This post is for all the demos I enjoyed, don’t necessarily have enough to say about to necessitate a solo post.
Knights in Tight Spaces: What deck building rogue-likes really need at the end of the day is more punching. And skeletons. And maybe a bit of magic, too. From the devs that brought us Fights in Tight Spaces comes their medieval sequel with all the fixings of the first (get cards, punch faces, repeat) with some notable additions. There’s still building decks of attacks, dodges, and other abilities, but now with collecting spells and equipment to kit out your party. Yes, I said “party”. The most notable addition is that now you gather a group of characters that each bring their own abilities to the table and will attack enemies in range of each other, just keep in mind that everyone shares a deck. As someone who put countless hours into Fights in Tight Spaces, this is a must-grab in my book.
Commander Quest: When a Slay the Spire style deck builder and an auto-battler join forces you get Commander Quest. Pick a general, choose from humans or dwarves (with more races/generals in development), and you’re off and conquering. Summoning units at different deployment points as well as using tactics, supplies, and even constructing structures to keep the tides of enemies away makes for an engaging gameplay loop, while the map navigation and events bring the flavor and build-variety that fans of the genre enjoy. If you’re a fan of StS or other deck builders, then definitely keep an eye on this one.
Vivid World: A roguelike about collecting jewels? Tell me more. Well, don’t tell me more. I’LL tell YOU more because that’s the whole point. Dungeon crawling, collecting different gems that contain different heroes, and gather abilities to use in combat against monsters in the underworld. A simple description, but there’s real meat on those bones. Combining gems to get different abilities and stronger summons is easy to grasp but still engaging because the sheer variety of both abilities and summons means there’s a lot to keep you going. I also really like the art style. I don’t have a witty segue or joke about it, I just really wanted to mention that it’s unique and cute.
Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch: Admittedly I never played the original Lost Eidolons, so I can’t speak to any changes brought into this installment. What I can speak to are the different elements and how they mix here. The larger gameplay loop consists of a roguelike dungeon crawl framed as expeditions into the zombie and enemy soldier infested countryside, with Fire Emblem-style combat taking place in certain nodes. Just like the aforementioned Fire Emblem, your party gains affinity by fighting alongside each other and through certain events which makes them more effective in combat. As for the characters, I didn’t spend enough time to really get to know the base party members but the writing was decent and I enjoyed everyone enough in my short glimpse. I think I’d be more jazzed about this one if I had played the original, but overall this entry is a good mix of the elements provided that I’ll probably keep in mind for the next big Steam sale.
Disclaimer: These reviews are based off the demo builds released for Steam Next Fest and are not based on a final product.