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blueeyedrat · 2 years

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Steam Next Fest, winter 2023, continued. More notes under the cut.

(Part 1)

Worldless – Alright, this is an odd one. The visual design is very striking and distinct, and there's some interesting exploration and platforming, almost all of which is conveyed in a minimal, abstract manner which can be tricky to parse at first glance, and at times feels like a puzzle in itself. That all works well enough, but the game also has combat encounters and character progression which seem much more complex, but are handled with the same amount of abstraction. It's an interesting system (a bit of a hybrid of various RPG mechanics, turn-based and active time) and I sort of understood what it was trying to teach me, but it always felt like I was missing something — and I can't tell if it was because I didn't have the tools for it, or didn't have the proper knowledge to use them, which feels a bit frustrating at times. I admire the commitment to the style, but I'm not 100% sold on it just yet. If they do stick the landing, it could be something very unique and interesting.

Remote Planets – A sokoban puzzle game. I'm not hard to please when it comes to games like this — give me a sokoban game with at least one unique gimmick and some good puzzle design, and I'm satisfied (some good music or art always helps, too). Remote Planets has the gameplay, the gimmick, and the puzzles, so I'm satisfied.

The Star Named EOS – A point-and-click puzzle game. I'm vaguely familiar with this dev's previous work (Behind the Frame), but I never gave it a full look. If that game was anything like this one, I might have to try it at some point. It's quite well put together, with good art and some interesting puzzles.

Teslagrad 2 – Now this one, I'm quite familiar with its predecessor. One of them, anyway. I played the first Teslagrad several years ago and liked it a lot (never got around to that one spinoff game, though). Some good puzzle-platforming to be had, and the sequel looks to pick up where the first game left off. New challenges, new magnets and physics puzzles, and a decade's worth of art upgrades. What's not to like?

Plan B: Terraform – I've been looking for some city-builders to add to my list. This... probably won't be one of them. I like the concept, but the game starts you off with very little to work with, and the process of building up resources felt rather tedious. Placing extractors and factories and depots to create supply lines sounds interesting, but something about it felt like it wasn't working right or was way too restrictive. Maybe I'm missing something. Either way, I don't think this one is for me.

Chants of Sennaar – This game, on the other hand, feels laser-targeted towards me specifically. It's a puzzle adventure game about deciphering glyphs and languages in a Babel-esque tower. Neography and constructed scripts used to be an interest of mine. Honestly it still is, I just haven't had time for it in a while — I'd like to reboot that old worldbuilding project of mine some day. Either way, a game like this appeals to me immediately (see also: Heaven's Vault, Sethian, the cipher language in TUNIC to a lesser extent, all of which I also have yet to play), and Sennaar in particular seems like a really cool realization of the concept. A neat style and setting, some interesting puzzles about languages and interpretation, and the promise of multiple languages to decipher and more elaborate puzzles further down the line. If any of that sounds interesting to you, I recommend this one very highly.

#chants of sennaar #teslagrad 2 #the star named eos #worldless #remote planets game #plan b terraform #bryan writes about games

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