If the 30 minutes of Bloodthief I played during the Steam Next Fest demo are any indication, this is a fantastic ultra-fast first-person melee game that’s about zooming through levels as fast as you can. It's also my favorite demo of the dozens I played during Steam Next Fest this June. 

Imagine the speed and precision of Neon White, but through the lens of a bloody first-person PS1 game set in a medieval dungeon. Each level takes just a few minutes to complete, if that, and emphasizes fast traversal techniques like wall-running, sliding, slide-jumping, and more to take down foes and reach the end as quickly as possible. It’s immediately a blast.

Your health bar, or your blood, dictates what you can and can’t do. Sliding and slide-jumping requires a stack of blood, so you’ll need to collect blood vials to keep it refreshed between enemy kills, which also gives you some blood. But the twist is that your blood constantly decreases, meaning there is no time to pause or think. You must advance. Like Neon White and other experiences in the ultra-fast family of games, each level is a long puzzle where each run can be optimized with the right string of moves, and the fun is figuring out exactly how to do that. Bloodthief is coming soon, and I know I’ll be playing it on day one. – Wesley LeBlanc

Check out the demo and wishlist here. 

Dispatch is likely the most vulgar and hilarious demo I’ll play during Steam Next Fest. With enough F-bombs to make Grand Theft Auto cringe, but delivered perfectly thanks to a voice cast that includes Aaron Paul, Jeffrey Wright, Laura Bailey, Matt Mercer, Erin Yvette, Travis Willingham, and more. This short 20-minute demo showcases some smart and witty writing about the superhero genre, placing players in the shoes of Robert Robertson, formerly the hero Mecha Man, during his first day on the job at a superhero dispatch station. As such, the “gameplay” of the demo is watching a sector of the city for civilian calls for superheroes and delivering the right costumed crimefighter to the job.

If someone needs a public appearance by a hero, send someone with a high charisma stat. If a sneaky entry is needed, send in the hero with high mobility, and so on. The calls come in fast so you must make quick decisions about what the job entails and dispatch the best hero in your roster. All of this is made extra stressful (and fun) by the fact that your team of heroes are ex-criminals and do their best to make every dispatcher they get quit as quickly as possible. Robert is determined to stick around, and I look forward to what shenanigans he and this team will get into as they all learn to work together as a unit. – Wesley LeBlanc

Check out the demo and wishlist here. 

Perhaps it comes as no surprise, but Heart Machine, the developer behind Hyper Light Drifter and Solar Ash, is seemingly onto something great with its upcoming game, Possessor(s). After a meaty Steam Next Fest demo, Heart Machine’s signature action and style have slid in nicely to the Metroidvania genre Possessor(s) is in. You control a character who teams up with a demon – or in other words, lets the demon possess them – so that they might live during an apocalyptic scenario in the city they call home. It seems there’s a once-innocuous company behind the city’s undoing, and the demon you meet wants your help defeating them.

That sends you on the Metroidvania journey into and throughout the city. From there, all the pieces fall into place. It’s a 2D game with a large map to uncover, doors and other barriers preventing your forward progression until you have the correct item or ability, and demon enemies, which possess all manner of mundane objects, to defeat. Combat feels great, and I like how different everyday objects, like kitchen knives and a computer mouse, become weapons in your arsenal. Even better, chaining combos together like punching a demon, hitting them into the air with the computer mouse, and yanking them back down to the ground with my whip for some heavy damage feels great. I hope Heart Machine tweaks the movement between now and release because it feels a little slow, but there’s enough style and substance elsewhere in the game to make up for it for now. – Wesley LeBlanc

Check out the demo and wishlist here. 

Danchi Days is a cute and quaint little adventure game set in a small Japanese apartment complex, hence the “Danchi” (a Japanese word for a large set of apartments or multistory houses) in the title. You control Hoshino, a young girl enjoying the summer with a young boy and her grandma. The grandmother has Alzheimer's, but that doesn’t stop her from enjoying the sunny days with you and teaching you new things, like using your senses to take in the environment around you.

You can use the game’s mechanics to look at things, feel things, and more – so far, everything I’ve done in the demo is based around minigames that speak to the senses of Hoshino. However, there’s more to the game than what’s in this demo, if trailers are any indication, like some neighborhood exploration, website surfing, and more. Danchi Days is very cute, and, given it’s about a young girl’s dream to make her grandma smile again, is a game I’m sure will tug on heartstrings when it launches next year. – Wesley LeBlanc

Check out the demo and wishlist here. 

Downhill is an action-RPG starring Fade, a woman who, after a strange and seemingly catastrophic event, gains the ability to jump into the Nightworld. This Nightworld allows Fade to progress through places blocked by a black tar-like substance that prevents everyone else from moving forward in the regular realm. It’s also useful for combat, as it stops time and frees Fade from worldly restraints so that she can hack and slash enemies freely, without danger of taking damage herself.

She can also blink forward, a special dash move with i-frames that comes in handy during the game’s challenging combat. It boasts a pretty pixel-art visual style, a seemingly dark world with many characters to meet, and more. I especially like that the player controls the thoughts of the spectral entity that lives within Fade, allowing you to select dialogue options that add flavor to this relationship. There’s no release date announced for Downhill, but I look forward to seeing what else Sisterhood Games has in store in this unique RPG. – Wesley LeBlanc

Check out the demo and wishlist here. 

And just like that, I have one of my favorite demos from this June 2025 Steam Next Fest. Fresh Tracks is an extremely unique rhythm game where you ski through a beautiful Scandinavian landscape while jumping, crouching, and slashing your way to the rhythm of certified bops. You can lean left and right while moving along three tracks on your skis, and while managing all that, you can also slash at trees to the beat of the song. During all this, a calm voice narrates your actions without veering into annoyance (they even remarked I needed a break when I paused the game), giving it an extra layer of fun.

The game’s difficulty escalates quickly, too, which I appreciated as someone pretty good at rhythm games. I promptly went from easily finishing songs without taking damage to struggling to complete a few marked with a more complex challenge. So far, I’ve only heard poppy Tetris Effect-like songs (and if you know Tetris Effect, you know that’s a massive compliment), but I’ve seen trailers that promise different genres like metal, and I look forward to seeing what other kinds of music are in the final game. There are multiple gods whose favor you must win, and each is a god of a genre, so I’m sure pop is just the beginning. Fortunately, Fresh Tracks will launch on August 12 because I don’t want to wait much longer. – Wesley LeBlanc

Check out the demo and wishlist here. 

Wow. After roughly 30 minutes with MIO: Memories In Orbit, which appeared on stage during the SGF showcase this year, all I can say is, "Wow." It is a gorgeous, hand-drawn Metroidvania with the juice, if the current Steam Next Fest demo is anything to go by. It looks like someone sketched a hauntingly beautiful and abandoned space ark, placed some enemies on it, and dropped an adorable lil android into it to survive. All the standard Metroidvania tells are there – a mysterious world, pathways you can’t yet go down, abilities to unlock, and challenging combat and platforming that requires precision.

It feels great to control MIO, made even better by unique traversal twists, like large swaths of icy glass you slide across. You can ramp off the end of these slides to gain additional height, no doubt a key to discovering new locations. I hope different types of traversal play even more of a role in the final game. The small taste of the score teased in this demo is fantastic, too. It’s like developer Douze Dixièmes somehow visited a jazz bar in another galaxy and recorded the set of a keys player (except they’re playing on a moody but plucky synth instead of a piano). I’m impressed with every aspect of MIO; it’s one of the best demos on this list and now one of my most anticipated releases of the year. – Wesley LeBlanc

Check out the demo and wishlist here. 

Developer The Outer Zone describes Death Howl as a soulslike deckbuilder, and that premise alone is enough to make me check out your game. Though the Death Howl demo available during Steam Next Fest doesn’t feature the telltale difficulty of a Soulslike, I understand what The Outer Zone is getting at. This mesolithic (6600 BCE) game features the same air of mystery and terror present elsewhere in the genre, with a show, don’t tell approach to storytelling. You control a mother who is trying to bring her son back from the dead, or a spooky realm of existence as far as I can tell.

To do so, she traverses through presumably the opening area, a heavily wooded forest. Within it are wild boar, crows, and more to defeat in grid-based, deckbuilder combat. The combat arenas are built diegetically into the isometric world you explore – stumble upon an enemy and a grid appears, prompting you to select a starting square and begin the fight. From here, it’s a matter of using cards until you run out of orbs that dictate how many plays you can make, then the enemy attacks, and you rinse and repeat. The deckbuilding combat isn’t doing anything super unique this early, and I’m hoping that changes in the final game, but the decrepit world has me sold. I like that the game utilizes in-world storytelling to explain why you can rest at a “bonfire,” though here, it’s a square of stones. When you rest, you regain your health and release the Death Howl trapped within the land, which “frees” and revives all of the enemies you’ve defeated thus far. It’s a unique spin on the ever-growing Soulslike genre, and the same can be said for Death Howl in the deck builder genre, too. Its release is “coming soon,” and I can’t wait for more. – Wesley LeBlanc

Check out the demo and wishlist here. 

Henry Halfhead is by far the weirdest demo I’ve played during this Steam Next Fest (complimentary). In it, you control Henry, just a wee baby stuck in his crib… that is, until his parents leave the room, leaving him free to explore and learn about the world around him. To do so, Henry can possess all manner of objects, from building blocks to puzzle pieces to the hanging mobile above him, and more. And as Henry possesses each object, he can learn about what they do and, more importantly, what he can do as that object. In this short and sweet demo, I built towers to satisfy Henry’s desire to stack things, hit a xylophone over and over again, and eventually made my way to the kitchen.

In the kitchen, there are a lot of pots and pans, and as every parent knows, babies love making noise. What better way to make a loud commotion than with pots and pans? I possessed each and created a tune only a baby like Henry could love. As I advanced through the demo, Henry grew up, from a newborn to three years old, setting the stage for the demo’s finale: his birthday party. As a mischievous little 3-year-old, Henry quickly grows impatient waiting for his parents to prepare his party, so he handles it himself; in other words, I moved the cake on to the table (then ate every slice), moved candles onto the plate where the cake should’ve been (even though a 3-year-old shouldn’t play with matches), and helped my parents stack the presents nearby (except Henry’s parents were nowhere near and I also opened every single one). If this Steam Next Fest demo is any indication of the final game, Henry Halfhead will be all about the joy that awaits us throughout every stage of life – we only have to interact with the world around us to find it. – Wesley LeBlanc

Check out the demo and wishlist here. 

Mycopunk is looking to capitalize on the drop-pod multiplayer excitement of last year’s Helldivers 2 with its squad-based, cel-shaded alien FPS. And though I only dipped my toes into this demo, I can see the appeal immediately. Reminiscent of the aforementioned Helldivers 2, players prepare at a hub base to select a mission on an alien planet to drop into. Once they arrive, they have one clear objective, like activating a rail gun, though smaller side objectives seem to play a role in completing the major one.

At this point, the game takes an almost hero-shooter approach as the four demo characters have different abilities. They synergize with each other as well, as far as I can tell. The first-person gunplay itself feels great, although it’s a bit floatier than I’d like. And the various alien enemies you shoot present a fun challenge to squads. The world and visual style are the biggest pulls for me, as it’s a visually distinct game with a world poking fun at the challenging and underpaid work of service workers, with Mycopunk, but I look forward to checking out how the team-based FPS gameplay expands in the final game next month. – Wesley LeBlanc

Check out the demo and wishlist here. 

Ball x Pit was recently revealed during a special edition of the summer Devolver Direct, where a documentary was released highlighting Ball x Pit and Kenny Sun. It immediately caught my attention, and I’m thrilled to say the Steam Next Fest demo lives up to the hype. Ball x Pit is a roguelite, brick-breaker, base-building survival game – got all that? You dive into runs where you begin with a lackluster set of mini-orbs and one spiked ball that you fire at incoming waves of enemies. As they die, you collect experience, level up, and select new perks and abilities to utilize on this run.

Like any good roguelite, the progression happens fast, and the runs grow more and more chaotic as you upgrade weaponry, discover new perks, and create more synergies. This part of the game is a lot of fun, but it’s only part of the experience. After a run, you return to your base to plant crops, create forestry, and upgrade and harvest these plots of land to gain more resources, expand your base, and rinse and repeat. It has not just one loop of excitement, but multiple, and that’s a sign of the kind of game I will likely lose a lot of time to. – Wesley LeBlanc

Check out the demo and wishlist here. 

Ascend to ZERO has quickly shot up on my list of games I’m looking forward to checking out the final release of, and fortunately, I don’t have to wait long, as it’s “coming soon,” according to Steam. In the demo, you control Chrono Child, a cyberpunk-esque character who must save a pixel-art-meets-voxels-hybrid world… in 30 seconds. To do so, Chrono Child picks up a sword and heads through a portal where she’s placed into a long, futuristic hallway filled with enemies. In the first room, I find Level 1 enemies and can quickly dispatch them by clicking on the mouse to kill them. But I must do so quickly as there’s just 30 seconds to do everything I need to do.

I can pause time by pressing the space bar, but I can’t attack during this period. So I utilize this paused time to collect experience after killing every enemy in the room. Chrono Child quickly levels into the 20s, making the next room full of Level 25 enemies easier to kill. I rinse and repeat until I reach the Level 70 room – with just 10 seconds left on the clock, I must strategically use my time-stopping mechanic to collect enough experience to defeat the Elite enemy in this room. Doing so frees Gabriela, an NPC who will now appear at my home base to help with my adventure. In that base, there seems to be additional NPCs to free as they each have stations that will presumably help Chrono Child on future runs. As a roguelike, it features all the stress and excitement I love about this genre, condensed into extremely fast runs. After checking it out, Ascend to ZERO is a game I’ll be watching closely as we near its full release.  – Wesley LeBlanc

Check out the demo and wishlist here. 

I’ve been tracking Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream since it was first revealed in June last year. With a pedigree of developers who have experience on Mirror’s Edge and Battlefield, I figured it’d be something worth keeping an eye on. After playing through the Steam Next Fest demo, I’m thoroughly impressed and excited for more. It’s nothing like the game you’d expect from developers who worked on Mirror’s Edge and Battlefield, which makes it all the better. Set in the fictional city of Eriksholm in the 1900s, it follows three protagonists, though the demo is focused on one named Hanna. She’s an adolescent orphan searching for her brother, Herman. After a lengthy and beautifully rendered opening cinematic, I’m thrown into a stressful escape where I must crawl and sneak my way through a warehouse.

Doing so is as simple as clicking where you want to go on the screen, using the WASD keys to move the camera, Q and E to rotate, and the mouse scroll to zoom in and out. Utilizing the camera is critical to successfully escaping because this stealth game leaves little room for mistakes. I appreciate this challenging approach to the stealth genre as it forces me to really pay attention to enemy sightlines, their pathways, and the floor beneath me (since specific types of floors are louder than others). The city of Eriksholm, as presented in this demo, is gorgeous and sunny, and it’s fun engaging with a stealth-heavy, isometric game in such an otherwise bright environment. It launches next month on July 15, and I can’t wait to see what the other protagonists are up to in Eriksholm. – Wesley LeBlanc

Check out the demo and wishlist here. 

Consume Me might be the cutest-looking game on this list of Steam Next Fest demos, but don’t let that fool you – the team behind it is tackling some heavy themes in the game. Centered around a girl who struggles with food and weight, and a mom who shows no mercy or grace and ridicules her because of it, Consume Me is a non-traditional point-and-click narrative experience. Everything I did in the demo was completed with just one hand and by clicking on the mouse. It’s straightforward in that regard, but a lot is happening on-screen.

In this short demo, I worked out, purchased diet magazines and study guides, walked the dog, folded laundry, talked to a boy, got yelled at by my mom multiple times, ate food, snuck into the kitchen for a late-night snack, and more. These tasks are completed with short, simple, and sweet minigames, enhanced by a cute art style and boppy soundtrack. Everything you do is tracked via a calendar and a journal to track your bites (basically calories), energy, stomach fullness, mood, and more. It all coalesces into a fun time and something very unique in the video game space. I look forward to seeing how this game further tackles this heavy and relatable topic narratively and mechanically when the full game launches this September. – Wesley LeBlanc

Check out the demo and wishlist here. 

Escape From Duckov, despite what its name implies, is not a multiplayer extraction shooter starring ducks. It is, however, a single-player top-down shooter where you play as a customizable duck who is looking to escape from the clutches of other birds. It’s also a looter shooter and looting is necessary as you begin each run with nothing to your name. You must collect weapons, bandages, and other items like chocolate milk if you plan to survive, all while sleuthing through hallways, buildings, towns, and more. You can take out enemies in close-range combat using melee weapons, but you’ll need to utilize your duck’s ability to sprint and dodge roll away from enemy attacks because dying comes easy in Escape From Duckov.

But as you progress, you’ll find stronger weapons, including guns, that make killing other ducks easy. Though I only gave Escape From Duckov about 30 minutes (there are lots of other demos to check out, y’all), developer Team Soda promises 8 hours of content in this Steam Next Fest demo. There’s base building, NPCs to befriend, plenty more weapons and items to loot, and more. If you’re looking for a fun spin on the looter shooter genre, give Escape From Duckov a try. – Wesley LeBlanc

Check out the demo and wishlist here. 

Bandit Trap could be your friend group’s next multiplayer hang as it’s a charming, simple to pick up and play, and ultimately, fun game about setting traps in a location to prevent other players from stealing treasures. In each round, it’s one Trapper vs. three Bandits. The Trapper has two minutes to place traps throughout a location, like a punching boxing glove, bomb, flamethrower, or something else into various pieces of furniture in the demo’s house location, for example. After the two minutes are up, three Bandit players rush in to secure as much treasure as possible by looting things around the house.

As the Trapper, you must sneak around the place to reach trap towers, from which you can activate your traps and inflict damage upon the Bandits. Take down their health bars and their treasure looting days are done (for the round). But they can also take you out, so you must be careful when sneaking around, utilizing Trapper-specific pathways to escape their sight lines. It’s the kind of game that will provide more laughter than a competitive edge, as the stakes don’t seem high. Nonetheless, I had a great time with the demo and recommend checking it out with some homies. – Wesley LeBlanc

Check out the demo and wishlist here. 

Immersiv Games comprises just one developer, and they reached out to me on social media to introduce their game. Now, that’s not a surefire way to get me to check out your game – in fact, I’d say most of the time this won’t work because my plate of games to check out is often already full – but I was intrigued by Arcadian Days’ minimalist exploration and sun-kissed visuals. After checking out the full Steam Next Fest demo, I’m excited to see what kind of chill vibes await in the full game. As Miela, you and your family arrive at a new homestead in a gorgeous mountain valley. After completing a few tasks, which are quick and simple like collecting plants for a crop or wood for a shed, I’m transported to a hill amongst mountains, with the sun falling behind beautiful clouds before night arrives.

The tasks I have already completed and the ones awaiting me on this hill, which include finding a basket of carrots in a field for soup, aren’t all that exciting. They aren’t difficult either, but based on the game’s “non-linear, relaxing” exploration premise, I think that’s by design. The writing is barebones, and it could use some optimization, but so far, Arcadian Days seems like a game worth slowing down for, just a little. – Wesley LeBlanc

Check out the demo and wishlist here. 

Playing Pirate Outlaws 2: Heritage’s new Steam Next Fest demo bummed me out… because it made me realize I completely missed out on the great deckbuilder Heritage must be a sequel to; which is a roundabout way of saying I thoroughly enjoyed the Heritage demo. In this game, which features cute but high-quality 2D visuals reminiscent of a premium board game, you select a captain, a deck, and hit the rogue high seas searching for treasure, elite targets, and more. I found this pirate setting particularly inviting to the deckbuilder roguelite formula, as the themed cards are easy to understand and combat is quick and satisfying. 

Instead of set turns, you play cards in accordance with available ammo and by paying attention to enemy clocks. When their clocks run out, they attack, but because their clocks are on-screen at all times, you can strategize around incoming offensive maneuvers they might make and react accordingly. The cards are themed around pirate maneuvers and weaponry, as are the enemies, and the map is simple but enticing enough to make each run feel unique and varied. Heritage has shot up high on my list of indies to keep an eye out for, and not just because I love pirates – it’s a really fun time. – Wesley LeBlanc

Check out the demo and wishlist here. 

Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault trades in the first game’s pixel art style for a cartoon-ish 3D presentation that breathes a lot of new life into this adventure game. You play as Will, a trader who has seemingly lost his touch but is now ready to dive back into the merchant game. Like the first Moonlighter, the loop consists of traversing out into the wild to defeat enemies and collect a backpack full of treasure before returning to your shop to sell the items you discovered.

I enjoyed bartering with customers, adding bonuses to improve the sale, and getting a peek at what’s to come in my shop’s future. The combat in the demo is one-note but satisfactory, and I expect that aspect of the game to be greatly expanded in the final release. For now, the chill vibes of being a merchant – not the hero that saves the day – is a fun change of pace, much like the first Moonlighter. The Endless Vault appears in town to challenge Will to deliver more gold than it can contain to obtain a special reward, and I’m excited to see what this premise means for the full game when it launches later this year. – Wesley LeBlanc

Check out the demo and wishlist here. 

With Ninja Gaiden 4 out later this year, Blasphemous series developer The Game Kitchen created a little throwback treat to help the wait in Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound. In this side-scrolling entry, players control a ninja named Kenji Mozu (at least in the demo), whose teacher is none other than series protagonist Ryu Hayabusa. With gorgeous pixel art visuals, a stellar soundtrack, and platforming action that feels right at home in this classic series, Ragebound is a game I absolutely cannot wait for more of when it launches next month.

The Guillotine jump move allows you to jump off of incoming projectiles, and it feels great every time. Couple it with fast-paced sword action that rewards aggression and various traversal mechanics that keep things moving, Ragebound is go, go, go in the best way. It’s stressful and challenging – like the rest of the Ninja Gaiden series – but this Steam Next Fest demo eases players into it, no doubt withholding the toughest challenges for the final game. Nonetheless, Ninja Gaiden, Blasphemous, and throwback platformer fans should not miss this demo. – Wesley LeBlanc

Check out the demo and wishlist here. 

Developer Wombat Brawler’s idle fishing game, Cast n Chill, has been on my radar since last month’s excellent Six One Indie Showcase. It’s a gorgeous pixel-art fishing game that’s less about objectives (though there are some) and more about enjoying the great outdoors, the serenity of water, great company in the form of man’s best friend, and the sport of fishing. It’s a simple game – move your boat to where you want to fish, cast your line, and reel in a fish when you land one. Fishing itself is basic, but it mixes well with the relaxed nature of Cast n Chill. 
Finding a spot to fish is about the types of fish you’re after (and adding them to your fishing log), but more than that, it’s about finding a beautiful place to drop a lure and chill. There are plenty of different species of fish, lures, rods, and boats, each with some fun backwoods country descriptions, and coins to collect to buy additional fishing licenses. Those licenses allow you to boat further throughout the game’s beautiful landscape, unlocking more fish to catch. Cast n Chill is, as the name implies, chill, and Wombat Brawler knows this. There’s even an Idle Mode, which lets you keep it open and running beautifully in the background. – Wesley LeBlanc

Check out the demo and wishlist here. 

Into The Grid is a run-based deckbuilder set within the virtual grid of a cyberpunk society. After a wedge is driven between a former-netrunner-turned-mother and her daughter, the daughter is driven towards working for a dangerous company. She needs a rescue, so in steps mother. After shaking off the virtual rust in a short tutorial, I played through the game’s first run. In the virtual grid, you interact with various nodes to gain currency, extract new and rare cards, or gain items that can automatically open up new rooms, take down security nodes, and more. As you interact with this virtual grid, though, the security takes notice and sends various sentinel enemies to attack. 

From here, the isometric view disappears and you’re brought to a first-person combat arena with an enemy before you. To attack, you select cards that are drawn each turn. You can go on the offense to take down enemy integrity (health), use defensive cards to increase your barrier (shield), or utilize special cards that increase your VIM, which determines when you can use Commands. Commands allow you to draw additional cards, add more Clock, which determines how many cards you can use each turn, and more. It was fun synergizing my moves around what Commands I wanted to build toward. The most unique aspect of Into The Grid is that each turn, your hand is wiped and you draw a new set of cards, meaning you must build new strategies every turn. It’s a fun, if stressful, change to the traditional deckbuilder formula and one I so far enjoy. – Wesley LeBlanc

Check out the demo and wishlist here. 

Reikon Games describes Metal Eden as an “adrenaline-rush sci-fi FPS,” and that’s right on the money. It reminds me of Ghostrunner, but there’s no katana here – just guns. As you advance to the objective, you dodge, jetpack, punch, and shoot through enemies in slick cyberpunk industrialist hallways. There’s wall-running, ziplines, and all the other movement tech you expect in a fast-paced FPS. While enemies are dispersed throughout each level, combat primarily happens in wave-based arenas, where you must utilize your surroundings, enemy cores you can explode, and skill cooldown management to survive. Metal Eden is tough – I played on Normal, the easiest option, and died several times in the demo’s hour of content – but definitely a game to keep an eye on if you’re into stylish futuristic shooters.  – Wesley LeBlanc

Check out the demo and wishlist here. 

This top-down, twin-stick roguelike is a delightfully weird fusion of The Binding of Issac, Spelunky, and Pokémon. You play as a little mouse who can turn into Morsels, odd little creatures like a grub, pile of dung, or sunflower with abilities to help you fight back against oppressive cats. Play as a Morsel enough and it'll evolve, but if you level one up too much, it dies. Morsels also don't share health, so there are simultaneously different sets of abilities and numbers of lives. You can have up to three Morsels in your roster at once, so it's an interesting balancing act to swap between them to get a strategic team. After making it to the end and defeating the first boss, I can't wait to play the full game and collect as many weird guys as I can get my hands on. – Charles Harte

Check out the demo and wishlist here. 

I was shocked that I hadn’t yet heard of Davey X Jones as the games industry’s self-proclaimed number-one pirate aficionado. After roughly 40 minutes with the Davy x Jones demo available during Steam Next Fest, I’m excited to see what the final product looks like, though cautious as well. In Davy x Jones, you play as a beheaded Davy Jones, betrayed by pirate lords across the seven seas and their leader, Edward Teach aka Blackbeard. It’s Teach who is responsible for you not having a head, but fortunately, your lifeless body discovers this head once more and together, this unlikely duo heads off on a quest for revenge. 

I like that Davy’s soulless body grunts his name repeatedly, while Davy's floating skull handles all the talking. But the two also amusingly interact with each other, with some nice voice acting too. Everything going on in this world, from the visuals to the storytelling and more, is great and I’m legitimately excited for more. However, I hope the team can use feedback from this demo and the time between now and its unannounced release date for polish. Of course, this is a demo of an in-development game so it naturally could use work, but so far, the first-person gun-and-swordplay feels a little floaty, lacking the weight I’d expect from the scourge of the seas. It’s not optimized well either, but again, it’s a demo, so I won’t hold developer Parasight’s feet to the fire, err, raging seas over this. Nonetheless, Davy x Jones has lots of promise and I look forward to the final release. – Wesley LeBlanc

Check out the demo and wishlist here. 

Let’s begin with the Divine Beast in the room: Nintendo’s open-world Legend of Zelda games, Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, are already two of the most superb games ever created. The definitive experience of both is now exclusive to Switch 2, thanks to the $9.99 upgrade (free with Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack) that brings a gorgeous 60 frames per second to both games alongside improved resolution and textures. Put simply, 60 FPS is transformative for these games. Factor in the new Zelda Notes app, which includes voice notes from Zelda, player-specific navigational guides, and more in Tears of the Kingdom, and you have two of the best Zelda experiences ever on Switch 2. – Wesley LeBlanc

The most recent mainline Pokémon games delivered on Game Freak’s promise to give us a true open-world RPG, and it did so admirably from a content and design perspective. However, the terrible technical performance of those 2022 releases poisoned their reputations forever. Now, three years later, these open-world entries in the Pokémon franchise are finally worth returning to thanks to free Switch 2 upgrades. The steady 60 frames-per-second performance, improved resolution, and reduced pop-in make the games feel new. But actually, it’s just the experience that should have launched in 2022. Still, those who stuck with the original version despite its technical hitches will tell you that buried beneath all of those problems is one of the best Pokémon adventures to date. It’s still not perfect, but now that those technical issues are largely resolved, we can wholeheartedly recommend this as a top-tier Pokémon game without that massive qualifier. – Brian Shea

If you missed out on the original Bravely Default on Nintendo 3DS back in 2012 and are a fan of classic JRPGs, you owe it to yourself to check out this excellent remaster. It’s probably the number one “new” game I’d recommend to Switch 2 players because Flying Fairy HD Remaster, like the original game it’s based on, is a nostalgic great time. There are crystals, unique turn-based battles, and a loveable (if trope-y) cast of characters to meet and control – sound familiar? This remaster brings a gorgeous update to the painterly visuals, improved framerate, and additional optional content. It’s not one to miss. – Wesley LeBlanc

I’m not sure what wizardry CD Projekt Red and Nintendo performed – beyond Nvidia’s custom DLSS – but Cyberpunk 2077 on Switch 2 is a sight to behold. The entire Cyberpunk 2077 package, including its great Phantom Liberty expansion, is a delight on Switch 2. Though its 1080p/30 FPS handheld mode isn’t the most stable, the 720p/40 FPS handheld mode works great – and trust me, on the Switch 2’s vibrant LCD screen, 720p is satisfactory. It all runs even better docked, too, and thanks to the new mouse features of the Joy-Con 2 and Switch 2 specific gyro motion control, Cyberpunk 2077 offers players plenty of unique on-the-go action you can’t get any other way. You can also transfer your save from another platform with little hassle, so you won’t have to start over (unless you want to). It’s worth checking out for the sight of it running on Switch 2 alone, but it helps that Cyberpunk 2077 is now, after years of many updates, an excellent game in its own right. – Wesley LeBlanc

Hitman: World of Assassination consists of three excellent immersive-sim sandbox games from IO Interactive, and surprise! Playing these on the Switch 2 is a dream. The frame rates fluctuate between the range of 30 FPS and higher (rarely dipping below 30 FPS), and there are some clear texture downscales, especially in the Hitman 3 levels, but having these games on the go is a fair tradeoff. I love these games, and see myself making my way through these fantastic hand-crafted sandboxes once more on Switch 2. – Wesley LeBlanc

I loved Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess when I played it on Steam Deck last year. Unfortunately, I’m a bit spoiled by that version of the game, which runs at a smooth 60 FPS. There’s a noticeable downgrade on Switch 2, with 30 FPS and some blurry visuals, and it can be a little hard to get past that. But, even so, Kunitsu-Gami is still a sleeper hit from 2024 and one everyone should check out. It blends tower defense strategy with fun and flowy action combat in a gorgeous Japanese setting. It’s far too overlooked. Though Switch 2 isn’t the ideal place to play it, if you haven’t yet and are looking for a unique game on the console, look no further than Capcom’s Kunitsu-Gami. – Wesley LeBlanc

If you missed this combo package last year, which combines a remastered version of Sonic Generations and a new Shadow the Hedgehog-focused campaign, Switch 2 is an excellent place to give it a go. With 60 FPS gameplay in Performance Mode, a noticeable increase from the Switch’s 30 FPS, and improved visuals, these games have never looked better on the go – especially Sonic Generations. Just make sure to switch to Performance Mode, because it defaults to Quality Mode, which isn’t ideal. – Wesley LeBlanc

The original Survival Kids launched on the Game Boy Color in 1999 (and was recently added to the Game Boy Switch Online library). It received a number of sequels, but the Switch 2 launch game is the first time Konami has revisited the franchise in some time. This entry feels different than the past with its focus on fast-paced co-op, but it offers quick and satisfying gameplay sessions and is an early adopter of Switch 2’s GameShare feature. That means playing with a friend who has their own Switch 2, but doesn’t own the game, is a totally viable option. You and your friends must work together to explore small islands to gather food and materials in order to survive and move on to the next island. The game is not overcomplicated, and you won’t feel the sting of starvation and exhaustion as you watch the sun set, as is typical for the survival genre, but it’s a charming and vibrant game to play on your new Switch 2 with friends that isn’t called Mario Kart. – Kyle Hilliard

With the Switch 2 comes the GameCube library for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscribers, and though the launch lineup is small, it packs a punch. There’s The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, F-Zero GX, and Soulcalibur II. Though Wind Waker isn’t the massively improved HD remaster version that launched back on Wii U, playing through this island adventure on a handheld console is still a treat. F-Zero GX remains a GameCube hit, and maybe if enough people check it out, Nintendo will finally make a brand new F-Zero (one can hope). And finally, there’s Soulcalibur II. As someone who adored the PlayStation 2 version, it was fun jumping into the GameCube version, and this will likely be the first GameCube game on Switch 2 I will roll credits on. Playing as Link, this version’s guest fighter, is awesome. Back on PS2, I only got Tekken’s Heihachi Mishima (cool, but he ain’t no Link).  – Wesley LeBlanc

If you’re tired of losing your lead to poorly timed Blue Shells, Fast Fusion from Shin’en might be exactly what you’re looking for. The sequel to Switch launch title Fast RMX racers, you compete in high-speed, adrenaline-fueled races around the world where your futuristic vehicle can scream down the track at several hundred miles per hour. The ability to jump and lean complements the extraordinarily tight handling as you collect boost tokens, search for shortcuts, and bounce between two vehicle phases to correspond with the boost pad you’re hoping to use. Fast Fusion outputs at 4K and 60 frames per second in HDR, taking full advantage of the extra oomph Switch 2 brings to the table. It may not have the bells, whistles, or grand scale of Mario Kart World, but it delivers a technically impressive and mechanically sound racer that fans of F-Zero and Wipeout should not miss. – Brian Shea

Technically the sixth entry released in the franchise, Yakuza 0 is a fan-favorite for many reasons, the most important being that it is a good game. Developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio had become very practiced at making Yakuza games by the time it released, but it is also, arguably, the best entry point for the series since it is a prequel that takes place in the ‘80s and follows long-time series protagonist Kazuma Kiryu’s earliest adventure. To have a dedicated version for Switch 2 is welcome, but it is a port of a 10-year-old game, and sometimes you can tell. It just feels a little outdated in the face of the series’ recent entries. But the essential parts are here. The game looks good and runs well on Switch 2, and there are new cutscenes and an online cooperative brawling mode. Those bonuses are probably not enough to justify a replay for those familiar with the game, but for newcomers late to the series who want something good for Switch 2, you can’t go wrong hanging out with Kiryu. – Kyle Hilliard