4986

I tried the Death Trash demo, it’s pretty … interesting. At one point you come across a machine that requires biological lubricant - so you’re prompted to vomit, pick up the vomit, and put it in the machine. And the machine accepts it.

4987

I just gave a try to the Wartales demo for around half an hour. The interface needs a fair amount of love, which is no surprise for an alpha, but I’m not worried about it in light of what they did with Northgard.

What is there is very promising : a cross between the combat and company management of Battle Brothers and the world exploration and interaction of Mount & Blade. One to watch for sure.

4988

So uh I haven’t quite figured out the combat in Spire of Sorcery; I mean I know how to cast spells but the popup when I hover over the target doesn’t really tell me much.

Terraformers was very relaxing. I couldn’t see a way to save the demo though?

4989

Do want

4990

Rogue Lords is quite stylish and has some unique mechanics that fit the theme very well. Anyone with a passing interest in roguelight deckbuilders should give it a look.

4991

It hurts me, but I fell asleep insanely quickly in Spire of Sorcery. Not at all the game I expected.

4992

That’s my siren call.

4993

It isn’t the game they originally announced. They kept the name and setting but scrapped the rest. Details here.

4994

I played it a bit and quite liked the way it handled the theme and some original mechanics. My only complaint is that I couldn’t find a way to save.

That’s me and Fermi Paradox

4995

Thank you.

4996

I haven’t played a recent build, but last I checked, the popup showed what you need to address that target (kill, if it is an enemy, but it might be a matter of opening if it is a chest). Like two acid or three fire.

Are you seeing something else?

4997

Yes I see that; I might get (so far) up to 3 lines on a popup showing tokens on the left & something on the right of each of those like a loot bag. I’m not as quick off the mark as many here I know but it’s not at all intuitive to me.

I mean yes I did figure out that I needed to be casting some of that stuff shown on the popup but it wasn’t clear to me why I won each fight.

4998

Hmmm, from what I remember, if you can dispose of the target with either two acid or three fire, you might not get exactly the same results. Like maybe you destroy the target either way, but you only get loot from the acid because the fire would burn everything up. Maybe you are seeing the indication of the varying results?

I keep meaning to pull this game out again and see where they have gotten to, but I have been so obsessed with Caster of Magic for Windows, I keep saying maybe tomorrow. :)

4999

Well that actually makes complete sense.

But there’s a lot of dicking around trying to get the correct tokens to cast the spells in the first place.

5000

I like the casting system as a frame for challenges.
Different enemies/events have different requirements. Lots of elements interact with each other and enemies. Killing a beast with normal damage gives you loot, like meat. Burning that same enemy gives ash, which is an alchemy ingredient. Dispelling instead of damaging certain magical enemies gives special loot.
Acid and fire also convert into pure damage if you hit them with damage. You can have one guy prepare an acid spell, another a damage spell, for stacking normal damage. The advantage is that they use different element tokens so you will have an easier time completing both instead of casting two damage spells at the same time.

Where the game fell really flat for me is the proportional amount of that combat. The system turns from a challenge into a chore after say the first dozen of encounters yet that is 90% of what you do on a map it seems.
Enemy groups constantly spawn and combine. You can only have take three steps on the hex map each day. You only remove one fatigue each day. The exploration part is severely hampered by the need to finish the map as quickly as possible or you will get spammed by combined 6 enemies groups chasing you all over. By the end of the demo scenario I had like ten of those on the map and half of them alerted and chasing me.

I was really looking forward to a “mage management” game. The spire interactions aren’t in the demo but those chapter based combat slogs that are don’t create compelling gameplay. If they are a considerable amount of the game’s content as it currently looks like that does indeed evaporate a lot of the original interest in the game for me.

5001

I tried a few Next Fest demos out tonight.

Severed Steel - Holy crap, this is awesome. A cross between… well, I guess, Mirror’s Edge movement dynamics, and an FPS. Once you get past the first few tutorial stages, it lets rip and you’re fighting multiple enemies in tight spaces, if you move normally you die very fast, but if you perform stunts (floor slides, wall runs) you can’t be hit, you can fly through glass and perform some epic moves, it’s fast and violent. It’s also effing hard! Even on baby mode I die multiple times, but with skill and practice you start to get there. And the music kicks.

Death Trash - Fallout in real time? I really loved the retro aesthetic on this, and the fucked up setting, only played some of the tutorial area but this is definitely my thing.

Terra Nil - An anti-city builder, I’ve always enjoyed the gameplay of city builders but I can’t do the whole “let’s trash the place to build our metropolis” vibe. This is slightly more puzzly than a free form “wilderness builder” so far, but enjoying it, love the aesthetic and the transformation of wasteland to lush paradise is addictive.

They Always Run - 2D combat platformer. Slightly confusing tutorial, but once you get a bit of practice with the combat it’s fluid, cool and effective, and the movement has a real energy to it.

Tiny Thor - A very retro Amiga-style platformer, collecting crystals, jumping on snakes, throwing a hammer, even the music is by Chris Huelsbeck (legendary late 80s game musician). Ticks all my nostalgia boxes.

Brok the InvestiGator - Yes, it’s an alligator detective adventure game! Naturally I had to try it out. Loved the art and animation, great voice acting, wasn’t sure what audience it was for and then it got really very dark fast! Definitely my thing.

Horrors of Space - Wasn’t quite sure what this was, turned out to be Alien Isolation on a budget crossed with About Us, or something. Quite scary, but felt clunky and I can’t say I felt any motivation to actually play it!

5002

Jesus Krok, you can’t just try a whole bunch of games and recommend them all. You’re supposed to say most of them are not worth wasting our time on.

5003

And we got a thread dedicated to Carrier Command 2 to prevent too much positivity in here already!

5004

Dammit to hell, now I am starting to get a DEMO backlog.

5005

Well I don’t recommend Horrors of Space, if that’s any consolation! I guess the others are “investigate if it sounds interesting”. I’d say the first three are strong recommendations. The rest, probably down to taste.

I didn’t even mention the VR demos I tried out. :)

Also, be cautious of the demos I did not try out! I’m being quite selective.