I have more to say about demos, apparently. It falls under the saying, “Be careful what you wish for.” When I used to play casual games, I loved that there was a demo for every game. I said that I wanted hardcore devs to do the same. Well, now they are, and I’m not sure it’s a good thing in the long run.
Don’t get me wrong. I like being able to try out a game before buying it. And it’s been great for me tossing out shit games to begin with. I can’t help but feel, though, that some devs focus too much on the demo and not evough on their game. I get why, mind, but it’s–how do I put this? I would rather they focused on making a good game and no demo than a half-assed game with a demo. That sounds meaner than I intend it to, but I’m tired of shitty games.
This is when something good (Steam Next Fest) becomes something bad (thousands of slop games to wade through). I don’t remember the last time I was actually happy or excited for a Next Fest.
Part of the problem is that Steam always has sales and fests. I can’t remember the last time I visited and there wasn’t any kind of sale. I’ve become numb to it, really. When someone in the Discord says there’s a Steam sale, I mentally shrug my shoulders and move on with my life. I may check it out or I may not, but I definitely am not excited about it . Even if it’s a game that I’m anticipating, my reaction is still muted.
This is the downside to having so many games available and at my fingertips 24/7. When there is so much in the buffet, nothing is appealing. Plus, whatever I choose has me questioning if maybe I wouldn’t prefer something else. In the last post, I ranted about the Steam Next Fest, and I mentioned a few demos I actually enjoyed. The thing is, most of those come from fests or the Discord I’m in (as I also mentioned yesterday). Very few if any of them came from the Steam Next Fest.
It’s getting to the point where I’m just stridently ignoring all the salse and fests on Steam. I may go and look at a desultory five or ten games, but there’s no eager anticipation in my heart. The game I’m most excited about from the demo is Creature Kitchen (The Rat Zone). I heard about it…I’m not sure where. Maybe at the Wholesome Games Direct? They have a trailer of the demo, so it’s probably them.
I was skeptical because it’s first-person and it has that crunchy pixel art that is not my jam. But the premise intrigued me (make food for various creatures in a ‘creepy cozy-looking simulator’ as the description on Steam says). I have not seen anything creepy about it yet, but it’s certainly atmospheric.
As I mentioned in a previous post, the first-person perspective didn’t bother me very much, and I think it’s because the graphics are not at all realistic (and not meant to be), so my brain wasn’t freaked out thinking whatever happening was real.
I wasn’t expecting much from the game, frankly, and once I figured out what I was supposed to do, I enjoyed playing it very much. I was pleasantly surprised by how intuitive the game was. There’s a bare bones tutorial, but it’s very simple. Now, you would think because I have ranted for several posts about how games need to have tutorials that I would not be ok with this. However, even with the very basic tutorial, it was pretty easy to tell what I was supposed to be doing. I got confused one or two times, but I quickly figured it out.
For most of the demos I’ve played in the last several days, I gave up after five or ten minutes, or I played the whole demo and felt meh about it. There were a few that were a good enough time, but this is one of the few that excited me. I’m going to buy it right away. It’s only $7.99, so I don’t even need to wait for a sale.
That’s one thing I like about indie games–they are reasonably priced and oftentimes bite-sized experiences. I was watching either IGN or KFG (maybe Greg Miller being interviewed somewhere else?), and they were talking about what would save the industry. I have heard that indies were the way forward (and the theory that good indies are the glue that holds the industry together), but that wasn’t the thing that interested me.
What made me prick up my ears was the talk about the price of games. Whoever was talking said that we had to reset the expectation that a game will last hundreds of hours. They were discussing how it’s hard because with prices going up, it was a difficult sell to say, “Hey, pay seventy bucks for a ten hour game.”
This is not the reason I buy indie games, but it doesn’t hurt. The fact that the games are usually under twenty bucks, I mean. Then, If I’m paying ten dollars for a game, I don’t care how many hours I get out of it.
It’s really strange to me how vitriolic the debate about price per game gets because I very rarely pay full price for a game. One of the positives about there being endless sales on Steam is that I can get a game at any price point, and if I’m willing to look diligently, it’ll be a good game.
Despite all my talking about how much slop there is in video games (and, let’s be real, 99% of all pop culture is dreck), there are so many good games as well. Old and new games, both. While I’m waiting to find my newest favorite game of the moment, I’ve been replaying Dark Souls III, which was my favorite game before Elden Ring came out. I’m playing my favorite strengthcaster (pyro/strength), but this time, I’m putting more into Attunement than I have in the past. This means that I can cast my pyros/sorceries/miracles more times than in the past. I’m also rocking both of the pyro-enhancing rings. Normally, I would only wear the stronger one, but this time, I’m wearing both. That’s because I’ve leveled up my Attunement enough so that I don’t need to wear the ring that gives me an extra spell slot.
Yes, I can still geek out about a game I’ve played dozens of times. I still get chills when I play it. I still get angry when I die as I’m one-hit away from killing a boss. I read about a new way (to me) to kill a boss, and when I tried it, I was flabbergasted that it worked. Not that it worked, actually, but that I hadn’t heard of it before. This is a decade after the game came out!
I’m adoring my time in the game once again. The first time I played it after finishing Elden Ring, I was really missing the jump button. It felt a step slow and a bit frustrating after the smoothness and ease of Elden Ring. This time, though, it’s all good. It’s ALL good. It’s SO good. I had forgotten how much I love the game. I adore it, and I’m so much better at it now.
Since I’ve beaten every boss solo, I have no compunction about summoning humans and/or NPCs to help me with bosses. I mostly play offline, so I’ve been summoning NPCs when I can. I’m not sure if humans are still playing, but I don’t want to risk being invaded. I hate that so much. I may try to summon humans for the next boss, but maybe not.
Look at me back on the Dark Souls III tip again. I love that game so much. That’s where my joy is these days.