Moroi Is The Weirdest Demo I Have Ever Played, And I Want More - Next Fest Preview

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Moroi may be one of the weirdest games I have ever seen, yet I can't help but feel intrigued by the dark fantasy world that is being built. Before the Steam Next Fest began, I had the pleasure of being introduced to this game by the developer, who gave us a rundown of the game and what it would be like. Now, after trying the demo for myself, I am captivated by my experience and desperately want to play more.

To set the stage for all the weirdness to happen, Moroi takes place in a nightmare. You are a prisoner in the Cosmic Engine who has committed heinous crimes beyond comprehension. However, you have forgotten everything about your past, including your name, and will have to escape this horrid place and gross inhabitants to claim your freedom.

The game features a balance of weird, creepy puzzles and real-time combat, all from a top-down view. The demo gives a pretty good idea of what to expect in the full game and what the puzzles and combat will be like. The first thing I had to do when I woke up was go find a severed hand to feed to a robot, who gave me bone dust to give to a Wizard, then I needed to give Salt to a lady making soup. This led me to open the other prison cell doors around me, where I was met with a guy whose head had exploded and some dead person being stuffed with food (or some substance) from a pipe. That's how Moroi's demo began, and it sets the tone for the rest of the experience.

I also want to commend developer Violet Saint on the animations for the creepy entities around me. I first noticed it with the guy getting stuffed, but watching his stomach expand and contract sent shivers down my spine. There were multiple times I felt this way, adding credence to the description of Moroi being dark. They also mentioned that there will be choices you make in the game, and they can affect the outcome.

Still, there are a lot of spots for humor here. You can get into the mouth of the robot who eats the hand, you will free a talking duck who points you in the right direction to find a chef, one slimy larva-esque being came out of a drain and reaffirmed how slimy they are, and we can't forget the extremely tall wizard who made sure we knew his name is Edgar. There are lots of dark-humor moments injected into the world, and it livens up the dark reaches of this prison a bit.

The combat got off to a slow start but grew on me as new weapons and mechanics came in. It's as simple as button mashing, but with different weapons, execution attacks, and rolling, it became more enjoyable. It helps that the enemy designs and overall aesthetic make slashing and shooting enemies more appealing, but the mechanics are still solid on their own.

The demo doesn't play as nicely on the Steam Deck, but it does have the makings for a great portable experience. It has controller support, which is quite solid, but the performance weighs it down a little too much. Luckily, it was brought up and there is optimization going on for the full release, so I can see this being playable on the Deck when it launches.

Moroi's demo can be played during Next Fest, and I highly recommend checking it out for yourself. It isn't the greatest on the Steam Deck yet, but there is a lot of potential, and it's a really intriguing game overall.

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