Steam Next Fest, which is a regular event for showcasing upcoming games, is happening now on steam and will continue until February 12 at 10:00 AM PST (UTC-8).
With hundreds of demos available, even if you’re only interested in a fraction of the games it’s going to be difficult to try everything before the event ends. With that in mind, I’m hoping people can use this thread to share their thoughts on the titles they’ve played.
Which games did you enjoy, and which do you think suck? Please share your thoughts!
Managed to try Shapez 2 Demo. It has me proper hyped for the release.
I really liked the original, did they change a lot?
It’s still the same basic game, but some of the changes make a big difference. Like they added a second layer, and the stacker machine works across both levels with the top item dropping down on top of the other. And the colors are now liquids.
But, as silly as it may sound, the graphics change make a huge difference in game feel. Every tiny thing is animated fully in a way that makes sense and nothing ever disappears into a machine to reappear later. The underground belts are replaced with launcher ramps and catcher ramps, which does the same thing but feels more fun.
The entire background, music and artstyle give it such a beautiful surreal abstract vibe that I can get lost just staring at it and moving the camera around. (Although as a kid I used to hold up and stare at CDs for ages, so your mileage may vary)
I haven’t even played the first Shapez. How do you like it?
Feels easy to get stuck in. Progression balance is better.
I tried out Lightyear Frontier and Homeworld 3.
Lightyear Frontier made for a generally pleasant low-stakes low-stress first person farming game. The mech aspect had some minor jank in places, but nothing I think the developer can’t smooth out with some minimal adjustments. Seems like a good game to relax with.
Homeworld 3 looks beautiful. I played through the tutorial and it’s got me hyped for the full game. Only complaint was that there isn’t a proper single player level to the demo. It appears to just be a tutorial and skirmish/online, and I’m not a competitive multiplayer guy.
I was so fucking hyped for Homeworld 3.
I still am but I think I just discovered I’m no longer a day 1 gamer for anything.
50% off is the bare minimum now, holy shit that sticker shock is real.I was just reading an article about Homeworld 3 and it sounds like I was mistaken about the online/skirmish thing. It sounds like it’s some sort of PvE coop mode or something. Still not my cup of tea. Still excited for the single player campaign.
I’m with you on the patient gaming. With few exceptions, purchasing the new hotness on day 1 means paying more for a worse experience. By the time a game goes on sale, the major bugs and balance issues will have all been fixed (if they’ll get fixed at all), so what’s the rush? Most gamers these days, myself included, have big enough backlogs that we’ll never be in the position of not having something fun available to play anyway.
I feel slightly obligated to buy it day one.
Stormgate
It’s like 90% StarCraft 2 and 10% Warcraft 3. The competitive RTS part is promising but it didn’t show me anything new. Depending on the lore and campaign it may get more interesting, so far it’s neutral.
Millennia
It starts very similarly to Civ 6 with even more kinds of resources. The current version of the UI seemed confusing and the poor performance (on linux) stopped me from finishing the demo.
Man, I really want to love Millenia. It feels like it has so many great ideas mechanically (from the ages mechanic to how resources work domestically and internationally), it just seems really rough at the moment. The pacing feels off and the flavor comes off just bland (none of the civs seem to have much character).
Pepper Grinder is an amazing little retro-style 2D platformer that took the burrow ability from Ori 2 and made a whole game around it. It’s novel, fast-paced, and surprisingly polished! Made me wish the demo was longer than 3 levels.
Second this. One of my stand outs. It just felt great to play. Movement and combat was satisfying, especially with controller rumble. Looks like a fun title
MULLET MAD JACK is my kind of boomer-shooter, and the visual style is interesting.
Haven’t tried anything yet, but I’m thinking of seeing Millennia and comparing it to Civilization.
Played the Pacific Drive demo last night. Definitely looking forward to the real thing now, and I’m not usually a fan of crafting games.
Duel Corp has been super fun! Played 2 hours of the demo and feel like there’s still a lot more enjoyment to get out of it.
Balatro, it reminds me of how everyone who back in the day played Solitaire on the desktop to pass time. Instead it has a modern take with poker and mixing it into a roguelike. Easy to learn but can be complicated. I thought I was going to put 30 minutes into the game but now I have 10 hours into it and can’t wait for full release. Recommend it even if you do not like card games.
I’m looking for either factory / automation games (see: Factorio, Satisfactory, Nova Lands, etc.) or games similar to Against the Storm (Roguelike city builder). Anyone have any suggestions?
Shapes 2 for the factory game!
Oh my god yes, I forgot I had this demo installed. I also grabbed Final Factory and Civ Idle.
Any other jams?
I was going to try Harold Halibut but I’ve read that it contains noticeable spoilers so haven’t bothered.
Homeworld 3 is next.
Really crossing fingers that Homeworld 3 delivers.
Yeah I’m looking forward to it. Currently playing through the old ones, they hold up surprisingly well.
I tried several and most did not play well with the Steam Deck. Serum and the car survival game were the bigger disappointments, there; really wanted to try them.
I’m awake you can download proton hacks to make them work, but that’s not the point, imo .
