Steam Next Fest: June 2025 Edition


I really enjoyed this one and liked the flow of gameplay. you control an android and you can add and remove chips like you can in Nier automata. cool art style, smooth gameplay. added to wishlist
 
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Took me by surprise and I got a little addicted. The art style is also a vibe. I went from being curious to wanting this day one whenever it comes out.
 
Someone try this. Weird ass art style. 4 player co-op thing, not my jam, but it's looks goofy.



Here's another co-op thing I need someone to try out. It looks like a good time, but I think it's 2 people required.



I'm getting sick of these games that have videos of story bullshit instead of gameplay on the discovery page.
 
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Wildgate - This was a lot more accessible and enjoyable than I had expected. Yes pre-made teams will stomp all over the competition as 4 players working together will make quick work of everyone else but as far as 'something different' in this genre I was pleasantly surprised. It basically does everything Marauders does but better imo and I am kind of hoping the full game delivers on its potential.
Played this through the tutorial and then a public match and was kinda anticlimactic to me. The pve part is pretty boring, just flying around collecting stuff and bringing it on board with some pretty standard enemies. Then after a while we were attacked by another ship so I thought "Oeh, fun!" and manned the guns. Then within seconds some guy gets on our ships, starts wrecking everything and within like what feels like 10 seconds our ship is gone and the match is over. Just reminds me of Battle Royales. Going around the map preparing for the battle and then the battle is over in seconds and there was your 15 minutes of preparing for basically nothing. But I played only 1 match, so might just be an unlucky experience ;x
 
So I played a lot of demos. A few games caught my eye, and I'll be following them closely:
  • Morbid Metal - Cool game that I wished had a parry system.
  • Moonlighter 2 - As I expected. The improved visuals are a huge plus.
  • Herdling - The concept is really cool. I just hope there is more gameplay variety in the later parts of the game.
  • Acts of Blood - Limited animations, a little janky and unpolished, and weird controls. But it's so impressive that 1 developer made it.
However, above all, BALL X PIT takes the cake. A few guys here recommended it. It's super fun and could be the next big indie game.
 
I haven't tried this one yet but it looks pretty cool


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This one is a very basic horde twin-stick shooter with roguelike elements but i like the ragdoll, the gore and the enemy ai


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Roguelike\vampsurv clone with pirate theme, looks cool


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This one is a vampsurv clone with some mockery of modern society, it's a bit rough but i like the crazy artstyle and effects


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Pretty sure i saw at least a boomer shooter in the demos...

Type steam fest 2025 best fps demo on yt.
 
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I think you mean this one:


And yes it is excellent! And you made me realize it's out next week so I'll definitely be grabbing that.

There's an 'Advance Access' version (which is discounted to the same price as the regular version) out today on Switch. So... it's out today on Switch. Reviews look decent, how does it compare to Hades and others in the genre?
 
There's an 'Advance Access' version (which is discounted to the same price as the regular version) out today on Switch. So... it's out today on Switch. Reviews look decent, how does it compare to Hades and others in the genre?
I think Gymwolf meant more in terms of overall mechanics rather than anything else. At least that's what I remember from the demo of the previous Next Fest.

It's definitely one of the better isometric combat Roguelikes in any case. Very enjoyable and super polished so while it might not reach Hades levels of detail in terms of the story and what not it certainly felt like a blast to play. So I'm definitely picking it up soon then.
 

Morbid Metal - Bit of an odd one. It's basically a 3D Beat-Em-Up with roguelite elements, published by Ubisoft. It looks and runs great but on the other hand the combat got stale fast and the camera was always too close to the character as well (or did not move around fast enough). The other character you unlock is cool and all but I've no idea why you would pick him over the first one as he seems worse in every way. I'm intrigued but at the same time I wouldn't be surprised if this comes out and fails miserably.


NINJA GAIDEN: Ragebound - Only completed the first level to know that this will be an excellent action platformer, one that I will enjoy a lot more than the clunky Blasphemous games in any case. Wasn't too sure about these devs handling a franchise that's known for fast and frenetic action but I admit they have pulled it off. Good stuff!


Absolum - Really need a co-op partner for this one to make it really shine but I can see myself putting in many hours into this. The visuals are outstanding and infusing Beat-Em-Up with roguelike elements is right up my alley. Perhaps this will be a nice palate cleanser for me and the boys for when we tire of Ravenswatch.
How is ravenswatch in solo?
 
Been looking forward to this and gave it a try. It's pretty damn good, like the best classic 2D Zelda games. My only complaint is that it talks too much, the gameplay gets interrupted with dialogue often. Imagine playing Link to the Past, but getting inside the castle and getting the sword takes involves pages of dialogue and talking with 4-5 hip & diverse personalities.
Game needs a ruthless editor with a red pencil to trim the script.




Mina was precisely what I expected. It's awesome. If I have to complain over something, it should have been a 16-bit style game instead of GBC style, and if they go with the GB aesthetic, don't have sub-pixel movement. Commit to making it authentic.




Previously Apple Arcade exclusive game is getting a PC version (Switch as well) It's a casual collectathon where you play various mini-games, find stuff & currencies to buy more stuff. A literal time waster and it's pretty fun. It's made for touch screen controls and I lost track of the mouse cursor a few times, it could use a custom pointer that pops a little bit better. Might be good on the Steam Deck.


 
How is ravenswatch in solo?
It's really really good, and was the best way to play for a long time actually. It still is but they have recently changed the difficulty scaling in co-op so it is a lot less frustrating now. We can actually finish runs now lol. On solo I have pretty much cleared the game with all characters on Darkness difficulty but have yet to really get anywhere proper with buddies. So yeah, very much recommended regardless if you have friends or not. :P
 
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BEAST : Bio Exo Arena Suit Team - Oh... not only does this look like a kids game but it's an actual kids game. Must be amazing if you're 6 and you have a Switch (as they so blatantly advertise in the main menu lol) but this is not for me. Skip!


RIFTSTORM - So this is some weird MOBA x Diablo x Roguelike amalgamation and... I absolutely loved it? It's very reminiscent of things like Livelock, Anvil, Helldivers or Alienation. I kinda dig the "Weavers" design as well and while the presentation is nothing special I appreciate how clean and crisp the overall presentation is. The tutorial segment is kind of a bad first impression to be fair but once you get to choose a character (or Weaver), pick a mission and start looting it really clicks. This will tide me and a buddy over just fine and it has come out of nowhere basically. Instant wishlist + follow for me.


Terminull Brigade - Defeated the first boss and quit soon after because I knew this was...

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It's got a strong visual aesthetic, smooth performance and a very enjoyable gameplay loop which convinced me that TermBrig is going to be another easy addictive romp. I don't know what's wrong with me but I just love stylized visuals mixed with hero shooter vibes and roguelike mechanics. The fact that it has co-op is the cherry on top. Excellent!
 
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Nice creepy vibe and music. No jump scares


Not sure what the full game will be like if the demo already shows as much as it does.
 
Just tried this. It's similar to classic RE (tank control) with Silent Hill vibe. The camera is kinda made me dizzy. (moving up and down)

 
Just tried this. It's similar to classic RE (tank control) with Silent Hill vibe. The camera is kinda made me dizzy. (moving up and down)


I remember watching the preview video. It's a view of a CRT TV screen. Is the game played in that view? Or that was just their choice for the video?
 
I remember watching the preview video. It's a view of a CRT TV screen. Is the game played in that view? Or that was just their choice for the video?
Yup, it's kinda like that. You can even chose PS2 or PS1 filter. So it's static camera like RE classic, but sometime the camera move sideway/updown
 
A couple more

This one looks very cool, you are a...penguin like and you fight underwater, looks kinda similar to zoe 2 gameplay...


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This one is the sequel of one of the bullet hell roguelite i liked the most


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A dude in here was asking for fps, this looks pretty decent


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Possessors, made by the same people who made hyper light drifter


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Images link to storepages.


Mina the Hollower - Yup this is great! It's a top-down action-adventure game from the Shovel Knight people and it's a hoot! It always astonishes me that devs these days still manage to put their own spin on the Zelda formulae and make it work too. It comes out in October which is the perfect time for this sort of thing. Can't wait!


Primal Planet - It's a 2D (co-op) survival action platformer that has a really cool soundtrack which instantly transported me to games of yesteryear but unfortunately the controls are very floaty. As such I thought the actual platforming was cumbersome and I couldn't really care for it. It seems well made otherwise but not really in the mood for this sort of thing now.


Morsels - Super weird but super charming. Banging soundtrack and I love the overall vibes this gives me, like some sort of cozy grimecore from the 90s lol. I did put the filter/shader on "subtle" instead of its default setting as that was bit too much for me. Also is it me or is this hard as nails? I could barely make any progress hah. Anyway this will definitely go on my wishlist as it seems like some kind of Bind of Isaac off-shoot but with Pokémon fusion mechanics and I'm all for that.
 
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Images link to storepages.


METAL EDEN - This is the 2nd time I've given this game a try during a Next Fest and it is still an unplayable mess. I mean look at this shit, rebinding the keys itself was an absolute nightmare (for some reason the menu itself is super cumbersome and laggy) and then it resulted in the game softlocking on a tutorial section:

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It runs very poor still as well so I don't think I'll be giving this another look ever again (well unless I somehow magically stumble upon a 4090 in SLI config so that this game might finally perform okay). What a shit show.


TEXNOPLAZM - Cool proof of concept I suppose but unless you really want to familiarize yourself with this game's intricate melee systems, in a very dull setting (you're basically going through a bunch of hallways), then there's plenty of more accessible first person melee titles out there. Not for me.


PIGFACE - Cool idea, where you pick missions from a HUB area and try to complete as many objectives as possible but it lacks in execution for me. The enemy models and their animations and voice lines are all kind of basic and with only one level available in the demo it's hard to say if it has any appeal beyond from what I played. Don't think I'll be keeping an eye out for this one.
 

Hordelord - See? This is why I love Next Fest. At a glance you might think this would be worth your time but then you actually play it and it's as derivative and boring as can be. Completely uninspired boomer slop (and that's coming from someone who loves Boomer Shooter slop). Next!


Slyders - A lot better than the previous game but that's not saying much. It's a FPS Vampire Survivorlike but it's all so garish looking. At this point I'd rather just play Serious Sam instead.


Brutal John 2 - Definitely the best out of these three I played but man... as something that's heavily inspired by Duke Nukem and it going for that old-school aesthetic it definitely just misses the mark and feels more archaic rather than anything else. I'll wait for The Last Exterminator instead as that was a perfect homage to these types of games.
 

plays a bit like doom. shooting and taking damage feels a bit like halo though but without the halo games feel. it has some parkour stuff but feels redundant. lumen and all looks nice. story seems interesting enough if you're interested in this genre, and cutscenes are really well done. i wish it had a proper boss fight or something for the end of demo. it felt a bit repetitive so far. i'm hesitant on it for now

there's a beta branch you can participate which really improves the performance with hardware ray tracing. you can find the code in the game's discussions page


very fun parkour game. even the prologue map seemed promising and i really liked the marathon mode (they unlock when you collect all secret coins in the prologue). flows nicely. don't expect mirror's edge quality but you may have fun with this one if you like parkour games


i will be honest, i didn't enjoy this one much. it has some weird design choices where you align a moving line with a box in the middle of the combat so that you get ability resets. it is similar to gears reload system. problem is, that is a cover shooter. this is not. and if you ignore this mechanic you cannot spam abilities, and when you cannot spam abilities, you're practically a glass cannon. abilities seem fun and nice on paper but they are really poor in gameplay.

it is also really difficult to understand that you're about to be hit by enemies. half the time I was like "what, how?"


you literally control a egg. default difficulty can be quite frustrating but also very rewarding when you finally reach to the top. super short demo though. i wish it had one or two more levels. i'd say give it a fair try lol
 
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Easily the best demo ive played so far, loved the combat and this is a definite purchase for me. I hope its sparks more hack and slash games and a general move away from the souls like as I'm getting tired of that.


Duke nukem inspired fps really fun good selection of guns overall had a great time with it.


God awful ran like shit and played like it too, I wasnt expecting greatness but I couldn't tolerate this for long which is shame as it looked like an indie action RPG with some jahoobies but even they couldn't save this.


Gave this a shot expecting some roughness and liked the premise however ran like shit and played like it, feels like a UE asset dump but the dragon flight was surprisingly decent.


This ran well and played well combat was fluid and fun but it just didnt do anything for me almost felt like an offline MMO just strange but this was a spur of the moment pick. have read little bits thats this is just a Xbox and pc version of an existing gacha game but never followed that thread very far so cant confirm that.


Loved this easily the second best demo for me but the performance is dog shit people with 5090's getting slideshows so they got a lot of work before this gets out the door but the premise, combat and traversal were all enjoyable.

Just Metal Eden and Holstin left now but wont get to then until tomorrow probably ive heard Metal Eden got some issues.
 
Kacho Kacho if you like absolum (and smashbros) you should like this one



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I just played this one and it's vampsurv with better graphic and kingdom hearts dummy ship type of upgrades and progression, pretty fucking cool



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Brew is a third person action rogue-lite with an alchemist school theme. I quite liked it and it's made by Norwegians? Heja Norge! Wishlisted 🌟.
The controller support could use some minor auto-aim instead of the brutalist lock-on system. '




Super weird roguelike where you upgrade and expand your train with new wagons.




Fun Spirited Away type setting where a girl finds herself in a divine realm and gets recruited to do deliveries to the Gods.
It's a great game, but it's way too mechanically complex. Controls are not intuitive at all and the tutorial was very annoying. Takes some effort to get into.




Where outrider mako failed, Everdeep Aurora is superbly intuitive in its controls.
It tries very hard to be "games as art" and succeeds while still being fun to play.


 
Kacho Kacho if you like absolum (and smashbros) you should like this one



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I just played this one and it's vampsurv with better graphic and kingdom hearts dummy ship type of upgrades and progression, pretty fucking cool



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Tried TerraTech and bounced off. Cool idea, not very interesting to play. The gummy ship stuff was wack. Just give me power ups without the micromanaging. Totally kills the pacing.
 
Played some Phase Zero and while the visuals are dope, the sound design and combat animations leave a lot to be desired. The dialogue lacks urgency and the ambience is muted. Zombie grabs and shotgun blasts feel weak. Has a lot of potential though as puzzle elements are well executed.
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P.S. Personal gripe that is easily remedied by extra content is that clothes found in locker are too colorful.
 
Tried TerraTech and bounced off. Cool idea, not very interesting to play. The gummy ship stuff was wack. Just give me power ups without the micromanaging. Totally kills the pacing.
They should add a button that auto-attach stuff for people who don't wanna custom the car too much.
 
thanks to everyone for their recommendations, this has been a fun demo experience. to sum it up

wishlist and likely to get

ninja gaiden
mio
jetrunner
the drifter

wishlist but I will have to think over it

he who watches
vextorial
metal eden
morbid metal
egging on
cleared hot

not for me

mythrealm
ferocious
tokyo underground killer
brutal john 2
bits and bops
 
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Nothing might come close to scratch the itch of Frostpunk and IXION.
But people should try this.


I think this might be the first game I have yet to come across myself. Not a fan of the art style, but I will give it a shot.




My last few demos I tried and forgot to report on.

The Horde Wants You Dead - (survivor clone) I liked quite a bit. I was surprised because it looks pretty simple in the vids. Definitely watching for that.

Mistaken - it's kind of a mix of Terraria and Kingdoms. It seems like it uses that Kingdoms engine or template. You are always running along the water. You build a base and crafting stations by gathering resources from mining and trees and kills. Build up your gear and go killing bosses that then give you access to new areas. I liked it. Good mix of simple and depth, for me personally.


Blitzkrieg Express - Looks like a game made for phones/tablet. Train winds toward your single stationary gunner and you shoot the cars to destroy the train before it hits your gunner. Roguelite upgrades. Thought it would be more fun than it was. Fine to waste time as a phone game maybe.

Downhill - not for me. I guess it's a crpg or arpg. I did not like the combat. The demo consists of these areas on the mapthat damage you when you touch it. You can go into a phase/shadow world for a few seconds to avoid it. But I reached an area that had blocked zones besides the black shit you weren't supposed to touch. I was quickly annoyed. I got past it eventually and fought a boss that seemed to really avoid the fact that you have damage avoiding dodge. Did not like it.
 
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