NEXT FEST 2025 - Don't Miss More Cool Games!

Day Two of playing way too many demos! Even the terrifying arrival of the new MONSTER HUNTER didn't manage to put me off the Steam Next Fest delight. But I ain't gonna lie, it was a tough mental battle, for the call of the Wilds is strong in my blood. But there's no time for the big games, when the smol ones require love and attention, and after all, Next Fest is their holiday and time to shine! Once again, I bring you the goods, so let's peruse today's offering and have some fun.

MICROVANIA

What a shameless, cheeky little game. I see you, Justin from Dreampunk, and your daring with this title. Because, you see, it's METROID. Blatant, direct, and shameless in donning the skin of the beloved series, this game takes all of the trappings and reproduces them virtually one-to-one - from the shiny yellow bubble doors to the missiles, during into an orb and annoyingly bullet-spongy enemies! Now you might well expect me to bash this project for its sheer gumption in being a copy of existing, well-established series, without any sprinkle of novelty to it but...

I must admit, it has its charm. I still wanna wag a finger and say 'nu-uh', but do it with a smirk, because MICROVANIA - to my own shock - managed to hook me in. Despite the first glance obviously letting me scoff and how completely copied the concepts are, there is a degree of polish and thought put here that surprised me. First of all, the name ain't just a play on words. Micro not because of the scope (well, partially for sure!), but because it shrives away anything non-essential from the experience. It's the purest essence of Metroidvania, a condensed drop of its machine oils. Maps are tight, nearly every chamber has some little secret to find, a new route to the path that ain't the obvious one. Enemies are sparse, but their presence is always felt. And each upgrade brings that rush to your kit of being able to do Something New, instantly flashing to your mind the areas you couldn't clear before, that now, you just might. It's nothing new, but done very well, much better than I anticipated to be sure - the fact it managed to hold me down and play, means the formula works still.

And there is another great thing I appreciate here; Two, even. Ability to mark a room on your map to remember something. And, most important of all, a setting option that hides all hints, uncovers them all, or offers just some of them - and by hints, the game means visual indicators of secret passages and hidden finds. It's an exceptionally good idea that needs to be implemented in all metroidvanias moving forward.

DO NO HARM

Brilliant idea with a very rough execution - but I do have faith it can grow from its Demo aching pains and become a truly engaging bit of fun. And as a fan of Cosmic Horror and pulp stories of aliens messing up some tiny village in Bumfuck Nowhere, this one was right up my alley. You're a doctor, who decided to move to a shady little hamlet full of sourly looking people because the promised pay was good. It's that good ole time in medicine, where four humors were all in vogue, and proper care was mostly about not killing your patient too fast - and, probably, giving them some hard drugs to cope with the pains.

Here however we are given a syringe with precise dosage, some unsavory liquids, and a big book of Ouchies we must take a look at to figure out what's wrong with the fellas crossing our doors. And oh boy, there's PLENTY of wrong with them, as their changing bodies aren't just due to various maladies. Dark cults rule the land, abominations roam the earth, and even my third bottle of Laudanum does not keep the bug people from catching hay fevers and coming to my humble shoppe of health!

The concept is great, the art is good and the atmosphere sits just right. But as I mentioned, execution is a little rough. First of all, the Book of Knowledge is a bit unhelpful at times, giving information that do not help one bit or straight-up lying to you about the correct dosage. The time pressure is also a peculiar addition. Yes, I agree that it keeps the tension, and raises the stress, which is good in a horror-vibe setting. But at the same time the need to consult the book, check for allergies, and still be able to process enough folks to make enough money to even refill your meds, is a bit much. It's a tough balance, because of course without the time limit, every task would become trivial with the ability to slowly pace yourself through the book, so it is hard to say what to tweak here. Nonetheless, even with these hiccups, I had great fun with this unique gameplay loop, and hope to see it well fleshed out before release!

RIVER TOWNS

I love this one, and it was not love at first sight. It has this strange mixture of absolutely lovely, whimsical in-game style, with color-coded, charming buildings... And a rather, let's be kind here, early-concept GUI, that hurts my designer brain, and makes my eyes water and nose scrunkle up in self-defense. But once you get to the actual gaming part of the experience, it's pretty darn great! It's a puzzler, that seems quite rudimentary, if playful with its whimsical stylings. But then, everything changed, when the task nation attacked. Level after level I was introduced to a new element, and reaching that maximum score for golden medal became more and more demanding. The pacing of the challenge is excellent, and the few novel ideas hiding here are quite clever. Picking your starting point can be crucial.

The building isn't just about matching colors and fitting all Tetris'que shapes well, but also about having good priorities - you want to get to the important bits fast enough to not lock yourself out of them with a diminishing stack of tiles. Reviving dead trees, rebuilding a temple, using pre-existing roads... Utilizing these bits that are already on the map waiting for you isn't really optional if you're hoping to clear the stage with max points.

And then the Demo area has a challenge level, a branch-off from the main path that put an even more dastardly puzzle to solve before your eyes. It's pretty great, and I quickly sank a few healthy hours trying to max everything out. In addition, the gameplay is well curated to aid you in any way possible - the information given is superb, from a fading highlight of the gird whenever you hover a piece over the board to the clear info about the income from putting it down, back to the ability to see what shapes remain in your stack. Great stuff, really.