The Best of Steam Nextfest October 2024

While I’ve been posting showcase videos from Valve's latest demo extravaganza, also known as Steam Nextfest, it’s time to sit down and actually pick my overall favorite demos and games I really want to play when they are released. If you want to catch all the videos, you can watch my playlist from the event.

With that said, here are my picks in the order that I played them.

Mohrta

My first pick is for what appears to be a mix of Dark Souls with Doom. Mohrta is from Scumhead, who has been a favorite of mine since I played Vomitorium. For this one, they are aiming to make a slower-paced shooter with progression and upgrades. While I’m not sure if the balance is quite there yet from the demo, I did enjoy the different pace compared to other shooters/Souls-likes I’ve played.

Windblown

Motion Twin became an indie staple following the success of Dead Cells and they’re now trying their hand at the 3D roguelite genre with Windblown. From my time with the demo, they’re trying to take the crazy combination of weapons with different effects into 3D. While I didn’t get a chance to play the metagame side of things, I did enjoy the combat, and having up to three-player coop is certainly a plus.

DieselDome: Oil & Blood

Finding a new FPS to get excited about after playing Selaco and Ultrakill may prove difficult, but DieselDome is looking promising as both an FPS and arena shooter. You must keep the masses entertained as you run, jump, slide, and shoot your way around the coliseum. I’m not sure what the legs are for this kind of game, as they are aiming for a similar progression in the Bullet Heaven style, but the shooting felt good and if they can nail the replay value, this could be a great shooter to play.

Symphonia

Rhythm games are not my thing, so I’m happy to be playing a game about music that focuses on platforming rather than timing. Symphonia looks gorgeous and has great music (of course). The level design is looking to be on the challenging side, but it’s hard to tell from the demo just how demanding this symphony is going to be.

Hark the Ghoul

Another game in the growing “King’s Field-Like” genre, Hark the Ghoul is shaping up to be an impressive entry. The game is trying to bridge the gap between the brutally difficult examples like the original King’s Field with more modern entries such as Lunacid. Expect maze-like environments, few but impactful upgrades, and dying… a lot.

Spirit X Strike

It seems like it's been forever since we got a spectacle action game, and Spirit X Strike could be a standout. Combining aspects of Bayonetta, Godhand, and Fist of the North Star, the game wants you to feel like a badass, fighting groups of enemies who aren’t afraid to fight you all at once. If they can work on some of the timings for defensive actions and the camera, this could easily be a must-play game for anyone missing the heights of the action genre.

Everwarder

Doing something different in the tower defense genre can be a hard sell at this point, but Everwarder is looking good. This is a rogue-lite where you’ll need to balance building defenses and pushing out in procedurally generated areas to deal with threats and gather the resources you need. There is an extensive meta-game for unlocking new towers and features while increasing the difficulty. I enjoyed this one immensely and it is a must-play for any tower defense fans out there.

Guidus Zero

Another rogue-lite for the list, this one combines the mystery dungeon format with a real-time combat system. Speed of play is often a barrier to me enjoying traditional rogue-likes, including the mystery dungeon spinoffs, but Guidus Zero is controlled entirely in real-time, adding both challenge and speed to the proceedings. While I didn’t get to see the full meta-game, I am looking forward to playing more of it.

Popucom

The developer of Arknights is going in a very different direction with this one, making a casual coop 3D platformer using match 3 design. The sheer variety of environment and level design was the biggest aspect that appealed to me. The entire game is filtered through co-op with both puzzle and action gameplay. While I didn’t see anything too challenging, at least for one person, there is a lot of charm to this one.

And those are my final picks from the final Steam Next Fest for 2024. With another one coming in February, be sure to stay glued to SUPERJUMP for my coverage to start up again.