#tethergeist

[prokopetz]

I am 100% not kidding that pixel-art precision puzzle platformers starring red-haired women who can air dash is just a genre now.

[the-golden-witch-of-wanderers]

Sharing TetherGeist Chapter 1's OST because it's absolute fire. 🔥

[blueeyedrat]

Steam Next Fest, fall 2024. A quick one this time, but still a few games worth discussing. More thoughts under the cut.

I don't play point-and-click adventures that often nowadays. Always had other stuff on my plate, I suppose. But if I do ever feel the urge to get back into the genre, Loco Motive might be a good one for it. The writing and voice work are spot on, the pixel art is good, and the puzzles in the demo never felt too obtuse. And who doesn't love an old-fashioned train murder mystery? Worth keeping an eye on, I think.

The puzzle games I tried out were a mixed bag. There were a few that seemed alright but didn't really hook me (Toggle Tile, CLONY, The Valley of the Architects), and at least one that definitely did (Block Shop; like I've said before, it's hard to go wrong with conveyor belt puzzles).

The Book of Buja left a good impression. It's a top-down adventure, kinda old Zelda-ish for better or worse. The movement feels kinda restrictive, but not to the point where it becomes a problem in combat (you can only move orthogonally, but your spear has a deceptively wide arc so you won't get caught on diagonals). It seems rather puzzle-focused in a way I appreciate, with some familiar tools and some unique mechanics that I'd like to explore more in the full game.

Likewise, Glitch Dungeon Crystal has the makings of a solid puzzle-platformer, with an interesting set of powers to use and things to interact with, that play off of each other in satisfying ways. The glitchy aesthetic may not be to everyone's taste, but fortunately there are options to tone it down a notch so it's easier to parse.

If you're looking for another city-builder to throw on the pile, the classical Greek-themed Polismós might be worthwhile. It didn't draw me in as much as some others in the genre, but there's some potential there.

I also tried out a couple of the more puzzle-oriented builders. Cosminomy had an interesting hook (building up multiple miniature planets) but didn't quite land for me, being more akin to an idle game where you spend your resources to unlock more places to build on and earn more resources, and felt kinda bare outside of that. Dorpie is more focused in some ways (working towards objectives to earn new building pieces) and more freeform in others (you can use any piece you have available at any time, rather than a limited queue of pieces), which works out to something that still feels unique and lets you build some nice-looking, blocky constructions.

I'm torn on TetherGeist. This is a precision platformer that wants to be like Celeste: vibrant pixel art and music, a strong narrative and cast of characters, and gameplay that's challenging but still accessible. I think it succeeds at most of these goals. That last one is a problem. The main gameplay gimmick sounds interesting in theory, but in practice it quickly feels overwhelming or inconsistent or both. Something about it just didn't click for me.

Closing out with the one title that was already on my Steam wishlist, Symphonia. I wish I had more to say about this one, but the demo was much shorter than I was expecting. What I did get, though, I liked a lot; the visuals and audio are excellent, and the platformer gameplay is loose in a fun way, particularly in wide open spaces where you can bounce off the walls and launch yourself in large strides. One more to look forward to.

[19thperson]

19th's Steam Next Fest Impressions Oct 2024 Edition - Day 2

Day 1

Ad Memoriam

A mystery game about a rock band with a curse. One person dies at every major concert, normally via a freak accident. You play as a woman investigating her friend's death at their latest concert. It's got a strong hook with good atmosphere and music, only slightly brought down by a bit of uneven voice acting.

The problem is the mystery mechanics are frustratingly vague. You collect witness statements and place them on a cork-board timeline. The problem is that there's more statements than slots, too many plausible combinations, and no feedback when you get it wrong, so I spent a lot of time just frustratingly shuffling statements and trying too many combinations.

I'm hoping future cases are better, but this one left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth.

Meteorder

Someone's finally trying to revive the old Meteos series for DS, and I'm all here for it.

For people who never played, this is a type of falling block puzzle game where, instead of making blocks disappear, making matches causes them to rocket upwards. making further matches in the segment that's already flying will give it a boost. It creates a very sink or swim feeling where your board fills up fast and can be cleared fast.

The mouse controls don't have the tactile immediacy of the stylus, but I'll take it over nothing.

SOPA - Tale of the Stolen Potato

A weird frog steals your grandma's soup potatoes, and you have to adventure into the world hidden inside your pantry to get them back.

While it's full controller movement, game is functionally an inventory puzzle point-and-click. Go places, talk to NPCs, use items when needed.

This title will live and die on its characters and animation, and right now its a mixed bag. Cutscenes and bespoke animations feel expressive and lively, but the canned animations, such as characters jaw flapping to talk or repeatable in-game actions, feel either stiff or unremarkable.

The writing was consistently charming in a "sensible chuckle" sort of way, such as coming across a grandma frog who is pissed that no one sang her favorite song for her birthday. A song that no one can remember. Including her.

TetherGeist

A somewhat more puzzly celeste, down to having a per-level death counter and optional collectables that only count as obtained if you land on solid ground with them.

Here, the gimmick aiding the platforming is spirit projection, shooting your soul out and then teleporting to wherever you positioned it. limits are the range of your soul and the number of times you can teleport. It feels good and the way it interacts with stage gimmicks is really clever.

I also like how, unlike Celeste, it's willing to take a break from tense platforming to more exploration based gameplay, with a good portion of the demo being spent exploring the protagonist's hometown, talking to NPCs and finding collectables.

I am a bit iffy about the story. Our hero is part of a people who can all do spirit projection, but she's unique in that she's "tethered." No one else has the same distance limitation she has. Combined with occasional spasms of severe pain, this is presented as a magical disability.

Her goal is to undertake "the binding," a coming-of-age journey that her peers are undergoing, but she's been barred from due to her health complications. She decides to run away from home and journey on her own. The temple at the end of the journey is described by one character as "a place of healing" (even if she's assuming it's purely metaphorical.)

I'm just saying that if these plot points are treated thoughtlessly it could break bad real easily.

Secret Agent Wizard Boy And The International Crime Syndicate

Like most people with sense, I'm death to sick of Harry Potter. I don't want to see it expertly parodied, I just want to see it fade from relevance.

That being said, I was interested in this for two reasons. 1) It's by the developer of My Friendly Neighborhood, a game that was surprisingly well done for its premise. 2) This game has a specificity to it, not just parodying Harry Potter as a franchise, but specifically playing off of The Sorcerer's Stone's PS1 game.

Now, I spent the least amount of time with this demo, only about 20 minutes. I might try to give it a fairer shake later. But what I did play felt a bit disappointing.

The game seems to be mostly relying on wacky physics interactions to drive its comedy. Whenever you talk to NPCs, there's not much going on. And in a vacuum that's fine, but another decision hampers that.

Our wizard boy is made of paper, and a lot of your shenanigans can blow up in your own face. Which is funny. But the demo places you on a 7 day time limit, with the day moving forward every time you die. The game is actively discouraging you from going for comedic chaos. I seriously hope this is a demo-specific limitation.

[theindieinformer]

3 Most Sparkling Unearthed Gems From PAX West: TetherGeist, Demon Spore, And Ctrl.Alt.DEAL

There are few things more fun than stumbling over a great game you previously didn't know about. My time at PAX West offered plenty of these moments, but these three gems sparkled.

No matter how much I may try, it is literally impossible to keep an eye on every single indie. That might sound like a bad thing, but it actually leads to some of my favorite moments during showcases and show floors: The magic of discovery. Getting to uncover previously unknown-to-me gems is always a delight, and the PAX West is a quarry of possibilities. Of the glittering titles I dug up, these…