Steam Next Fest October 2024 special
Short reviews of the games I played during the event
It has been a while since I last posted a new entry in my blog, so it's no surprise I'm featuring a good chunk of demos I played and enjoyed in this Next Fest. I didn't write about every game featured in the event this time since I got so busy during the previous NextFest that I ended up skipping it, and I don't want it to happen again. With that said, let's go! Remember that the games aren't ordered in any way.
#1 - Lust For Lucre
Lust For Lucre is an enjoyable Match-3 game that blends elements from dungeon crawlers, Turn-Based Match-3 combat like in Wish, and dating sim/Match-3 hybrids like Huniepop. While I have some gripes about the game, such as not featuring some extra dialogue between the MC and the woman he wooed once you max out her affection, I enjoyed playing it. Its gameplay is engaging, and its plot and visuals are serviceable.
#2 - Galactic Love Utopia
I've been looking forward to playing Galactic Love Utopia for a long time, and the demo didn't disappoint. It's an entertaining visual novel with beautiful art and an interesting story. I especially liked how original the different alien species are. I can't wait to see what the full game has in store.
#3 - Spirit Valley
Spirit Valley is a serious candidate for game of the year, and I don't say this lightly. It's a Pokemon-inspired Creature Collector game with gorgeous pixel art and solid game mechanics that's addictive enough to make you play it in one go.
#4 - Taiwan Love Story⁵
Taiwan Love Story⁵ is an entertaining dating sim with gorgeous hand-drawn art, engaging game mechanics, and a serviceable plot that doesn't take itself too seriously. The demo was short, and more often than not, the line breaks in the dialogues cut off words, but I enjoyed playing it.
#5 - Wet Nightmares
Wet Nightmares is another game I've been following its development for a while, and nothing is more fitting than playing it when Halloween is so close (Ok, playing it on October 31st is more fitting, but let's overlook that). It's as spooky as it is engaging and visually pleasing, plus the animations add a lot to the experience.
#6 - Cabin Corpse
Keeping up with the horror theme, Cabin Corpse is an entertaining sandbox visual novel with pretty renders, decent gameplay, and an intriguing plot full of mystery that keeps you wondering what's coming next. It also doesn't let you save the game during dialogues, pushing you to think before making a choice.
#7 - Lutnak Quest
Lutnak·Quest is the typical corruption-focused RPG Maker game you find anywhere, but I still enjoyed it despite how generic it is. While the plot is nothing to write home about, the gameplay is good enough to keep you playing until you finish it, and its beautiful hand-drawn art motivates you to try to unlock every scene in the game.
#8 - Days with Evraco: The Blind Witch in Blue Forest
I enjoyed playing Days with Evraco more than I imagined. I liked a lot how suspenseful the plot is and the game's melancholic atmosphere. The art was eye-catching too, as the characters are nicely drawn, and the scribble-like backgrounds give it an original touch.
#9 - Bored Wife
I wasn't much of a fan of Bored Wife, as the plot is paper-thin and feels more like a visual novel that prioritizes the sex scenes more than the story that leads to them. The renders look good, though, so anyone looking for a sex-fest without much substance will enjoy it.
#10 - Saku: The Covert Agent
This demo was surprisingly short but gives a good idea of what to expect from the full game. Saku: The Covert Agent is a puzzle game similar to Succubuzz App in that you have to solve short but entertaining puzzles to progress. The premise is also interesting enough to catch my interest, and the visuals are beautiful.
#11 - Corrupted Paradise
When I found Corrupted Paradise, I expected it to be an AVN like any other, but it turned out to be more than that. It's an entertaining sandbox game in which you swap between controlling the MC or his sister to find clues about the whereabouts of your half-sister. Moreover, the plot is engaging enough to keep your interest as you uncover more and more stuff, and the renders are good-looking.
#12 - Mansion Affairs
Another AVN I enjoyed is Mansion Affairs, as it features eye-catching renders and an engaging plot with meaningful choices where you can play as the MC or his soon-to-be ex-wife, as what you choose determines if you try to patch things up or let your primal impulses win.
#13 - Animus Non Grata
Playing Animus Non Grata sure was something else. It's an engaging text-based game in which every choice you make matters, affecting the protagonist's relationship and how submissive or defiant they are. It also features pretty renders that you can hide if you're looking for a pure text experience and a neat OST that adds to the experience.
#14 - Hentai Stories
Hentai Stories reminded me a lot of Sex and the Furry Titty because the game mechanics is similar, and I enjoyed it just as much. The demo features the first part of three of the five stories in the game, showing enough to give you a taste of what the full game has to offer while leaving you wanting more. The stories and gameplay are entertaining, and its art is eye-catching.
#15 - The Black Labyrinth
The Black Labyrinth is an entertaining puzzle game from the dev that made Monster Girl Conquest Records Battle Orc. The demo was entertaining even if the two levels featured in the game were easy to beat, and its art is gorgeous.
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#16 - Fairy Rescue
Fairy Rescue was a pleasant surprise to me. It's a fun Bullet Hell game with entertaining game mechanics and eye-catching art, though it'd have been better if it allowed you to remap controls or had a short tutorial explaining what to press to do each thing.
#17 - ChronoBabes
I had a blast playing Chronobabes despite how slow the game was in the first levels. It's a solid turn-based Match-3 combat à la Puzzle Quest and Mirror with gorgeous art and engaging game mechanics. It doesn't have sex scenes, just full-frontal nudity, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
#18 - Corruption Town
There are many positive surprises in this Next Fest, but none as big as Corruption Town. It's an incredibly addictive simulation game that neatly turns the waitress minigame in Karryn's Prison into a full-fledged game. It also features an entertaining story that doesn't take itself too seriously and pretty renders that enhance the experience.
#19 - Soulcoom
Playing Soulcoom was something else. It's a solid and eye-catching sex simulator game with plenty of customization options that took me a bit to get used to because I sucked at uhh... "keeping it inside". I had fun playing it despite that, and I wonder what the full game will feature.
#20 - Awaken Hentai Dice
I'm not a fan of AI art, but Awaken Hentai Dice's unique and intuitive gameplay is so engaging that I stopped caring about its art choice as soon as I started the first battle. Seriously, the game is THAT fun.
#21 - Fighting Girl Yuri
I haven't played a game from Umai Neko since last year, and I enjoyed playing Fighting Girl Yuri quite a bit despite its issues. It's similar to Magical Angel Fairy Heart in that it's a beat 'em up with gorgeous anime-styled visuals and a stats and leveling system. Movement is a bit more restricted in this one since you can only move left or right, and some enemies, like the green crawling monster, need to be tweaked because they are too OP as they are now.
#22 - ButtKnight
Buttknight is one of the games I enjoyed the most from this fest. It's a shoot 'em up with gorgeous graphics that is so fun that left me wanting more of it when I finished the demo. The extra scenes you unlock when you reach a level's goal are also a nice plus.
#23 - Tales From The Under-Realm: Lilith
Tales From The Under-Realm: Lilith is an engaging VN that you can enjoy as a standalone story despite being part of a trilogy. Its plot was entertaining enough to get me invested in the characters and their plight, its art is pretty (not so much in the few animated bits), and its relationship system adds a lot to the experience.
#24 - One Iced Latte With Your Breast Milk, Please! ☕
I was expecting One Iced Latte With Your Breast Milk, Please! to be the typical game that overuses memes to try to be funny, but it turned out to be a surprisingly engaging VN. I also enjoyed its management mechanics and how pretty everything looked.
#25 - Parasite Black
Another one I enjoyed playing is Parasite Black, an RPG with an engaging dark fantasy story, solid turn-based combat, and gorgeous 2D art. I'm looking forward to giving the full game a shot once it's out since the demo left me wanting more.
#26 - ISEKAI Truck Driver
The last thing I expected from ISEKAI Truck Driver was a game as absurd as Konosuba. It's an arcade game similar to Crazy Taxi, with the difference that you give them a "gentle push" to another world to take them to their "destination". It's as fun as it's silly, though the difference in quality between its gorgeous 2D art and its unpolished 3D graphics is notorious.
#27 - Furry Adventure Club and the Holy Grail 🦁
I played many Match-3 games, but it's the first time I've seen one where you click on already-formed lines to break them and make more with the falling tiles. The demo is very promising since it's fun and eye-catching, though it didn't have any sex scenes. I can't wait to see what the full game has in store.
#28 - Harem of Gods
Harem of Gods is an enjoyable Survivors-like game that's not too different from any other game of the genre, but it's still entertaining. It also features beautiful pixel art, as you'd expect from the devs of GIRLDIVERS.
#29 - College Fantasy
College Fantasy felt more like a proof of concept since there wasn't much to do on its big map except get two scenes from the two love interests available. It got me interested in it despite that since it's very promising.
#30 - Wrapturous Adventure (A Yuri BDSM-Theme Game)
I've been following Wrapturous Adventure's development since I played their old demo in 2022, and I enjoyed this new demo even more than the previous one. It keeps the same game mechanics from the previous demo that make this game so original and enjoyable while adding some new ones that improve the game even more. The art is eye-catching, too.
And that’s a wrap! (Pun intended). I hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I did playing those games. Stay tuned for more reviews!