Summary
The Day Beforehas been abandoned by developer Fntastic just a few days after its Early Access launch, leaving many to wonder what the original plan was for the title, and what it could have looked like if it reached its full potential.As Fntastic tries to cover its tracksafter the disastrous launch of its hyped-up game, it’s worth looking atThe Day Before’s base building system, evaluating its strengths and weaknesses in comparison to some of the other games it attempts to emulate, as it is a good example of where the game fell short.
Base building is a considerably popular feature in gaming, rising to prominence over the course of the 2010s through games likeMinecraft,Subnautica, andARK: Survival Evolved. Featured primarily in survival games, base building is often a key part of a title’s gameplay loop, as players use their settlements for shelter or other gameplay advantages, which allows them to venture out and gather more building materials, and so on.The Day Beforewas advertised as an MMOwith survival elements, and while this description turned out to be rather inaccurate, it still retains some of the fundamental elements of settlement and base building shared by other, more successful games.
How The Day Before’s Base Building Measures Up
The Day Beforeis not truly a survival game, and its settlement building reflects that. Rather than gathering materials for crafting and gradually upgrading a home base, players are simply gifted a plot of land at the start of the game and shown a menu containing a slew of furnishings and different structure types. Everything pertaining to the home base itself can be purchased with Woodbury Coins,The Day Before’s in-game currency, rather than crafted through resources found through exploration.
Additionally, unlike a traditionalsurvival game likeDayZ,The Day Before’s base-building has a surprisingly small impact on gameplay, with the only obvious benefit to expanding a base, beyond personalization, being an increase in storage capacity. This is due in large part to the fact that the plot of land that players build on is completely disconnected from the rest of the game world, and isn’t at risk of being attacked by NPC zombies or other players. In this way, base building features inThe Day Beforecan be likened to those found in more casual games, such as:
The Day Beforecriticismhas centered mostly on the nature of the game’s development and Fntastic itself (false advertising, swift studio shutdown, etc.), but its relatively shallow mechanics are worth dissecting as well. The inconsequential and limited base-building options featured in the game might actually be enjoyable for those looking for a low-stakes side-activity similar toHogwarts Legacy’s Room of Requirement, but it’s not the best fit for a game labeling itself as a survival title. IfThe Day Beforeaimed to be more of a life-sim or a so-called “cozy” game, that would be one thing, but that’s not what most players were hoping to get out of it.
In all fairness, Fntastic was fairly transparent about howThe Day Before’s base-building would work ahead of its launch, describing it as being inspired byAnimal Crossingand other low-stakes building games. Still, while it may not be the mostcontroversial element ofThe Day Before, base building can perhaps be viewed as a microcosm of Fntastic’s shortcomings with the game, as it straddles the line between survival games likeValheimand casual games likeAnimal Crossing, while not fully fleshing the system out one way or the other. This lack of focus and flimsy identity is, arguably, a major issue in the entirety ofThe Day Before, not just in its base building.
The Day Before
WHERE TO PLAY
The Day Before offers players a uniquely reimagined journey into post-apocalyptic open-world MMO survival set in the present day on the US East Coast following a deadly pandemic.SURVIVE AT ALL COSTSFight other players for survival. Survive against the deadly infected. Collect valuable loot.DISCOVER THE NEW POST-PANDEMIC WORLDExplore the beautiful and richly detailed New Fortune City. Enter tall skyscrapers, business centers, massive malls, grand stadiums, and more. Uncover distant surroundings of New Fortune City on stunningly detailed vehicles.REBUILD SOCIETYJoin the Woodberry survivor colony on its mission to rebuild society. Trade items in Woodberry and save your wealth in a personal storage room. Build your own home in the safe zone.
