In early access on Steam, Next Day is the latest Survival MORPG (Multiplayer Online RPG) set in a fictional post-Soviet state made by Indie developers SOFF GAMES.
Jumping into Next Day today!
After crafting a gun I left the starter safe zone for the first time armed with a quest, jeans, ankle boots and a backpack wondering what stops anyone from camping quest spots? The answer I would find out soon and more than once is, nothing. To some this may be a deterrent to enjoying a Survival game but for others this is also an opportunity to add strategy to how you might play your game once you get a grasp of it.
Dying mostly to a wolf just outside the camp the first ten times it became almost frustrating running around the safe zone camp hoping someone had left a pair of pants or you will remain cold, banishing yourself to the fireplace where an npc taunts you with sweet mellow guitar. I shamefully died of this most secondly, followed by bullets to the face heading further from the camp on my way to my next quest.
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What is Next Day?
If you have played survival games before you will be familiar with how they go. Stay alive, collect all the loot, make sure you can unload and load quickly. Then, move! What might catch most off guard in Next Day however is:
- There are no zombies
- Eating/picking/first aid seems to take forever especially if you are running from a bear that along with wolves seem to be the only other creatures so far roaming to kill you!
- There is a toxic gas looming bright green in built up places but in early access it doesn't seem to move in a way that promotes a sense of urgency as I could easily avoid it.
I'll be keeping an eye on what changes might occur to these features in the future. I'll also be keeping an eye on factions as Next Day has four though the first one is simply default.
- You begin as Neutral
- If you kill a Looter you become a Civilian which is basically a good guy.
- Kill a Civilian or Neutral player you become a Looter.
- If you kill your own faction you become a Traitor which is equivalent to being the bad guy.
Your faction effects how NPC's treat you and what safe zones you can use as you adventure keeping in mind that you can sell everything you loot to merchants in these faction safe zones to gain currency to spend on items in the store. These factions are an intriguing twist, it makes you want to work together with others but if you suffer from trust issues I think you'll find this is maximum overdose as it might take a little while to know who's trying to kill you and who isn’t.
My rule of thumb so far is stay clear away from anyone not traveling alone!
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Something small yet significant to note is that it seems you are not bound to any room (server) within the mode you are playing so you log in where you left off with all your items (if you logged out alive or on PvE) but could be in a different room if you log in via the main screen Start Game. You can also go directly to rooms via Find Game where there are currently many rooms set up for the two modes they have now
- Main - Survival and RPG - All content.
- PvE - Usually means you cannot kill other players but translation in-game unsure.
- Last Survivor - Currently not live.
I've had no difficulty with server stability which is always a thumbs up and yes there are cars in this game already! Cargo drops and military base races are also in full swing if you are up for the challenge. There is also a skill system and then you have the Bunkers. Next Day version of dungeons filled with NPC's you need to shoot/kill to find loot.
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A Kiwi bird's eye view of Next Day
All in all I was pleasantly surprised how much content there is already and I don't know about you but zombies are everywhere so I found this post-world not being overrun by them refreshing however I hope SOFF GAMES come up with another way to add just a little more suspense out in the open world to replace our brain eating dead friends! Additional speed on interacting with items ie dry brush would definitely make Next Day seamless along with a more user-friendly starter zone to avoid the "death by common cold" demotivating shame I experienced.
On a side note: I didn’t see any building single player or co-op though I may need to explore more to be 100% sure this is not content which is easy to do because yes I will definitely be jumping in again purely to confirm this, see more maps, steal your car and capture all the noodles! As I wrap this up big apologies to the dude that came running into the house making me take off in such a fright I opened the door to the bear that mauled him! Big ups to the gentleman who gave me antibiotics when I caught a cold the last time avoiding more shame and happy hunting to all Next Dayers except Traitors!
Are you in Next Day? How are you liking it so far? Do you enjoy survival games? I would love to know!
