There's nothing like being able to experience a heart-wrenching story or learn about a new perspective of people you'd never even meet in the real world, all presented beautifully in a video game. As the years continue to pass, we see new takes on one of the most diverse genres and it's always a pleasure to see how each Game Developer puts their own unique spin on it. With hundreds of games coming out, here are a few of the best and brightest in the bunch from Steam Next Fest, 2023 in terms of all things Story, Culture & Lore.
Helpful Browsing Notes:
These games are not ranked in any specific order. They're only numbered to stay organized.
If any links are broken or wrong, or you're a developer that has an updated link, please just leave a comment below and we'll fix it!
Just because we're not planning on reviewing a game does not dictate it as bad or good. We only have so much time to review games so we prioritize ones we personally want to play over others. Our tastes may differ, but that doesn't mean a game isn't quality.
1. The Secrets of Hope
🏷️ Genre: Emotional, Immersive, Atmospheric, Exploration
📅 Release Date: Unannounced
🗒️ Description: Lose yourself in an immersive story, as you follow a man coming to terms with terminal cancer. Explore a surreal world from a first-person perspective. Revisit both new and old memories and follow along as he discovers The Secrets of Hope
📝 Reviewing?: Unlikely
2. Venba
🏷️ Genre: Romance, Cooking, Narrative, Puzzle, Stylized
📅 Release Date: July 31st, 2023
🗒️ Description: Venba is a short narrative cooking game, where you play as an Indian mom, who immigrates to Canada with her family in the 1980s. Players will cook various dishes and restore lost recipes, hold branching conversations and explore in this story about family, love, loss and more.
📝 Reviewing?: Possibly
3. Huni Kuin: Beya Xina Bena
🏷️ Genre: Cute, 2D, Platformer, Story Rich, Mythology, 2D
📅 Release Date: Q3 2024
🗒️ Description: A 2D platform game about the ancient stories of the Huni Kuin indigenous people, who live in the Brazilian Amazon. The entire game was produced in collaboration with the Huni Kuin communities of the Jordão river, in Acre.
📝 Reviewing?: Unlikely
4. Reverie: Sweet As Edition
🏷️ Genre: Action, RPG, Action-Adventure, 2D, Cute
📅 Release Date: June 28th
🗒️ Description: DESTINY CALLS THE LEAST LIKELY OF HEROES. Reverie is an action adventure game set on a fictional island in New Zealand, inspired by the legend of Maui and the Giant Fish where the demigod himself fishes up the North Island with a powerful fishhook.
📝 Reviewing?: Unlikely
5. Island of Winds
🏷️ Genre: Action, Adventure, Puzzle, Exploration, Folklore
📅 Release Date: Unannounced
🗒️ Description: Island of Winds is an adventure game set in the awe-inspiring environment inspired by 17th century Iceland, drawing upon nature, folklore and history. The core gameplay involves a rich story, intriguing puzzles, spellcasting, and a special focus on empathy encounters.
📝 Reviewing?: Possibly
6. Little Wu Chang
🏷️ Genre: RPG, Adventure, Souls-like, Action, RPG, 2D, Culture-Rich
📅 Release Date: Unannounced
🗒️ Description: "Little Wu Chang" is a 2D top-down soul-like APRG game based on Chinese mythology. You will play as a newly born Little Wu Chang and experience a journey through mythology that is both familiar and unfamiliar.
📱 Unable to Locate
🎮 Unable to Locate
📝 Reviewing?: Unlikely
7. Inner Ashes
🏷️ Genre: Adventure, Atmospheric, Walking Simulator, Indie, Emotional Story
📅 Release Date: June 30th, 2023
🗒️ Description: Inner Ashes is a first person, narrative, puzzle adventure, where the player puts himself in Henry's shoes, a forest guard diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s. He has to travel through his mind to discover why his only daughter Enid disappeared from his life.
🎮 Discord
📝 Reviewing?: Unlikely
That's all folks!
That's it for the best Story, Culture & Lore games of the Steam Next Fest 2023 event. Click HERE to be taken back to the Master List article... but before you go, make sure to drop a like below if you're a big fan of the genre, and leave a comment telling us what games you're looking forward to most!
Comments