Check out Part 1 of our Next Fest coverage to see what else we’ve played!
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound
An action-packed 2D Ninja Gaiden game from The Game Kitchen, the creators of Blasphemous? Sign me up! Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound’s demo offers several levels to play through, each of which teaches you various core mechanics you’ll have to master, serving as the perfect introduction to The Game Kitchen’s take on the legendary franchise. The controls are tight, the action is fast, and the difficulty feels just right; I suppose my only complaint is that I wish I could freely swap between the two protagonists, Kenji and Kumori – in the demo, the latter could only be controlled at specific, time-limited segments, after which the game forces you to change back to Kenji. You’ve got two awesome protagonists, Ragebound – so let me freely use both of them!
Holstin
Holstin is a game I’ve already tried before, but its earlier demo didn’t fully convince me. Well, I’m happy to report that this new demo for the game left a far more positive impression on me – probably because this time, it focused on all the things I wanted to see from it. It’s essentially an isometric take on the classic Resident Evil formula, with environmental puzzles, limited resources, limited saving (you’ve got telephone cards in lieu of ink ribbons) and a wonderfully creepy atmosphere. If “90s Polish Resident Evil” is something you need in your life, do absolutely try this demo.
The Drifter
If the fancy pixel art doesn’t pull you in, the moody writing and voice acting will – at least that’s how my experience went with The Drifter, a fascinating point & click adventure game about… well, I’m not sure, but that’s kind of the point. And after playing this demo, I really, really want to find out more. It doesn’t take long for the story to take a dark turn as a mysterious conspiracy and some decidedly supernatural phenomena come into play, but I don’t want to spoil the whole demo for you – for now, I’ll just say that if you’re in the mood for an adventure game that feels like an interactive Stephen King novel, you’ll feel right at home in the world of The Drifter.
Medieval Pig
And then we have… this game. I’m not going to lie to you: it’s not great. It’s not even good. It’s a broken, janky, and endlessly buggy WTF circus, but I still played it for over an hour because I almost couldn’t believe it was real. It’s also something best experienced with friends – like a screening of Tommy Wiseau’s The Room, you really do need to have multiple people in a voice call to get the most out of this. Trust me. Medieval Pig likely won’t win any awards, but it just might make you howl with confused laughter.
Stay tuned for Part 3 and even more indie games!
