NextFest - Feb ‘25
The first of this year’s weeklong NextFest events landed at the end of February. There were well over 2000 demos available for players to get a taste of, and some obvious prevailing themes.
In what should be no surprise to anyone, deck builders and roguelites were front and centre. The success of Balatro - storming in out of nowhere and smashing the two genres together - clearly inspired a few people. Not to mention the continuing, and well deserved, popularity of Hades and the upcoming Hades II. Whilst I’m not a big fan of deck-building games these days, I can be talked into a roguelite, which brings me neatly onto my first pick.
Aethermancer
Developer: Moi Rai
Aethermancer is a roguelite monster battler. You, the eponymous Aethermancer, can summon monsters from essences. You begin with one and acquire more by capturing an imprint of a monster’s soul once you’ve stunned it. This later allows you to call it forth to help with your run. You’re able to take up to three monsters with you each run, and, as they all have their own abilities, this means making some tactical decisions.
Combat is turn-based and involves your monsters generating different types of elemental mana by attacking, which can then be used for more powerful attacks. As your creatures level up and gain more abilities, the options build for developing powerful synergies between them. There’s a lot of information to digest, and it can get very micro-managey.
Runs continue until all your summons are killed, at which point you return to the hub world. Here you can speak with villagers, get some more story, and set up for the next run.
For those who remember it, there’s a hint of Jade Cocoon to the exploration of the world. Having the monsters is a nice twist on the general formula of having you fight everything, and the turn-based nature slows it all down a bit.
Arctic Awakening
Developer: GoldFireStudios
Horror remains, as ever, a pretty prevalent theme, with plenty of gore and jumpfests. Arctic Awakening is your suspense-and-mystery flavour of horror.
Your character is a courier tasked with a simple supply drop to an Alaskan town. Unfortunately, a storm picks up and rips off the back of your plane, sending the contents and your partner, Donovan, flying out into the unknown. You survive the impact, leaving you to figure out where Donovan is and where you are. Luckily, you’re accompanied by your court-mandated therapy robot, legally bound to stay within a certain distance of you. As you trek off into the wilderness to find Donovan, you quickly come across a mysterious facility, seemingly abandoned. It’s up to you to scavenge what you can and not die.
The gameplay is a first-person choice-matters narrative, with the backstory being drip-fed as things progress. The demo teased out a lot, raising a hell of a lot of questions with no answers (like why was there a wild robot stalking us in the night? And why do we need a therapy bot?)
The premise is very intriguing, and I appreciate when horror is more thriller than killer. I’m anticipating a few twists with the full release.
Out of Sight
Developer: TheGangGaming
Another horror game with an equally impressive twist. Along the vein of Little Nightmares and Inside, you play as a young girl, Sophie, in what appears to be a home for children with some questionable caregivers. The unique gameplay feature here is that Sophie is blind, and the bond she has with her stuffed bear which allows her to see through its eyes. Unlike the side-scrolling nature of the above games, there are two different camera mechanics at play.
In each, you control Sophie, but in one you’re carrying the bear, effectively making it a first-person game. However, you can’t do anything when you’re holding it, so you have to find a suitable place to put it down to get a good look at your surroundings to solve the puzzles and progress. In this mode, you’re playing with a fixed camera, only able to move slightly to track Sophie. Once you solve the puzzle, you have to pick the bear up again to move on. You also have to be aware of the noise you’re making, represented by coloured echoes the bear can see. Make too much and your captors will come running.
A small child in a creepy place is a tried and tested formula. Taking away a major sense and forcing reliance on an external party to help solve puzzles adds just the right amount of additional peril to an already dangerous situation.
Koira
Developer: DONTNOD
Finally, Koira. It wouldn’t be a selection of indie games without a highly stylised and conceptual entry.
Koira is a puzzle game set alongside a wholesome story of friendship. You find your new friend - an adorable puppy - trapped in a dark, enchanted forest. Once you’ve freed them, you set about playing with them and adventuring through the place. We can’t just have a nice day though, so you soon find yourself set upon by hunters intent on taking away your buddy. Obviously, we can’t have that, so we have to use stealth, cunning, and trickery to evade them.
There’s no voice acting as such. Instead, everything (including some puzzles) is conveyed through music or simple ideograms; you have to intuit a lot of what’s required from you. The presentation is very arty and cute, and there’s a surprising amount of emotion brought out through the relatively simple drawings. There’s a lot of character and fun.
And, most importantly, you can pet that dog.
