Full Steam Ahead – 9 games you should play this Steam Next Fest

thesixthaxis.com:

The Steam Next Fest has quickly become one of my most anticipated gaming events, the biannual celebration of upcoming games offering demos and early looks at a frankly dizzying amount of titles from every conceivable genre. All of this is playable until 26th June, so you’ve got through the weekend to check things out.

With previous events I’ve gone for full immersion and sampled literally hundreds of demos, so I’ve now got a pretty decent idea of what makes for a good demo experience. With that said, here’s a handful of games that you owe it to yourself to try out. I’ve aimed for a pretty eclectic mix with a range of genres covered but let us know if anything else has caught your eye.

Take equal parts Max Payne and Dusk Till Dawn, bake at 180″C (160ºC Fan Oven), and then sprinkle with a heavy dose of cool style and a trip hop soundtrack before serving, and you have Strange Scaffold’s excellent El Paso, Elsewhere.

The retro-inspired third person perspective shooter is a clear love letter to the slow-mo, noir aesthetic of Remedy’s cheesy classic and offers up satisfying gunplay and what promises to be a story full of twists and turns.

El Paso, Elsewhere on Steam

Fantastic JRPG from the makers of retro platformer The Messenger. The demo offers a mini dungeon that shows some excellent level design and traversal that is actually fun with lots of jumping and climbing to reach areas.

Combat seems solid, with a timing mechanic straight out of Paper Mario. Writing feels quite charming although obviously this is only a short section – although the demo is a pretty generous hour or so of content. Decent accessibility options to help with the difficulty too.

Sea of Stars on Steam

This one has actually had its launch yesterday, 22nd