The obvious matchup in Tekken 8, now that Yujiro Hanma has been teased as a new fighter, is him versus Fahkumram. Aside, finally, a cameo that makes a little more sense in the franchise.
SleepingSilence OC, Plz No Stealz.
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I left the gaming discords I joined, after I quickly discovered that they do not any play video games. An easy mistake to make.
I downloaded a bunch of free games on Steam (16 of them) in hope to find something easy to recommend. But the best things had bugs that prevented me from completing them.
And a friend & I tried to play the Outward 2 playtest. (Key word try.) But it had a lousy, useless tutorial. Performance was unreal. (Unreal 5, and it sucked/stuttered on low settings.) And it crashed immediately whenever we tried to join each other's game. Big thumbs down.
On a positive note, Mina The Hollower is a punishing game. But it is far more open-ended and rewarding to explore than Silksong was during its first act. Masterpiece? Don't know about that yet. But it's been a solid start.
I downloaded a bunch of free games on Steam (16 of them) in hope to find something easy to recommend. But the best things had bugs that prevented me from completing them.
And a friend & I tried to play the Outward 2 playtest. (Key word try.) But it had a lousy, useless tutorial. Performance was unreal. (Unreal 5, and it sucked/stuttered on low settings.) And it crashed immediately whenever we tried to join each other's game. Big thumbs down.
On a positive note, Mina The Hollower is a punishing game. But it is far more open-ended and rewarding to explore than Silksong was during its first act. Masterpiece? Don't know about that yet. But it's been a solid start.
Birdboy Feathered freakshow
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3 hrs ago
Guys I'm like obsessed with look outside. It's so charming and colorful and definitely not scary at all
SleepingSilence OC, Plz No Stealz.
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Another game beat & I posted this review to Steam.
I only got 75% item completion, and I might've missed a side boss or two. But I think I'm satisfied to move on from credits.
My overall feelings are positive. And I think the game's strengths are stronger than its weaknesses. But there's some fairly obvious low points and flaws. (Like the Battletoad-esque tower sections that end every dungeon on a sour note. With the most floaty controls of the whole game, and each time felt like an absolute chore to play through.)
People comparing this to Shovel Knight (even if it is by the same studio) feels like they haven't played it. Because this game wears its inspirations transparently on its sleeve. Silksong (Side-arms reliance especially.) & Dark Souls 2/3. (Similar bosses and end game 'spam enemies' level design.)
I've also told four separate people that I was playing this and they responded "Oh, the hard game?" So let me be clear about the difficulty here. This is not Silksong Act 1. (2 or 3) Mina The Hollower's best strength is how open-ended and rewarding it is to explore from the very start. And you'll be max level, before the game's even halfway over. (I was.)
The truth is, at least for me, the game's difficulty is kind of all over the place. (Except the absurd difficulty spike of The Radiant Manor that was just exhausting to get through.) And it feels rather unbalanced and frustratingly trial-and-error at points.
My question for everyone who did beat the game, or is currently going through it, what "tactic" did you use for the game? (And did you ever *need* to change it?) Because almost every encounter in the game seemed like this was meant to be bested by the age old strategy of "random ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ go!"
Side arm spam is the only way a normal person is getting through some of these encounters 1st try. My Axes always did more damage than my Mace (my weapon throughout the whole game) and every second enemy has a shield or flies. So my side arm was always more effective at damage AND range. (My two change-ups that weren't "win by axe spam" was Thorne's 2nd fight, the single time bombs were ever useful for me. And the parasol for the final boss' first phase.) But even then, without side arm spam, I highly doubt I would've defeated these bosses first or second try.
Though I'd still challenge everyone who thinks the game is "too hard". Because it's incredibly generous in giving the player more chances/upgrades. (I lost my bones once the whole game, I think.) But it's undeniably frustrating. The Mined Mind is the worst creature to ever exist in an otherwise incredibly easy near-end game level. Yet the hardest level mechanically & the best one by being cruel in a memorable way, is the wind / chase sequence level. (My third dungeon.)
TLDR: A positive mixed bag in terms of enjoyment. Really loved the opening hours. Had some good humor. Feel like the game does well at intrinsically rewarding the player. But I wanted the final level to be over. (A game like Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo comparatively is just a blast to play all the way through.) 7.5/10? (Will rate 4/5 stars on Playstation.)
Fabricant451 Queen of Hearts
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4 days ago
KINGDOM HEARTS 4 IS REAL
SleepingSilence OC, Plz No Stealz.
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Twitter has kept me (and many others) suspended for fuck all reason. Because the support system is completely broken. (With automated support sending emails erroneously claiming to have restored your account.) Only relevant, because it's often where I got my gaming news.
Unfortunately, it's been mostly bad news...
Steam will no longer support physical gift cards at the end of the year.
And RPG Maker forums are being shut down at the end of the year.
Goddamn.
My little dash of positive to counterbalance, is that 'Poco' was an enjoyable free point-n-click puzzle game on Steam. (It does have a really jank fishing mini-game though.) But nothing's perfect.
Steam's been giving away a bunch of free games that I've downloaded to try. (And I'll likely grab a couple more games off my Wishlist later.) Because I've been bored as fuck.
Also, Smite 2 is a blatant cash grab & Hi-Rez can't even do that right.
Unfortunately, it's been mostly bad news...
Steam will no longer support physical gift cards at the end of the year.
And RPG Maker forums are being shut down at the end of the year.
Goddamn.
My little dash of positive to counterbalance, is that 'Poco' was an enjoyable free point-n-click puzzle game on Steam. (It does have a really jank fishing mini-game though.) But nothing's perfect.
Steam's been giving away a bunch of free games that I've downloaded to try. (And I'll likely grab a couple more games off my Wishlist later.) Because I've been bored as fuck.
Also, Smite 2 is a blatant cash grab & Hi-Rez can't even do that right.
Fabricant451 Queen of Hearts
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4 days ago
GTA 6 locking cosmetics behind the 100 dollar version is bad.
What's worse is that it'll not at all impact sales.
What's worse is that it'll not at all impact sales.
We'll see. I've seen even diehard Rockstar fans start balking the idea of both locking the base game behind an $80 price tag, and also locking in-game stores behind the Premium Edition. Just goes to show that the golden days of getting a complete game are long over.
SleepingSilence OC, Plz No Stealz.
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I played 45+ demos for the Nextfest & I tried several of the free/100% discounted games that Steam had given out over the past few days.
(Something that helped me find a few potential gems and "streamlined" my wishlist/followed games. Like how Dinoblade couldn't even load its textures in the level & gave me another reason why I hate the Unreal Engine 5.)
But it gave me something to do. So there's value in that. (Sojourn Past was probably the best demo of the Nextfest.) And here's a few positive reviews...
Lingo feels a bit like Wordle for masochists and non-Euclidian maze enthusiasts. But it did keep me engaged for as long as its more "video-gamey" sequel. (About 20 hours.) It's a game with a seemingly endless amount of obscure puzzles in it. Though I felt like I got a lot more accomplished in this one.
Hypogea was another bite-sized (two-three hour) platformer that was a good time. Mostly good gameplay feel. (Only got stuck at maybe one or two particular jumps.)
I've obviously played more than that & I have more games to try. (Will almost certainly take advantage of the Steam Summer Sale too.) But I guess I haven't found anything I'd "strongly recommend" yet. I'd say Pragmata is an 8 out of ten & it's still probably the best thing I've played this year...
GTA 6 will obviously suck. (Likely compared negatively to the last game by those who are actual fans of the series.) But I can't help but hope that it has a Cyberpunk-esque launch. So everyone who pays "the stupid tax" will have a greater sense of buyer's remorse & maybe the game's sales numbers will actually suffer as a result of that. Cuz I certainly don't want $100 games to be the norm. But knowing how much money GTA Online whales will make them in the future...(I don't foresee them failing/falling as hard as other studios as of late.)
(Something that helped me find a few potential gems and "streamlined" my wishlist/followed games. Like how Dinoblade couldn't even load its textures in the level & gave me another reason why I hate the Unreal Engine 5.)
But it gave me something to do. So there's value in that. (Sojourn Past was probably the best demo of the Nextfest.) And here's a few positive reviews...
Lingo feels a bit like Wordle for masochists and non-Euclidian maze enthusiasts. But it did keep me engaged for as long as its more "video-gamey" sequel. (About 20 hours.) It's a game with a seemingly endless amount of obscure puzzles in it. Though I felt like I got a lot more accomplished in this one.
Hypogea was another bite-sized (two-three hour) platformer that was a good time. Mostly good gameplay feel. (Only got stuck at maybe one or two particular jumps.)
I've obviously played more than that & I have more games to try. (Will almost certainly take advantage of the Steam Summer Sale too.) But I guess I haven't found anything I'd "strongly recommend" yet. I'd say Pragmata is an 8 out of ten & it's still probably the best thing I've played this year...
GTA 6 will obviously suck. (Likely compared negatively to the last game by those who are actual fans of the series.) But I can't help but hope that it has a Cyberpunk-esque launch. So everyone who pays "the stupid tax" will have a greater sense of buyer's remorse & maybe the game's sales numbers will actually suffer as a result of that. Cuz I certainly don't want $100 games to be the norm. But knowing how much money GTA Online whales will make them in the future...(I don't foresee them failing/falling as hard as other studios as of late.)
BrokenPromise With Rightious Hands
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I played too many games during Next Fest and somehow still managed to run my RPs semi-successfully. I enjoyed most of what I played, with a few greats and a few stinkers. I’ve decided to write a little blurb about all of them. I might go into more depth on my favorites later.
Also I wrote this and forgot to post it, so some of the information might not be up to date.
Game: 70s-style Robot Anime Geppy-X
Summery: A 70’s style robot anime game that plays like an 80’s shump with 90’s innovations! Watch anime cutscenes and shoot up enemies in a hybrid pixel/3d style.
Play Time: 20 minutes.
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: Only if you really love arcade shumps/Geppy-X
Why?: The game does very little handholding in terms of showing you the ropes. The original version probably shipped with an instruction manual, but no such luck here. While a transforming character is an interesting concept, most of the modes weren’t especially useful, or it wasn’t clear what they were good for. It wasn’t for me.
Planned Release: July 2026
Game: Aksun
Summery: Shamanic (Korean) Hades.
Play Time: 25 minutes
Demo Available: No
Recommendation: Unless you really like the artstyle, just play Hades.
Why?: It’s just a Hades clone. While there are a few innovations it’s not dramatic enough to warrant a purchase unless you really like those types of games. I would have liked to have finished the demo, but they disabled it before I could try for a second run.
Planned Release: Will go to Early Access in November 2026
Game: Asbak
Summery: Play as a demon hunter who hunts demons. The floor is made of floor too.
Play Time: 21 minutes
Demo Available: yes
Recommendation: Meh…
Why?: I couldn’t get through the demo. Some of the hazards are impossible to notice and a single death restarts you before a tedious tutorial section. It’s pretty, I guess? I’ve beaten more platformers than I’ve had take out dinners and I wasn’t too impressed with what was on offer.
Planned Release: “2026”
Game: Ballmancy
Summery: Play as a cute dog who uses their cute powers to summon cute balls to defeat cute opponents as they sink down a…Well?
Play Time: 12 minutes
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: If it’s priced right, it might be a fun time waster on steamdeck.
Why?: It feels like a flash game from the early 2010, but a fun one. I wouldn’t pay more than 5$ for something like that, but it was entertaining enough for what it was.
Planned Release: Aug 17, 2026
Game: Cloudbreaker
Summery: Vampire survivors, only it’s an inventory management sim disguised as ship modifications.
Play Time: 50 minutes
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: Not really.
Why?: There are tons of vampire survivor clones of all shapes and sizes, and this isn’t even the first one that features an inventory-based upgrade system. Hell, Vampire Survivors wasn’t even the first game to do Vampire Survivors!
Planned Release: “2026”
Game: Deck of Potential
Summery: Vampire survivors clone that boldly asks “Can we have too much happening on the screen at once?” And the answer is yes.
Play Time: 27 minutes.
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: No
Why?: It’s too easy, you get strong way too fast, and there’s so much happening on screen that it all sort of loses any meaning. You can’t even read the damage numbers because they are so numerous, and the ground is blanketed with so many effects that you can’t see it.
Planned Release: “2026”
Game: Demon Bluff
Summery: Werewolf, but it’s a rougelite deckbuilder and you’re trying to execute demons.
Play Time: 4 hours (I got too carried away)
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: It’s on my wishlist.
Why?:It’s one of the more novel concepts I played during the Next Fest. While the game is simple, even the demo offers a fair bit of replayability. I also enjoy logic puzzles. While some of the villages felt impossible to save, I always felt like I had a shot at victory.The art is nice too.
Planned Release: “2026”
Game: Desktop Explorer
Summery: A puzzle game involving a virtual desktop. Explore encrypted file folders and complete the game inside the game to get to the mystery inside the mystery.
Play Time: 26 minutes
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: For some people, yes.
Why?: I did not do well with this one and got stumped on the third puzzle. Maybe I’m overlooking something obvious but I did not feel like I’d get very far with this one.
Planned Release: Jul 17, 2026
Game: DragonSword : Awakening
Summery: Offline Gacha Game!?!?!?!
Play Time: 2.9 hours
Demo Available: yes
Recommendation: At least try the demo. I wishlisted it, but my interest hinges on a few things…
Why?: For better or for worse, a lot of the interface elements are very similar to Wuthering Waves. To the point where it feels like the UI may have been lifted from some gacha game engine. The gameplay is different of course, but everything from the in game cinematics to the combat that involves character switching feels a lot like modern gacha games. Only it’s going to cost money and doesn’t have a gacha system in it, which makes it better than all of them. It definitely doesn’t feel as “feature rich” as some modern gacha games, but it’s pretty damn close. If it doesn’t try to install kernel level anti-cheat on my computer or have a hidden cash shop, I think this will be a great game for scratching that simple combat itch.
Planned Release: Jul 22, 2026
Game: Eldrich Escape
Summery: Vampire Survivors, but you’re a squad of post apocalyptic survivors, and the goal is to get shit done in 20 minutes instead of surviving for as long as possible. The more times I say Vampire Survivor the more I’m reminded I’ve not actually played it.
Play Time: 4.6 hours (I sorta lost track of time with this one.)
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: One of the few Vampire Survivor clones I’d recommend. Wishlisting to keep an eye on it.
Why?: It’s a relatively fresh take on a stale genre that’s been milked to death recently. The art is really pretty and there’s an emphasis on discovering powerups and plotting out your path. Leveling up is important, but the real keys to progress are unlocking parts of the map through quests and gaining access to unstable powers. It needs a bit more time in the oven, which the developers seem to understand.
Planned Release: “Coming Soon”
Game: Empire in Decay
Summery: Warhammer 40K, Chess, Turn-Based Strategy, and a card battler might seem like a weird mashup, and it is. The empire is decaying, so start a rebellion and guide your factions to victory.
Play Time: 7.7 hours (I needed to play this 5 times before I beat the demo.)
Demo Available: Yes, and recently updated with more content!
Recommendation: Hard yes! Easy wishlist! But it is a little difficult/complex, so it’s not for everyone.
Why?: Everything goes so hard with this game. Everything has a very professional feel, and you can really feel the grimness of the world through everything’s appearance. It didn’t click for me the first time I played it, but if you are patient and observant you’ll find a real gem here. The dev team has already rolled out a new patch to address feedback they’ve collected over Next Fest, so you can tell they’re very passionate about their project. In case my play time wasn’t an indication, I really liked this game.
Planned Release: “Coming soon.” But in game they say they plan on releasing it “late 2026.”
Game: Exorcist: Oldest Tongue
Summery: Grab your Ningyo and plunge into a tower filled with possessed children. Guess the names of the demons to exorcise them before they kill you.
Play Time: 3.2 hours
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: Hard freakin’ yes, wishlisted.
Why?: This was the most pleasant surprise of Next Fest for me. It’s a rather interesting take on a logic puzzle that features rougelike elements for replayability. The atmosphere is really strong and manages to come across as creepy and tense without being scary. The play sessions are also sub 1 hour, which makes it good for people with busy schedules.
Planned Release: Page says “To be announced” but the trailer shows 10/31.
Game: Garuda Emblem
Summery: No frills Beat em’ up with light RPG elements.
Play Time: 28 minutes.
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: If you need another Beat em Up, you could do worse.
Why?: There are a lot of good Beat em’ Ups out there already, and many have more going on than what’s on offer here. Scott Pilgrim vs The World is probably the quintessential “No frills Beat em’ up with light RPG elements” but if this doesn’t have an ubisoft launcher that’s a point in its favor.
Planned Release: “2026”
Game: Golden Swirl
Summery: Rougelite deckbuilder, but you actually avoid attacks by physically moving away from them.
Play Time: 2.5 hours
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: It takes some getting used to, but I’m wishlisting it.
Why?: I like the aesthetics (and not just all the big boobie ladies) and the combat is interesting. I also find it interesting how chance events are affected by your cards. Some of them have swirls on them which reduce the likelihood of succeeding in certain tasks, but are generally more powerful than others. Though I can’t recommend the game for everyone because there’s a lot of innuendos and things of a kinky nature. It’s just some dialog, but it’s weird how often it crops up.
Planned Release: “2026”
Game: Kernel Hearts
Summery: Action rougelite where you play as a robot magical girl and ascend a tower filled with evil angels. Only the android doesn’t look like an android, or a magical girl for that matter. Actually, most of the angels don’t look like angels either. Huh…
Play Time: 83 minutes, and at least 5-10 minutes of that was trying to get my controller working.
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: It’s not bad, but there are probably better action/rougelite options out there. It’s also a little buggy.
Why?: Of all the demos I tried, this was the only one that gave me compatibility problems. It will not see my Playstation controller. I set things to steam input and that seemed to solve the problem.
The game itself is passable, but it feels like they used a lot of the default unity physics options. Dodge is unreliable and sometimes you can get stuck inside enemies. Hopefully the demo is a really early build of the game, but even so everything feels kinda empty.
Yea I thought I was going to rate the magical girl game higher too.
I wasn’t able to test multiplayer, but that is an interesting idea for a game like this.
Planned Release: September 2026
Game: LarsGadiel
Summery: An extremely retro metroidvania with various unwelcome and poorly implemented modern additions!
Play Time: 19 minutes (it was a short demo.)
Demo Available: No
Recommendation: Not really, maybe if you like collecting 8 bit titles.
Why?: It wasn’t horrible but it failed to impress during the demo’s short runtime. But the metroidvania market is already oversaturated with better looking and better polished games. I think the splash art was why this was so frequently played.
Oh, and none of the jokes landed. Everything was super campy.
And this is me saying that.
Planned Release: Jul 17, 2026
Game: Magical Blush
Summery: Zelda-like, but screw the sword we’re using spells up in this bitch.
Play Time: 50 minutes
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: It’s not a must play, but it’s a good pick for people who like that style of game.
Why?: Some of the positioning was a little tedious, and I genuinely feel that cooldown timers are a blight on games like this. But the few puzzles I came across were satisfying to solve and the combat was interesting enough for me to finish the demo.
Planned Release: September 2026
Game: Mexican Ninja
Summery: Play as a mexican ninja who drinks and farts his way through hordes of gooners. I’m not even joking.
Play Time: 6 minutes
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: Can’t say I enjoyed it.
Why?: The visuals are messy. It’s hard to tell what’s going on if there are more than a few enemies on screen. The camera does some weird things and is totally automatic. I’ve never had such difficulty trying to orientate my character to avoid attacks in a 2.5D game. Control woes aside, the game’s idea of funny is fart jokes and pantie thieves. Maybe it gets better over time, but I didn’t vibe with any of it.
Planned Release: Aug 20, 2026
Game: Neon Null
Summery: Take your neon shape and shoot neon bullets at neon enemies. Most of the shapes have corners, but some are round, watch out!
Play Time: 98 minutes
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: Maybe. You could do worse.
Why?: Pretty sure this concept has been done in the past. I just can’t remember the names of the games since it’s not really what I tend to play. “Geometry based ship game with neon lights” feels like it could be its own genre with how frequently it shows up.
Planned Release: Jul 30, 2026
Game: Order of the Sinking Star
Summery: Contender for this decade’s best puzzle game.
Play Time: 5.4 hours
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: Anyone who likes puzzle games will need to play this. Wishlisted.
Why?: Despite playing the game for so long, that was just me trying to see everything the demo had to offer, and I still wanted to experience more! There’s quite a bit on offer here, and all of the puzzles feel fresh. Nothing felt like filler. I do wish the game had shipped with human voice acting. The AI voice acting (which is only for the demo apparently) is very obvious and ranges from passable to horrible.
Planned Release: “To be announced”
Game: Realm of Taiwu
Summery: Chinese Vampire Survivors, but it wants to be hades.
Play Time: 53 minutes
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: Repeat after me, “Only if you like the artstyle.”
Why?: Blah blah oversaturated market, blah blah does nothing different.
Planned Release: “To be announced”
Game: Relief
Summery: Anime Slay the Spire in a paranormal cyberpunk Tokyo-like place. Or something.
Play Time: 2.6 hours
Demo Available: No
Recommendation: If you’re not tired of Slay the Spire, Anime Slay the Spire is worth a look. The games run really long though…
Why?: Normally I do not encourage people to play clones, especially if the cloned game has a sequel that gets the job done. However, Mega Crit is having difficulty innovating and creating a balanced/fun experience that has a lot of players feeling soured on Slay the Spire 2. That, and it’s early access. While the combat is similar to StS, Relief does have an interesting take on choosing when those battles happen. You have a lot more choices and control when it comes to spending money, fighting monsters, resting, etc, and so I feel like it offers more than a simple aesthetic change. The two characters I played perform nothing like the characters in StS 1, so it’s not like they didn’t do some innovating to make this game.
Planned Release: It’s actually out, and about 10$ cheaper than Slay the Spire 2.
Game: Rizz Dungeon: Skeleton Key to My Heart
Summery: Rizz monster girls and have them fight on your behalf. Just make sure they all get along and don’t rip your party and you to pieces.
Play Time: 93 minutes
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: The writing is far superior to the gameplay . Might be better to watch a “let's play.”
Why?: While all the monster girls have different moves, you do not individually control any of them. Instead, what moves they perform is a combination between RNG and what their current mood is. You want your monster girls to be determined as that makes them behave the best and gives them the biggest stat increases. The thing is, what makes a monster girl determined is based on their personality type, and there’s only 4 of those. Once you learn what makes a particular personality determined, you just need to set up your team so that you can make everyone determined on round one and you’ll breeze through most encounters. Actually rizzing characters is more trial and error.
The dialog is really good though. Most of the jokes land, and I found myself interested in how things would develop despite the silly premise of the game.
Planned Release: Sep 17, 2026
Game: Shroom and Gloom
Summery: I cannot escape the rougelite deckbuilders. But this one features shrooms and mold!
Play Time: 3.9 hours
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: Easy recommendation if you enjoy Inscryption or Slay the Spire. Wishlisted.
Why?: The visuals are great. It’s got a nice “creepy” atmosphere. I really like the mechanics for traveling VS fighting and how they both use different decks. While it’s like those other card games it does enough to set itself apart and feel like something special. My only concern is for what the price might be, because it doesn’t look like it’s going to be a terribly big game…
Planned Release: Q3 2026
Game: Sineus Arena Survivors
Summery: Vampire Survivors but its got a poorly implemented city building system stapled onto it.
Play Time: 23 minutes
Demo Available: No
Recommendation: Wasn’t impressed
Why?: It just didn’t do anything interesting. It looks nice, but it doesn’t offer anything that the other VS clones on this list don’t offer, and worse, many of the things it tries to do differently don’t work at all. Buildings are too random to be useful. There’s no clear goal, if there even is one. The art style is nice, but kind of falls apart when you’re playing the game and see how floaty/slow everything moves.
Planned Release: You can buy it now, but I really wouldn’t.
Game: Sir, We Have an Orc Problem
Summery: Combat an orc problem that’s so big the game uses fluid physics to calculate the tide of the hoard.
Play Time: 2.5 hours
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: If you like tower defense games and the price isn’t too high.
Why?: The art, presentation, and UI is reminiscent of a flash game I could play for free 15-20 years ago. It’s made by a small team, but what can I say? It is fun to cull the hoard before it gets to your base, so it might be worth keeping an eye on if you want a simple time waster.
Planned Release: Jul 28, 2026
Game: Soulforge Lost Path
Summery: Vampire survivors, but there’s no vampires! But there is undead, so uh, maybe there are vampires? I apologize guys, I should have been calling these bullet heaven games or something.
Play Time: 2.6 hours
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: Yea I liked it.
Why?: Pretty pixels, high visual clarity, and an interesting item management system sets this game above its peers. I like some of the risk/reward management, like the ability to send items to your safe inventory partway through a run via minecarts and using loot you’ve collected/made in future runs with the risk of losing some of it on death.
Planned Release: Jul 13, 2026
Game: Spirit Dungeon
Summery: The game describes itself as “Party building × deckbuilding × auto battle” but I just call it an unpolished flash game.
Play Time: 53 minutes
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: Not really.
Why?: The game feels like it’s in late alpha. There’s not much in the way of animations, but some of the card art is reminiscent of FF tactics, which might appeal to some people. It’s an interesting concept, I’m just not very hopeful that this will ever feel like a complete game. Too many developers try to sell their cookie dough before turning it into cookies.
Planned Release: It’s in early access now for 10$. Feels kinda high honestly.
Game: Truck-kun is Supporting Me from Another World?!
Summery: You hit a girl with your truck, and that’s bad! As penance, you need to hit a whole lot more people with your truck!
Play Time: 4 minutes
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: Possibly, if you don’t get motion sickness easily.
Why?: Everything moves so fast, including the camera, and I could just tell that I was going to vomit all over my keyboard if I played for very long. Maybe my mouse sensitivity was up too high, but micromanaging an idol game while playing grand theft auto didn’t appeal to me.
Planned Release: Jul 29, 2026
Game: UDONGEIN X2
Summery: It’s a touhou fan game, why else would it be named like that?
Play Time: 52 minutes
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: Seems alright.
Why?: It’s weird because I’ve never played an actual Touhou game, and have only ever had random run-ins with the community or played fan games inspired by the original. It’s a no-fuss metroidvania with bullet hell elements and has some pointless fluff like a skill purchase system tacked on. The original game is going for 5$ and if this game has that price point too I think it’s fine for a game that plays like an alternate world mega man title.
Planned Release: “To be announced”
Game: Ved: Recure
Summery: After downloading your 1000th game off of steam that you’ll never get to, a divine cat whisks you away to where you can rediscover your love of gaming. He does this by trapping you inside a game where everything’s trying to kill you except for the anime baddies that fight on your behalf.
Play Time: 11.9 (It’s a good demo)
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: Did you see my play time? I wishlisted it too btw.
Why?: Action rougelites are a dime a dozen these days, but being able to earn buffs and slap them on existing skills is a novel concept. If you get a healing buff, you can slap it on your “Damage/Negate” component to get healed when you are hit/dodge an attack, or stack more hostile effects if you want to set guys on fire when they hit you. Maybe you’d rather have those effects activate on a successful parry, or even activate on your combo finisher. The world is your oyster.
Planned Release: Q3 2026
Game: VOID DIVER: Escape from the Abyss
Summery: Sort of a mission based survival/extraction RPG thing we’re dealing with here. Complete with spooky visuals and sprite work.
Play Time: 30 minutes
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: If you’re okay with MMO style progression, sure.
Why?: This was actually a game I had my eye on before the demo was released. The combat/survival sections are frantic enough, and the gameplay evokes the right emotions. But then you get back from a dive and you have a lot of talking, turning in quests, and interacting with “meta” elements that feels like it gets in the way of gameplay. It felt like a late 2000/early 2010 MMORPG with all the quests and busy work between expeditions. I’ll likely play it more later, but at the time I was trying to play as many demos as possible and I haven’t returned to this one yet.
Planned Release: “2026”
EDIT: I actually played this one a lot more. The quest turnaround and dialog stuff becomes much faster but it's still kinda repetitive. Probably fun with a group, kinda meh solo.
Game: Waifuro : Roguelike Waifubuilder
Summery: I played this as a meme guys…
Play Time: 17 minutes
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: Maybe as a meme.
Why?: It’s just a nothingburger of a game. Make sure your cards have bigger numbers than the opponent and you’ll do fine. The waifus are meh and the entire thing feels unpolished.
Planned Release: “Coming Soon”
Game: Worship Demon
Summery: There weren’t enough bullet heaven games on this list, so here’s another.
Play Time: 72 minutes
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: If you like the art style.
Why?: Because there are *yawn* too many bullet heaven games out there and *stretch* this is not exactly revolutionary. But it’s kinda… pretty… I guess… ZZZZzzzzzzzz
Planned Release: “Coming Soon”
Game: ZENONIA 1
Summery: A game developer known for their low effort F2P games makes a low effort tech demo.
Play Time: 26 minutes
Demo Available: Nope
Recommendation: Nope
Why?: It’s just a watered down singleplayer version of an early 2000 MMORPG made by a horrible company. The story is so generic you start off in a village that’s totally not going to get burned down, and you’re a chosen one, and there’s some crystals, and the combat is horrible, gyeahhhhhhhhh!
Planned Release: Who could be bothered?
Gotta say, while I didn't enjoy everything I played and there were a lot of clones, I still feel pretty optimistic about the creativity on display in the indie space.
Gaming is healing.
Please don't remind me that Sony is bad, otherwise I might not be as excited for MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls and it's being made by one of my favorite developers and I've waited too long for a MvC4 equivalent.
Also I wrote this and forgot to post it, so some of the information might not be up to date.
Game: 70s-style Robot Anime Geppy-X
Summery: A 70’s style robot anime game that plays like an 80’s shump with 90’s innovations! Watch anime cutscenes and shoot up enemies in a hybrid pixel/3d style.
Play Time: 20 minutes.
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: Only if you really love arcade shumps/Geppy-X
Why?: The game does very little handholding in terms of showing you the ropes. The original version probably shipped with an instruction manual, but no such luck here. While a transforming character is an interesting concept, most of the modes weren’t especially useful, or it wasn’t clear what they were good for. It wasn’t for me.
Planned Release: July 2026
Game: Aksun
Summery: Shamanic (Korean) Hades.
Play Time: 25 minutes
Demo Available: No
Recommendation: Unless you really like the artstyle, just play Hades.
Why?: It’s just a Hades clone. While there are a few innovations it’s not dramatic enough to warrant a purchase unless you really like those types of games. I would have liked to have finished the demo, but they disabled it before I could try for a second run.
Planned Release: Will go to Early Access in November 2026
Game: Asbak
Summery: Play as a demon hunter who hunts demons. The floor is made of floor too.
Play Time: 21 minutes
Demo Available: yes
Recommendation: Meh…
Why?: I couldn’t get through the demo. Some of the hazards are impossible to notice and a single death restarts you before a tedious tutorial section. It’s pretty, I guess? I’ve beaten more platformers than I’ve had take out dinners and I wasn’t too impressed with what was on offer.
Planned Release: “2026”
Game: Ballmancy
Summery: Play as a cute dog who uses their cute powers to summon cute balls to defeat cute opponents as they sink down a…Well?
Play Time: 12 minutes
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: If it’s priced right, it might be a fun time waster on steamdeck.
Why?: It feels like a flash game from the early 2010, but a fun one. I wouldn’t pay more than 5$ for something like that, but it was entertaining enough for what it was.
Planned Release: Aug 17, 2026
Game: Cloudbreaker
Summery: Vampire survivors, only it’s an inventory management sim disguised as ship modifications.
Play Time: 50 minutes
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: Not really.
Why?: There are tons of vampire survivor clones of all shapes and sizes, and this isn’t even the first one that features an inventory-based upgrade system. Hell, Vampire Survivors wasn’t even the first game to do Vampire Survivors!
Planned Release: “2026”
Game: Deck of Potential
Summery: Vampire survivors clone that boldly asks “Can we have too much happening on the screen at once?” And the answer is yes.
Play Time: 27 minutes.
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: No
Why?: It’s too easy, you get strong way too fast, and there’s so much happening on screen that it all sort of loses any meaning. You can’t even read the damage numbers because they are so numerous, and the ground is blanketed with so many effects that you can’t see it.
Planned Release: “2026”
Game: Demon Bluff
Summery: Werewolf, but it’s a rougelite deckbuilder and you’re trying to execute demons.
Play Time: 4 hours (I got too carried away)
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: It’s on my wishlist.
Why?:It’s one of the more novel concepts I played during the Next Fest. While the game is simple, even the demo offers a fair bit of replayability. I also enjoy logic puzzles. While some of the villages felt impossible to save, I always felt like I had a shot at victory.The art is nice too.
Planned Release: “2026”
Game: Desktop Explorer
Summery: A puzzle game involving a virtual desktop. Explore encrypted file folders and complete the game inside the game to get to the mystery inside the mystery.
Play Time: 26 minutes
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: For some people, yes.
Why?: I did not do well with this one and got stumped on the third puzzle. Maybe I’m overlooking something obvious but I did not feel like I’d get very far with this one.
Planned Release: Jul 17, 2026
Game: DragonSword : Awakening
Summery: Offline Gacha Game!?!?!?!
Play Time: 2.9 hours
Demo Available: yes
Recommendation: At least try the demo. I wishlisted it, but my interest hinges on a few things…
Why?: For better or for worse, a lot of the interface elements are very similar to Wuthering Waves. To the point where it feels like the UI may have been lifted from some gacha game engine. The gameplay is different of course, but everything from the in game cinematics to the combat that involves character switching feels a lot like modern gacha games. Only it’s going to cost money and doesn’t have a gacha system in it, which makes it better than all of them. It definitely doesn’t feel as “feature rich” as some modern gacha games, but it’s pretty damn close. If it doesn’t try to install kernel level anti-cheat on my computer or have a hidden cash shop, I think this will be a great game for scratching that simple combat itch.
Planned Release: Jul 22, 2026
Game: Eldrich Escape
Summery: Vampire Survivors, but you’re a squad of post apocalyptic survivors, and the goal is to get shit done in 20 minutes instead of surviving for as long as possible. The more times I say Vampire Survivor the more I’m reminded I’ve not actually played it.
Play Time: 4.6 hours (I sorta lost track of time with this one.)
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: One of the few Vampire Survivor clones I’d recommend. Wishlisting to keep an eye on it.
Why?: It’s a relatively fresh take on a stale genre that’s been milked to death recently. The art is really pretty and there’s an emphasis on discovering powerups and plotting out your path. Leveling up is important, but the real keys to progress are unlocking parts of the map through quests and gaining access to unstable powers. It needs a bit more time in the oven, which the developers seem to understand.
Planned Release: “Coming Soon”
Game: Empire in Decay
Summery: Warhammer 40K, Chess, Turn-Based Strategy, and a card battler might seem like a weird mashup, and it is. The empire is decaying, so start a rebellion and guide your factions to victory.
Play Time: 7.7 hours (I needed to play this 5 times before I beat the demo.)
Demo Available: Yes, and recently updated with more content!
Recommendation: Hard yes! Easy wishlist! But it is a little difficult/complex, so it’s not for everyone.
Why?: Everything goes so hard with this game. Everything has a very professional feel, and you can really feel the grimness of the world through everything’s appearance. It didn’t click for me the first time I played it, but if you are patient and observant you’ll find a real gem here. The dev team has already rolled out a new patch to address feedback they’ve collected over Next Fest, so you can tell they’re very passionate about their project. In case my play time wasn’t an indication, I really liked this game.
Planned Release: “Coming soon.” But in game they say they plan on releasing it “late 2026.”
Game: Exorcist: Oldest Tongue
Summery: Grab your Ningyo and plunge into a tower filled with possessed children. Guess the names of the demons to exorcise them before they kill you.
Play Time: 3.2 hours
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: Hard freakin’ yes, wishlisted.
Why?: This was the most pleasant surprise of Next Fest for me. It’s a rather interesting take on a logic puzzle that features rougelike elements for replayability. The atmosphere is really strong and manages to come across as creepy and tense without being scary. The play sessions are also sub 1 hour, which makes it good for people with busy schedules.
Planned Release: Page says “To be announced” but the trailer shows 10/31.
Game: Garuda Emblem
Summery: No frills Beat em’ up with light RPG elements.
Play Time: 28 minutes.
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: If you need another Beat em Up, you could do worse.
Why?: There are a lot of good Beat em’ Ups out there already, and many have more going on than what’s on offer here. Scott Pilgrim vs The World is probably the quintessential “No frills Beat em’ up with light RPG elements” but if this doesn’t have an ubisoft launcher that’s a point in its favor.
Planned Release: “2026”
Game: Golden Swirl
Summery: Rougelite deckbuilder, but you actually avoid attacks by physically moving away from them.
Play Time: 2.5 hours
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: It takes some getting used to, but I’m wishlisting it.
Why?: I like the aesthetics (and not just all the big boobie ladies) and the combat is interesting. I also find it interesting how chance events are affected by your cards. Some of them have swirls on them which reduce the likelihood of succeeding in certain tasks, but are generally more powerful than others. Though I can’t recommend the game for everyone because there’s a lot of innuendos and things of a kinky nature. It’s just some dialog, but it’s weird how often it crops up.
Planned Release: “2026”
Game: Kernel Hearts
Summery: Action rougelite where you play as a robot magical girl and ascend a tower filled with evil angels. Only the android doesn’t look like an android, or a magical girl for that matter. Actually, most of the angels don’t look like angels either. Huh…
Play Time: 83 minutes, and at least 5-10 minutes of that was trying to get my controller working.
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: It’s not bad, but there are probably better action/rougelite options out there. It’s also a little buggy.
Why?: Of all the demos I tried, this was the only one that gave me compatibility problems. It will not see my Playstation controller. I set things to steam input and that seemed to solve the problem.
The game itself is passable, but it feels like they used a lot of the default unity physics options. Dodge is unreliable and sometimes you can get stuck inside enemies. Hopefully the demo is a really early build of the game, but even so everything feels kinda empty.
Yea I thought I was going to rate the magical girl game higher too.
I wasn’t able to test multiplayer, but that is an interesting idea for a game like this.
Planned Release: September 2026
Game: LarsGadiel
Summery: An extremely retro metroidvania with various unwelcome and poorly implemented modern additions!
Play Time: 19 minutes (it was a short demo.)
Demo Available: No
Recommendation: Not really, maybe if you like collecting 8 bit titles.
Why?: It wasn’t horrible but it failed to impress during the demo’s short runtime. But the metroidvania market is already oversaturated with better looking and better polished games. I think the splash art was why this was so frequently played.
Oh, and none of the jokes landed. Everything was super campy.
And this is me saying that.
Planned Release: Jul 17, 2026
Game: Magical Blush
Summery: Zelda-like, but screw the sword we’re using spells up in this bitch.
Play Time: 50 minutes
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: It’s not a must play, but it’s a good pick for people who like that style of game.
Why?: Some of the positioning was a little tedious, and I genuinely feel that cooldown timers are a blight on games like this. But the few puzzles I came across were satisfying to solve and the combat was interesting enough for me to finish the demo.
Planned Release: September 2026
Game: Mexican Ninja
Summery: Play as a mexican ninja who drinks and farts his way through hordes of gooners. I’m not even joking.
Play Time: 6 minutes
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: Can’t say I enjoyed it.
Why?: The visuals are messy. It’s hard to tell what’s going on if there are more than a few enemies on screen. The camera does some weird things and is totally automatic. I’ve never had such difficulty trying to orientate my character to avoid attacks in a 2.5D game. Control woes aside, the game’s idea of funny is fart jokes and pantie thieves. Maybe it gets better over time, but I didn’t vibe with any of it.
Planned Release: Aug 20, 2026
Game: Neon Null
Summery: Take your neon shape and shoot neon bullets at neon enemies. Most of the shapes have corners, but some are round, watch out!
Play Time: 98 minutes
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: Maybe. You could do worse.
Why?: Pretty sure this concept has been done in the past. I just can’t remember the names of the games since it’s not really what I tend to play. “Geometry based ship game with neon lights” feels like it could be its own genre with how frequently it shows up.
Planned Release: Jul 30, 2026
Game: Order of the Sinking Star
Summery: Contender for this decade’s best puzzle game.
Play Time: 5.4 hours
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: Anyone who likes puzzle games will need to play this. Wishlisted.
Why?: Despite playing the game for so long, that was just me trying to see everything the demo had to offer, and I still wanted to experience more! There’s quite a bit on offer here, and all of the puzzles feel fresh. Nothing felt like filler. I do wish the game had shipped with human voice acting. The AI voice acting (which is only for the demo apparently) is very obvious and ranges from passable to horrible.
Planned Release: “To be announced”
Game: Realm of Taiwu
Summery: Chinese Vampire Survivors, but it wants to be hades.
Play Time: 53 minutes
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: Repeat after me, “Only if you like the artstyle.”
Why?: Blah blah oversaturated market, blah blah does nothing different.
Planned Release: “To be announced”
Game: Relief
Summery: Anime Slay the Spire in a paranormal cyberpunk Tokyo-like place. Or something.
Play Time: 2.6 hours
Demo Available: No
Recommendation: If you’re not tired of Slay the Spire, Anime Slay the Spire is worth a look. The games run really long though…
Why?: Normally I do not encourage people to play clones, especially if the cloned game has a sequel that gets the job done. However, Mega Crit is having difficulty innovating and creating a balanced/fun experience that has a lot of players feeling soured on Slay the Spire 2. That, and it’s early access. While the combat is similar to StS, Relief does have an interesting take on choosing when those battles happen. You have a lot more choices and control when it comes to spending money, fighting monsters, resting, etc, and so I feel like it offers more than a simple aesthetic change. The two characters I played perform nothing like the characters in StS 1, so it’s not like they didn’t do some innovating to make this game.
Planned Release: It’s actually out, and about 10$ cheaper than Slay the Spire 2.
Game: Rizz Dungeon: Skeleton Key to My Heart
Summery: Rizz monster girls and have them fight on your behalf. Just make sure they all get along and don’t rip your party and you to pieces.
Play Time: 93 minutes
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: The writing is far superior to the gameplay . Might be better to watch a “let's play.”
Why?: While all the monster girls have different moves, you do not individually control any of them. Instead, what moves they perform is a combination between RNG and what their current mood is. You want your monster girls to be determined as that makes them behave the best and gives them the biggest stat increases. The thing is, what makes a monster girl determined is based on their personality type, and there’s only 4 of those. Once you learn what makes a particular personality determined, you just need to set up your team so that you can make everyone determined on round one and you’ll breeze through most encounters. Actually rizzing characters is more trial and error.
The dialog is really good though. Most of the jokes land, and I found myself interested in how things would develop despite the silly premise of the game.
Planned Release: Sep 17, 2026
Game: Shroom and Gloom
Summery: I cannot escape the rougelite deckbuilders. But this one features shrooms and mold!
Play Time: 3.9 hours
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: Easy recommendation if you enjoy Inscryption or Slay the Spire. Wishlisted.
Why?: The visuals are great. It’s got a nice “creepy” atmosphere. I really like the mechanics for traveling VS fighting and how they both use different decks. While it’s like those other card games it does enough to set itself apart and feel like something special. My only concern is for what the price might be, because it doesn’t look like it’s going to be a terribly big game…
Planned Release: Q3 2026
Game: Sineus Arena Survivors
Summery: Vampire Survivors but its got a poorly implemented city building system stapled onto it.
Play Time: 23 minutes
Demo Available: No
Recommendation: Wasn’t impressed
Why?: It just didn’t do anything interesting. It looks nice, but it doesn’t offer anything that the other VS clones on this list don’t offer, and worse, many of the things it tries to do differently don’t work at all. Buildings are too random to be useful. There’s no clear goal, if there even is one. The art style is nice, but kind of falls apart when you’re playing the game and see how floaty/slow everything moves.
Planned Release: You can buy it now, but I really wouldn’t.
Game: Sir, We Have an Orc Problem
Summery: Combat an orc problem that’s so big the game uses fluid physics to calculate the tide of the hoard.
Play Time: 2.5 hours
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: If you like tower defense games and the price isn’t too high.
Why?: The art, presentation, and UI is reminiscent of a flash game I could play for free 15-20 years ago. It’s made by a small team, but what can I say? It is fun to cull the hoard before it gets to your base, so it might be worth keeping an eye on if you want a simple time waster.
Planned Release: Jul 28, 2026
Game: Soulforge Lost Path
Summery: Vampire survivors, but there’s no vampires! But there is undead, so uh, maybe there are vampires? I apologize guys, I should have been calling these bullet heaven games or something.
Play Time: 2.6 hours
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: Yea I liked it.
Why?: Pretty pixels, high visual clarity, and an interesting item management system sets this game above its peers. I like some of the risk/reward management, like the ability to send items to your safe inventory partway through a run via minecarts and using loot you’ve collected/made in future runs with the risk of losing some of it on death.
Planned Release: Jul 13, 2026
Game: Spirit Dungeon
Summery: The game describes itself as “Party building × deckbuilding × auto battle” but I just call it an unpolished flash game.
Play Time: 53 minutes
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: Not really.
Why?: The game feels like it’s in late alpha. There’s not much in the way of animations, but some of the card art is reminiscent of FF tactics, which might appeal to some people. It’s an interesting concept, I’m just not very hopeful that this will ever feel like a complete game. Too many developers try to sell their cookie dough before turning it into cookies.
Planned Release: It’s in early access now for 10$. Feels kinda high honestly.
Game: Truck-kun is Supporting Me from Another World?!
Summery: You hit a girl with your truck, and that’s bad! As penance, you need to hit a whole lot more people with your truck!
Play Time: 4 minutes
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: Possibly, if you don’t get motion sickness easily.
Why?: Everything moves so fast, including the camera, and I could just tell that I was going to vomit all over my keyboard if I played for very long. Maybe my mouse sensitivity was up too high, but micromanaging an idol game while playing grand theft auto didn’t appeal to me.
Planned Release: Jul 29, 2026
Game: UDONGEIN X2
Summery: It’s a touhou fan game, why else would it be named like that?
Play Time: 52 minutes
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: Seems alright.
Why?: It’s weird because I’ve never played an actual Touhou game, and have only ever had random run-ins with the community or played fan games inspired by the original. It’s a no-fuss metroidvania with bullet hell elements and has some pointless fluff like a skill purchase system tacked on. The original game is going for 5$ and if this game has that price point too I think it’s fine for a game that plays like an alternate world mega man title.
Planned Release: “To be announced”
Game: Ved: Recure
Summery: After downloading your 1000th game off of steam that you’ll never get to, a divine cat whisks you away to where you can rediscover your love of gaming. He does this by trapping you inside a game where everything’s trying to kill you except for the anime baddies that fight on your behalf.
Play Time: 11.9 (It’s a good demo)
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: Did you see my play time? I wishlisted it too btw.
Why?: Action rougelites are a dime a dozen these days, but being able to earn buffs and slap them on existing skills is a novel concept. If you get a healing buff, you can slap it on your “Damage/Negate” component to get healed when you are hit/dodge an attack, or stack more hostile effects if you want to set guys on fire when they hit you. Maybe you’d rather have those effects activate on a successful parry, or even activate on your combo finisher. The world is your oyster.
Planned Release: Q3 2026
Game: VOID DIVER: Escape from the Abyss
Summery: Sort of a mission based survival/extraction RPG thing we’re dealing with here. Complete with spooky visuals and sprite work.
Play Time: 30 minutes
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: If you’re okay with MMO style progression, sure.
Why?: This was actually a game I had my eye on before the demo was released. The combat/survival sections are frantic enough, and the gameplay evokes the right emotions. But then you get back from a dive and you have a lot of talking, turning in quests, and interacting with “meta” elements that feels like it gets in the way of gameplay. It felt like a late 2000/early 2010 MMORPG with all the quests and busy work between expeditions. I’ll likely play it more later, but at the time I was trying to play as many demos as possible and I haven’t returned to this one yet.
Planned Release: “2026”
EDIT: I actually played this one a lot more. The quest turnaround and dialog stuff becomes much faster but it's still kinda repetitive. Probably fun with a group, kinda meh solo.
Game: Waifuro : Roguelike Waifubuilder
Summery: I played this as a meme guys…
Play Time: 17 minutes
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: Maybe as a meme.
Why?: It’s just a nothingburger of a game. Make sure your cards have bigger numbers than the opponent and you’ll do fine. The waifus are meh and the entire thing feels unpolished.
Planned Release: “Coming Soon”
Game: Worship Demon
Summery: There weren’t enough bullet heaven games on this list, so here’s another.
Play Time: 72 minutes
Demo Available: Yes
Recommendation: If you like the art style.
Why?: Because there are *yawn* too many bullet heaven games out there and *stretch* this is not exactly revolutionary. But it’s kinda… pretty… I guess… ZZZZzzzzzzzz
Planned Release: “Coming Soon”
Game: ZENONIA 1
Summery: A game developer known for their low effort F2P games makes a low effort tech demo.
Play Time: 26 minutes
Demo Available: Nope
Recommendation: Nope
Why?: It’s just a watered down singleplayer version of an early 2000 MMORPG made by a horrible company. The story is so generic you start off in a village that’s totally not going to get burned down, and you’re a chosen one, and there’s some crystals, and the combat is horrible, gyeahhhhhhhhh!
Planned Release: Who could be bothered?
Gotta say, while I didn't enjoy everything I played and there were a lot of clones, I still feel pretty optimistic about the creativity on display in the indie space.
Gaming is healing.
Please don't remind me that Sony is bad, otherwise I might not be as excited for MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls and it's being made by one of my favorite developers and I've waited too long for a MvC4 equivalent.
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