Daggerless Gaming News: Next Fest Winds Down, Indie Co-Ops Rise, and Pokémon's Rocky Rollout – October 13-19, 2025

By the Daggerless Team
October 20, 2025

Hey indie grinders and demo hoarders! October's pixelated storm showed no signs of slowing last week (October 13-19), with Steam Next Fest wrapping its demo marathon, a clutch of fresh indie drops stealing the spotlight, and AAA launches like Pokémon Legends: Z-A stirring up more controversy than cheers. At Daggerless, we're all about those grassroots gems—the prototypes that punch hard and the solo-dev stories that inspire—but we'll call it like we see it, even when the big boys stumble. From prison-break pandemonium to urban Pokémon pitfalls, here's the week's indie-leaning lowdown on what lit up (and fizzled out) the feeds.

Demos and Free Plays: Next Fest's Last Hurrah – Polish and Prototypes Shine

As Steam Next Fest October 2025 hit its tail end around October 15, the demo floodgates stayed wide, serving up a final feast of hundreds of builds ripe for dissection. If you're mid-prototype, this was your last shot at free recon—mechanics to mimic, bugs to benchmark, and UIs to uplift.

• Berserk B.I.T.S. Polish Push: The pixel-fueled action-platformer iterated with tighter combos and rage modes that nailed that NES-era rush, drawing dev chatter on animation tricks for their own brawlers.
• Underdog Delights: Roadside Research's procedural alien hunts and Misery's moody walks kept the hidden-gem lists buzzing, with emergent narratives that scream "steal for your walking sim." Rising Army's RTS twists added medieval strategy spice for tactical tinkerers.
• Cross-Platform Crossovers: Xbox Free Play Days looped in Shard Squad's budget XCOM vibes, letting indies peek at console-optimized squad AI without the hardware hassle.

Itch.io chipped in with retro romps like Amiga-flavored platformers, keeping the emulation crowd prototyping old-school limits.

Announcements and Releases: Indie Chaos Creators vs. AAA Stumbles

The week's release rhythm was indie-steady amid October's 50+ title torrent, favoring co-op capers and quick-hit puzzles over spectacle. But the AAA spotlight? It dimmed fast, especially for one Kalos comeback kid.

• Indie Standouts: BALL x PIT (Devolver's wild puzzle romp) hit October 13 with absurd charm that's catnip for experimental devs testing physics quirks. CUFFBUST crashed in October 15, unleashing 10-player co-op prison escapes in pure anarchy—emergent multiplayer gold for anyone brewing online brawlers. Stealth Steam arrivals like CARIMARA (exploration enigmas) and Bye Sweet Carole (horror whimsy) flew under radars but nailed niche vibes for story-driven solos. Double Fine's Keeper led Xbox indies with its narrative hooks, ripe for emotional engine experiments.
• AAA Rollercoaster: Pokémon Legends: Z-A touched down October 16 on Switch (and enhanced for Switch 2), promising real-time Kalos revamps and Mega returns—but early vibes are sour. Critics are lukewarm at best, with Metacritic hovering mid-70s akin to Arceus, slamming the single-city sprawl as "samey" and real-time battles as "refreshing yet unpolished." Fan forums echo gripes: outdated graphics for a 2025 title, recycled mechanics, and launch bugs tanking the hype—sales are strong per tradition, but backlash is brewing louder than a Team Flare meltdown, with some calling it "another safe bet gone stale." Contrast that with Dying Light: The Beast's solid zombie-slay sequel (sans ray tracing but buttery on older hardware), fueling survival-crafter envy, or NASCAR 25's sim-sharp racing for physics pros. Battlefield 6 servers still thrummed post-launch, inspiring netcode nods for indie shooters.

Horror whispers from Dread XP's October 23 showcase kept the chills coming, teasing Project Songbird's guitar-gripped dread and Don't! Fret's rhythm-riddled frights for low-fi terror builds.

Community Buzz: Showcases Tease, Threads Roast, and Devs Rally

Indie energy crackled online, turning gripes into growth and announcements into ammo.

• Xbox Indie Showcase Hype: Late-October reveal teased trailers from Serenity Forge and Thunder, priming fresh looks at under-the-radar titles to sharpen your dev diary.
• Reddit Roast Session (Oct 19): r/Games' Indie Sunday megathread dissected everything from accessibility wins in roguelites to Pokémon's "what went wrong"—with vets venting on franchise fatigue while newbies shared burnout busters.
• YouTube Recaps: "Indie Gaming This Week: 13-19 October" spotlighted hidden MVPs like meditative sims and co-op oddballs, while Next Fest wrap-ups crowned Berserk B.I.T.S. a must-demo. Pokémon discourse dominated, with creators like Clemmy unpacking Z-A's "missed potential" amid 20K+ views.

TGS tails wagged with JRPG indie reveals, and AI tweaks fueled cheap-NPC brainstorm sessions for bootstrapped teams.

Level Up: Your Indie Escape from the AAA Blues?

Last week flipped the script: Indies like CUFFBUST delivered unfiltered fun while Pokémon Legends: Z-A's tepid rollout reminded us why fresh formulas (and brutal honesty) matter. Demo fave? Or got thoughts on Z-A's fumble? Spill in the comments or hit us up—we're queuing interviewees to riff on these highs (and headaches).

Keep building, keep critiquing,
The Daggerless Crew
(P.S. Crafting co-op madness or real-time risks? DM for a spotlight—let's unpack your dev saga!)