Pokémon fans should check out this free Steam demo

A new demo is available on Steam that might appeal to fans of Pokémon, allowing for them to catch new creatures, defeat their opponents and try to become the very best at the game on an official competitive leader board.

The demo for NeoDuel: Backpack Monsters is currently available for free on Steam, and allows players to figure out if it's the kind of game for them before they add the title to their wishlist in preparation for launch later this year.

Pokémon Legends Z-A is the next major release for the franchise.

NeoDuel: Backpack Monsters allows players to choose monsters for their team, combine them together to create new synergies and play alongside your friends. The title is a asynchronous multiplayer game, with ranks and features designed explicitly for competitive play, and you can evolve your creatures in order to make stronger versions of themselves while also fusing monsters together.

The official description for the game gives a little more context: "NeoDuel: Backpack Monsters is a PvP inventory auto-battler with a monster-trainer twist! Collect, combine, manage your backpack, and create powerful combos. Fight other players with your team of monsters strategically placed on a grid. Rise through leagues in the competitive ladder!"

The full game is currently planned to launch in Q3 of this year, meaning that the release is actually rapidly approaching for anybody who enjoys the demo, pending any potential delays. It releases in a year with several Pokémon-like games, with Palworld being the most popular of those games, having released in early access earlier this year on both PC and Xbox platforms, though the game faced criticism from several parties for being too close to Pokémon in terms of the creature design used within the game.