Virtual Journal #5: Steam Next Fest - June 2024
Tag: Virtual Journal »
Summary
Talking about the game demos that I enjoyed during this June’s Steam Next Fest: JARPUG, Witching Stone, Kitsune Tails, Demonschool, and Hookah Haze.
Content
I tried a few demos in this June’s Steam Next Fest! I rarely play demos on Steam (or use it in general), but I figured I should try playing a few games in the event this time, both for research and just to have fun.
Here are a few of the demos that took my interest. You can find more games at the Next Fest page if you’d like to try them out. Some demos might be gone by now though, as the event is already done.
JARPUG
An RPG with a cute cast of dogs and… VR ghost hands!
I enjoyed going through JARPUG’s world filled with comedic dialogues and 3D platforming puzzles.
Despite playing in non-VR mode, the alternate controller inputs that were designed for the VR parts felt intuitive.
I wonder if you can pet the dogs with the VR hands?
The combat mechanics became fun as I slowly learned about it. Micro-managing how to dodge around enemies, parry their attacks, bounce enemies off each other, and use the combo crystals properly kept me excited for every enemy encounter.
Getting further into the game, you gain costumes which you can customize your party with. Each costume changes your stats a bit, affecting your combat abilities.
Leveling-up from battles also provided you with stat points, which you can freely spend on each party member’s stat grid to increase whichever stat you prefer.
It feels like the grid would also allow you to unlock a few new moves in the full game. I like the freedom of choice that this kind of leveling system provides.
At the end of the demo, there seemed to be a mode with randomly-generated areas and power-ups. I exited the game before I got to try it, but gameplay elements like that has usually been fun for me. I feel like it could be a fun replayable mode!
JARPUG is currently on Kickstarter by the time of this writing. As someone who also tried making a game with a party of dogs before, I hope to see more of it in the future.
You can learn more about Tyrus Peace’s upcoming game on JARPUG’s website.
Witching Stone
I’ve seen Witching Stone before, so I was really looking forward to playing the demo. I wasn’t sure how the matching mechanics would feel with roguelike and deck-building elements, but it was quite engaging!
I probably played this the most out of all the demos that I’ve tried.
As I drew paths on the stone grid and used spells, I kept glancing at the quick animations and effects that each character does.
The character selection screen and the map display were both beautifully done as well.
I liked the small detail of your character moving at a fast pace when moving from a faraway node in the map, then slowing down once it gets closer to its destination.
An option to add some sort of confirmation whenever you click on a map node would have been helpful to me, since I kept accidentally approaching the wrong enemies, haha…
I kept clicking around to make the character move… because it looked cute…
Anyways, it took me a while to figure out that you can make spells activate, even if you don’t match the stones in the exact order shown. After that logic clicked within me, I was able to cast multiple spells in one turn with ease, and my experience with the game became a lot more fun!
The badge synergies were also fun to think about. You can make a lot of interesting combinations with them.
I’m not sure if there’s more than one boss in the demo, but the boss that I kept encountering felt impossible to defeat at the start.
As I completed certain achievements however, I started to unlock new things which helped in the next few runs that I did.
I kept playing the demo until I unlocked almost all of the things that I could unlock. Even in its demo state, I can imagine myself spending countless hours with the game.
I’m interested to see if the full game will have a deeper story somehow…
The game also makes me wish I could make mods for it… I want to draw some characters and play as them through this game…!
In any case, you can find more info about Witching Stone, a game by Alexander Taylor, on Itch and Steam.
Kitsune Tails
I haven’t played a lot of 2D platformers lately, so I’m glad that I gave Kitsune Tails a try! I had a blast with it.
I was mesmerized by the game’s music at the start, so much so that I went and stayed at the same title screen for a while, just to listen to it more.
It didn’t help that the next screen allowed you to customize a magical postcard used in some dialogues. Of course I had to choose the perfect design. Another enjoyable time-eater…!
With the CRT effect turned on, going through the game personally felt better. Reading dialogues with a curved screen took a bit of getting used to, but the cute pixel art seen through a grid made the scenes even more wonderful to look at.
The charming dialogue portraits, cutscene animations full of personality, and the beautifully-rendered map’s visual transitions were some of the things that also made me like the game.
I’m quite bad at platformers, so I had a bit of trouble at the later levels of the demo. I probably need a bit more practice to adapt to how the game’s physics feel, haha.
Thankfully, an easier difficulty option was implemented. This, along with the power-ups that you get along the way, allowed me to complete the demo and still have a pleasant time.
I’m excited to find out where the story and romance would go in the full game! Looks like there will be voice acting in the final version, which is another thing to look forward to.
You can read more about this masterpiece created by Kitsune Games on Kitsune Tails’s website.
Demonschool
I didn’t have much time to play it, but I went into the demo of Demonschool expecting a similar vibe to Persona, since I kept seeing articles that wrote about it that way.
The dialogue style and combat wasn’t how I imagined it would be, but they were quite fun in their own way!
The battles felt a bit overwhelming at first, but that might be because the demo is set at a later part of the game’s story.
After a few experiments with how party members could move around and assist each other, I was able to have fun with the combat system. There’s a surprising amount of enemies!
I’m glad that you can revert your actions and keep planning before committing to them, as the possibilities would be too much for me to think about otherwise, haha.
This is mostly for myself as reference, but I liked the simple look of their settings menu. There was a good amount of helpful options for a demo.
Their overall UI work was pretty stylish!
I might have enjoyed the small dialogues too much as I roamed around the detailed dioramas. I didn’t get to finish the demo because I had too much joy from just talking to random people.
I also got to try a bit of fishing and some dog-petting! Very important interactions.
There seems to be some social aspect with the main characters, but I didn’t get to explore the mechanic that much.
It feels like the game has a slightly dark storyline with a long playtime, so I look forward to spending some nights while I go through it someday.
You can find more info about the latest game by Necrosoft Games on the Demonschool website.
Hookah Haze
I pretty much know nothing about hookah. I only learned of it as I went through the demo of Hookah Haze.
The game gave off a very calming atmosphere, especially with the music accompanying it. I played during the night, so that might have given it more impact, too.
The love and care that was poured into designing its interface design and characters made the dialogues feel more rich. The game had such a cohesive aesthetic!
I first started playing in full-screen, which made me wonder if things are supposed to look a bit blurry. I preferred the crisp and clean visuals when I continued on in windowed mode.
Mixing up the flavors to create your own blend and discover new conversations was a delight! It also made me wonder how certain blends would actually taste in real life…
Perhaps because of my current situation, or just from playing the demo in a quiet evening, but the dialogues tackled a few things that are of my interest.
The underlying story felt like it wouldn’t be too heavy nor too dark for my liking. It seems like…
…a perfect blend for me.
…
I had to do it, haha.
The demo story only offered two days of game time, but the dialogues had the exact amount of length and pacing that I enjoy. I don’t know if it’ll be the same for the full game, but I reckon I’ll still have fun it either way.
I honestly didn’t expect to like this game a lot. I can’t wait to play through the full game soon and become more acquainted with its characters.
You can learn more about Acquire’s new game from the Hookah Haze website.