I'm glad I didn't skip this Metroidvania's Steam Next Fest demo – it's more than pixel art Hollow Knight and has maybe the best graphics settings ever

Just finding time to play through the best Steam Next Fest demos, let alone all the promising ones that appeal to me specifically, is a tough task. I've had to get pretty aggressive about my selection process this week. If a demo's screenshots and tags don't grab me immediately, it's not getting a download, and if the first five minutes don't feel right, it's getting uninstalled. Life, like Steam Next Fest, is too short. And I was this close to passing on Noreya: The Gold Project, a 2D pixel art Metroidvania from developer Dreamirl, not because it didn't look good, but because I still haven't gotten to demos for some of the event's most popular games. But I'm glad I gave it a shot. The demo is a little rough technically, but I see huge potential in this distinctly post-Hollow Knight game. 

Noreya has been pitched as something of a Microvania, or at least micro by the standards of Hollow Knight, which the game closely resembles in its layered backgrounds, clean platforming, and especially the main character's simple, directional sword swipes and pogo hopping. Dreamirl says the early access version coming next month will be about five to six hours, with a full 10-hour version planned for its early access graduation after two to three months of feedback-guided development time. As a point of reference, the game's targeting seven boss fights total, which sounds pretty snacky to me. 

I've put some time into the even more limited demo, and it's definitely left me hungry for more, but also hungry for some improvements which should be easy wins. If we can get two little fixes here, I think Noreya could be really nice. First of all, there's a bit of hitching in the frame rate during some jumps, which is a big problem for a platformer to have. Hopefully that's an easily fixed technical hiccup. Secondly, and even more annoyingly, swinging your sword has a little screen shake effect attached to it, not to mention a flash effect upon hitting enemies. I would throw both of these effects in the trash, myself, but they definitely need to be togglable at the very least. 

If these visual disruptions get resolved, I think we'll have a tidy little Microvania here, and with a lot more depth than I anticipated. The platforming immediately feels nice, and the levels you're navigating are a minimalist feast for the eyes. The black-and-gold forest opening is particularly lovely, but I'm a sucker for that color scheme. Combat is brutally simple to start – arguably too simple, with some core abilities like the dodge shown in the trailer withheld to be unlocked later on – but punchy. I am looking forward to more enemy variety beyond black blobby things, though.

I'm especially intrigued by the skill tree you get pretty early on, which lets you upgrade your sword combo, increase your health and regen, strengthen a range of other abilities, and – very importantly – unlock the freakin' map. There are dozens of little skill nodes, and even with most of the tree obscured, a lot of them look mighty tempting. These upgrades also seem to tie into the allegiance system that apparently shapes the game's world, with "two unique persistent worlds" tied to the gods of the Path of Gold and the Path of Light.

Noreya looks lovely and has simple but rock-solid controls behind that veneer of hopefully temporary technical issues. I love short, compact Metroidvanias like this, so I'm hoping its early access journey is a fruitful one. If nothing else, I'm glad I played the demo just to see one of my favorite graphics settings pages ever.

Hi, yes, I would like shaders, please. Oh, and cook the graphics to medium as well, thank you. 

I struck gold with my first Metroidvania demo of Steam Next Fest, which feels like Bloodborne as a 2D Castlevania. For classics you can play right now, have a gander at the best Metroidvania games.