Dex was a game I bought because of how awesomely impressive its demo was. In this fantastic Metroidvania-like RPG, you get a game so rich with cyberpunk atmosphere and immersive storytelling that it immediately sucks you in and make you feel almost as though you're playing a Ghost in the Shell RPG with a touch of Blade Runner's darker cyberpunk tones thrown into the mix. In this game, you play as Dex, a young woman who is being hunted for reasons she doesn't understand. Along the way, she encounters some allies that help her adapt to her new life as a warrior on the run. Initially skeptical of any sort of augmentations, she relents in order to survive. As she does this, she discovers that there's more to her story than she could have imagined. Its plot isn't anything revolutionary but this game does a solid job of creating a strong female lead that doesn't feel forced for the sake of any sort of an agenda, which is refreshing. The gameplay on offer here is fantastic, with a minor caveat: the hacking minigame. It's not bad but compared to the rest of the game, it feels rather mediocre. Other than that, though, the side-scrolling gameplay has a combination of old school action games and Metroid-style shooting and exploration that makes this game feel relatively freeform/open world despite being somewhat of a small space in actuality. Add to that the fact that this game's RPG mechanics allow for plenty of replayability and it creates a game that is just entirely fun for people who enjoy RPGs & Metroidvanias. On top of that, this game has a fantastic soundtrack. Everything fits the dark cyberpunk mood to PERFECTION. Excellent atmosphere, great use of synths and just an overall pessimistic tone that captures the essence of the world that this game does such a great job of portraying. Overall, I wholeheartedly recommend this game, even at full price. It's a lot of fun and was a very pleasant surprise, Play the demo if you're unsure or just buy it, it's 100% worth it!
I've actually been meaning to check out this demo since it came out, as the art style and some of the stuff I had heard about it intrigued me. For whatever reason, I didn't get around to it until just now and I'm glad I did because this demo was quite a lot of fun. As it describes, this game is a combination of roguelike dungeon crawlers with JRPG-styled combat. I'm not a fan of JRPG combat at all (I'm just not a turn-based guy) so when I heard that bit, I was slightly concerned that I wouldn't enjoy it. However, it pleasantly surprised me by being relatively fluid and fun, provided that you've played any sort of party-based RPG before. I also like the art and the overall aesthetics. It almost feels like Diablo, thematically, but aesthetically, it's a lot more colorful than Diablo is. However, the Diablo comparison can only be drawn between the theme and the randomized levels because otherwise, this is a relatively slow-paced RPG. However, it has clever ways that make it feel a little faster, which is definitely nice. I also like how you could still play the demo for a while after finishing its story content if you wanted to explore the crafting system a bit. It even has achievements for Galaxy users (first time I've seen a demo do that), which is a nice added touch if you use Galaxy. My only real criticism of this demo is that they didn't really give us much of a look at upgrading our characters/skills. You can craft some stuff but your options are quite limited due to the lack of character upgrades. That complaint aside, though, this demo definitely was worth the hour I spent playing it. It was a bit of fun that definitely placed the full game on my "will buy" list. I'm not sure when that'll be, as it's not the sort of game I typically prioritize, but it definitely is a game I will certainly grab at some point!
I say it a lot but I really am so thankful we've returned to the era of game demos (or prologues, as is usually the case these days). I wanted to check out this game as it's currently on sale and I'm thinking about getting it. Thanks to the demo, I'm almost positive I'm going to go for it because this demo was PHENOMENAL. It gives you just the right amount of teaser content, setting up the world, the story and the general gameplay. Some demos take 30 minutes (sometimes less) to complete and while they may give you a very tiny taste of what the game has to offer, that usually signifies that either the full game is smaller than you might expect OR the studio was too lazy to create a proper demo in the first place. This demo took me about an hour and a half to complete. Granted, I was taking my time with it to get a good idea of what it's all about but still, that leads me to believe that this game is a lot bigger than the screenshots would have you believe. Then, at the end of the demo, it gives a sort of trailer for the full game but it wasn't done in a way that felt like you were just watching a video tacked on at the end for marketing purposes. It was seamlessly woven into the narrative, just further pushing me to the edge of actually buying the game. Then, as if that weren't enough, completing the demo gives you access to a code that you can enter on the game's website to get some GOG-esque goodies (including a couple that don't seem to be given as goodies on GOG) which shows that they have that GOG spirit, the RIGHT spirit, which just further adds to my desire to buy the game and support the devs. Bravo, Dreadlocks Ltd. Other studios and devs certainly should take note because this is absolutely how game demos SHOULD be done. It shouldn't just be a tiny teaser, it should do its absolute best to make the player WANT to purchase the game, to support your studio.
