It would appear I live. Real life getting in the way had me in a bad gaming slump for months now, and surprise surprise it was the Steam Next Fest that nudged me out for a bit. Had to revive the ye old Covid-era format to share opinions on some of the demos… yes, even for those that aren’t strictly part of the event.
Hopefully I’ll be back soon with a proper review or two. Until then check out some demos and have fun.
While technically a prologue, 1666: Amsterdam is an intriguing prospect from a former Assassin’s Creed lead. Mysterious witch figure Noa wielding a foreboding power, present-day girl uncovering the letter’s secrets, and both of them tied to a time traveling man-turned-cat. Both the 17th century and modern day certainly present potential, and going by in-game trailer there is legitimate combat and more than talking/rudimentary item fetching. Beyond Noa and Clio, you also play as the aforementioned cat with his own gameplay loop of jumping around chasing blue phantasms. This is a game to keep an eye on if only to see what it can deliver on since it wants to wear so many hats. I do wonder how the action/adventure ratio will pan out, all things considered. It may be that this prologue offering is completely misleading or there’s a full demo eventually in store?
PS2 legend revived, Onimusha: Way of the Sword is not exactly a remake so much as a reboot. This demo has us stepping into the sandals of a new cocky protagonist, Miyamoto Musashi the oar striker himself, as story seems to pick up right after dealing with some earlier Genma threat. Gauntlet Lady speaking from his soul-sucking magical gauntlet isn’t much use so we’ll wade through more enemies. Focus is still, naturally on combat which appears to be sticking to light and heavy attacks. Interesting detail is ability to choose from offensive and defensive control schemes. Beyond that this new Onimusha appears to be just a solid action game, albeit one that doesn’t really surprise in any way. Sometimes throwing a budget really does the trick and I couldn’t complain about performance based on the demo itself so good job there.
Valor Mortis was certainly a welcome surprise. Unholy marriage of Bioshock and Souls formulae respectively, first-person supernatural combat with some of the martial deadliness as well as bonfires as means of checking your progress, dressed in the finest garments Napoleonic era can offer. Well, plus all the risen enemies our boy William has to contend with as Napoleon and co. speak inside his head because, well, reasons? Demo offers two chapters with the second one set at a later point when you’re more beefed up. I am not ashamed to say I even died couple of times as I fancied myself a duelist with the rapier when in reality I used block as a crutch. What also comes in the package were THREE shader compilations to wait out. Really? This is one of those cases where I hope we eventually move out of the devastated countryside for more level variety.
What may have clouded my initial impression of Burn-9 was the fact I downloaded the demo expecting it to be something different. What I got wasn’t an overhead SWAT simulator, but rather Metal Gear Solid where you’re not Solid Snake doing all that espionage jazz. Instead, you jack into the radio frequency of his handler. In this case your operative is Dodo, sole survivor from the two helicopters that get taken down en-route to a military base in Alaska during a secret operation. What ensues is pinging hotspots on 2D maps and directing her in undertaking a course of action via dialog picks. Entire affair is carried more by your back-and-forth communication as well as higher ups convening. Comparison to MGS might be more apt than originally intended since Dodo even gets cornered on a descending inclined elevator as her active camouflage fails. Military DOS startup and CRT presentation are a neat touch.
Been a while since I played such a chunky demo, and The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales certainly packed plenty in those four to five hours. Drawing plainly from 2D Zelda entries, we’re looking at an epoch-jumping affair when a good king’s ambiguously evil minister activates a mechanism in long forgotten ruins, hoping he gets to alter the world to one where humans are no longer endangered by beasts or being forced to hide behind a magical wall. This also kickstarts the adventures of immensely likable Elliot, or Gary Stu depending on how you look at him, with princess Heuria in tow as they find themselves… in the past? Straightforward action combat with additional weapons to acquire won’t break any new grounds for originality, though. HD-2D visuals are trademark of Team Asano by this point so if you’re even remotely interested give the demo a spin.
Calame certainly starts off strong as we’re basically at the final confrontation – Darran the Indestructible faces against the King of Light, final showdown that will determine the fate of the rebel faction. Except he loses as King’s magic of Calame is simply too powerful. Fast forward to a prison cell and Maura, one of Darran’s lieutenants, is narrating to a storyteller how she got to know the man. A somewhat cumbersome and safe tactical RPG, perhaps because it seems tailored toward gamepads as primary input method, I still rather enjoyed the demo at face value. Stylized and bright aesthetic is at odds with what appears to be a story of tyranny and dark backstories aplenty. I did appreciate the often overlooked interactivity on pretty constrained battlefields. Destroying a sack of flour can blind enemies, for example. This may be one of those carried by the story... at least based on the demo.
I must admit to some confusion considering how badly Echoes of Aincrad seems intent on hiding its SAO origins, but what actually let me down was just how mediocre this was. From the tutorial dungeon which is about five times longer than it should be and filled with incessant NPC yapping to systems that cannot commit to what the overall package should be. There’s your Souls combat and bonfire-equivalent, but without the deadly edge making you weigh risk vs reward they’re both merely token additions. Presentation also nagged me at first and it only becomes more evident once you take to greener pastures as the game opens up. There are styles clashing between anime characters and almost realistic locales. This may be one of those cases where a setting you like with strong character creation, absent in the demo, is all it takes for enjoyment.
It remains to be seen how much of the main feature of Diorama Break aka breaking the fourth wall and engaging the player as Patron for this JRPG hero out to save the world, will be realized in the game proper. A somewhat flippant protagonist who’s not exactly sure how his quest should be handled has its charm as well, especially with how everyone in the beginner villages reacts to the practice. I would, however, put combat as one of key draws. Turn-based with grid movement and accounting a sliding timeline lead to getting my ass whooped by the first boss. Turns out having enemies who can react and adjust their already wide AoE attack is a spot of trouble. It’s an engaging process you can’t solve by tanking damage, and could potentially be a breaking point for some if there’s too much combat. Setup itself absolutely seems more suited towards boss battles.
Oddly enough, I think Vampire: The Masquerade – Oaths & Ashes might be the case of a demo not necessarily showing off interesting parts of the game peeked at in other promo material. What you get is a VN where even feeding, key aspect of vampirism, doesn’t really factor into it mechanically since the entire “kidnap a guy from the theater while competing with your rival” ends up being on-rails. What I did like was the overall tone of the demo, though. You don’t play as any fledgling vampire with training wheels to slowly ease you into things. In fact, you’re in the running to become Archon in Camarilla, quite an undertaking in Paris when your superior is THE Lucinde. I wouldn’t say writing goes specifically out of its way to be dark, not any more than the license itself in general, but shows off how callously someone with about two centuries of unlife starts thinking and acting.
Trying the demo without any expectations, I found myself tremendously enjoying Entropy. Was it those nostalgic early 3D graphics or just playing an intriguing JRPG taking place in an alien world? Only later did I realize it comes from developers of Dread Delusion which turned out to be another demo I tried out quite some time ago and ended up enjoying. Make no mistake, Entropy is a very different affair in terms of gameplay with traditional turn-based combat where your dudes sit in front and back rows ready to dish out pain. It’s astounding what a turn demo takes after you add some characters to your party and cover damage-dealing bases, but it results in loss of tension that’s present in the opening. You’re dealing with RNG for rolls and it’s nothing putting some points in ranged or magic won’t fix. Setting is shaping up to be the main star of the show, though. This one is going on a list.
Re 1666, the start was atmospheric but still walking simulator, and the library killed my interest in playing the demo further – definitely a wait for reviews and more gameplay footage for me. Thanks for the tip on Valor Mortis
I think the problem with 1666 was they didn’t show an actual vertical slice demo that would represent the project accurately. If you watch the trailer shown when you finish the demo you can see there’s actual combat and other systems. Just a very weird first reveal of the game.