The Last Of The Brightside! (Part 4/4)
Whimsical platformers and religious narratives. I will 100% be coming back this year.
Please check out the prior parts if you haven’t!
The last six games plus one more surprise bonus game. This is the first time I play this annual demo disk event, and it will not be the last. The demos ranged from ten minutes to an hour, and covered different genres, tones, playstyle, and so more.
Even if you’re not a horror fan, or even enjoy horror, the flipside of this demo disc isn’t as horror heavy on the other side, meaning this demo disk is great for people who enjoy indie games, and their diversity in style.
Already excited for 2025’s demo disk!
Ticky’s Tower Of Time
Time’s a ticking
You’re Ticky, a magical alarm clock late for his new job: waking up the wizard atop his tower. But on your arrival, you see the wizard’s Sands of Time hourglass broken, and the place is under a strict lockdown that locks all the doors, including the one to the wizard’s room. If you want to keep your job you’re gonna have to go through the different dimensions, retrieve the sands, and reach the top to wake him up!
I love the N64 feel and aesthetics of Ticky’s Tower of Time, the goofy humor, and the variety of levels promised. One level has you going through a hedge maze in the sky, the other level has you going through a kitchen against a rat with shades.
Because Ticky is a magical clock, he’s able to manipulate certain objects by winding them back to a prior spot to reach inaccessible areas, or making a flower flourish to reach higher ground. And while Ticky has two short and small feet, and upgrade allows you to move faster, promising powerful enhancements in his future.
Toree Saturn
Quickest little bird around!
Toree gotta go fast in this quick 3D platformer that reminds me of a blue snarky hedgehog.
While both Sonic and Toree are cool, Toree does have sick shades and a backpack. As Toree, you can hit the ground running, literally, as you can air stomp to get a speed boost, which feels sick combining it with homing attacks.
It’s a very vibrant and colorful game that took me a while to get used to, as the only similar game I’ve played is Sonic. But the simplicity, the speed, and the levels, and specially the air stomp, felt so cool and rewarding that I’m looking forward to what else this game has in store.
Trip
What. A. Trip. Amirite?
Developer/publisher: Bastinus Rex
There’s something odd about this train. You can’t really tell what, and the passengers, though eccentric, seem normal enough. But every time you go through the door, you come back to the same spot, and it’s slightly the same. Maybe someone’s in the bathroom now, maybe that workaholic doesn’t remember you. There’s something.
TRIP is a very colorful narrative first person game set on a moving train, filled with a cast of oddballs, each with their own personalities, quirks, and worries. Talk to the passengers, and pay attention to what they’re saying or looking at to figure out what to do next, and if there’s something different.
Is this a horror game? Maybe, maybe not. It definitely caught me by surprise once (blame the kid in the picture above), which made the following interactions more worrisome for me. I certainly didn’t expect the twists, and never knew where this game was going, but it was an enjoyable experience that developers says they want to keep an hour long. Definitely one of those games with a deceiving style.
500 Caliber Contractz
WAAaaaAaAAAAaaaah -Mustachio man
Developer/publisher: Bryce Bucher
Become a contract killer hired through crowdfunding to kill the extremely wealthy in this momentum-based 3D platformer. Thanks to your compact stature you’re able to zoom around the levels with every shot from your sniper rifle.
I covered this game in a prior article, so if you would like more details, please check it through the link about. But I loved the games aesthetic, as it felt like I was back to using MySpace, and it’s inspired by Mario 64 speedrunning. It’s hype, and I can’t wait to see how people speed-run this game.
Aether Singularity
Become a special agent from D.A.T.A.
Developer/publisher: Alenar Soft
The same time the internet, on this in this universe the Aethernet, was created allowing humans to communicate instantly throughout the world, demons were able to connect to it as well. This allowed them to cross over to our side, wrecking havoc wherever they went. This is where you come in, as special agents part of the Demonic Anomalies Termination Agency, which are agent who formed a pact with friendly demons, and use this power to fight back the menace.
When I initially saw how the game looked and the fixed camera angle, I thought that the gameplay would be similar to early Resident Evil titles, but I was so wrong. Because your job is to deal with the enemy then combat is encourage, and so you get locked in with enemies until one of you dies.
The combat is quicker than I thought it would’ve been, as you can see the enemies attack pattern and in the press of a button you do a dodge roll, shooting enemies allows you to regain mana to use spells, and so instead of feeling like a survival horror, it feels like a more quick paced combat oriented survival horror. It nails its survival horror tone and detective narrative.
Angeline Era
Where bumping into people is actually lethal.
Developer: Melos Han-Tani, Marina Kittaka
Publisher: Analgesic Productions
Socials: Discord (Analgesic Productions) | Twitter (Angeline Era) (Melos Han-Tani) (Marina Kittaka) | BlueSky (Melos Han-Tani) (Marina Kittaka)
You’re Tets Kinoshta, a sword wielding and gun-totting handsome fella on a mission to help the Angels in Era, a country divided by an ongoing conflict between the Fae who lost their home in the Otherworld, and the Angels, who have fallen from the sky and lost their memories.
I also covered this game in a prior article, so please check the link above to get some more details. But the game’s combat is so simple and fun, having you strike enemies by bumping into them, meaning you can focus on balance when to dodge and when to strike as you have to get dangerously close to the enemies. Just thinking about fighting a boss.
The Light Of Our Yearning
I’ll pray to be taken to a safe haven.
Developer: I wish I knew! I can’t find it. Someone, PLEASE tell me.
I did not expect an extra game. I’ve been looking for it through Google, but I can’t find it. No words are spoken, at all, but from the beginning you can have a feeling of what’s happening, and when you reach the end? Dang.
I can’t really tell if the game will only be a narrative driven first person game, as it will only be an assumption, but I can tell that the whole narrative with be focused on religion, and the perception of the followers.
That was the last batch of the demo disc! These were amazing experiences, and I really hope you all go and download this collection. There are tons of amazing games in this collection, and tons of amazing indie games coming out, so try to help by telling your friends about them!
Which games were you most interested in?
Trip is one of my most anticipated for this year. Really loving the art direction.
Nice series! Thanks for working through the demo disk. I love how many of these games now intentionally go for a retro aesthetic.