Steam Next Fest Highlights - June

[@Evanz111]

I’ve been struggling to keep up with all the game announcements and demos recently, so thank you especially for this coverage!

[@veevoir]

For some time now the Fests seem to be announced but there is never a good overview that would help people check out what they are really interested in. At this point I pretty much wait for Mort and/or Splattercat to pump some videos out early on and then decide, because otherwise it is just daunting.

[@gygeryb]

My favourite demo so far has been Bloomtown. It really seems like a great cozy version of Persona with a nostalgic small town mystery vibe (reminds me of many cartoons, mystery books etc.)

[@coconutologist]

Thanks for the video. The two games that have stood out to me are Bloomtown: A Different Story, and Demonschool. Onward to 400k. All glory to the algorithm.

[@CanOpener-bl9dw]

Thank you for covering these games. To me, Mirthwood grabs my attention.

[@bigcrazewolf]

Anyone that likes sims and wants to run a 1930's Hollywood studio, give Hollywood Animal, it has lots of potential and reminds me of a good Paradox sim.

[@JessicadeHaan-sw3vy]

It's interesting to see how many wildly diverse demos are available outside of my own bubble of random cosy Unpacking-esque games that I've somehow fallen into. My personal favourites are probably Doggy Don't Care or Tiny Glade, but they're quite random/"pointless" (but no less enjoyable) in comparison to these showcased demos. Besides that, I'm working behind the scenes on Golden Lap which (you guessed it) also has a demo up. It's a minimalist racing mgmt sim inspired by 70s/80s open-wheel motorsport and developed by Funselektor (the dev has a sort of cult following within the racing scene), so if that sounds interesting to anybody, feel free to check it out :)

[@d34rth]

Shoutout to Bloom Town, a turn-based RPG that's Stranger Things meets Persona.

[@kapitankapital6580]

I really enjoyed the demo of "Tactical Breach Wizards", very funny writing and engaging if somewhat simple combat

[@neodav00001]

I loved Gunpoint and got a lot of enjoyment out of Heat Signature, so Tactical Breach Wizards is definitely on my list.

[@SilverLife6]

A fantastic demo. The combat kind of reminds me of Into the Breach with pushing enemies into hazards and such.

[@maze8974]

@@SilverLife6 I had the same into the breach feelings. Not my taste but it's good if u like this king of game.

[@Shuro2005]

I Agree, I really enjoyed the Demo to Tactical Breach Wizards too. But sadly it is less a tactics game and more a puzzle game.

[@uh9139]

Yup, I'd be also interested on your take on "Tactical Breach Wizards"!

[@prestonsquirepublishing]

Tactical Breach Wizards definitely deserves a mention here as well. Sumerian Six is another great looking TRPG but I haven't tried it yet.

[@buiminh92]

also check out Tactical Breach Wizards, cool concept TRPG game

[@irabucc469]

Is it turn based? I like turn based battles

[@maze8974]

@@irabucc469 demo played a bit like into the breach.

[@madkoch12]

Kriegsfront Tactics reminds me of the Front Mission games, if it can live up to that aspiration it´ll be a fantastic tactical rpg. metal slug tactics is more like Into the Breach so more into the puzzle side of tactical rpgs.

[@abraxis59]

There are a few demos I tried that I think that are worth playing but I am not sure if any are your style: Dungeons of Hinterberg, Dungeon Clawler (this was surprisingly fun and actually had strategy), Lucky Hunter, Drill Core, and lower budget Hades II er... I mean Sworn. I also liked Flintlock which I would call a souls-LITE. However, I'm surprised you liked Enotria. There was very limited key rebinding (in fact it seemed they only had "templates") and they were bad enough to be a complete deal breaker for me. Did I miss something?

[@MisterEnsayne]

Looking forward to your deeper look at Flintlock. Just waiting for the Game Pass drop to try it myself.

[@security9999]

First dwarf is another one to check out. Playable dwarf with a mech suit and a playable dragon companion. It's a bit crafting, city building, open world, worth a look. Lots of fun.

[@MichaelCordeiro]

Great video! Love Flintlock too, really pleasantly surprised with it and the demo convinced me for a day 1 purchase. I also enjoyed The Operator, which is like the X-Files meets Spycraft.

[@ayuvir]

Hey Mort. I'd like to ask if you're willing to cover a charming little tactics game called One-Inch Tactics. it released at the end of last month and has received almost no major coverage, which is a shame because it's very in-depth with its systems and a very interesting game overall by a small indie studio.

[@TehSquare]

Seconding this, the developers did the old PC-98 turn based mech game Power Dolls and it’s a lot of fun

[@EduELCaza]

Looking forward for The Alters and Wild Bastards demo

[@rmdmariscal1899]

Just finished playing The Alters and i very excited with the premise

[@yoagie]

Love seeing Tactical Breach Wizards getting some shout outs

[@Al_N_Infer]

SacriFire looks pretty cool, a Jrpg with great artstyle and a sweet soundtrack.

[@clifcorcoran9917]

"... makes me want to be like the worst neighbor..." I guess moving into Mortym's neighborhood should come with a warning 😂

[@CSG370]

Great video as always! Looks like I'll try Kill Knight and Kreigsfront next. Some demos I've enjoyed: The Operator, Hell Of An Office, and Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure.

[@toddkimo8499]

6:21 The premise to "Beyond these Stars" is so ridiculous that Mort can't help but leak a laugh

[@ElDavido023]

Check out Blue Prince. Its kind of a roguelike deck builder, but it seems pretty unique. You navigate a mansion by choosing each individual room as you open their doors. The roomas all have their own layouts and effects, and you try and navigate to find a hidden room far to the back of the house.

[@barefootwalk1798]

+1 I'm on my fifth game through the (albeit short) demo. Using a house as the main game mechanic makes it a rather intuitive game, and finding hints to the puzzles strewn over the various rooms is not only fun, but provides a sort of natural progression between runs/days.

[@brunokingz]

Oh wow, how unique

[@JohnClarkW]

I have seen a lot of stuff on Beyond These Stars, and Mirthwood. I am waiting to see the demo of The Alters, which seems like an interesting story game with that seems to have the right amount of weird to it.

[@Noktourne]

The Alters was a standout for me, some typical survival crafting elements but the whole hook with the other characters sold me on it

[@neodav00001]

Kriegsfront looks interesting; it seems very very veeeeeery Front Mission from the footage you showed. Granted, a mech-based SRPG is bound to invite that comparison, but I'd be surprised if there wasn't some influence there, or even an attempt at a spiritual successor.

[@Genoan01]

Hello, Thanks for making the video. I've played the Metal Slug Tactics demo and the full version might be fun.

[@sodapopinksi667]

That one looks promising. Hope it's good.

[@Jasta85]

Saw footage for Kriegsfront Tactics a year or so ago and nothing much after that, glad to see some updates on it. Looking forward to most of these games.

[@plixeon]

Enotria, Lies of P, Steelrising. I am really liking the Italian puppet themes.

[@betterthantelevision]

Once Human is totally up my alley, but of course they have a season thing in game that totally turns me off to it.

[@TiaMacArthur]

Hey Mort, thank you for all the hard and awesome work that you do. Your reviews and guides helped me find great games and also eliminate those I wouldn't enjoy. So, THANK YOU :) As for the demos, did you play The Alters? I was intrigued by the concept but after playing the demo I am now fully on-board and can't wait for the release. It was absolutely fantastic.

[@n3rgal166]

The alters has one of the best demos i ever played, the game is so unique l loved every single second i played of it everyone should play it imo

[@dr.virus1295]

The fact I'm more interested in these indie games than the games revealed in the Xbox Showcase really says a lot. That's just me, but I have to wonder if others out there are more interested for Steam indie/small team games than they are for AAA. Edit: But what's better about the Steam Next Fest is the demos: you can try the game, see how it is & decide if you want to play the full game. If there's an option to play demos of anything shown in the Xbox Showcase, then please, let me know.

[@TehSquare]

Sumerian Six by the Showgunners devs was a fun real time tactics demo. Uncle Chop’s Rocket Shop was a lot of fun, kinda Cult of the Lamb meets Hardspace Shipbreakers

[@Xiuhtec]

Looking forward to anything that *doesn't* fit into one of the six or so big current boxes: Souls likes, card/deck mechanics, rogue likes, twin stick shooters, tower defense, and city builders.

[@samantha_t99]

So basically just racing games?

[@davidmurray3542]

Don't forget "open world survival crafting"!

[@SurfersCode]

surfing?

[@acksawblack]

Like 90% of games on the market then? You are talking about a very specific section of the indie market. Also souls like just means action combat at this point.

[@brunokingz]

You don't want to play anything, gotcha

[@mxzombie81]

can you get any badges from following the next fest instructions?

[@SpecShadow]

Flitlock SoD feels like Remntants 1 and 2 that also got tagged by "soulslike" but were their own thing. Former also focused on ranged combat while later seems balanced between those styles.

[@karohemd2426]

The only soulslike element is that you lose your "Reputation" (XP for buying skills and upgrades) when you die and you have to pick it up again where you died.

[@_george84]

I agree with you about Flintlock. I played the demo and it played great.

[@Holesale00]

Kriegsfront is really cool, big front mission vibes.

[@thomashooper2451]

The Enotria demo let me down, but Kriegsfrint Tactics really impressed me. The Souls-like fan in me is sad, but the mecha nerd in me is excited. Blade Chimera and Tactical Breach Wizards went straight on the wishlist. I am looking forward to the Flintlock, Kill Knight, and Metal Slug Tactics demos later this week.

[@TheLamppost444]

I would highly suggest checking out The Alters before Steam Next Fest is over. I was completely taken be surprise over the story beats and it really impressed me.

[@Somebody374-bv8cd]

Setting aside how a moving space whale actually manages to maintain an atmosphere that allows colonization, beyond 3 stars looks interesting.

[@brunokingz]

Well, if you can accept a moving space whale, you can accept anything lol

[@ZDrive]

I had played some of the Mirthwood Demo before Next Fest and it was a lot of input lag for me. Was this the case for anyone else? Does the current demo suffer from input lag? Hollywood Animal demo was better than expected imo. It's a Movie studio Management sim

[@RainD4]

Try out Blade Chimera. It's a metroidvania by a Japanese indie developer that usually handles other IPs like Touhou, Record of Lodoss War, KonoSuba, etc, but this time it's an original IP. The games they made are generally short but they never miss, even including the rare occasion 2 years ago where they made a shmup instead. My only complaint for the demo is that it ends not long after you start getting more interesting abilities.

[@seanaugust]

Kriegsfront looks cool, gonna go check that out. I've liked what I played of Tactical Breach Wizards and Wander Stars so far.

[@tbegadfly]

Don't sleep on "Sumerian Six", i bet you are gonna love it and the demo is excellent. Its from the same team who created "Showgunners".

[@AyarARJ]

I enjoyed Showgunners. Probably wouldn't have played without having seen Mort's coverage. I'll keep a lazy eye out for Sumerian Six.

[@tbegadfly]

@@AyarARJ yeah i wouldn't have played showgunners without Mort's coverage either, i did and i loved it. Thats why i believe Mort will love Sumerian Six also. May i ask why you didn't like it?

[@JaredHerdlevar]

no youtube jazz? 🥺

[@telemachusr9598]

You should check out Demon School. That's another Tactical / Strategy RPG worth taking a look at.

[@jemandanders6160]

"All in the Game" is really promising.

[@mitchellcole8863]

I’m excited for Demon School. Checked out the demo earlier today

[@RedEyedJEdi410]

Tactical Breach Wizard is so good. Gonna try The Alters later.

[@Ari_2b]

Thanks for the highlights, Mort! Hope you have a great Father's Day weekend ^-^b

[@JesseDylanMusic]

Metal Slug Tactics was awesome, quite a surprise. Definitely check it out!

[@thecaptainhuge]

I’ve been enjoying The Alters demo so far! I think it would be a good game for you to try and review in the future.

[@DarthSchum]

Just tried Metal Slug Tactics. Very nice imho. It brings its own flavor to the genre with simple neat mechanics and small maps, but it remains the same trpg formula.

[@ganiakyuz]

what do you think about about fight school simulator? I finished 3 times the demo. ):

[@BadManiac]

I played the Once Human closed beta in a large "guild" and was able to beat all available content.It's quite different, think Hellgate London meets the Division. It's absolutely playable all the way through solo, only some "endgame" content and bosses require some multiplayer. It's Well worth checking out.

[@TheMetalfreak360]

I really enjoyed ZEPHON, from the people behind the Warhammer 40K Gladius strategy game. I had to stop myself from only playing that.

[@lyss1305]

Flintlock looks pretty fun, tried the demo and i think i'll get the game once it comes out.

[@ERHershman1]

Probably showing my age by saying it, but I thought the Riven remake looked gorgeous. I’ve always liked the original game, so I’m looking forward to revisiting it.

[@dempa3]

What are the differences between action combat games and souls likes?

[@grandlancer]

Usually a stamina bar Devil May Cry or Prince of Persia would be action combat but not souls-like

[@dempa3]

@@grandlancer Thank you!

[@javiernovoa8756]

Definitely check out Metal Slugs Tactics. Fun pixel art, rogue-lite elements, and genuinely difficult combat scenarios.

[@WernerNel-e8y]

Awesome video. Thanks. How do we feel about Vendir: Plague of Lies?

[@MortismalGaming]

mobile game ported to PC so Im not really interested

[@cory1187]

Mortim id like to hear your thought on the dragon age veilguard gameplay, thanks for all the content with these showcases!

[@MortismalGaming]

Tomorrow

[@purgedome2386]

Mirthwood is the one I'm watching. Still love top down games and sims.

[@ss304_82]

I played the truck simulator, vampire dynasties & air empire

[@chreosgaming4687]

I enjoyed Tactical Breach Wizards. From the demo it seems like more of a puzzle game with a tactics veneer.

[@shitpostfella5528]

Not sure if it was included in the Next Fest, but you should check out Dread Delusion. It's an RPG with a very distinct "old" art style. Very enjoyable.

[@Pedone_Rosso]

The Flintlock title sure looks like a cool action game, with a kind of movement in combat that seems interesting (not as acrobatic as all the recently shown titles' trailers from eastern developers, more foot on the ground but still quite fast and flashy) And everybody who tried it seemed to like it. Kill Knight looks cool game-play wise. Wouldn't it be more charming with a more interesting environment, rather than simple geometric shapes? Thanks for your videos! P.S. Also, I've just watched an interesting trailer: "Conscript", described as Survival-Horror, location WW1 trenches of Verdun, protagonist a lone French soldier searching for his m.i.a. brother. I didn't try it, but this also has a free demo.

[@ashtonfrancis112]

Im looking forward to myrthwood

[@Kimble145]

If you're into Persona games, check out Bloomtown, the demo was great.

[@parkerdixon-word6295]

Oh shit, this looks like it's 110% my jam. I know you probably meant this for Mortem, but I wanted to thank you for leading me to it.

[@deivid.adam-]

Sunnyside is also a treat for Persona fans, as the devs themselves are big fans of the series. A different genre, but otherwise heavily inspired by and following a similar setting to P4.

[@williamamos8296]

Some games with demos. Project Haven Survive the Fall Forgotten but Unbroken Holstin SOF: Enemy from the future Those Who Rule Swordhaven: Iron Conspiracy The Necromancer's Tale Sword of Convallaria City builder games - Kaiserpunk and Republic of Pirates Unit tactics games - ZEPHON Headquarters: World War II Game out now no demo - Arhaekon

[@neoey]

Can't wait to find some new gems 👀

[@mr.shneeblie5330]

Personal highlight so far: The Big Catch, a mario64 inspired platformer.

[@PatrickWDunne]

Flintlock is pretty fun so far, but a little rough around the edges. I hope they make the enemies a little more dynamic. It's weird seeing different human enemies have the same face/hair and that they don't even really talk.

[@parkerdixon-word6295]

Metal Slug Tactics is an absolute home run of bringing the classic art and sound of metal slug to life in a new tactics game, it's genuinely excellent for that. The actual tactics, I'm not sure about, but it's also sort of a tactics rogue-like, and I feel like bouncing off of Hades 2 has left me pretty deep into Roguelike Fatigue, so not being sold on it might be more a me problem. Though it is weird that they have a mechanic to get your soldiers to work together to kill enemies, but when you set it up with the easiest soldier to get those combos, you're 1 point of damage short of actually getting a kill on most basic enemies, which is super tilting to me. Also, other people have suggested Tactical Breach Wizards, and I think that game might be Mortem's jam.

[@neodav00001]

Metal Slug Tactics is such a weird shift considering the series' fast-paced legacy, but I'm definitely down to give it a try. Going turn-based worked for Like A Dragon, maybe this will go almost as smoothly.

[@parkerdixon-word6295]

@@neodav00001 The Metal Slug art and sound design is *immaculate* so the demo is worth playing just for old-fashioned nostalgia.

[@earwig1000]

As a weirdo who liked Viscera Clean-up Detail, I really liked Goblin Clean-up.

[@jamescunningham8092]

I ask you, how many soulslikes starring Italian puppets do we need?

[@MortismalGaming]

3

[@christophertheofilos1063]

All of them

[@karohemd2426]

Playing the Flintlock demo atm. The thing I don't like is having to claim Reputation. I already have enough on my mind during combat so that is just a little too much extra. :(

[@auglin]

Been playing a fun tower/slash hero defense game called The fate of Baldr. Fun space-viking theme. Kinda like orcs must die

[@zemo2916]

I will never get tired of souls-likes.

[@DanielFalca0]

I in the other hand cannot stand anymore. We stuck in the souls combat like we did in the 2000 during the GoW era.

[@Cassandra112]

I tried 2. Aksa and Fera. Aksa is like a carbon copy of Valhiem.. but with village building. I was hooked pretty fast. very solid start. Fera is another survival settlement builder. based on monster hunter and craftopia.. it is very floaty and jank. not ready for prime time.

[@FunkyPunk1995]

Mirthwood reminds more of fable as well. I feel like its fable x stardew. I feel like calling it a farming sim isnt quite right but maybe im wrong

[@Dungrer]

Really looking forward for "华夏史诗：战国 (HuXia: Warring states)" the english translation ain't that good but the game looks promising

[@PatrickWDunne]

Too many awesome games on the horizon, including that one Lego game

[@tony7t2]

Once Human looks suspiciously like Control to me

[@erikskoog8415]

Good show sir

[@paulianhodgson]

Might not be your kinda thing, but I really enjoyed Hollywood Animal demo

[@edefonce]

Check out necro story. A small turn base rpg with nice graphics.

[@schimenykrikets9692]

o wow, you filtered by most popular, great job! so valuable!

[@MortismalGaming]

Aww thanks! But that would have looked like Once Human Tiny Glade Test Drive The Alters Wizard of Legend 2 Reka Metal Slug Tactics Endzone 2 Looks like you made a generic whiny inaccurate comment! So valuable!

[@kaidorade1317]

Other than steelrising, Nioh 1-2 and Lies of P there aren’t any souls likes that I enjoy. IMO we are getting over saturated with them. I’m sure Shadow of the Erd Tree will be successful so that won’t help things ha

[@RyuRonin1]

Early view crew rise up 🙏

[@veevoir]

There is one more highlight I found in this fest: Heart of The Machine. Which is somewhere between turn based strategy and sandbox/story game about AI being born and having to create a foothold and future for itself in corporate dystopia. This comes from the folks that made AI Wars.

[@semihamf1385]

Alot of games call themselves souls like but they will never be like souls.

[@onatgz]

free comment.

[@MADVESSEL]

METAL SLUG TACTICS

[@TheGronkus]

Gronk!

[@METro_KJ]

I've played too menu demos and have too many left. Standouts so far: I am Your Beast - level based FPS from the El Paso Elswhere team. Veritus - Old school Zelda Like. Hollow Body - old school survival horror. Constance - Hand drawn Metroidvania

[@Ddotsattack]

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