You’re going to read a few of the entries in this top ten demos I played in the current Steam Next Fest and think “hang on, is this really the best stuff he played?” and honestly, after endless poorly optimised Unreal Engine asset flips that all have the same blurry look to them, I’m honestly looking for cool ideas that COULD become something special with a bit more work. There’s some bangers in here, absolutely, but a few titles I am giving the benefit of the doubt to because I love the concept. I guess that is what Next Fest is about, right?

STEAM NEXT FEST TOP 10 - OCTOBER ‘23

ANOTHER CRAB’S TREASURE

A much anticipated crab-themed Soulsborne game that JUST ABOUT does enough to get over some weird, specific technical issues I have with this demo and, of course, the fact that it is inviting comparisons with some of the greatest games ever made. There’s some really cool ideas in this, the main one being that there are loads of possible ‘shells’ scattered around the area - a tin can, a thimble, an egg shell, for instance - and each one not only provides a different level of protection when you block but also has a different skill attached to it, like a weapon art in the Souls games. You’ve got a grappling hook and the ability to freely jump around like a platformer, so the areas are designed with a lot more verticality in mind. It feels a little too ‘loose’ right now, but not in a way that seems indicative of a design choice and more that this is a demo and they’re still tweaking how impactful and weighty combat should be. Cautiously optimistic.

ASURA THE STRIKER

I’ve had my eye on this one for a while now and it did not disappoint. The Space Harrier influence is obvious but there’s a little bit of Sega’s massively underappreciated After Burner Climax in here too, with the ability to build a meter that can be used to slow down time so you can get yourself out of some hairy bullet hell situations. There’s also this brilliant charged punch attack which requires you to time it when a boss comes into range, but you can’t shoot while you’re charging it so you’re giving up damage and risking getting hit when the boss rushes you down but the payoff is a big, satisfying and extremely damaging hook. It has the OutRun style ‘paths’ at the end of every stage but in the demo you can only take the left one, but the full map shows there’s a whole load of stages available in the full game. Some soundtrack, too. The bassist was absolutely on one.

BAHNSEN KNIGHTS

Another ‘Pixel Pulp’ title, like the brilliant horror title Mothmen 1966, Bahnsen Knight is a visual novel with a striking retro PC visual style that puts you undercover in the titular Bahnsen Knights - a cult ran by their enigmatic leader ‘Toni’ - as you try to get to the bottom of what happened to your colleague and also, find out exactly what this seemingly Satanic organisation are trying to do. It drips with atmosphere, is genuinely well written and the demo offers JUST ENOUGH to get your appetite well and truly whetted. It reminds me of classic C64 text adventures, with images to help set the tone and enhance the flavour of the text. It gave me a Red State vibe, which to me is a real good thing.

FEAR UNDERGROUND

A ‘claustrophobic horror game’ casts you as a knight who finds himself in a series of small tunnels full of death traps. You have to crawl around to find the path through that won’t get you killed - there’s not much to it other than reacting to whatever is about to kill you and, usually, just crawling the other way, so it does remain to be seen as to whether this cool idea can be fleshed out to something a bit more compelling but the atmosphere is dripping off the horrible, dank walls. It feels grim and the tight spaces do feel genuinely uncomfortable to navigate. Unfortunately, there’s a few weird decisions that pulled me right out of the entire experience. First of all, there’s a couple of sections where the knight could very clearly just stand up for a rest and you can’t, you keep crawling through these normal sized rooms and it looks silly. The other, which is far more egregious, is the awful voiceover. A combination of the audio mix, the script and the delivery sucks any remaining atmosphere out of this one. I love the idea though so I’m going to give it a chance to un-fuck this. Honestly, the game would be better as a silent mystery.

MY WORK IS NOT YET DONE

The highly stylised ‘Apple 2 on a grotty, broken display’ visual aesthetic gives My Work Is Not Yet Done an unsettling vibe from the word go. A horror/detective game mix is something that is right up my alley, with this being a real slow burn of atmosphere that is equal parts peaceful as it is filled with mystery and dread. There’s not a lot too this demo - you get a bit of setup that you’re looking for someone presumed dead and that the world seems to have suffered some sort of apocalyptic event and after that you simply walk around, complete one simple task then go back to base camp to sleep. The game then took me to the Steam page where a live video was running one of the documents you can read in-game. Is this intentional? I need to see more. I NEED to see more. Like FAITH, this is a game that does a whole lot with very little and I’d like to see where the horror element really goes with this.

PINBALL M

I’ve been on a real pinball kick these last few months so this demo has come at a perfect time. This is a new compilation of fictional tables by the Zen Pinball folk, all with a horror/mature theme. The ‘free’ table is Wrath Of The Elder God, a Lovecraft/Cthulhu Mythos inspired table which was loads of fun and worth picking up the demo for on its own, but you also get timed demos of their licensed tables - Dead By Daylight, Child’s Play and, of course, the one that got me to download this compilation - Duke Nukem 3D. This is a wonderful table, with lots of heavy action at the top of the board, plenty to do on both left and right and a tight, fast-paced bottom section by the flippers. It’s full of soundbites of the big man himself and quite a few Easter Eggs, including a few first person shooting sections on the display screen. I’ll be picking this one up for sure and I am looking forward to seeing what licenses get added to this.

SORCERESS

A first-person action game that channels all that cool shit you could do with physics and elemental magic from the always underrated belter Dark Messiah of Might And Magic. It even has a kick! So, you can stuff like freeze an enemy and boot him and he’ll slide along the floor, due to his frozen state, leaving an ice trail that enemies can slip on, for example. There’s clearly going to be lots of ways to experiment and find new and unique ways to utilise your abilities in this one and, coupled with the really slick audio and visual design, ensure that Sorceress is looking like a real good time. Still EXTREMELY early, so it feels like it could fall to bits at any time but seeing enemies react to their surroundings, doing things like picking up bits of wood and running to nearby fires to set them alight shows the core concept that is - right now - more important than a bit of visual polish.

THE LAST FAITH

Recently, Lies Of P taught me that it is possible to shamelessly rip off From Software and manage to do a good enough job at recreating the best elements of their titles that although there’s a certain magic lacking that prevents them from being a true all-time classic, it’ll still result in a game that stands head and shoulders above a lot of others. The Last Faith borrows a lot from Blasphemous (including some fairly shameless similarities in regards to the save points and the collectibles) but throws a Bloodborne meets Symphony of the Night visual aesthetic at it. I like all of those things and The Last Faith is a very slick, polished product so it looks, sounds and feels pretty good to play. Not the most inspiring or unique Next Fest pick but impossible to say I disliked it.

VENGEANCE OF MR. PEPPERMINT

A side-scrolling narrative driven beat ‘em up that starts off as a pretty direct take on the movie Oldboy but by the end of the demo has a pretty sharp turn into a bit of Body Horror. The combo system relies on some timing that takes a little getting used to as it is quite slow and methodical but this slower pace to the button presses makes strikes feel very impactful. It is also ludicrously violent, with finishing moves allowing you to dispatch the various enemies in a variety of horrific ways. Admittedly by the end of the demo these had started to get a touch repetitive so hopefully there’s a few more you can pull off in the final game but Vengeance Of Mr. Peppermint definitely has a bit more going for it than just a straight forward beat ‘em up and I am looking forward to seeing more.

YELLOW TAXI GOES VROOM!

This is an extremely polished demo that manages to merge a kart racer with Mario 64. Like the structure from Diddy Kong Racing taken to its logical extreme. You play as an agile little wind-up taxi cab and you’re tasked with finding cogs - basically Mario 64’s stars - to unlock new levels. The controls take a little getting used to but that’s not because they’re bad - they’re perfect, in fact - but because the concept is quite unique. Once you’ve gotten your head around the feeling of momentum and what each of the taxi’s abilities do, you can pull off the sort of ad hoc trickery that no doubt has the pants of many a speed runner bursting right off. Love the colourful, big, bright and bold look to this one and, for a demo, already feels extremely good to play.

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