This Steam Next Fest edition was marked by an avalanche of AI copycats. The absence of filtering options made it difficult to discern between the slop and the games. This is my attempt at fighting the slop and shining some lights on a handful of demos I tried over the week.
I linked directly to the Steam page of each game, and whenever possible, I also added their ATProto handle.
MR. RECORDS (): You are put in the shoes of an old record store owner. The gameplay loop consists of selling records in the shop and unlocking new songs by playing a rhythm/platforming minigame. The phases in the shop reminded me of Tiny Bookshop, as customers will give a description of what they are looking for, and you need to find the right item. It also offers a level editor for the rhythm game with the possibility of importing your own songs.
The Road of Dust and Sorrow (): Sort of TLOU/Resident Evil machup but in a 2D side-scroller. It's very much story-driven. Some animations seem to be missing (e.g., ladder climbing), but otherwise, I'm personally sold.
Emberville (): Top-down action RPG with seemingly lots of depth in its build systems. Each weapon type has its own skill sets, classes also bring their own skills to the table, etc. Combat feels good.
Last Moon (): Top-down Action RPG with cute graphism. In some ways it reminds me of Hollow Knight and Zelda. It's playable in coop. The combat feels good, and it seems to offer quite some build variety.
Frostrail: Survival/crafting game, but the base is a train. The atmosphere is here; there is this sense of urgency to find combustible to keep the train moving. Pay attention to the instructions; I wasted a lot of wood by letting the train run backward. The enemy's behavior was a bit buggy, but I expect this will be ironed out during early access.
Inkblood (): A peculiar detective game that puts you in the shoes of an inquisitor that has a strange tool at his disposal (e.g., a magnifying glass that shows the past). I love the visual direction of this one.
ROCKBEASTS (): A story-driven/choice-matter game where you play the manager of a rock band. The loop is managing the band during the day, preparing for gigs, and then playing a show at night. The latter takes the form of a rhythm minigame. There are already 3 episodes in the demo, which makes me wonder how many of those the final game will consist of.