Highlights From the February 2025 Steam Next Fest

Tower of Babel: Survivors of Chaos

• Release Date — TBA
• Developer — Nanoo
• Publisher — Nanoo
• Genre — Bullet heaven, Survivor-like
• Platforms — PC

If my recent article on the best Bullet Heaven games didn’t give it away, I am a massive fan of the survivor-like subgenre of action roguelikes. I played 7 or 8 different survivor-like/bullet heaven games this Steam Next Fest (and that’s not to mention the more than a dozen others I skipped over), but the only one that caught me as one for fans of the genre to watch is Tower of Babel: Survivors of Chaos. Borrowing heavily from the Death Must Die or Halls of Torment approach by blending Vampire Survivors’ and Diablo’s gameplay, Tower of Babel is an incredibly polished survivor-like with some excellent, Darkest Dungeon-style visuals and a compelling progression system tied to regular loot drops and gear upgrades. When this game finally releases, it will definitely earn its place among the best games in the Bullet Heaven subgenre if the demo is any indication.

Guns Undarkness

• Release Date — TBA 2025
• Developer — Shoji Meguro
• Publisher — Kodansha
• Genre — RPG, Turn-Based Tactics, Stealth
• Platforms — PC

After spending nearly three decades working as the music director and primary composer for both the Shin Megami Tensei and Persona series, Shoji Meguro is turning to game development with the upcoming Guns Undarkness. Notably, rather than a traditional RPG experience like his work for Atlus, Meguro’s debut title is a curious blend of stealth and turn-based tactics. Guns Undarkness‘ first impressions are strong thanks to its sharp visuals and incredible music (which bears the unmistakable style of Meguro’s previous work), and its turn-based tactical gameplay and unique implementation of stealth before encounters help to add some new dimensions to a genre that was surprisingly well-represented in this year’s first Steam Next Fest.

Tenebris Somnia

• Release Date — TBA
• Developer — Andrés Borghi, Saibot Studios
• Publisher — New Blood Interactive
• Genre — Adventure, Survival Horror
• Platforms — PC

New Blood Interactive has done a commendable job bringing some retro-inspired horror experiences to audiences hungry for them, and its next title is a smart pick-up for the publisher from solo developer Andrés Borghi. Dubbed Tenebris Somnia, this title brings to mind the classic point-and-click adventure games from the MS-DOS era while also injecting some elements that players associate with modern survival horror. The end result? Tenebris Somnia is heavy on puzzles and atmosphere, and just the small slice of gameplay on offer in the demo is enough to have me incredibly excited about the full release. Add in the use of incredibly high-production value live-action segments for cutscenes and you have an indie horror game that genre fans should keep an eye out for or try for themselves during the Steam Next Fest.

Monster Train 2

• Release Date — TBA
• Developer — Shiny Shoe
• Publisher — Big Fan Games
• Genre — Roguelike, Deckbuilder, RPG
• Platforms — PC

Anyone who enjoys deckbuilders, roguelikes, or deckbuilding roguelikes knows that Monster Train is one of the greatest games in the subgenre, only to be outdone by Slay the Spire. Ahead of the launch of Slay the Spire 2 later in the year, Shiny Shoe has dropped a demo for the soon-to-be-released Monster Train 2, and it’s every bit as incredible and addictive as its predecessor. Tasked with navigating a train through a monster-infested landscape, players must build and develop a deck capable of defending their locomotive’s Pyre, dealing damage to waves of enemies as they board the train and threaten its safety. Monster Train absolutely nailed its sense of meta progression and the feeling of getting incrementally further each run, and the demo for Monster Train 2 is already indicating the sequel will do more of the same, only better.

Shuffle Tactics

• Release Date — TBA
• Developer — Club Sandwich
• Publisher — The Arcade Crew
• Genre — Roguelike, Deckbuilder, Turn-based Tactics
• Platforms — PC

There are a lot of deckbuilding roguelikes available to try out in the February Steam Next Fest, and outside Monster Train 2, the best one I played was Shuffle Tactics. A blend between a deckbuilding roguelike and a turn-based tactics game, Shuffle Tactics is an incredibly addictive title with some top-notch pixel art visuals and a surprising amount of depth in its tactical gameplay. One thing worth noting is that Shuffle Tactics does come off as a little bit easy for players like myself who are very familiar with turn-based tactics games, but you’re still at the mercy of the game’s RNG and other randomized roguelike elements. Shuffle Tactics was originally revealed a few years back, but hopefully, the extremely polished demo indicates we’ll be seeing the title launch soon.

He Is Coming

• Release Date — TBA 2025
• Developer — Chronocle
• Publisher — Hooded Horse
• Genre — Roguelike, RPG, Auto-battler
• Platforms — PC

A personal favorite of mine in the roguelike genre is 2021’s Loop Hero, and my love for that title immediately made me take notice when I saw He Is Coming for the first time. While He Is Coming is another roguelike auto-battler like Loop Hero, it gives players the freedom to explore a vast and branching world map to uncover upgrades, improve their character, and defeat enemies. Essentially, He Is Coming is Loop Hero without the loop. The game features a full day/night cycle just like Loop Hero, where increasingly powerful boss enemies come at night to try and thwart the player’s progress, and the in-game timer affects how much visibility players have based on the available sunlight. He Is Coming‘s retro-styled visuals and similarly effective music call to mind the classic CRPGs of the 1980s, and it should definitely be on the radar of anyone who enjoyed Loop Hero.

Star Fire

• Release Date — Q2 2025
• Developer — 自在咸鱼工作室
• Publisher — 自在咸鱼工作室
• Genre — Action Roguelike, Beat ’em Up
• Platforms — PC

The roguelike genre has no shortage of representation in this year’s first Steam Next Fest, which can make it difficult to parse through all the available demos to find stand-out titles. Still, one game that immediately jumped out at me (thanks to Steam’s recommendation) is Star Fire. Star Fire is like a cross between Hades and an old-school beat ’em up, switching the isometric viewpoint of similar action roguelikes for a traditional side-scrolling one and focusing primarily on hand-to-hand combat. And, like Hades, Star Fire features some excellent visuals and satisfying combat that make each run more thrilling than the last, even when you start to get overwhelmed and inevitably fail.

ZPF

• Release Date — Q2 2025
• Developer — ZPF Team
• Publisher — Mega Cat Studios
• Genre — Scrolling Shooter
• Platforms — PC

One of the more surprising standout demos from this year’s February Steam Next Fest is ZPF, a new shooting game/shmup developed for the Sega Genesis by a team of veteran developers who worked on the classic title Tänzer. There are a few stages available in the demo, each of which features some stunning background and enemy designs while also retaining the era-appropriate visuals and music that call to mind the best shmups in the Genesis library. During my time with the demo, I made sure to try out each of the three available ships, and they surprisingly handle vastly differently from one another and feature some varied weaponry that gives each one its own pros and cons for use. A lot of modern shmups claim to be inspired by the classics, but few are as authentic as ZPF.

Twilight Monk

• Release Date — TBA
• Developer — Aquatic Moon Games
• Publisher — Gravity Game Arise Co.
• Genre — Metroidvania, RPG
• Platforms — PC, Nintendo Switch

One of the other more common genres to see pop up during Steam Next Fest is Metroidvanias, and like roguelikes, there are so many to choose from that it can be hard to identify which ones are actually worth playing. After trying out about 5 different Metroidvanias, there were only 2 that stood out to me as games worth keeping an eye on, and one of them was Twilight Monk. Blending RPG aesthetics and mechanics with the more commonly accepted elements of a Metroidvania, Twilight Monk ticks a lot of boxes. While its moment-to-moment gameplay is pure Metroidvania and features some strong combat, exploration, and ability-gating, traversing between the game’s different locations takes players to a Zelda II-style overworld map in which enemies chase the player and give way to smaller combat stages if encountered.

Of Love and Eternity

• Release Date — TBA
• Developer — Acorn Bringer
• Publisher — Acorn Bringer
• Genre — Adventure, Horror
• Platforms — PC

Every once in a while, you come across a game that, in terms of its gameplay, might not resonate with you, but its narrative, atmosphere, and presentation are so evocative as to stick with you long after you put it down. For this February’s Steam Next Fest event, that game for me was Acorn Bringer’s Of Love and Eternity, a deeply heartfelt tale about loss, grieving, and acceptance that also happens to look like a highly-stylized PS1 version of Dark Souls. I went into Of Love and Eternity expecting it to be similar to FromSoftware’s action RPG series, but it’s more of a walking simulator with atmospheric horror elements that are incredibly effective at getting under the skin. While I’m not sure I’m fully sold on its interactive elements, I haven’t stopped thinking about Of Love and Eternity since I finished the demo.

Fumes

• Release Date — TBA
• Developer — FUMES Team
• Publisher — FUMES Team
• Genre — Action, Vehicular Combat
• Platforms — PC

We simply don’t get enough car combat games these days in the wake of Twisted Metal‘s going by the wayside, so to see a game like Fumes in the Steam Next Fest is incredibly exciting. As you might expect from looking at screenshots, Fumes is a retro-inspired vehicular combat game in which the player is a one-man army against a fleet of deadly cars bearing machine guns, giant sawblades, missile launchers, and other over-the-top implements of destruction. On top of its excellent 5th-gen visuals and presentation, Fumes is incredibly satisfying to play, and I can’t wait to experience more of this PS1-style take on Mad Max.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown

• Release Date — TBA
• Developer — Strange Scaffold
• Publisher — Strange Scaffold
• Genre — Turn-based Tactics
• Platforms — PC

Strange Scaffold has made quite the name for itself in the last couple of years via hits like El Paso, Elsewhere, Clickolding, and I Am Your Beast, but I would have never expected the fledgling studio to tackle a licensed game for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IP. Funnily enough, that’s exactly what Strange Scaffold’s next project is, and it’s every bit as incredible as the studio’s original titles, blending an established set of characters and their unmistakeable world with some top-notch turn-based tactical gameplay. What helps set Tactical Takedown apart from other turn-based tactics games is its visual style evoking board game miniatures, and the gameplay has a similar feel thanks to its emphasis on momentum, movement, and having each of the four Heroes in a Half-Shell play drastically different from one another.

Isle of Reveries

• Release Date — TBA
• Developer — desertcucco
• Publisher — desertcucco
• Genre — Action Adventure
• Platforms — PC

The ongoing renaissance of the Game Boy Color via the homebrew scene has led to a small handful of indie developers making games using that same visual style and aesthetic, and one of the more promising titles in this group is desertcucco’s Isle of Reveries. A “Zelda-like” in every sense of the term, Isle of Reveries‘ gameplay and visuals are clearly indebted to the 1998 classic The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX. But its heartfelt narrative (seemingly about a brother making a pilgrimage to wish for his deceased brother’s return) gives the excellent gameplay a strong emotional core that makes it more effective at evoking the classic Legend of Zelda games than a lot of other titles that claim to draw inspiration from Nintendo’s flagship franchise.

Haneda Girl

• Release Date — Q2 2025
• Developer — Studio Koba
• Publisher — Studio Koba
• Genre — Action Platformer
• Platforms — PC

One of the more surprising demos that are available as part of Steam Next Fest is the unexpected surprise follow-up to Narita Boy, with Studio Koba back at it again in Haneda Girl. Unlike Narita Boy, which focused on vibes, atmosphere, and story more than its gameplay, Haneda Girl is an air-tight action platformer and shooter hybrid with some surprisingly snappy combat and movement that only becomes more and more addictive as you play. There are elements of twitch/precision platformers like N+ and Celeste in Haneda Girl, but the addition of some swift and fluid combat elevates this upcoming title to be something all its own. While it doesn’t have a set release date yet beyond “Q2 2025”, Haneda Girl‘s demo positions it as one of the best indie games of the year.

Eden’s Guardian

• Release Date — TBA
• Developer — Voragine Game Studio
• Publisher — Voragine Game Studio
• Genre — Metroidvania
• Platforms — PC

Hands down, the best Metroidvania I played as part of the Steam Next Fest is Eden’s Guardian. Eden’s Guardian has long been high-up on many Metroidvania fans’ lists of most anticipated titles, but we finally have a playable demo to vindicate the substantial hype the game has received ahead of its release. While there’s not much present in the demo in terms of story, Eden’s Guardian‘s combat and visuals immediately call to mind The Game Kitchen’s Blasphemous, except at a much more quickened pace. Many modern Metroidvanias pull liberally from Team Cherry’s Hollow Knight, but it’s about time we see more “Blasphemous-likes”, and Eden’s Guardian is already nailing both its combat and platforming to be one of the best games in the Metroidvania subgenre like the game it so clearly takes inspiration from.

Scarlet Lake

• Release Date — TBA
• Developer — Nocturnal Interactive
• Publisher — Nocturnal Interactive
• Genre — Survival Horror
• Platforms — PC

I’ve had my eye on Scarlet Lake for quite some time, but it only just recently got a playable demo as part of Steam Next Fest. Similar to games like Crow Country or Signalis, Scarlet Lake is a retro-styled survival horror game that evokes both the presentation and mechanics of the genre’s origins and heyday on the PS1, and its atmosphere and gameplay are both top-notch and equally as authentic as the aforementioned indie darlings.

In Scarlet Lake, players take on the role of a man whose wife has gone missing in a strange walled-off compound under the control of a mysterious corporation, and its demo pulls no punches when it comes to dropping players right into the mystery and suspense. While its gameplay seemingly needs a little bit more polish before it’s ready for release (especially where aiming is concerned), Scarlet Lake is shaping up to be right up the alley of anyone who enjoys retro survival horror.

Shotgun Cop Man

• Release Date — TBA
• Developer — DeadToast Entertainment
• Publisher — Devolver Digital
• Genre — Action Platformer, Precision Platformer
• Platforms — PC

Devolver Digital is one of a handful of indie publishers who seem to have the Midas Touch when it comes to identifying hits, and Shotgun Cop Man is set to only continue that streak if its demo is indicative of the full game. Coming from the same developer as another Devolver Digital title, 2019’s excellent My Friend Pedro, Shotgun Cop Man is a precision/action platformer that forces the player to use their guns to jump, hover, and traverse gaps, creating an interesting and addictive blend between traversal and combat that, once it clicks, is almost impossible to put down. To think of Shotgun Cop Man as My Friend Pedro-meets-Celeste is not too far off, and its bonkers visuals and bumping soundtrack have more in common with a Suda 51 title than initially expected.

Vultures: Scavengers of Death

• Release Date — TBA
• Developer — Team Vultures
• Publisher — Firesquid
• Genre — Turn-based Tactics, Survival Horror, Action
• Platforms — PC

For many years, I’ve imagined a “dream game” in which someone combined the zombie-slaying survival horror of the original trilogy of Resident Evil games with the gameplay mechanics of a turn-based tactical RPG. Miraculously, someone else must have had the same vision, and they’ve gone and made it a reality with Vultures: Scavengers of Death. As a solo operative dispatched into a city where a zombie outbreak has decimated the populous, you must investigate a dilapidated police station while combating hordes of zombies lurking around every corner. But instead of dispatching these undead threats using real-time, third-person shooting, Vultures structures its action using turn-based tactics, requiring players to consider distance and positioning while managing a limited ammo supply and overwhelming odds. For anyone who enjoys old-school Resident Evil and turn-based tactics games, Vultures is a must.

Solasta II

• Release Date — TBA
• Developer — Tactical Adventures
• Publisher — Tactical Adventures
• Genre — RPG, CRPG, Tactical RPG
• Platforms — PC

The first Solasta was an excellent RPG that was somewhat held back by its budget presentation (to be expected from an indie studio), but Tactical Adventures is pulling out all of the stops for the sequel. Not only is Solasta II one of the best-playing games I experienced from the Steam Next Fest, but it’s also one of the best-looking. Solasta II is punching well above its weight in terms of its visuals and presentation, sharing more in common with modern RPG classics like Baldur’s Gate 3 than its predecessor. Similarly, the turn-based tactical combat has been finely tuned in the sequel to be an even better version of an already impressive combat model from the first Solasta. Solasta II‘s reveal at The Game Awards 2024 was a pleasant surprise, and the title’s current public demo is reassurance that it is one of 2025’s must-play RPGs.

Hundred Line – Last Defense Academy

• Release Date — April 23, 2025
• Developer — Too Kyo Games, Media.Vision Inc.
• Publisher — Aniplex Inc.
• Genre — Tactical RPG, Adventure
• Platforms — PC, Nintendo Switch

I played through almost 50 demos from the Steam Next Fest, and the absolute best one that I played was Hundred Line – Last Defense Academy. A new game from the Danganronpa and Zero Escape creators, Hundred Line is a hybrid between those games’ visual novel/adventure game-style gameplay and a turn-based tactical RPG, and it’s a combination that works so well that it hooked me from the first few minutes. Like the Danganronpa games, the crux of Hundred Line is its story, characters, and top-notch writing and voice acting, which make the segments between each turn-based battle just as engaging as the fights themselves. There were only a small handful of demos that absolutely floored me, but Hundred Line was one of them, and I can’t wait until the game’s full release in April.