Steam News19 June 202617d ago

Demo Update: Faster Intro, Cleaner Onboarding, and New Capsule Art

The demo for The Totemist has a new update, focused on making the opening of the game feel smoother, clearer, and easier to settle into.

In this update3

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Full The Totemist update

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What changed

2 fixes4 additions4 changes2 removals

Gameplay

addedThe demo for The Totemist has a new update, focused on making the opening of the game feel smoother, clearer, and easier to settle into.

changedAs much as story and atmosphere matter to this project, I wanted to take a careful pass at the onboarding experience so players can reach the actual gameplay faster without losing the narrative setup that gives the game its shape.

changedWhat's changed in the demoI reworked the intro flow to make the opening feel snappier and less overwhelming.

changedWhat's changed in the demoIncreased dialogue speed across the whole game

removedWhat's changed in the demoThe goal here was not to remove the exposition entirely, since The Totemist is a story-driven game and that setup still matters. Instead, I trimmed the fat and tried to make the opening easier to absorb while getting players into the core gameplay more quickly.

fixedBug fixesA handful of visual issues and smaller bugs were cleaned up as well.

The Totemist changes

addedThe demo for The Totemist has a new update, focused on making the opening of the game feel smoother, clearer, and easier to settle into.

changedI reworked the intro flow to make the opening feel snappier and less overwhelming.

changedIncreased dialogue speed across the whole game

removedThe goal here was not to remove the exposition entirely, since The Totemist is a story-driven game and that setup still matters. Instead, I trimmed the fat and tried to make the opening easier to absorb while getting players into the core gameplay more quickly.

The demo for The Totemist has a new update, focused on making the opening of the game feel smoother, clearer, and easier to settle into.

As much as story and atmosphere matter to this project, I wanted to take a careful pass at the onboarding experience so players can reach the actual gameplay faster without losing the narrative setup that gives the game its shape.

What's changed in the demo

Faster, lighter onboarding

I reworked the intro flow to make the opening feel snappier and less overwhelming.

This includes:

A faster intro sequence
Increased dialogue speed across the whole game
A shorter mayor introduction
Less information delivered up front to reduce the initial lore dump and cognitive load

The goal here was not to remove the exposition entirely, since The Totemist is a story-driven game and that setup still matters. Instead, I trimmed the fat and tried to make the opening easier to absorb while getting players into the core gameplay more quickly.

Art touch-ups and visual polish

I also went back through the demo and redid or touched up a number of in-game art assets to improve the overall presentation.

Bug fixes

A handful of visual issues and smaller bugs were cleaned up as well.

Most importantly:

Tully's unlocked hats were persisting into new games
Hats no longer exist across the multiverse

New capsule art:

The game's capsule art has also been completely updated.

The new capsule set was created from scratch by Clockwork Tony, and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out.

If you'd like to check out their work, you can follow them here:

Bluesky: @clockworktony.bsky.social

Twitter/X: @clockwork_tony

Thanks for checking out The Totemist, and if you give the updated demo a try, I hope the new opening feels a lot better.

Source

Steam News / 19 June 2026

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