Lurker > UF8

the new zealand flag referendums where nobody can vote for an actually good proposal ever so it never changes even though it's almost exactly the same as the australian flag and doesn't currently reflect the country in any real capacity why is it so goddamn hard to convince people the existing one should be replaced

does a fight on the moon strictly count as sci-fi if it's not fighting an alien

oh yeah i just remembered i can add demos to my library even if i don't have the space to install them yet so i had a look at what's there too

besides the ones already mentioned, these ones interested me (obviously, haven't actually tried them though), figured i'd bring them up in case you might have missed them and also are theoretically interested lol

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1669980/Volcano_Princess/ had seen a trailer of this one already from gamera games' tokyo game show showcase iirc, seemed like more than your average raising sim
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1555800/The_War_Enders_First_Strike/ a 2.5d shmup that looked pure 2d imo
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1953850/Vice_NDRCVR/ i think this has been in prior next fests but i never got around to it, it's one of those hypnospace-esque pc simulation games but with other gameplay on it too and a great aesthetic
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2094580/Ticket_to_Europe/ seemed like a kind of choose your own adventure game with a significant, fairly true-to-life refugee story
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1783360/Megs_Monster/ that really interesting (and definitely not mother inspired) rpg with the girl and the monster that had a trailer somewhere a while back. since the demo's so tiny i'm definitely trying this one out
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1897650/Dream_Tactics/ at this point i'm long past tired of card-based systems being injected into games for no reason, but otherwise this is kinda just an srpg that looks cute and i'm down for that
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1591450/Aka/ honestly one of the most well-realised "farming" type games i've seen, a game apparently made for healing with a charming world
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2123100/Kitty_May_Cry/ a similarly charming game about a chibi animal on an island except here it seems to be an action-adventure/puzzle game. saw this via the gamera games showcase too and hope i can try it out. (it doesn't seem to play anything like dmc)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2073530/Stereo_Boy/ nice little isometric puzzle game with a parallel world-swapping mechanic. trailer made it look like it may be on the easy side but hey
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1211120/WuJiDaoRen/ yet another game from that gamera games showcase, this one seemed to be like a... kind of ragdoll physics kung fu sim, with a topdown isometric view and a striking classic film aesthetic
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1710100/Bing_in_Wonderland/ basically, this is Wanba Warriors but if it had a story. i'm pleasantly shocked that game did well enough to become a series
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2003880/The_Creepy_Syndrome/ there were a fair number of pretty interesting-looking horror games i noticed but this one definitely stood out the most with its four unique styles. curious how it all plays
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1636620/Cognition_Method/ very cool atmospheric portal-like inspired by 2001 (it's horror-ish). apparently there was already some kind of demo release a year ago, not sure if this next fest one is any different but i'm interested in checking it out in some manner
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1564060/Lighthouse_of_Madness/ evil myst
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1562430/DREDGE/ dark, atmospheric fishing game, looks good
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2161450/Sorry_Were_Open/ "procedurally generated Horror CRPG Roguelite, Supermarket Simulator". somehow even though there were a few others, this is the game that takes the most elements from the mother series
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1995880/Afterdream/ more cool pixel horror games
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1672310/Decarnation/ ^
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1889040/Birth/ creepy but somehow not horror, surreal puzzle game
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2024390/Mato_Anomalies/ animegame jrpg but indie and i think it uses cards also it looks like it's set on off-brand midgar tbh
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2118420/Stories_from_Sol_Part_1_The_GunDog/ retro vn that doesn't try to hide its snatcher inspiration. i can't decide how i feel about the mixed retro style it uses with the inexplicable gameboy palette. i guess this isn't actually a next fest demo but it was recent
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1757920/Astral_Flux/ looks to be a roguelite that feels like a metroidvania
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1957590/Armored_Lab_Force_VULVEHICLES/ what if blaster master was a cheap shmup (i guess this is already out but also yeah demo was a recent-ish thing from what i searched)
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1850960/The_Jackbox_Party_Pack_9/ jackbox demo?

by the way but tangential to volcano princess, turns out a branch of gainax (who made princess maker) just released a new game on steam a few hours ago... (it looks, uh https://store.steampowered.com/app/1986250/__Pretty_Ninja_HIMEKAGE_01/ less than great)

ooh thanks for bringing attention to the fact that next fest was back i hadn't noticed

i have no hard drive space currently so no demos for me right now, but i figured i'd mention that just yesterday i picked up a game i tried out during the next fest back in march i think

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1810270/Blood_Nova/

clearly the answer is Journey

ok but actual platformers idk

Piece
Paranoia