Next Fest 25|2 Day 2

I've been noticing this Next Fest has a lot of trend chasers on top of the regular low effort stuff some 'devs' post in hopes of being the next Only Up. It's kinda sad, especially since with the demos being randomly ordered it makes it harder to find the actually potentially good ones. Oh well, I try my best.

Highlight: AEROMACHINA: Test-Flight

Unit Down Charge

Unit Down Charge on Steam

A futuristic action rail-shooter! Action packed, and full of quirky character dialogues, unique level designs, fully animated story cutscenes, and challenging boss battles!

STEAM

Unit Down Charge is an on-rails shooter, whose cast feels inspired by the StarFox franchise. You can tell this game was made by one person (+VAs) which to some will add charm, to others might feel a bit too simple. The game itself has you swap between three characters to optimize your shooting, and while short it seems it could be good fun while it lasts.

Ship, Inc.

Ship, Inc. on Steam

Run a wholesome shipping business! Ship, Inc. is a cozy job simulator where you are a packaging employee in a parcel shipment company. Follow the shipment orders, choose the package size, and prepare parcels. Upgrade your office, deliver orders safely and quickly!

STEAM

A game about packing deliveries, and everything else surrounding it, from buying boxes and sticker, to duct tape and bubble wrap. Feels like it has a lot of ideas, a good aesthetic, but not much in terms of game design, as a lot of systems feel not thought out fully. As one of many examples, there is a rotate mechanic that lets you fit stuff in boxes, but who knows what it does because you can place the items when they heavily overlap, and sometimes you can't place them when they barely touch. The game is playable, but that's the most I can say about it

A Simple Ball Game

A Simple Ball Game on Steam

A spherical action platformer where you guide a ball into a goal by... rotating the entire level?!

STEAM

A Simple Ball Game is exactly what you might expect: a game about rotating the level so that the ball rolls to its destination. Add to that switches, moving platforms, and optional objectives; and you have a classic mix of a game that's tough but fair, even if the camera feels unruly at times. Really worth a play.

You Sure You Wanna Drink This?

You sure wanna drink this? on Steam

Dive into a whimsical turn-based RPG where logic meets alchemy! When a mysterious force steals all potion-making knowledge, you’ll master remedies on the fly! Analyze bizarre ingredients, reverse-engineer their effects, and craft tactical potions to outsmart enemies.

STEAM

The idea is that you're a pharmacist who lost all her knowledge, and need to now experiment with different potion ingredients to rediscover what they do during turn-based combat and world exploration. Sounds interesting enough, but gets bogged down by a lot of things requiring specific plants for solutions, and the mediocre translation only further muddies the already unclear waters. In reality it ended up being clicking whatever potion kept the battle going, until I stumbled upon the ones that worked, sometimes requiring multiple resets. More struggle than fun

Let Them Trade

Let Them Trade on Steam

Build a network of cities that produce and trade resources, upgrade your castle, and protect the cities from cheeky bandits. Tinker with the economy at your own pace, and watch the charming wooden world grow into a lively and thriving kingdom.

STEAM

This is an economy simulator, disguised as a video game, that pretends to be a tabletop board game. It's a nifty combo, and one I found more interesting to watch develop than actively play, meaning I queued up a bunch of tasks and let the economy grow on its own. Slow and chill.

AEROMACHINA: Test-Flight

AEROMACHINA on Steam

You are Bogey, an android evolved from the remains of abandoned aircraft – but fight and flight are the only things keeping you from returning to scrap. Battle across the remnants of Earth and solve humanity’s disappearance in this nostalgic 3D Platformer Metroidvania!

STEAM

A brilliant 3D Metroidvania. Test-Flight is a standalone demo that showcases a compressed version of the full game, including a large amount of collectible mechanics that expand where you can go. The level design is really good, having you constantly loop back through areas and tease new things to try and get to; all while peppering increasingly difficult groups of enemies and platforming challenges.