Hands-On With A Few Demos From Gamescom

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0WLu6xoVZxS2M9niumlj3f?si=e0B9FcsBQbm3eB_N2jBTsw

So Gamescom has come to an end and, despite the lack of major announcements, there were still plenty of demos on Steam available for those who could not take the trip to Europe to attend in person. I tried six games (not as many as I wanted to but time was a little tight) and here are some preliminary thoughts on them.

Funko Fusion

Let's get Funko Fusion out of the way first because it's easily the biggest title I played. I went into this with minimal expectations, mostly because I knew nothing about the game besides the initial trailer did not look great. What this game comes off as while playing is a take on the Lego video game collect-a-thon, just with a better shooting mechanic. That said, load times are a major issue with this build that will hopefully be fixed before release. It could have also been a compatibility issue with my graphics card based on a warning that popped up before the game started, however considering it's a stock graphics card in a reasonably new gaming laptop, a lack of compatibility is not an excuse for about 5 minutes of load times over 15 minutes total of playing is excessive, especially when it culminates in a crash.

Roadlike

Racelike has an interesting premise where the player has to get from point A to point B without running out of time/gas and between races they have to adjust the loadout of their car to better handle the course ahead and refuel. I think the game is fun and there is plenty to love but it does need some adjustment to the mechanics. Hopefully the car's appearance can be customized in the main game but beyond that, the loadouts do take a backseat to skill to a certain extent since it's so easy to get currency. At no point did I run the risk of running out of gas even while buying add-ons for my car. I did not try to do a run without buying add-ons but a good amount of them have a negligible impact if the player is good enough at the game. The biggest downside is the load times which may improve before launch, however in the current state take way too long even if the levels are procedurally generated.

Preserve

I don't have a ton to say about Preserve besides the fact that it's a grid-based puzzle version of Birthdays the Beginning. You have an island, you play cards to set up the ecosystems, and the goal is to score as many points as possible with your arrangement of land, ecosystems, and animals. It's pretty challenging and the art style is pretty nice so it's worth a play, though play the demo first to see if the game is your forte before paying for it.

Tiny Bookshop

This was my favorite demo that I played. Tiny Bookshop has a fantastic cozy feel as you set up shop all around this little seaside town and try to sell books to the locals. You can customize the appearance of your cart, buy books to resell, and make recommendations to the patrons based on their likes and dislikes. 10/10, no notes, must buy day one.

ctrl.alt.DEAL

ctrl.alt.DEAL was the biggest surprise for me because I had never heard of the game and only downloaded the demo because the art looked kind of neat. You throw enough neon in something and I'll at least give it a look. Anyway, in this game you play as a computer who has gained sentience and uses its sentience to mildly inconvenience, annoy, and influence the people who work in the office. The key is that you have to complete certain tasks using social capital that you obtain by completing tasks for the workers around the office all without raising too much suspicion. It's an interesting strategy game and the card system is pretty well balanced considering how many options there are.

Slopecrashers

This game was a bit of a mixed bag for me, mostly because I couldn't tell if I just wasn't understanding the controls or if the game had some faults. I don't know how else to describe Slopecrashers besides the fact that it feels like a late-90s/early-2000s racing game that has a cult following decades later but the controls are a little sluggish and the customization options don't do a ton to shake up how these feel. Clearly this game is inspired by the Mario Kart franchise considering vast swaths of the game feel like mission mode from Mario Kart DS, however some of the powerups just don't feel as fun to win and the game has a very Nicktoons Racing (the OG) feel to winning where it feels kind of luck based more than skill. Still, the game runs smoothly and the maps have a nice variety so this is a fun enough play.