Steam Next Fest 2021 - Gaben's own Master Race e3

[ZMOT]

With e3 being a dumpster fire (again), Valve is doing their own thing with blackjack & hookers demos and streams (over 700, according to the announcement):

https://store.steampowered.com/sale/nextfest

Post hidden gems and other fine stuff like Chinese Final Fantasy, Summer of Love Simulator, Beat Saber Noir, "I can't breef": The Game and games snoys couldn't handle (because sony wouldn't let them).

Also including demos of:
Ys IX: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1351630/Ys_IX_Monstrum_Nox/
New Syberia: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1410640/Syberia_The_World_Before/
Warhammer 40k: Battlesector: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1295500/Warhammer_40000_Battlesector/

inb4 >indieshit
While true, this also means:
- lower price, smaller game. no $60 + tip GAAS crap that overstays it's welcome
- gameplay over graphics, they can't bury you in 4k AAA assets, so they have to make up with a distinctive artstyle and gameplay
- solo devs/small teams doing what they want, no focus tested committee approved designs targeting the lowest common denominator
- niche stuff you won't find elsewhere targeting a niche market (lucky you if you're part of it).

Currently grabbing Song of Iron, solely based on the visuals and the metroid announcement getting me into the mood of another metroidvania.

 

[Just Dont]

New Siberia game?! They are rebooting it or doing another installment in the series?

 

[Marissa Moira]

New Siberia game?! They are rebooting it or doing another installment in the series?

The old dude that did the art to the previous games apparently posted new shit. So I imagine it's all new. It was a bunch of prehistoric looking animals. So it could be something relating to Hyperborea.

 

[SSF2T Old User]

Chinese Final Fantasy,

Holy shit, you weren't kidding about that.
>No English Support
So it's literal chink pandering... great.

 

[Decepticon Spy]

I'm liking Kapital and the Shootout Simulator so far. I might get them once they release.

 

[Witthel]

So far the only game that piqued my interest was the one called Severed Steel.

 

[Finder of Games]

Thus far I've enjoyed

• Severed Steel, Sci-fi FPS with lots of dive and bullet time manipulation, and a solid arcade mode. Just feels very fluid and snappy. Pretty much the darling of this year's fest, by most accounts.
• Dread Templar, Boomer Shooter developed by T19 Games and published by 1C in their new-retro FPS line.. Originally it was called HellHunt and I've been following it since then. That demo is no longer up but I'd bet if you tweeted the dev he'd probably offer it up to do a comparison, unless 1C told him not to or he doesn't have it.
• Super Dream Dasher, 2d hop n bop designed for IL competition and repetitive level play. Cute, lighthearted, I can see the levels getting pretty demanding later on, too. Something about it reminds me of Kirby Canvas Curse, the DS game, too.
• Everlasting Guilt, FPS boss rush. The bosses have some gimmick or unique quirk that change up the fights to not all be too samey, makes sense, it directly claims influences like Furi and Titan Souls.
• Chernobyl Liquidators Simulator, you're in Chernobyl, you're fixing shit up shortly after the meltdowns. Pretty narrative driven, and very much so an interesting change from the S.T.A.L.K.E.R./Metro-esque flood of ruskie games we've seen as of late. Dunno if I'd buy it but the demo is totally worth a download and playthrough.
• Gloomwood AKA "Thief With Guns" AKA "It's Not Bloodborne!" and the other meme redirects the publisher (New Blood Interactive, who also publish Ultrakill, Amid Evil, and DUSK) are pretty well known for. More an honorable mention as the demo is the same one from last year, but a few optimization touchups, and a couple fun new secrets. If you haven't tried this one, give it a look.
• Tormented Souls. Survival Horror, clearly inspired heavily by early resi titles, I'm no expert on horror games, but I thought it was fun.

Honestly this year is pretty good, a lot of titles caught my eye right out the gate.

 

[ZMOT]

tried so far:
song of iron - really dig the basic artstyle and how he uses lightning, but the controls are a bit clunky for my taste. might write some feedback later (another perk of the whole thing is that lot of devs are actively watching the forums etc for feedback during the week)
tiny thor - so classic it hurts, feels like og gianna sisters (in a good way), with soundtrack by no other than chris hülsbeck
sable - probably the most eye-catching, would've never expected someone to use ligne claire for a video game. they even use the same font as tintin.

still got some platformers to go through like grime (interesting boss design), glimmer in mirror (for the child of light vibe), greak (although that's published by team17, and those are on my shitlist), tandem, frontier hunter - and outside of those little witch in the woods, because fuck you I like it.
those are just the ones I noticed at first glance, really feels they overdid it this time with the amount of games, or should've picked 2 weeks for it.

New Siberia game?! They are rebooting it or doing another installment in the series?

from the title would assume prequel/spinoff, but haven't really looked into it.
bigger question is how pozzed it's gonna be.

Holy shit, you weren't kidding about that.
>No English Support
So it's literal chink pandering... great.

is it pandering if they pander to themselves? it's literally chinese final fantasy (first it was a joke, then I looked into it): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend_of_Sword_and_Fairy

gave the game a spin out of curiosity, looks damn good while running fine, and apparently it's gonna have english subs at launch according to a developer post in the forums, which bumped it pretty far up on my "might check it out later" list. of course it's wuxia2themax, which means it's an acquired taste.

 

[Gay_Frog]

Well my suggestion:
Unmetal https://store.steampowered.com/app/1203710/UnMetal/
It's metal gear from super nintendo that some one read the script and tried to spin as a joke.
Edit:
Synthetik 2: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1471410/SYNTHETIK_2/
If don't know watch seth video about the 1.

 

[Cubanodun]

Im going to shill Wolfstride because it has robots and you can punch shit with them and for that it shall be blessed

 

[Judge Dredd]

Im going to shill Wolfstride because it has robots and you can punch shit with them and for that it shall be blessed

I remember that game from years ago. Is this a port, a sequel, or was it just in development hell?

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

Well my suggestion:
Unmetal https://store.steampowered.com/app/1203710/UnMetal/
It's metal gear from super nintendo that some one read the script and tried to spin as a joke.

I'm kind of psyched about Unmetal, I watched a couple of minutes of a stream and the tone seems right.

 

[Judge Dredd]

I'm kind of psyched about Unmetal, I watched a couple of minutes of a stream and the tone seems right.

Unmetal https://store.steampowered.com/app/1203710/UnMetal/
It's metal gear from super nintendo that some one read the script and tried to spin as a joke.

There's a similar game called Never Stop Sneakin'. From the guy that made Dust: An Elysian Tale. It's a parody of the PS1 MGS. Never played it myself, but I thought I'd mention it.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/792880/Never_Stop_Sneakin/

The trailer for Never Stop Sneakin' makes it look like pure cringe. Ditto Unmetal. But then I have a hatred of rogue-like mechanics, references, and "lol-so-random/quirky!" humour.

Dread Templar, Boomer Shooter developed by T19 Games and published by 1C in their new-retro FPS line.. Originally it was called HellHunt and I've been following it since then. That demo is no longer up but I'd bet if you tweeted the dev he'd probably offer it up to do a comparison, unless 1C told him not to or he doesn't have it.

Played the demo. It's ok. Graphics are nice, but is a bit stingy with the ammo and bullet time (at least for me, maybe this changes in the late game).