This month, I’ve done something a little different… I didn’t really get into the game that I was trying out, so I took some time to try out a few demos instead.
Reminder: For the Year of Gaming Challenge, I’m supposed to play one of the many games I’ve bought in Steam sales and never got around to playing, give it a fair chance and write up my thoughts by the end of each month. (That may not sound like much of a challenge, but as a father with a lot going on right now, it will be hard to fit it in!)
The Ascent
The game I started playing was The Ascent, a top-down cyberpunk shooter. Not the sort of thing I normally play, and it turns out there’s a very good reason for that! For the challenge, I’ve committed to giving every game a fair try: at least three sessions or three hours to give it a chance to draw me in. Sadly, The Ascent failed to do that.
I should say that I’ve never really liked Diablo or any other such games. The only time I’ve enjoyed them is when I played them with friends. Maybe The Ascent is better if you play it with friends, but I’m nearly 40, a dad, and I barely have time to play games with my few friends as it is. I probably won’t get a chance to find out!
It’s a good-looking game. But I found myself mainly slogging from one side of a massive and overly complicated map to the other. A slog that was only broken up by mediocre combat that went on a bit too long, or by dialogue filled with inaccessible cyberpunk terminology.
- I spent about three play sessions getting just over three hours into the game before giving up.
- The game is £24.99 full price, currently on sale for £6.24
I don’t think it’s a bad game; it just isn’t for me. And hell, I’m not a professional games journalist. I have a life and I don’t want to waste it.
So, I tried something else!
Absolum Demo
I decided to try some demos instead. After discovering that it’s hard (if not impossible) to filter your wishlist to show games that have demos, I went browsing through the Steam store looking for games that caught my eye.
The first was Absolum, a rogue-lite fantasy beat-em-up developed by Dotemu. I’d best describe it as the offspring of Hades and Golden Axe. You play as either Karl, a dwarf, or Galandra, a sort of necromantic assassin. You must battle across the world to overthrow an evil emperor and restore peace and harmony.
You move from left to right, battling a range of colourful enemies, occasionally riding giant lizards, using a combination of weapons and magic spells (which pleasantly reminded me of Golden Axe). After each encounter, you get to choose from a number of different upgrades, which you lose when you die (and you will die! A lot!). You also collect some materials that can be used to upgrade your heroes (which is where I felt the influence of Hades). Combat was basic, which could be because it was a demo, but it was functional and fun. The game has a beautiful cartoony art style, with a world and characters that are brimming with personality.
- I played a few sessions, again spending about 2-3 hours.
- The full game is not out yet and is currently listed as “Coming soon” on Steam.
Once I realised I was enjoying it, and that my progress wasn’t going to carry over to the main game, I decided that I was convinced and decided not to spoil any more of the experience of myself.
Dispatch Demo
Demo number two was Dispatch, “a superhero workplace comedy” by AdHoc Studio. That’s the quote from the Steam page, by the way. It’s a hard game to describe.
It seems to be drawing inspiration from the likes of Invincible and The Boys. It’s a crass and profanity-filled game which took a while, but did manage to make me laugh out loud a few times. The cutscenes are gorgeously animated and the voice cast is excellent.
The actual gameplay is set on a map of the city. Calls will come in about different problems, from cats getting stuck in trees to an armed heist at an art gallery. You have to decide which of your z-list heroes to send, based on their availability and skills. There’s also a weird hacking minigame you have to play from time to time, which I was less keen on (though it did employ key combos, which allowed me to use the skills I’ve developed by calling down stratagems in Helldivers 2!).
It features some obvious rip-offs of Marvel characters, in particular. One has a magic sword and can open portals (which would have been less conspicuous had I not played Marvel’s Midnight Suns a few months ago!). The main protagonist is also called Robert and has the alter-ego “Mecha man”. Up all night coming up with that one, were you devs?
- I played for around 30 minutes before I hit the end of the demo.
- The full game is not out yet and is currently listed as “Planned release date: 2025”.
I would have liked to have seen more, but I’m convinced. It’s on my wishlist and I’ll probably end up buying it at some point, probably when it’s on sale.
Songs of Silence
The final demo was Songs of Silence, a fantasy strategy game from Chimera Entertainment. This one is an odd one. It’s been on my radar since I saw a news story about it last year. It was released at the same time as another strategy game called Songs of Conquest. It was a huge coincidence that two “Songs of…” strategy games came out so close together, which could cause friction. But the developers were nice about it, praising and cross-promoting each other’s work, which I found endearing. (Unfortunately, the latter does not have a demo yet!)
Again, there’s some beautiful artwork and animation, and I was drawn into the story of a young queen trying to find a new home for her people. The story is full of quirky characters, mysterious creatures and betrayal.
The game features a turn-based overworld, followed by relatively simple auto-battles, with a (*sigh!*) deck-building element. You have no direct control over the real-time battles, other than setting up formations ahead of time and playing cards to influence things. It feels closer to Civilisation than to games like Starcraft, which I am more comfortable with. I felt strangely detached from the action. I also struggled, as some enemies are hard to defeat without the right army makeup, but I’m not sure how to tell what the right makeup is before you ride into battle.
- I spent about 4 hours playing all of the campaign missions that were available in the demo.
- The full game is currently full price at £23.99.
It’s different from the strategy games that I’m used to, but I enjoyed my time with the campaign and would like to see more.
Final Thoughts
So, a bit of an odd month, not helped by going away on holiday with my family (which is why this blog post is late). Part of me feels like I’ve broken my streak by not giving more time to The Ascent, but the rest of me is glad that I spent my time checking out other potential games, many of which I think I would enjoy a lot more.
The demos are still available if you want to try them for yourself, and I’d recommend all of them. I will do more detailed reviews of these games, if I ever get around to playing them.
Hopefully, normal service will resume next month, although it is the school holidays, so we’ll see how it goes!