Demo Dive #2 - June

June is here! I forgot to make my Monthly Game schedule post, showing up some titles that I'm excited for, but I am sure I can still squeeze it out early in the coming week. In the meantime, the DEMO DIVE must continue! It is my favorite series to write on the blog, as it is a great incentive for me to keep trying out games left and right. Keep me engaged with the indie release, stay my hand from sinking too many hours into a singular title (however, I admit that the masterpiece that is MONSTER TRAIN 2 stole many evenings from me...). Today I have for you 3 superbly promising titles, each of which was a delight to try out, and I sure hope you'll give them a look as well - they sure deserve it! Let's roll.

ANCESTRAL HARVEST

I almost forgot that games like this can exist. Now, I don't want to sound overly dramatic, but we did have adventure games trickling in over the last decade. Linear, tightly focused, pushing us through a meticulously crafted world and narration to give us a story to remember and moments to embed into our memories. Bah, merely a month ago, I was having a glorious romp in beautiful and haunting THE MIDNIGHT WALK! However, this is different; it harkens back to gaming components from the ancient age of the PSX, such as playing titles like ABE'S ODYSSEY or, later, ICO. I don't know how to convey it any other way than give you a description, so here we go...

The world is wounded, destroyed by mankind's greed, callousness, and war with nature. The human collective mind is corrupted by darkness. The world shows its decay - piles of junk mix with rot, and crumbling infrastructure erodes with time. But there is still hope, of course, as nature is not so easily crushed. Pieces of its beauty still manage to peek through the murk and dust, and you, a shaman-child with your magical drum, can help bring it back in force. Play your windy tunes to heal the remaining humans' madness away and use its push and pull to solve various puzzles in this tightly woven adventure.

ANCESTRAL HARVEST is a bold project. It is strikingly beautiful, with fantastic, eerie vibes. It even has little moments of horror, managing to tense my spine and make me panic, here and there. But despite the grimness of this world, it also has gorgeous touches that made me coo in wonder. For example, when we move through a dried-out bed of flowers, our very presence momentarily revivifies them, bringing color and vitality back to the world. It's a small touch, but I appreciated it.

The gameplay is a mix of dynamic combat in which we play various rhythms and use our drum to soothe the maddened humanity or bash strange constructs. As well as puzzle sections, where we need to guide certain elements where they belong, play a proper beat, or connect some bits together. It's nothing extraordinarily special, but it is done well, works smoothly like butter, and makes sure you always have something tangible to do, to keep you engaged with the world. There are some layers of cool mechanics on top - you can use your 'mana' to heal, HOLLOW KNIGHT style, but also learn new special rhythms, unlocking particular powers to help you on your journey. Remembering the inputs for each little drumming musical number is a big injection of fun into the dynamism of the game, and I am happy to see more of them in full release!

Watch out for this one - its production quality is fantastic, and the desire to explore and heal this world was kept strong throughout the demo.

HERDLING

I swear I am not picking the demos out by some key, but look, another grim adventure set in a crumbling, dystopian urban prairie! Well, at least it starts like one. See, I had to check the demo out the moment I got a notification from STEAM that it is out, as I was following this game since its earliest announcement. I don't know why, it just vibed with me. Herding a flock of fluffy critters sounded relaxing, soothing... Something that FLOCK managed to tickle the right way when it came out, but I always have a herd-shaped hole in my heart for more herding, I guess. Might be because I am such a city lad, and so all those 'countryside' activities have a romantic veneer all over them in my mind...?

Anyway, HERDLING. You're a little human who, with the power of a mighty stick and trilling whistles, will take control over a growing herd of cute fluffy animals to guide them... somewhere. Well, a particular somewhere, as it seems, hitting the vast mountains that loom over the decrepit city is the primary drive and goal for our impromptu shepherd to guide his flock towards. It shapes up to be an atmospheric, heartstring-tugging, and linear adventure, in which we grow our gang of helpful horned beasts and try to reunite them with their homeland, up in the craggy mountains. On the way we'll have to traverse some dangerous terrains, navigate through fogs and snowstorms, solve some light puzzles...

See, the focus on the game is not the gameplay. Might sound wrong, but remember - folks behind FAR and FIRFEWATCH are behind this project, so I fully expect the atmosphere, the vibe, and the feelings they squeeze out of the player to be at the forefront of this experience. Demo sells this well, too! Giving us a taste of what's to come, solving some simple puzzles, getting lost in a rush of a stampede, and soaking in the rich, thick atmosphere of the stunning visuals when the world opens up... Running alongside the chugging train was truly a moment that made my soul soar. I fully expect this game to be a short, focused romp that will leave your mind in a state of delight and wonder.

BALL X PIT

I have one word for this one: Awesome! It is not the first time I've seen some creative mind take the concept of Arkanoid and make a roguelike out of it - AGAINST GREAT DARKNESS was my first exposure to such an idea. But, of course, just because it was made once before, doesn't mean there's no room for some iterative freshness! I have only positive impressions from playing this addictive demo. First of all, it looks and sounds amazing. The sprites are brilliant, especially all the enemies sitting neatly in their little blocks - what a charming and well-fitting visual for them. Everything is crystal clear, and the art is a fun blend of pixelated 3D. But best of all is how kinetic and frantic it all is while retaining complete clarity - a hard balance to strike, and BALL X PIT manages that seemingly effortlessly.

The best part of it, and why I believe I'll be playing it to death once it comes out, is the rich feeling of combat. It is beyond dynamic. You need to be in constant motion, changing your angles of attack, sending your many special balls exactly where you need them, and responding to durable blocks that threaten to reach your bottom line. Weave and move between the blocks that will try to swing at you if you stray too close, but also simply keep running to collect stuff left on the ground. Gold, experience gems, blueprints, potions... There is hardly a nanosecond of rest during a run. Even if you manage to scrounge up a devastating build, with your balls doing godlike damage against the entire screen, you can never afford to lose your vigilance. That's great! Keep you on your toes.

The progression is another stellar element. You have the whole shebang you'd expect of a proper roguelike. Multiple characters with their unique gameplay style. A bucketload of upgrades, relics, modifiers, and other knick-knacks to help your build. But, taking inspiration from some survivor-like games, you also have fusions - where you can either evolve specific balls into a new, more powerful one with a unique effect... Or just fuse together ANY of your special balls to merge their effects into a singular bouncy projectile. And of course, between runs, you have your entire economy system, which - suitably! - It is also about bouncing your characters of a rectangular field, trying to have them bounce and run through fields, forests, stone, and buildings to harvest resources and gain bonuses. A hilariously fun system.

I managed to beat the first boss a couple of times now, and I am thirsty for more - and so, on the wishlist it goes, my hands itching to get the full game to bust open through dozens of hours of gameplay.