Gamers can grab a sneak peek at the next entry in a long-running RPG series for free

OCTOBER is one of the biggest months of 2024 for gaming releases, and it’s coming off the heels of a stacked September.

We can’t keep up with all of the new titles releasing, including excellent games like Astro Bot, Metaphor: ReFantazio, and Silent Hill 2.

Then there are the games that we’re looking forward to like Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.

With all these huge games coming out at once, it’s hard to know which ones we should buy to keep us within our budgets.

That’s why we love events like Steam Next Fest, which allows us to try out upcoming games without spending a penny.

However, Steam Next Fest is only available for PC gamers or those who own a Steam Deck.

Luckily, one of the biggest games coming in October is releasing a free demo on a number of platforms.

If you enjoy open-world RPGs with real-time combat, then you can try out the upcoming Ys game in a new demo.

Ys X, as the name suggests, is the tenth mainline game in the hugely popular Ys series.

The Ys X demo is available during Steam Next Fest but Nintendo Switch and PlayStation players can pick it up as well.

Unfortunately, your save data won’t carry over if you decide to purchase the full game, but it will let you see if it’s your cup of tea.

The reason saves don’t carry over is because the demo doesn’t begin at the start of the game, but rather drops you in the middle.

This is so you have a better understanding of what you’ll experience in Ys X rather than just the introduction and tutorial.

If you’ve been a long-time fan of the series, you’ll know protagonist Adol Christin.

Usually, Adol meets other adventurers along his journey and fights alongside a growing party of people.

However, Ys X is looking to break the mould by being centred around just Adol and his ally Karja.

The combat system has been reimagined to focus on cooperation, as each partner has their own strengths and weaknesses.

If you do everything right you’ll be able to pull off powerful combination attacks which are much stronger than fighting separately.

You will also be able to try out ship exploration, as the demo lets you explore the open seas.

Adol can attack other ships, and if they win, the next dungeon they encounter will be a little easier to handle.

The demo ends in a boss fight, so you’ll be able to experience lots of different parts of gameplay.

Ys X launches on October 25, 2024, for PS5, PS4, PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store, and Nintendo Switch.

If you want to read more about upcoming games, check out our Life is Strange: Double Exposure preview.