 
I KILL PXLS

I KILL PXLS

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,654
My Highlights So Far Vol 2:



Good lord is this game gorgeous. Specifically when you're running around the world. Even the UI is super stylish and reminds me of Persona. I don't know if combat is anything special yet, but it was totally serviceable for the demo and I could see how it could expand later.




Another gorgeous game that looks like a children's book come to life. Kind of feels like a 2D adventure mixed with Pikmin and I'm always a sucker for Pikmin mechanics. The characters are super quirky too and it's pretty funny so far.




It's Geometry Wars but focused on melee instead of shooting and it works. Simple as that. It's awesome.




I kind of dismissed this game before due to the art, but I gave it a try and it turns out it's a pretty fun puzzler. Was starting to get lost in it (in a good way) before I decided to stop.
 
1-D_FE

1-D_FE

Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,310
Border said:
When you just dump 900 demos at once it prevents any of them from getting attention or gaining traction. This is kinda antithetical to E3, which is largely a publisher-curated showcase of their best and brightest.
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An interesting point is that only 19 are VR games. It's crazy to me that more of these indie games don't add a VR mode. Especially with how easy it is to add plug-ins with Unity/Unreal. There's obviously some graphical elements that would have to be accounted for, but if you're an indie lost in a giant ocean of other really cool indie stuff, it's a real opportunity to get some real shine on your product. And it's not like third person stuff doesn't look great in VR. Cause it does. In a lot of ways, it's even cooler than the first person stuff. Lots of missed opportunities IMO.

The VR space may be brutal, but it's way less brutal than the non-VR side right now.
 

sonicmj1

Member
Oct 25, 2017
711
I played through a few of the demos mentioned here, but I want to highlight Fights in Tight Spaces, which has only been briefly mentioned so far.



It's a close-quarters brawler as turn-based deck-building game a la Slay the Spire. You get a hand of five cards each turn and 3 energy to use them to move, attack, and block on an isometric grid. Enemy moves are marked beforehand so you want to strike and get out of danger. The demo takes you through two areas with a boss at the end of each, adding cards as you finish each scenario.

It's hard to tell where the balance is at this point. Right now, most enemy attacks are linear enough that it's usually pretty easy to stay out of danger. That said, the art style is cool and clean, and it's fun to reposition yourself and get foes to hit each other. There's a very good core here that I hope gets built on properly with enemy and scenario variety. I like some of the levels that required you to protect somebody, because those make the defensive considerations more complicated.
 

Deleted member 5621

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
12,192
sonicmj1 said:
It's hard to tell where the balance is at this point. Right now, most enemy attacks are linear enough that it's usually pretty easy to stay out of danger. That said, the art style is cool and clean, and it's fun to reposition yourself and get foes to hit each other. There's a very good core here that I hope gets built on properly with enemy and scenario variety. I like some of the levels that required you to protect somebody, because those make the defensive considerations more complicated.
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I felt like there were some minor readability issues. Both literal, when enemies get into a certain corner and mission objectives overlap their stats, and more conceptual - it's not clear that slam damage is a thing (and the feedback is too small), I have no idea why my Suplex couldn't be used 90% of the time even if I had 2 Momentum (which is the name of your energy/mana and never explained, I thought it was some sort of special resource). The one time I used Counter and got hit, I took 4 less damage (instead of 6) and didn't counter shit.
 
Miker

Miker

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,033
Grounded
I came away very impressed with the demo on Steam. Now, I don't have a ton of experience with the modern survive'n'craft genre, but I thought it was a ton of fun with a perfectly pitched atmosphere that struck a balance between creepy and charming. Seeing landmarks like a giant (miniature) computer chip that you can go inside and see the silicon, and a huge baseball that serves as a high point for scouting was just really neat. The combat is a bit awkward, which is to be expected, and it's a fairly demanding game (can't maintain steady 60 at 1440p on my 1070), but I think there's a lot of potential here, especially in co-op.

Fights in Tight Spaces
I didn't love this one. I get the feel they're going for in recreating cool movie fight scenes, but I think it's too abstract for me to successfully capture that feel. The movement is very limited, even relative to the small grids that the fights play out in. I was stuck in a scenario where there were two gunmen left and I had zero means in my hand to move just two spaces away to avoid getting shot. I think it's a small-scale tactics game a la Into The Breach first and a deckbuilder second, which is fine, but there's a distinct lack of combos from cards, and as a result there are no "oh holy shit that was such a broken combo" plays that make games like Slay the Spire so fun. I think with some additions and variety it'd be something I'd play on iPad at night, but not a game I'd make time at my PC for.
 
Shodan14

Shodan14

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
9,410
nded said:
Man, I'm excited about indie games again. Downloaded Ultrakill and West of Dead demos and really enjoyed them. Bought Hardspace Shipbreaker just based on Homeworld nostalgia and it's strangely fun and relaxing for what is essentially a capitalist worker exploitation simulator.
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I've seen a bit of Hardspace Shipbreaker, I liked the dismantling part, but it looked like there was so much busywork just to get to do that. I just want a Red Faction: Guerilla building demolishing simulator.
 
Blunt

Blunt

Member
Oct 26, 2017
695
Is there any quick way to see which demos are available for Mac ? I grabbed a bunch but it's a hassle having to sift through all the categories...
 
Kansoku

Kansoku

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,217
First impressions for the demos I tried so far:
  • Moncage (+): It's a nice puzzle game with interesting mechanics, feels a little bit like 3D Gorogoa. There's a lot of potential here, I just hope it's not too short.
  • Exophobia (+): Wasn't expecting much, but it's quite fun. Gameplay wise it's similar to DOOM-clones. The shooting needs some improvement, but the dashing mechanic is really, really fun. I also really like the art style, though they need to improve the terminal font.
  • A Monster's Expedition (+): Similar to Stephen's Sausage Roll and the like. The demo is quite easy, since all the islands are really small, but it has potential for some interesting puzzles.
  • Dungeon Crusher Kiritan (+): Didn't finish the demo, but that was quite fun. It has some unique mechanics, and the voxel art style is pretty nice too. It needs a bit of polish here and there, but otherwise, it has potential.
  • Neko Ghost, Jump! (–): Didn't finish the demo. Controlling the cat was pretty weird, jumps are a bit floaty, and there's not much friction it seems. The "ghost" mechanic was weird too. Wish it was better because I like the 2D -> 3D mechanics, similar to Super Paper Mario.
  • Going Under (++): Didn't finish the demo, but I had a blast. I found it quite funny and with a nice art style, parodying the "corporate memphis" style. The mechanics are great too; using whatever is in the room is a great idea. The difficulty was pretty good, although I did have some problems using the lock-on. Roguelites fans should definitively check this out.
  • Happy Grumps (–): Didn't finish the demo. There are some interesting mechanics, but one of them leaves a bad impression. The turn count being not only your health, but also your currency is really bad. There lots of room for RNG to screw you over, which really drains your turns, leading to a lot of frustration.
  • TopplePOP: Bungee Blockbusters (–): Didn't finish the demo. It's ok. Thought it was going to be a twist on Tetris, but has nothing to do with it. Maybe it's more fun with co-op, but it's a bit boring playing solo.
  • EXO ONE (+): Really fun, and has lots of potential. It took me a while to get the hang of the controls, but once I did the mechanics felt really good. The demo level was a bit weak though, but from what we've seen in the trailers there's a good variety of levels which seem more interesting.
  • Cris Tales (++): Fantastic art and the past/future mechanics are amazing, from the way it integrates in combat, to how it influences the puzzles. And the story seems to be more grounded, leaving me with a fantastic overall impression.
  • NUTS (=): Very similar to Firewatch, especially the story, which seems that will go in the same "mystery" direction as Firewatch (let's see if they land the ending). I do like the camera mechanics though, it's fun trying to predict where the squirrels will go and try to optimize the camera placements. I also like the art style (they need a better squirrel model, though).
  • Cardaclysm (=): It has potential, but I'm not sure I would go back to it. I like the single-player approach to card games, and I like how the equipment works, but I feel there's some balancing issues. I don't know how progression will go on the full game, but at least on the demo the card costs were way too big compared with how many tokens you had. The encounters were generally easy enough that it wasn't a problem, but I can imagine how it could become a problem later on.
  • In Sound Mind (=): Didn't finish the demo, stopped mid-way trough the store part. It's your standard first-person survival horror. I like the puzzle design, felt metroidvania-ish. On the other hand, I really didn't like the combat. I never managed to sneak past the enemies, and shooting them, especially when there was more than one enemy attacking, was pretty annoying. In the end, not sure if it's something I would like to go back to.
  • Gloomwood (–): Didn't finish the demo. Sorry, it's not for me. I never played a Thief game before, so I don't have much history with these types of games. The game was fine, I just didn't enjoy much of what I played =/
 
Unicorn

Unicorn

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 29, 2017
9,700
Starmancer is going to be so good. Still pissed I missed the Kickstarter because my email reminder went unread.

Windjammers 2 also felt stiff?
 
Valcon

Valcon

Member
Oct 28, 2017
284
Chile
Please play Inmost and Unmetal.
One is sad and dark. The other is pure nonsense. Love it.

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Messofanego

Messofanego

Member
Oct 25, 2017
26,585
UK
ShinUltramanJ said:
store.steampowered.com

Shady Knight on Steam

Shady Knight is a skill-driven melee action game centered around swift swordplay, acrobatic archery, and fluid platforming, seamlessly blending combat and parkour skills into a stylish dance of death full of creative chaos.
store.steampowered.com store.steampowered.com

I was super excited for this one, and it's pretty good. I think there's a lot of potential here. Reminds me of Might and Magic Dark Messiah in the way to can climb chains, and kick enemies into objects. I don't know if I was just tired, but some commands didn't work for me. Like picking up a barrel just didn't work, and I've no use how to pick the sword up. Did it by accident and couldn't repeat it.
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You kick the sword with T and then press Q to pick it up. Q is the same button for sliding that's why I think it doesn't pick up the sword. It's a cool way to pick up swords lol.
 

Deleted member 5621

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
12,192
My second dud: Soldat II. I am a big fan of the original but uh
clicked play
selected the handgun
timer went down
I never spawned
nothing happened
tried it twice
I am out, there's a lot of demos out there
 

Deleted member 5621

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
12,192


"What if we got 90s comics stripper ninja designs and made a beat 'em up with characters who won't shut up and with Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword controls, except on ANALOG STICKS?"
It goes as well as you'd expect, with no depth, variety and is extremely tiring on your thumb.
Yeah yeah there's a counter attack after down blocking, you can swap characters mid combo or click the analog to hit stronger for a couple seconds. Yet, why would you.
 
FoneBone

FoneBone

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,832
couple things I liked but haven't seen much discussion of so far


tbh i didn't try this point & click for long but it's really gorgeous and seems pretty polished


cute casual puzzle game where you play as a monster exploring a museum of humanity (which consists of a lot of wacky explanations of mundane objects
 
I KILL PXLS

I KILL PXLS

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,654
WarRock said:


"What if we got 90s comics stripper ninja designs and made a beat 'em up with characters who won't shut up and with Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword controls, except on ANALOG STICKS?"
It goes as well as you'd expect, with no depth, variety and is extremely tiring on your thumb.
Yeah yeah there's a counter attack after down blocking, you can swap characters mid combo or click the analog to hit stronger for a couple seconds. Yet, why would you.
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Yeah, I wasn't feeling it either. The stick combat didn't feel good, the attack telegraphing to let you know when to parry felt off, the combat was repetitive, I didn't feel any need to do anything other than the basic combos, and the art feels very mobile game. Plus naming your overly sexy lady character "Bichiko" made me give it a huge side eye.
 
c0Zm1c

c0Zm1c

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,228
I KILL PXLS said:


I kind of dismissed this game before due to the art, but I gave it a try and it turns out it's a pretty fun puzzler. Was starting to get lost in it (in a good way) before I decided to stop.
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I'm playing this right now and it really is quite brilliant. Love the way the music builds as you progress, with more and more instruments joining in with each puzzle completed.
 
Edge

Edge

A King's Landing
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
21,012
Celle, Germany
Huh? The empty Ghostrunner entry is now downloading 2GB, have they decided to join now after they got added accidentally?

Edit: Yes, it's a real demo now.
 
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BigBadGiantHand

BigBadGiantHand

Member
Oct 25, 2017
188
Downloaded several demos, but Pumpkin Jack is the only one I've played so far. I like it a lot. It definitely achieves it goal of looking and feeling like a PS2 era platformer.

 
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Hadok

Hadok

Member
Feb 14, 2018
5,841
Windjammer 2 is great,the sound is excellent,but oh boy i am still bad at this game ah ah.
 
Viale

Viale

â–˛ Legend â–˛
Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,641
Have tried a few now.

Spirit farer is awesome, and I'm immediately in love. Had a smile my whole way through.

Cristales has had a demo for a while, and I remember it being a lot of fun and will def get it day 1.

Haven wasn't quite as exciting as I thought it would be. Still enjoyed it, but writing doesn't hit as much as I thought it would despite the concept working so well for me. Combat system was very interesting and I'm still in though.


Anyone got some good rpg reccomenditions or good reccomenditions for games with controller support (so I don't need to get off my couch)?

Bout to try "she dreams elsewhere" now cause of some reccomenditions and it looked neat.
 
Bentendo24

Bentendo24

Member
Feb 20, 2020
5,417
Messofanego said:
Shady Knight is such a cool First Person Slasher, if you're into Dark Messiah or Ghostrunner, highly recommend playing the demo.

store.steampowered.com

Shady Knight on Steam

Shady Knight is a skill-driven melee action game centered around swift swordplay, acrobatic archery, and fluid platforming, seamlessly blending combat and parkour skills into a stylish dance of death full of creative chaos.
store.steampowered.com store.steampowered.com
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Okay, so I took your recommendation and downloaded the demo... WOWWWW! What an experience. Then I saw that you recommended a game called Ghostrunner, so I downloaded that demo too and WOOOOOOOOOOOOW, even more incredible!

Anything else like this?
 

Deleted member 5621

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
12,192
In the middle of the Cris Tales demo:
really pretty but goddamn I am blind
stop flashing the entire screen white
not only loading screens, but fade ins between story events, to show off actual flashes in cutscenes

My eyes can't take much anymore, guys, jeez.
 
metsallica

metsallica

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
11,919
I've played through around 20 demos so far (skipping all of the ones I'd already played during previous events) and the only one that really moved the needle for me at all was Recompile. It needs some work on the shooting mechanics, but otherwise it looked and felt great.
 
Messofanego

Messofanego

Member
Oct 25, 2017
26,585
UK
Bentendo24 said:
Okay, so I took your recommendation and downloaded the demo... WOWWWW! What an experience. Then I saw that you recommended a game called Ghostrunner, so I downloaded that demo too and WOOOOOOOOOOOOW, even more incredible!

Anything else like this?
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Haha glad you liked them! Dishonored is another, but you've probably already played it.
 
Shodan14

Shodan14

Banned
Oct 30, 2017
9,410
Border said:
When you just dump 900 demos at once it prevents any of them from getting attention or gaining traction. This is kinda antithetical to E3, which is largely a publisher-curated showcase of their best and brightest.
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This is PC gaming, there's always way more games than you have time or any show has space for. Just pick out stuff from genres you like, I found the demos from my wishlist feature particularly useful.
 
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