Steam Next Fest February 2023 special
Short reviews of the games I played during the event
Hi guys! Here I am posting another entry in my newsletter. This Steam Fest was way more packed than I imagined, and I had a blast checking out the demos featured in Steam Fest, so I hope you're ready to read what I thought about each game I played. Keep in mind that they aren't ranked by quality or any other criteria; I ordered them randomly and grouped them by publisher.
#1 - Drain Mansion
Halloween may be months away, but that won't stop us from playing spooky games. Drain Mansion is a fun puzzle platformer where we find ourselves inside a mysterious mansion and have to find a way to get out without getting "drained" by any of the monster girls that live in it. Its gameplay is solid, its soundtrack very immersive, and its visuals definitely pleasing.
#2 - Book of Korvald
Hands down, the most metal lewd game I've ever played. The protagonist kicks ass in the most brutal way and shags whatever female entity gets in his way: warrior nuns with murderous intent, ghosts, cosmic horrors... he doesn't discriminate at all. The controls are a bit clunky, but Book of Korvald is fun and its visuals are unique.
#3 - Nayla’s Castle
I may not be too into futanari, but I sure enjoyed playing Nayla's Castle. It's a solid and visually-pleasing platformer where you defeat opponents by kicking their ass or charming them to "give them some love" right after that.
#4 - Dreamcutter
I played the 0.1 version of this day when it was released on Itch, so I had an idea of what I was going to find here (similar to when I played Spunkstock), but I didn't imagine I'd enjoy it this much. Dreamcutter is a fantastic platformer with solid and original game mechanics, pretty visuals, and a neat soundtrack. The demo lacks controller support—or it just didn't detect my controller—but playing it with a keyboard is more than doable.
#5 - Succuquest
I enjoyed playing Succuquest more than I initially expected. It's a fun and lighthearted action-adventure platformer with unique game mechanics and beautiful art. I can't wait to see what the final version has in store.
#6 - Idol Hands 2
I'm a sucker for management games, so there was no way I'd pass the chance to give it a try. Idol Hands 2 is a fun management game with visual novel-like storytelling where you train a newbie to become a star idol after the superstar you managed before got full of herself and dropped you. I had loads of fun playing it, and its gorgeous visuals and animated H-Scenes sure made the game even more enjoyable.
#7 - Glory & Miserable Survivors DX
Glory & Miserable Survivors DX is as fun and addictive as many other Vampire Survivors clones, and its neat pixel art sure makes it visually pleasing. It doesn’t top my favorite game of the genre, Sexy Mystic Survivors, but I enjoyed it.
#8 - Super Hero Flash Fist
Super Hero Flash Fist is an alright JRPG that reminded me a bit of Magical Valkyrie Lyristia. Its gameplay is fine, and its story and art are decent, but the English translation could be better.
#9 - Women’s Prison
Women's Prison is another great management game that got me hooked from the get-go. The gameplay is engaging and balanced and doesn't punish you too hard if you make a mistake, and the visuals are a feast for the eyes. Taking care of a woman's needs and needs has never been this fun.
#10 - The Agnietta
The Agnietta was a pleasant surprise to me. I played it expecting an adventure game like The Adventures of Micoco and, instead, got a solid and challenging dungeon crawler. The art and H-scenes are also great, even if I'm not into tentacles and monster sex in general.
#11 - Robolife 2 - Nova Duty
I had high hopes for Robolife 2 since I enjoyed Days with Aino a lot, but I never imagined it'd blow my mind this hard. It shares some similarities with the prequel in its plot and game mechanics since it takes place in the same universe as the prequel, but it also adds a new twist to its gameplay. It now has an exploration segment where you obtain new items and fight pesky foes, and the goal is to reach the end before you run out of movements. Did I say they improved the visuals? Because they sure did. A lot of things are now animated, such as facial gestures, mouth flaps, and, obviously, the H scenes. GOTY material right here.
#12 - Spring X Elixir
Spring X Elixir is a very original game that mixes a bit of everything; there are elements of strategy, rhythm, and bits of action. The demo is SFW, so I don't know what to expect in the lewds department from the full game.
#13 - Lust Element - Season 1
Playing demos of visual novels is a bit risky because you get hooked to it if it's good, and then it leaves you wanting more. That's what happened to me with Lust Element, a pleasant LGBTQ-friendly sci-fi visual novel with many choices and different romanceable characters. Moreover, the visuals are neat, and featuring a beefy woman is a nice plus in my books.
#14 - Pumpum 2
Pumpum 2 is a pretty disappointing match-3 game. Its gameplay is similar to Hell Girls but lacks what made it fun, plus the RNG seems to be dead set on making it really tedious to reach the goals. At least the visuals are nice.
#15 - Poozle Mania
Unlike Pumpum 2, Poozlemania is a simple yet fun puzzle game where you move around marbles to match 5 of the same color. It's also visually pleasing since it has the same art style Pum Pum 2 has, but it never goes beyond showing nude shots at the end of each level.
#16 - Divine Dawn
I have had my eye on Divine Dawn since I saw its Itch.io page some days ago, and I'm glad I gave the demo a go because it was as good as I expected. The game features a neat mix of visual novel elements with RPG game mechanics and a lighthearted story. It's pretty fun, though the lack of a soundtrack hurts the experience a bit.
#17 - Solas City Heroes
I didn't know I needed a kinky 3D version of Streets of Rage until I played Solas City Heroes. The graphics are way more polished than I initially expected and the gameplay is kick-ass (pun intended). You can even use sex to beat your enemies!
#18 - Monstrous Love
Monstrous Love may be a short visual novel, but I never imagined it'd be so wholesome. The story was so sweet I'm pretty sure it gave me diabetes, even if it went from 0 to 100 pretty fast. It has some neat minigames, too.
#19 - Escape from Zombie U: Reloaded
Escape from Zombie U: Reloaded is the surprise of the event to me. I never expected to have so much fun punching zombies and throwing chalk sticks at them. The art is great too, but whether the game goes all the way lewds-wise or only sticks to the protagonist moving exaggeratedly for maximum titillation is a mystery to me.
#20 - Ghostly Moans
Ghostly Moans is an alright H-RPG where you play as a novice priestess who has some... "spectral encounters" every now and then in her journey. It's not mindblowing, but it sure is entertaining.
That's all, guys! Hope you enjoyed it. I have a special review prepared for tomorrow, so stay tuned!