February holds its wintry sway over the land, and tries its best to sap my vim and vigor! But the days are getting longer, the sun shines upon me and keeps me going. February is shaping out to be a busy month for games, with lots of great releases on schedule, and some grand titles hitting as well later on (the new Monster Hunter gonna steal me for sure...). And the demos of great titles keep on flowin' too, every weekend dedicated to find out a few promising title for me to bring to your attention! This one is no different, and so, let's roll with the three potentially great games in the making.
DEATH HOWL
This demo kicked my ass. I am not gonna pretend it didn't - I can of course blame the lack of tutorial, but I guess this desire to be called a 'soulslike deck builder' comes with the territory of eschewing all forms of handholding and letting the player witness their own pain at their own pace. The game is beautiful, and haunting, with a story and world that quickly intrigues.
But it will not hold any punches. Enemies are dangerous, there are hardly any pushovers. You will get mangled by oversized owls, you will get ripped apart by crazy crows and giant dragonflies will chew on your bones. The core of the experience lies in the cards... and crafting, as collecting materials from all around the spectral realms - and the spirits you'll slaughter - is key to creating more powerful cards. A good deckbuilder lives and dies on its cards and the little engines they can build within your deck, and DEATH HOWL seems to understand that well. Even within the demo, you can see some fun interactions, and some good potential for crafting a deadly combination of cards that will, probably, serve you well until you stumble into an enemy specifically designed to counter what you crafted. A classic outcome in the making!
Great visuals, a superbly crafted world to sink into, and tactical battles that won't feel like a breeze - a feast for fans of tactical, turn-based combat and deckbuilder enthusiasts alike. Be sure to check it out.
TOWER OF BABEL: SURVIVORS OF CHAOS
You will read this sentence a lot when reading about this game, and I hate to be a copycat, but frankly, there is no more succinct way of describing it so here we go - it's DIABLO mixed with VAMPIRE SURVIVOR. Wait, you say, but wasn't that done already? HALLS OF TORMENT exists, after all, and shamelessly - and may I add, to great effect! - imitate the original DIABLO style and trapping in this well-saturated genre of bullet heavens. So what gives? Another clone?
Well not exactly. It's pretty damn great. No, really. See, HALLS OF TORMENT is a great emulation of the style, the vibe, and the whole atmosphere, but TOWER OF BABEL prefers to dig in deeper with the mechanical side of things. Itemization here IS the core of the experience, with loot dropping left and right and forming the very essence of becoming stronger. Numbers going up is never a failing formula, and it works here like a charm. Even in the demo, there were already so many items with the little boosts to various stats, as well as Uniques - or Legendaries, depending on which ARPG you roll with - that offer bigger passive bonuses that twist some mechanics or offer new build variety to the mix. With a good, polished art style, lots of abilities, skills, and progression systems (many locked for the demo, alas), this one holds promise to be a pretty deep and rewarding Survivor-type game, aimed to rob you of countless hours of your life. I'd be definitely watching out for this one.
MECHAKNIGHTS LEGENDS
It is a pretty impressive tech demo for now, but not much of a game - yet. Well, I don't want to sound disparaging. The demo focuses on selling you the feel of the game, and in that regard, I would give it a round of applause. The art style is filthy, old-school comic vibe, the animations are fluid and the combat felt hefty, with a great sense of weight to our knightly mecha. The chubby dragon was a fun enemy too, even if he had like, three attacks to his arsenal of tricks. This tiny morsel of fun, this little look behind the curtain definitely can whet some appetites. The cool factor is through the roof, the fight feels cinematic, with great effort placed on this precarious balance of being responsive without being floaty and lightweight. It's fun, pure and simple.
But for it to be a game it would be great to glimpse a little deeper into the waters. To know what we can expect in the full products. How many dragons to fight, and how will their moveset and challenge grow? What options await us for the development of our suit of mechanized armor? The blurb on the steam page promises dragons and other creatures, customizing our war machine and multiple biomes to explore... This all sounds lovely, but the demo is a tiny slice of the project so far, kept on a set of promises. If they will be delivered upon, then test - I can see MECHAKNIGHTS LEGENDS to be an absolute banger! But, for now, remains to be seen. Check it out for its unique style and really good, hefty combat on display.
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