Steam Next Fest: June 2025 Edition


Bits & Bops - I kind of suck at this but it's such a chill experience otherwise that I might have to snap it up at some point. If only to get a break from all the Roguelike and FPS violence that I usually play lol. Recommended for if you're into rhythm type games. Deceptively tricky though!


Cleared Hot - Don't really care for weird job missions that come after the explosive opening one (I just wanna blast stuff away in an Apache) so I hope the full game keeps that stuff to a minimum. But otherwise this is a really good homage to the Strike games of old.


Raiders of Blackveil - Easy to pick up and hard to master, or so I imagine. It's a MOBA-like but PVE with, you guessed it, Roguelike elements! I quickly found myself glued to the screen while playing this and so it goes on the wishlist and gets a follow. Will have to get a friend to jump on board here as well. There's too many of these co-op MOBA things coming out now but I'm all for it.
 
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Jump Ship - This game looked really exciting from all the promo stuff but playing it feels more like a chore. I couldn't even make it out of the prologue as the jump drive thing wouldn't charge for some reason. I read that you had to go back to the power grid and mess with that stuff to make "everything green". I don't have time for all this meandering nonsense any more in games. I don't know why devs feel the need to make everything so cumbersome. Just let us play the game and if you ARE going to resort to mini-game puzzle stuff at least make it more intuitive and easy to control. No doubt this will be a ton better a year or two after its launch with a ton of QoL updates. But hey at least it runs flawlessly!


EDENS ZERO - Mid anime gets a mid game (and that's being generous). Pretty much the epitome of phoning it in on all fronts as it looks horrid and plays even worse. Even a die-hard Edens Zero fan is going to be hard pressed to find any enjoyment here. Avoid.


Eriksholm The Stolen Dream - This is very very impressive. It reminds me of A Plague's Tale but from a top down perspective (free camera movement thankfully). The presentation is really quite something and the characters are all very well animated and written. Progress carries over to the main game and they let you play a good portion of it as well apparently as I finished chapter 1 and it just keeps going after that. I quit it though as I want to save the rest for the full experience. One of the easiest recommendations of the Next Fest if you're looking for a story based adventure with lovely visuals and soundtrack.
 
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final honorable mention


two other people already mentioned it but yeah, the game is quite charming. dialogues are hilarious (in a good way for me) and art style is really unique
 
I was really hoping for a Scramble Vice demo... hopefully the game still gets released in 2025.

I would like to see that, but I imagine the game's still far too early in development to release anything remotely ready for public play, at least outside of a movement test or something.

Maybe we'll get a demo by the end of the year.
 
Finally got around to trying to Absolum demo... I enjoyed it, but some paths are hard. I only reached the underking once (I suppose that's the "final boss" for the demo?), and I still have to beat him.

Also, the dwarf feels much better than the elf. The "thief" I have unlocked, but not played with a lot yet. Is there multiplayer in the demo?
 
Final tally for me of must-play bangers is:
  • Ball X Pit
  • Hellclock
  • Holstin
  • The Drifter
  • Absolum
  • Riftstorm
  • Mina the Hollower
  • Eriksholm The Stolen Dream
Love Next Fest, cya in the next one chat. :goog_blowing_kiss:
 
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