It’s time again for another one of Steam’s “Next Fest” events. For the unaware, Next Fest is where (quite literally) hundreds of demos are available to play for exciting upcoming indie games. We decided to put together an article discussing our highlights of the event, which ends February 28th so be sure to check out any demos that interest you before then.
GigaBash
I’m a simple man. You give me a kaiju game and my butt is in that seat ready to play it. GigaBash is an upcoming arena brawler that sees you playing as a giant mecha or kaiju as you duke it out while the city crumbles around you.
The first thing that stood out to me was how interesting the cast of creatures was. I’ve played a lot of these types of games, and very few of them make me want to try each one out. I was hopping from match to match playing around with each character before settling on my slug buddy and had a lot of fun seeing what sort of tricks each character had.
Not only is the cast varied, but their move sets are as well. I was surprised to see how intricate you can get with GigaBash’s combo system, as it has two main attacks, two block attacks, and a dash attack. You’re more than capable of going into the game and mashing buttons, but if you take the time to practice you can actually string together some pretty fun combos. On top of that, each character can grow into a bigger version after you’ve built up enough energy to really bring the pain. Or if you’re quick enough, crack the orb that drops during a match (Smash Bros style) to be able to unleash a devastating super.
Something I particularly enjoyed was how interactive the levels themselves were. A volcano stage would slowly fall apart during the battle, or a forest village by a river might encounter a massive flood. My favorite stage featured a hidden missile you could ride into the air to shoot back down on your opponents. This kind of interactivity adds a nice mix-up to the gameplay to keep things fresh while you’re chucking buildings at each other.
I’ve been hoping for a game to recapture the fun I had in titles like Godzilla: Save the Earth or War of the Monsters, and GigaBash just might be it.
My Friendly Neighborhood
It probably sounds like a psychotic mixture, but if you were to blend Resident Evil, BioShock, and Sesame Street, you would end up with My Friendly Neighborhood. From the demo I’ve played, though, this combo seems to be working surprisingly well. It has some eccentricities (go figure,) but overall I’d say it’s set to provide a pretty unique experience for horror fans.
You play as some form of maintenance guy for a puppet show, and the demo throws you straight into it by dropping you in the basement. A sock puppet tells you to give up, and before you know it, you’re shooting letters at muppets who say increasingly deranged things. Like in the original Resident Evil, just shooting enemies won’t keep them down. Instead of a lighter, you use duct tape to strap puppets down, or else they’re back up upon exiting the room. This little feature adds a more desperate feeling to resource management, as you decide which foes to tape down using your limited tape. The fact that these “neighbors” keep talking while tied up is a nice and eerie addition as well.
While fighting or avoiding your assailants, you need to solve some light puzzles to open doors. The ones in the demo aren’t too complicated, but I had fun figuring them out. The colorful visuals may seem to contrast with the concept of a horror game, but this demo actually spooked me a few times. The endlessly enthusiastic voice acting as the puppets talk about eating roadkill is delightfully weird, and when you’re surrounded by excited muppets, it’s downright scary. It’s kind of strange that you can’t reload or jump, but that’s really all I can complain about.
I’m really looking forward to playing the full game to see which concepts are expanded upon, as My Friendly Neighborhood seems to have quite a bit of personality and potential beyond the “wholesome thing scary” concept. At the very least, it does the concept quite well so far.
Neon White
Neon White is easily my biggest surprise from all the demos I tried during Next Fest. I remember seeing its initial trailer and being interested, but not really getting what it was going for. It all clicked within minutes of playing the game.
I’m going to rip off its own self-descriptor by saying it’s a speedrunning FPS, where you basically have to get to the end of the stage while completing whatever the goal is (usually kill all enemies), as quickly as possible. The twist here however is that you perform all your actions through the use of cards that you pick up in the level. Cards have a primary attack use, like the pistol can fire nine shots before being drained, or you can burn the entire card to use its secondary movement ability which in the pistol’s case allows you a double jump. While playing the game almost feels like a Hotline Miami, where you have these weapons and enemies scattered in this area and your goal is to figure out the most efficient way to clear the stage without dying. Of course, there’s usually a pretty obvious way to complete a level, but once you get the hang of each card’s movement abilities, you’ll soon be looking out for ways you can skip massive chunks of a stage to get the best possible time.
It perfectly scratches that high score chasing itch, but there’s actually a function to doing so here. You see, Neon White is also a visual novel/dating sim game. When you’re not out on a mission, you’re hanging out in the hub where you can chat up folk, or give them gifts you find in levels to unlock additional dialogue options or missions. Additionally, the game is easily the closest I’ve seen someone come to mimicking No More Heroes’ style, to the point where I thought Suda51 himself must have had a hand in this game’s development. It doesn’t come off as imitation, it comes off as the real deal which is an impressive feat.
The game’s plot itself involves you in the role of White, a deceased assassin plucked from Hell to compete with other killers to hunt demons for a chance at redemption in Heaven. White unfortunately caught a case of amnesia while everyone else seems to remember him, for better or worse. The cast is a bit hammy, but it’s honestly that good kind and the cast of characters seem like a lot of fun to get to learn more about.
It might be early to say, but if the full game is anywhere near as good as this demo was, Neon White might honestly be a GOTY contender.
