Games that most stood out to me this Next Fest:

Cobalt Core | Launch Trailer

Hymn to the Earless God Announcement Trailer

Laika: Aged Through Blood | PC Release Date Announce...

RABBIT & STEEL Announcement Trailer

Drevepsina coming to Steam

others that didn't set my brain on fire but I'm still inclined to pick up at some point:

FOUNDRY — Factory-Building Sandbox | Announcement Tr...

Little Goody Two Shoes - Release Date Announcement T...

TEVI - Official Gameplay Trailer

The Talos Principle 2 - Gameplay Trailer | PS5 Games

overall an insanely good batch of games to look forward to this year

i was already into goody two shoes then i realized that literally all the romance options are girls and it became a must-buy

yeah it does not play coy about it

the tutorial is like "go on romantic dates, specifically with girls, out loud"

honestly i might be inclined to watch it more than play it though

time management games stress me out

so fucking glad for how many games now are gay and just whatever about it

i love a game that is loud and proud about being unabashedly queer but something about the way it's presented here where it's exactly the way like a bunch of het romance options would be presented in any other game. idk. makes me feel a bit wibbly

I think it specifically hits because this is like

a very traditional old-school fairytale aesthetic

but regardless the queer angle isn't treated as at all odd or out of place

like yeah people were gay in the Olden Times it isn't something teenagers on tiktok made up

YEAH...

fairy tales feel somehow primordial and laden with essential truth

idk it just makes me so happy we're at a point where it's so normalized in games. i feel like even 5 years ago this would be the Major Selling Point

but they talk about it with exactly as much fanfare as every other feature

I feel like it was a power move to specifically call them Romantic Dates in the menu and tutorial, like. you could've said Dates and 99% of people would get it