Demos From the vid:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/24...
https://store.steampowered.com/app/23...
https://store.steampowered.com/app/24...
https://store.steampowered.com/app/14...

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0:00 History and Preamble
1:40 Sushi Ben
2:55 Yohane the Parhelion
3:25 Maniac
4:15 Balatro

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Skate 3 clip:
   • Skate 3 Funny Stuff Compilation #1  

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The first next fest kicked off in 2020 during the lockdowns, and apart from my frantically gathered collection of handhelds it's one of the best things to emerge from that cursed age.

Now in 2024 we're in a new golden age of demoes with over 14,000 on Steam currently.

This is all a preamble to say, I played some of em! And I did it with the joy of someone who wasn't intending to make a video about it, so there's zero theme or specific genre tying these all together, just whatever seemed like a good time to me.

I did pick one based on one of your comments, so let me know what you've been digging into and maybe we can do a part two where I say sassy things about your taste in games.

Anyway here's what I got up to, not including some real stinkers.

Sushi Ben

This is a VR game I tried out on my tethered quest 2. It's gonna have a desktop mode as well so calm down. Aesthetically striking the Skybox alone made me feel like I was trapped inside Steven universes universe. You go to a small fishing community getting savaged by the true evil of the world, property developers. You gather ingredients for an ailing sushi shop and slowly get to know the locals. You only have one minigame in the demo which is fishing. It's mechanically sound and story telling is enhanced with real swish 3d comic panels. Writing comes from the guy that did that pigeon dating Sim and eating sushi with a ripped Fisher woman is something I look forward to doing again. Currently the world feels a little bit like an abandoned vrchat world. I know it's supposed to be a sleepy town but it'd be nice to have any NPCs at all just wandering around.

Wishlisted!

Yohane the Parhelion - NUMAZU in the MIRAGE -

Winner of the crud name award this is an Incredibly polished card battler starring a protagonist from another game nobody has ever played with a bunch of lore nobody cares about. Which is a shame because the art and animation is gorgeous and the writing so far is absolutely- garbage. Gameplay is about choosing encounter nodes and deck building before finally reaching the big boss. HP between battles carries over so sometimes you'll have to decide whether you want more cards or some TLC.

It's also coming to the switch! Wishlisted

Maniac

Maniac remembers that GTA1 and 2 were so fiddly mission-wise that the games were really just rampage simulators. And that's what this is.
The demo is 15 minutes but the full game necessitates 30 with pressure slowly mounting a as you go. Winning results in the city nuking you.

The physics are fun and you're kept constantly on the move as level ups are physical things you need to collect around turn. Each time you make it you get your choice of buffs.
It's a hilarious game and there's nothing quite like watching ambulances and cops running over droves of people in an attempt to stop you running over droves of people.
I don't know what the longevity of it will be but the demo itself was a blast.

No wishlist. But this demo made me laugh out loud.

Balatro

ExecutiveToad name dropped this one a few videos ago and I can see why. The buzz for it is low key insane. Some people have dropped 60 hours into the demo alone, and the full release is later this week! Aesthetically it looks as though you're playing poker in the hotline Miami universe or something. As you progress what starts out as simple poker begins to achieve an escape trajectory into something else entirely. Which is good cause I hate poker. I got a card that was just a slab of concrete. I had a ten of hearts that was made of glass and gave me a score multiplier. I found out that there a wrong way to play a full house.

This is going to be one of 2024s indy darlings and it's technically a better game then the other deck builder on this list but it's not for me. No wishlist! But good luck spending the million dollars you're about to make Dev, you deserve it.

Anyway I better get back to randomly mashing demons together with zero idea of what I'm doing in persona 3. Catch you later.