For those who are new, I aim to provide commentary and feedback on game demos for educational purposes! In addition, with how saturated Steam is, let's get these indie games some attention, shall we (and the occasional AAA game I think isn't getting enough attention)?
For this episode, I used some of the demos I had grabbed from the Women's Day Sale Steam Event!

RULES!
Typically, there are 4 demos. Each demo gets 30 minutes, not including the adjustment of settings and character creation. I might up it to 5 and/or play a great game for longer if there are technical issues. Or a demo finishes before the timer goes off.
And NO AI's spit, aka. plagiarism laundering.

Today, I played 5 demos for your enjoyment:

1. The Bear - A Story from the World of Gra by Mucks! Games - Available
   Home is where the stars are. An interactive bedtime story, for anyone who needs one. Take the bear and the little one on a deeply meaningful journey, as you experience stories of togetherness, of letting go and of finding a place you belong.
2. Crime or Punishment by Scale Issue - Planned Release Date: 2025
   Play as a corrupt detective on the mob's payroll, and cover up their crimes. Read files, collect information and obscure evidence to frame an innocent bystander, who was at the wrong place, at the wrong time. After all, crime pays.
3. The Star Named EOS by Silver Lining Studio - Available
   The Star Named EOS is a story-rich puzzle adventure built around photography. Recreate compositions of past photos to uncover the truth of a family mystery. Experience a harmonious mixture of beautiful hand-drawn art and engaging puzzles on a journey of reminiscence.
4. There's No Monsters by ERЯOR 300 - Available
   Have you checked under the bed? Or in the closet? We guarantee there's no monsters there!
5. Emblems: Sunless Vow by oldflowerGames - Planned Release Date: 2025
   Escape the void...and destroy its heart. A collision between three lost souls ends in a surprise trip to purgatory, where vengeful spirits abound. These unlikely friends must uncover the secrets of their past to escape—but can they stop arguing first?

The links above are to the games' Steam pages.
Crime or Punishment and Emblems: Sunless Vow's demos are also on itch.io!

Why 5? Because most of the demos were short!

With all that out the way, here are my opinions, via the "Layered Compliment Sandwich":

The Bear - A Story from the World of Gra had no right to be as adorable as it was. They also shouldn't be calling the bear a bear, but I'll let that one slide, even though they remind me of the beans in Among Us. Here's real criticism; either I don't remember how a bedtime story is supposed to feel, or this wasn't a bedtime story in game form. It was definitely adorable, a word I had no problem repeating, along with cute, but I got more along the lines of "mental health help" than bedtime story. Other than that, I didn't really have anything to complain about. The art was phenomenal, the story had me wanting more, and the sound design had me smiling! The little pitter-patter of the feet was sooothing! The little bit of puzzling I had to do was a surprise, but they gave it a cute spin! I want this one! I wanna see where the story goes!

Crime or Punishment's premise was what caught my attention. The execution was EXCELLENT! I don't really know how to describe it besides calling it a "reverse puzzle". We're creating a puzzle within the parameters of another puzzle, and to say I was more excited about framing somebody than I should have been was a bit of an understatement. I was ECSTATIC I succeeded! And it was the game I told my partner about when he got back from D&D. There was just enough guidance in the reports to get me going, and enough of a hands off approach that I felt like I was figuring things out on my own! Excellent balancing! And, do I really need to say something about the pixel art? Really? Is this your first time reading an LPSD? Fine... In sum, you have to TRY to fuck up pixel art for me to hate it. We need more pixel art games in the world. And I WANT this one!

The Star Named EOS' art style is one to remember. It was ABSOLUTELY stunning and the room was fun to interact with, when it wasn't annoying me with their puzzles. Now, whenever I see "puzzles", ya'll may or may not hear me groan, because I suck at them. How many times did I say I was getting annoyed? These puzzles were crafted in such a way that I was DETERMINED to figure them out! They were annoying in the, "you're not gonna get me" way, which was a pleasant surprise! My main criticism was in the beginning, when I wasn't sure what I was supposed to be doing because it wasn't clear enough (for me). Once I figured it out, the new issue was a me thing; first-person games, especially when the camera is controlled the way it was, make me sick after a while. If I ever get this one, it won't be one I play on the show. I'll have to look at it longingly between short play sessions...

There's No Monsters did and did not meet expectations, caused by the fact I didn't do any research into it besides reading the description and dropping to the bottom of the page to see if the developers participated in plagiarism laundering. I didn't know what to expect, but I expected... something. Them letting me pick the color scheme was a DELIGHT! More of that, please! For them to flip the monster idea upside down and make it ADORABLE! I LOVE finding things puzzles! And how they designed them was ridiculously cute, compared to the serious-ish designs they hid them in. It made them simultaneously easier and more difficult to find. While not accurate, Medusa smiling was a nice touch.

Emblems: Sunless Vow knocked Crime or Punishment out of the ball park, and I thought it was gonna top the day's chart! WOW! This game had me DYING laughing! I, actually, don't want them to stop arguing. I, also, don't know who my favorite character is. And I don't know if I can even add a "yet". They're all very well developed, despite how short the demo was, so well done to the developers there! While one was definitely more annoying than the rest, I, also, couldn't give them too much shit about it, given the situation they were in. There SHOULD be someone questioning everything! There NEEDS to be someone calling shit out when they see it. The others not liking how they do it doesn't change the fact it needs to be done. That's where boundaries come into play, and they were set well. And, I must say, how they were all designed was gorgeous. I WANT IT!

Overall, I want all of them, especially since I can still picture them all in my head, and they are on my wishlist!

As a reminder, The Bear - A Story from the World of Gra, The Star Named EOS, and There's No Monsters are all Available, with Crime or Punishment and Emblems: Sunless Vow planned to be released in 2025.

And that's it for the Part 23 mini-review! Thank you for reading!
If this series of videos is something you're interested in, they're available on YouTube, The Titans' Discord, Steam, Rumble, Odysee, Ko-fi, and on multiple blogging platforms!
Don't forget to hit the Subscribe and/or Follow buttons to know when there's more!

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The Monday, Mar. 10th, and 694th, Artist Shout-Out goes to Sarah Pisani!
Check them out here!

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TIMESTAMPS

0:00 - Welcome Gamers!
2:04 - Artist Shout-Out
5:13 - Demos' Intro
8:42 - The Bear - A Story from the World of Gra
17:56 - Crime or Punishment
49:20 - The Star Named EOS
1:20:36 - There's No Monsters
1:26:01 - Artist Shout-Out/Picking Another Demo
1:27:24 - Emblems: Sunless Vow
2:39:36 - Demos Line Up
2:44:30 - Artist Shout-Out
2:46:09 - Mini-Critique/Thank You/Links
2:53:53 - Rendezvous Point Bookshop Plug/Viewing
2:55:10 - Up Next: Let's Play Some NSFW Demos! - Part 3/Password: LPSNWD 3#
3:01:03 - Farewell

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• Pilot: CrossCode, Dumpy & Bumpy, Ynglet, Zero Ranger
• Part 2: A Dance of Fire and Ice, 2064: Read Only Memories, Death and Taxes, Underhero
• Part 3: TEKKEN 8, Spiritfarer: Farewell Edition, Secrets of Grindea, Forspoken
• Part 4: Death's Hangover, Fae Farm, Fate/Samurai Remnant, Mini Settlers
• Part 5: All-Star Fruit Racing, Indivisible, SaGa Emerald Beyond, Visions of Mana
• Part 6: Glorious Companions, Tales of Arise, Ultionus: A Tale of Petty Revenge, Cozy Island
• Part 7: The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood, Cursebane, Dex, The Lady Puppet
• Part 8: Detroit: Become Human, Little Goody Two Shoes, Luma Island, Tinkerlands
• Part 9: Backpack Battles, Glaciered, Ratopia, Slime Rancher
• Part 10: Captain Contraption's Chocolate Factory, Maid Cafe on Electric Street, Neon Noodles, Tiny Glade
• Part 11: Critter Café, Grimoire Groves, Pixel Cafe, Wizdom Academy
• Part 12: AdventureBarStory, Bone's Cafe, DELTARUNE, Mudborne
• Part 13: Food Truck Simulator, Magical Bakery, Magical Delicacy, Seaside Cafe Rush Hour
• Part 14: Chef's Tail, Espresso Tycoon, Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo, Tavern Talk
• Part 15: Chicken Journey, FANTASIAN Neo Dimension, Terra Memoria, Until Then
• Part 16: Cornucopia®, Hipster Café, Let's Café, Spells & Secrets
• Part 17: Doloc Town, Feed the Cups, Manitas Kitchen, Mushroom Picnic Party, Rift of the NecroDancer
• Part 18: Meadgard: Beer and Plunder, BOKURA: planet, Teeny Tiny Town, Tower of Babel: Survivors of Chaos
• Part 19: Dungeons of Hinterberg, The Mildew Children, Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island, Yaoling: Mythical Journey
• Part 20: AI LIMIT, Harmony's Odyssey, Last Time I Saw You, Whiskers & Wizardry
• Part 22: Crowncity, Dungeon Alchemist, Parliament of Hell 1796, Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars
• Part 24: Tuesday, March 18th
• Part 25: Tuesday, March 25th

—

MORE INFO & TO SUPPORT

- About MonriaTitans | WGS
- Rendezvous Point Bookshop
- Artist Shout-Outs Criteria
- The Titans' Discord
- Throne Wishlist
- #SubOffTwitch
- YouTube
- Rumble
- Odysee
- Twitch
- Steam

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Originally published to https://opinionsandtruth.wordpress.com on March 12, 2025.