Editorials
Six Game Demos Worth Checking Out From Steam Next Fest
I’m always a big fan of trying out new demos during Steam Next Fest, but this one feels particularly packed with great options. It feels like a lot of developers, from AAA to indie, were trying to capitalize on buzz from a particularly strong Summer Game Fest by letting people try their game out right after their big trailer debut. It’s a strong strategy, one that has given me a bunch of new titles on my Steam wishlist.
There are tons to go through, but here are six that grabbed me if you’re looking for a place to start.
PENGUIN COLONY
We’ve seen the works of H.P. Lovecraft adapted in so many different ways in video games throughout the years. Whether direct adaptations or merely riffs on his themes, everything from the Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth to Bloodborne has given its take on cosmic horror concepts. What possible new perspective could there be for Lovecraftian fiction? How about a penguin’s perspective? Penguin Colony, the next game from Umarangi Generation creators Origame Digital, draws inspiration from stories like “At the Mountains of Madness“ and “The Shadow Out of Time“ to tell a tale of ancient beings hidden in the Antarctic seen through the eyes of a penguin.
It sounds like an odd pitch that’s extremely gimmicky, but after my time with the demo, it’s clear that they’re onto something. As a penguin, you waddle, slide, and swim your way through the desolate Antarctic landscape, running into remnants of an expedition that’s hunting for something in the ice. Aside from the environmental storytelling, narrative is delivered through voiceover, delivered by Lenval Brown of Disco Elysium fame, making for a moody trip through a barren world.
At its core, it’s essentially a walking simulator, but one with interesting movement options and oppressive atmosphere. In a clever touch, the wind effects act as your guide when you get lost, giving you a nudge in the right direction while also making your environment feel maximally chilling in the process. I love weird little experimental storytelling games like this, and I can’t wait to see how Penguin Colony explores Lovecraft from its unique perspective.
Penguin Colony is due out later this year.
ASCENDERS: BEYOND THE PEAK
While this game is also Lovecraft inspired, it couldn’t be further in gameplay from Penguin Colony. Ascenders: Beyond the Peak is a turn-based tactical mountain climbing game in which you face monsters and madness the higher you get. Mountain climbing has also been a popular theme recently, with games like Cairn or Jusant, but the turn-based approach feels wholly original, transforming the act of climbing into a board game-like experience. The clever gameplay is wrapped up in a roguelike structure that adds a lot of desperate decision-making as your journey goes on and supplies grow scarce.
The sheer cliff face you scale is represented on a grid, with various outcroppings that both block your way and offer places for you to rest. Each climb, you select three characters, who have different stats and abilities based on their class, and send them up the mountain. Their stamina is the most obviously important stat, which drains any time they are hanging from the side of a mountain. Resting on a ledge will recover one stamina, but time is always passing, and conditions are getting worse by the moment.
The most clever twist to your ascent is that your climbers are attached by rope, meaning you have to be smart about sending them through different routes to scavenge for supplies scattered around the map. As you run across creatures or mad climbers, combat comes into play as well, making the already dangerous climb even more deadly. I only did the tutorial and one run in my time with the demo, but I’m excited to see how the Lovecraftian elements come more into play when the game hits Early Access later this year.
ONIMUSHA: WAY OF THE SWORD
Capcom has been on a roll lately. Resident Evil games, Pragmata, Monster Hunter, the list goes on. It was only a matter of time before they started digging into their back catalog to revive beloved series of the past. Given the success of Sekiro and Ghost of Tsushima/Yotei, it shouldn’t be surprising that they are bringing back their samurai action-horror series Onimusha with an all-new entry. It’s been decades since I last played any of the games in the series, so while I don’t know if it replicates the originals exactly, Onimusha: Way of the Sword at least gives me the same feeling the old games did.
The demo itself is very action-heavy, sending you through a small village overtaken by demonic creatures. It’s a smooth combat experience that feels a bit more like a character action game a la Devil May Cry than a soulslike, which works fine for the tone it strikes. Enemies have both a health bar and a stamina bar, and breaking the stamina bar allows you to do a devastating attack that dismembers and kills them. There are also bonus attack windows granted with perfect dodges and parries, adding a satisfying timing element to the fights. While I found most of the standard encounters to be pretty easy, it did end with a slick boss fight that took me a few tries to get through, so it’s clear that Capcom likely has some more tricks up its sleeve to challenge the player more than this demo. It’s great to see the series back, and it looks like Way of the Sword is going to be a return to form. I’m very excited to see how it plays when it’s released on September 25.
Onimusha: Way of the Sword will also launch on PlayStation 5, the Xbox Series, and the Epic Games Store.
BLOOD DUNGEON
I liked Vampire Survivors enough when it came out, but it didn’t get its hooks in me the way its card-battling cousin did. It was a fun idea, but its gameplay complexity never really elevated to a point that kept me coming back after I started winning runs. Blood Dungeon, the latest game from the creator of indie hit Nidhogg, takes the autoshooting formula that Vampire Survivors made popular and puts it in a 2D platformer context, breathing new life into the subgenre.
At the start of the run, you pick a character that comes with a starting weapon, then you’re dropped into a 2D platforming level with waves of enemies coming after you. Right off the bat, you have access to a barbarian, who summons a sword to float around him, and a gunman, who shoots quick bursts of bullets. Just like Vampire Survivors, you kill dudes with these attacks that are on their own timers, collecting blood and selecting between random modifiers or weapon upgrades when you level up.
Not only does the new perspective add a lot more excitement to the genre, but I was surprised at the amount of movement options you had at your disposal. In addition to jumping around, you can climb on pretty much any surface, allowing you to scale walls or hang from ceilings as you attempt to avoid your enemies. There are also ladders and Super Mario World-esque chain-link fences you can climb on to aid your escape. I know this all sounds like pretty basic platforming action, but the dynamic ways you can escape make it feel so much more thrilling than your standard survivor-like. Jumping between bats only to hang from a ceiling over a knight while your sword slashes him, then leaping to a ladder to pursue a treasure chest, is exciting stuff, and that power curve you feel as you level up feels so meaningful.
On top of that, its Newgrounds flash game art style is unique and readable, making it easy for you to parse the chaos on the screen. I thought I was done with Vampire Survivor-likes, but this one might earn a place in my rotation whenever it’s released.
ENTROPY
I enjoyed my time with Lovely Hellplace’s Dread Delusion, a weird Morrowind-like RPG from a couple years ago, but it didn’t stick with it through the end. Entropy, their new tactical turn-based RPG inspired by classic JRPGs, seems to be a genre that’s a lot more in my wheelhouse, but still retaining the weird PSX-style visuals that give it so much character. You begin in a small medieval town as the sole surviving member of a theatre troupe after a horde of demons descends. After cleverly building the basics of your character by selecting options as you try to remember your lines in the play, you’re off to the races, trying to build a party that will fight back creatures and get you to safety.
The combat so far is fairly standard turn-based RPG mechanics, with two rows on each side that allow for a bit of tactical positioning. Attacks are emphasized with dynamic zooms that make them feel a bit more exciting, even if the animations remain pretty basic. You have one character that you control as you go through towns that cannot die, even if knocked out in battle, but every other member of your party has the chance of being lost if a battle turns south. Seems like the intention is for you to be thorough in your exploration, finding as many party members as you can to keep your ranks full, giving you incentive to do side quests.
After getting through the opening town, I was presented with a classic world map to navigate that brought me to some fun areas that had all sorts of strange inhabitants, like a band of mercenaries interrogating a head hanging from a tree. While I think I need to see more of the game to see if the combat has the tactical depth I need to keep me hooked, the vibe on display in the demo has me eager to dive in when it’s released in Early Access this August 16.
Entropy launches into Early Access on August 16.
VALOR MORTIS
Even though Ghostrunner was extremely my jam aesthetically, I couldn’t get into the punishing rhythm of precision wall running and one-hit-kill sword slashing as much as I wanted to. So when I saw the developer’s name on the reveal trailer for Valor Mortis, I was equal parts hopeful and skeptical. While the melee combat was a familiar aspect, the setting and inspirations were completely different. This first-person take on the soulslike genre casts you as an undead, supernaturally powerful soldier in Napoleon’s army trying to unravel a conspiracy that threatens all of humanity.
It’s a bold departure from Ghostrunner, but it’s easy to see the throughline if you look hard enough. They brought over the fast melee combat, but added some more intricacies that really bring to life the feeling of Bloodborne, but in first-person, which is no easy feat. You have all the standards of the genre – stamina, blocking, parrying, dodging – along with a pistol and magic options to round out your arsenal. Not only does it all come together and feel good in first person, but the setting feels really unique, with some grotesque soldiers-turned-monsters that test your mettle. At SGF, they announced a late September release date, but have since moved to October 13 to avoid release at the same time as some other heavy hitters.
Valor Mortis will also launch on October 13 for the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series.
Have you found any hidden gem demos for Steam Next Fest? Share your recommendation in the comments below!
Five decades ago, Stephen King published the story of a bullied girl with telekinetic powers and forever changed the world of horror.
Carrie follows a high school misfit who seeks revenge for a hideous prank by psychically destroying her senior prom. The name Carrie White has become synonymous with the concept of a formal dance thanks to a flawless adaptation from Brian De Palma. Now fifty years after the film’s release, Mike Flanagan is putting his own stamp on the troubling story.
Rather than a feature film, the writer/director will expand King’s relatively slim debut novel into an eight-episode miniseries for Amazon Prime set to premiere on October 7.
Flanagan is no stranger to the world of Stephen King. A long-time Constant Reader, he first made waves with his daring adaptation of Gerald’s Game (2017), a novel many fans considered un-filmable. His underrated Doctor Sleep merges the disparate plot of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining with King’s original source material, and his 2024 genre-bending tearjerker The Life of Chuck faithfully executes one of the author’s most metaphysical novellas.
He’s currently mired in pre-production for an expansive adaptation of The Dark Tower series, keystone to King’s connected universe, and Warner Bros. recently announced that Flanagan will helm a new version of The Mist, King’s 1980 novella which sees a small Maine town overrun by otherworldly monsters.
Considering the vast array of the author’s previously unadapted material, an obvious question arises. Why reimagine Carrie in 2026? Noting the timeless nature of the content, Flanagan expressed his desire to bring the story of a bullied girl into modern times, mirroring his approach to Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House and Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher. He explained, “The only way to approach it was to build something new out of the ingredients of Carrie. Otherwise, there’s really no purpose in trying to retread ground that’s been so beautifully walked before.”
His miniseries will maintain the novel’s bloody bookends while delivering “big surprises” along the way.
A New Prom Night Nightmare
The roughly 60-second teaser introduces Summer H. Howell as Carrie White just before the moment of catastrophe. Standing in a prom dress, she smiles at her applauding classmates with an ominous crown perched upon her head. Moments later, Carrie unleashes a rage-filled scream into the night air while promgoers rush for the exit doors. But careful examination of this scene shows Carrie wearing a different, albeit dirty dress as she seems to telekinetically punish her peers.
In an exclusive first look with Entertainment Weekly, Flanagan explains that in his version of the story, “the events of that prom are going to be completely different.” An open trunk emitting a crimson glow does hint at the pig’s blood dumped on Carrie’s head, but it’s likely Flanagan’s formal dance will be a different kind of horror altogether. Despite these changes, the series may end with the widespread destruction outlined in the source material. Unlike any previous adaptations, King’s novel ends with the near-total destruction of Chamberlain, Maine. A flaming street in Flanagan’s trailer promises similar carnage no matter what prank sparks Carrie’s deadly revenge.
The Monstrous Addition of Social Media
On the opposite end of this fiery conclusion is an extreme act of bullying that brings together the story’s main cast. King’s novel begins as Carrie gets her first period while showering in the girls’ locker room. Completely unaware of the concept of menstruation, the sheltered girl thinks she’s bleeding to death. Her classmates respond with vitriolic rage. Led by ultra-mean girl Chris Hargensen (Alison Thornton), they mock the terrified teen while pelting her with tampons. Glimpses of this disturbing event reveal that Flanagan has excised the scene’s nudity while adding a seismic update. As Carrie sobs in the shower stall, Chris and her friends film the breakdown with their phones.
Other scenes note the presence of social media, bringing King’s fifty-year-old story into the digital age.
Flanagan’s adaptation promises to explore the destructive power of social media, an often invisible entity with a potential for harm rivaling Carrie’s own powers. While King’s tormented heroine suffers in front of a small group of girls, Flanagan’s version of the incident will likely become a viral video, potentially circling the globe on social media. Similar to Katt Shea’s criminally underrated The Rage: Carrie 2, which includes elements of revenge porn exploitation, Flanagan’s modern retelling will distinguish itself by exploring the nebulous cruelty of online bullying, a force ten times more powerful than the irl pranks King first envisioned.
A Completely Reimagined White Family
In addition to modernizing these canon events, Flanagan hints at updates to Carrie’s oppressive upbringing at the hands of her mother, Margaret White (Samantha Sloyan). Dead before the novel begins, we never meet Carrie’s domineering father Ralph, known to carry a bible alongside his gun. Flanagan’s White household will be an altogether different beast. In his version of the story, Carrie and her mother have been hidden away in the unassuming home, forced out of hiding by Ralph’s unexpected death. Perhaps we will finally meet this elusive man whose shadow hangs over his wife and child. Considering the White family’s fundamentalist lifestyle, this reimagining hints at tradwife culture and a home ruled by staunch patriarchal control.
Whereas King’s Carrie has been tormented by her classmates since Kindergarten, Flanagan’s Carrie will be a wide-eyed newcomer to public school, eager to make friends and engage with her peers. We glimpse Carrie cozying up to Chris and the equally popular Sue Snell (Siena Agudong) as she navigates a new social scene. Of course, we know this kindness is part of an elaborate plot designed to lull Carrie into a false sense of camaraderie, setting up an atrocious act of public humiliation. These brief moments of feigned compassion put Sue’s own complicity into question. Will Flanagan’s version of the character find the courage to defend Carrie from vicious bullies or will she succumb to peer pressure and join in the mob mentality?
Perhaps the biggest deviation from King’s original text is the relationship between Carrie and her mother. King’s Margaret White is a horrifically abusive religious zealot whose worldview has been hardened by internalized misogyny. She shames Carrie for menstruating, locks her in a closet to “pray,” and regrets not killing her child in infancy. She’s also responsible for Carrie’s social ostracization. Known to berate her neighbors for their “sins,” Margaret forces her daughter to live by an extreme code of conduct and disallows any potential friends lest they corrupt the girl with their worldly ways.
Flanagan’s version of the character is perhaps just as much a victim as Carrie herself. Also trapped inside her home, his Margaret is overly vigilant, her own trauma manifesting as strict control. Describing a more sympathetic depiction of the iconic villain, Flanagan explains, “Our Margaret White is a woman who fiercely loves her daughter and wants to protect her from this world … [She] doesn’t know how to do that and thinks the way to protect her is to close her off; not punitively, but to create this private utopia.”
Despite this potential softening, Sloyan’s Margaret may still have a sharp edge. Though she has appeared in many Flanagan projects, from Hush (2016) to The Fall of the House of Usher (2023), she is best known for her role as the abhorrent Bev Keane in the poignant saga Midnight Mass (2021). Perhaps inspired by King’s Margaret White, Bev is pious and sadistic, willing to punish anyone who does not adhere to her warped approximation of Catholicism.
Flanagan specifically wrote Margaret with Sloyan in mind, likely remembering the actress’s eerie ability to create deceptive empathy and shift our allegiances on a dime.
Expanding Stephen King’s Telekinetic Universe
While most of King’s story deals with an unthinkable prom night in Chamberlain, Maine, large sections of the semi-epistolary novel see experts debating the nature of telekinesis. Do Carrie’s frightening abilities represent a new phase in human evolution or is the prom night carnage merely a fluke? King settles the debate with a shocking denouement in which a young mother recounts her infant daughter’s ability to dangle her crib toys in midair. We’re left to wonder if she will become another tormented girl who surprises the world with metaphysical strength.
Flanagan plans to build out this brief scene while amplifying themes of female empowerment. After introducing our main cast of characters, episode two will open with an unrelated story in which we meet another girl with the TK gene. Each subsequent chapter will expand this world, building out a roster of telekinetic young women. Considering King’s fondness for stories about powerful kids, often described as possessing “the shining,” Constant Readers will no doubt have their eyes peeled for various Easter Eggs nodding to the author’s vast catalogue.
Giving Carrie Her Own Voice
Perhaps the most striking distinction in Flanagan’s new trailer is the extent to which we hear Carrie’s voice. The sneak peek is fully narrated by the titular prom queen as she demands accountability. “I want to know why,” she explains while detailing Chris’ elaborate plan. Aside from the aforementioned coda, King’s book essentially ends with the aftermath of the prom night tragedy, leaving little time for Carrie to reflect. His shifting narrative does bring the reader into her fragile mind, though not before she’s been cowed by relentless cruelty. We watch Carrie sink into bloodthirsty revenge, but never hear a considered desire for justice or repair.
Flanagan’s original monologue allows Carrie to voice her pain and mourn the life she could have had. We’re also treated to a mug shot-style photo of Chris with a bruised and bandaged face, implying that the mean girl will have to answer for her senseless sadism.
Flanagan is known for filling his series adaptations with heartwrenching speeches that cut to the heart of his thematic intentions, and this teaser seems to follow suit. After years of fans, critics, and scholars analyzing Carrie’s pain, perhaps his modern retelling will offer the titular anti-hero a chance to finally speak for herself.
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