July goes bye-bye as I get another year older and 50+ more demos deep into this crazy undertaking. The first month since this began that I haven’t recorded any demos outside of the streams or written up a preview, but there was still plenty of fun to be had! And although the Stand-Outs may be few, there were a lot of great titles to check out this month, so why not dive a little deeper this time around and see if you don’t find your next big wishlist add!
Now I realise I’m not exactly the target demographic for this straightforward 3D platformer but man did it send me back. Short colourful stages, bouncy movement, and lots of collectibles to grab along the way. I was instantly transported back to my Playstation and PS2 days, spending afternoons hunting down those last few pesty pick-ups and exploring all sorts of vibrant worlds. It was just… nice. It was calming. Relaxing. And even though I do prefer my games to present me with a decent challenge, sometimes it’s just fun to lean back and let yourself be a kid again. Koa somehow captures that feeling perfectly and I hope it manages to enamor the next generation of wild-eyes adventurers with its charming design, wholesome world, and explosion of simple pleasures.
What the hell. This 2D action horror game is the one of the most bizarre titles I’ve played in a while and that seems to be the whole point. With the world changing around you upon each death and each death introducing more darkness to the narrative, Anglerfish will have you constantly tense waiting for the next scare yet eager to move forward and discover even just a drop of what the frick is going on. Armed with just a short-range shotgun and some puzzle-solving prowess, is it even possible to get to the bottom of this blood-hungry nightmare? Somehow simoutaneously comical and creepy, this is one game I just can’t wait to explore more deeply, even if that does likely mean taking on some slight psychological damage.
Dem-OH! Dashes
Streaming continues to be a great way to anchor myself to getting some content out each week and the never-ending list of demos is the perfect thing to keep me in the game – always new and fresh ideas to be discovered and well-worn classic genres to revisit. I encourage everyone to join me in playing things a little bit out of your comfort zone more often.
NOTE: Ratings are basically representative of how much I enjoyed the demo and the likelihood that I’ll come back to the title in the future (or even would liked to have continued playing it right then), with regards to gameplay, quality, and (of course) personal preference to genre, etc. A zero represents that the game is too non-functional to really get a feel for it. It is essentially a non-rating.