The many demos of Summer Game Fest 2024
Haunted Bloodlines
I was hoping for more than I ended up getting with Haunted Bloodlines, which based on the demo felt more like a mess of puzzles jammed into a deceivingly pretty atmosphere that felt hollow. I’ll likely return to it when it comes out because I am a horror junkie that can’t be helped, but the demo, for me, did not dress to impress. I was frequently reminded of games like The Conjuring House, which I believe renamed itself to The Dark Occult – a game that was entirely too long and plodding. I’m hoping Haunted Bloodlines isn’t going to be the same.
PINEAPPLE: A Bittersweet Revenge
This game lives on quirky energy, which is evident just by all outward appearances. It’s more or less a cute little puzzle adventure game where you’re trying to exact wholesome revenge on a school bully by seemingly terrorizing her with a pineapple being placed in random places? I don’t know, I was kind of into it, though I don’t honestly know if I’ll play it again beyond the demo. I can recommend it as a generally good experience, however, so if you like little quirky indie games, this is definitely one of them.
SONOKUNI
The trailer for this game was bonkers, and I had some small level of hype generated for the demo that, quite honestly, reality didn’t live up to. Most infamously people would remember the trailer by the polarizing song that played loudly across flashy gameplay – for what it is worth, the trailer doesn’t misrepresent itself. But experiencing the trailer is quite different from playing the demo, which for me ended up being far too difficult and hard to understand as my time with it went on. The song from the demo blared across each scene, almost to the point of being obnoxious, and it was hard to tell what moves I was performing, what I was trying to hit, and more often than not, what killed me and caused me to have to redo all of the progress I had made. I wasn’t into it.
Desvelado
Desvelado was an unexpected win for me. It was a simple puzzle platformer at its core, but was definitely challenging and dexterous the further in you got. You play as a little bat vampire guy just trying to navigate through a castle to ultimately go to sleep in your cozy little coffin. I loved it. I’m a vampire junkie, I have had like 18 bats in my house in the 10 years I’ve been here… this game was made for me.
Tormenture
Tormenture was another smash hit for me, and I think it’s going to be one of the bigger horror titles to emerge from this Summer Game Steam Next Fest whatever we are calling it of 2024. The game presents itself almost as a meta game – a game within a game – where you’re playing a retro title that has spooky elements that transfer themselves to your actual world outside of the game. Vibe-wise it has a lot in common with something like Faith: The Unholy Trinity, and it nails that aesthetic. There’s no release date set for this yet, but the demo is absolutely worth checking out.
Descensus
The world of isometric action RPG titles in the style of Diablo is big, as are the emergent Souls-like games. Descensus is trying to merge the two together into some kind of futuristic, maybe dust-punk setting. I think the game has vision and ambition, and potentially doesn’t quite know how to get exactly to where it wants. I didn’t hate the game, but it definitely didn’t grab my attention like I was hoping it would. I’m hoping that with some tightening up, this game sways closer to the target it is aiming for, but the demo for me was a little too unpolished.
Mirthwood
Mirthwood definitely held my attention, and was easily one of my favorite games in the batch this summer. The game more or less fits into the genre of games that Stardew Valley is the king of, but what Mirthwood did that felt different, outside of the stunning art style, was that it created this immersive storybook narrative that I found entirely too engaging, and it left me wanting more. More! Outsie of that, the game definitely has all the other trapping of a game in the farming sim and sandbox genre – crafting, farming, relationship building. The game comes out in September so I guess that’s when I’m making my transition from full time REKA streamer to full time Mirthwood streamer.
The Alters
I think for most people, The Alters defied expectations even beyond what we could comprehend. I know that when the initial reveal for the game, created by the makers of This War of Mine, was announced, no one really knew what to expect. I certainly didn’t. The Alters is a mind-bending journey of what ifs that has a lot of emotional depth, and coupled with the very interesting mechanics of base building and strategy I think it might be one of the most complex and unique games to come out in quite sometime. I was honestly blown away by the demo, and I’m glad my chat urged me to finish it out because WHEW what a ride!
Spilled!
Spilled was a cute and cozy adventure reminiscent of Dredge but without the horror elements, unless horror for you is more of the threat of environmental disaster, which is valid. You’re a little boat basically trying to clean up messes in the water – trash, oil spills, and other various non-natural threats. Though it’s not really like Dredge, I do think people who enjoyed the coziness of Dredge would enjoy Spilled. You do upgrade your boat and, with that, comes new environmental hazards to take on, so there is some measure of progression in the game. I may definitely return to Spilled upon release, if only to remind people of the game, though for me it may have honestly been too chill to play for more than a little bit.
I Am Your Beast
I may have a slight bias for Strange Scaffolding, who I found when I featured An Airport for Aliens Currently Run By Dogs and have since followed their work with a vested interest. I think Xalavier Nelson Jr. is one of the most creative devs out there today, and I’m not just saying this because he put our beloved cat Nathan in El Paso, Elsewhere. There’s a creative knack for dialogue, gameplay, and overall experience that you’re just not getting elsewhere that I feel Strange Scaffolding offers as an indie dev, and I Am Your Beast is the latest offering to their lineup that proves my point. I Am Your Beast is a stylistic and fast-paced FPS where you’re tasked with getting revenge on your boss after being asked to go on “one last job” as an assassin too many times. Presentation-wise, it blew me away, and levels were short and to the point but challenging and engaging between dialogue and actual mechanics that I can see this becoming a speedrunner’s dream, a challenge runner’s favorite new bag, and a casual gamer’s guilty pleasure. Game comes out in roughly a month, so check out the demo and wishlist it now!