So Steam Next Fest has kicked off for June 2026, and I have a lot of demos installed already and the client hasn’t even updated for personalized browsing. I was able to get in five demos already for this first entry of my quick thoughts, and I have a lot of fun with a few games here. I hope people check them out.
AI disclosure: I personally do not like the use of AI, and therefore did not play any demos that disclosed AI usage at the time of this writing. I checked every game’s description looking for a disclosure. I do my best to not support games that utilize AI.
Lady Death: Demonicron
I was a huge Lady Death fan in the ‘90s, and collected a lot of the comics back then. I was excited for this one, and the game looks good for mimicking the comic’s style. But the gameplay is not fun. The fighting is stiff, at times I felt like I should connect with an enemy I wasn’t. Jumping feels terrible, This game needs a lot of tweaking for the combat before this comes out, because this isn’t fun.
Fading Echo
I believe this demo may have been out during the last Steam Next Fest, but I didn’t get around to it. Damn this game looks and feels great. It is so stylish, and the combat is a lot of fun. You have ways to help weaken enemies with the environment around you, and once you get the option of turning into a blob, you get even more options in a fight. You also get news ways for traversal through the world, and I really enjoyed those moments as well. The new form added a nice twist onto the game, and I’m really looking forward to this one now. Ended up deciding not to finish the demo because I really want to play this one on launch.
Rizz Dungeon: Skeleton Key to My Heart
This is super cute, and I love the options to fight or flirt. You can then choose to date them and they join your party, or even friendzone them. How you organize your party matters and will affect the stats of the monster girls. You can help boost the stats during a fight by interacting with them. I found the cast to be really lively and fun. The dungeon crawling itself is pretty straight forward. Once you find certain pools in the level, you can visit an inn. I liked being able to have sleepovers at the inn and learn more about the characters. By the time I put the demo down, and I was super in love the writing and characters, and I’m gonna have to snag this one upon release.
Marsupilami 2 – Salsa Palombia
This was a fun platforming demo. Eben though the original is in my library, I’ve never played it. After checking out the sequel’s demon, I definitely have to go play the first one. In this demo, you get a few levels and you can switch between two characters, and I had a lot of fun collecting everything. I’m intrigued to check this one out when it launches, but I’m gonna have to catch up with the first one for sure.
Go North
This game is super cozy, but a bit too much so. I liked the overall ideas of entering mazes, discovering things, and solving puzzles, but by the second maze I was already pretty bored by a lot of it. It’s a game that makes me wish I liked it more than I did. I just couldn’t bring myself to move on.