The Day Before Continues a Frustrating RPG Class Trope

After two years of controversy and confusion, The Day Before has finally arrived. As many were expecting, the game has its issues, with some players feeling even more disappointed by The Day Before as time goes on. There are a number of reasons for this disappointment and frustration, from poor technical performance to accusations of false advertising, but there is one problem with the game that it shares with other lackluster, but less disastrous, RPGs: a bland class system.

Though it was marketed as an open-world survival MMO, The Day Before has proven to be more akin to an extraction shooter, wherein players are tasked with moving into a hostile area, collecting as much loot as possible, and getting out, all while avoiding enemies and other hazards. The Day Before may not be an MMO, but it retains a few staples of the genre, such as a character creation tool and three distinct classes: Roamer, Pathfinder, and Ghost. Upon further inspection, however, these classes aren’t nearly as different as they first appear, which contributes to the game’s generally underwhelming aura.

The Day Before’s Character Classes Lack Nuance and Variety

Players wishing to craft a unique character in The Day Before will likely have their hopes dashed upon first booting up the game. In the character-creation screen, each class option is paired with a brief, lore-based description. These are passable, and may even help ramp up excitement for players first getting into the experience. Looking at the actual gameplay impact of each class is when things can start to get disappointing.

The Day Before’s Character Class Traits

• Roamer:
  • Enduring: The Weight Capacity skill is increased by 1 level.
  • Perceptive: The Looting skill is increased by 1 level.
  • Hardened: The Automatic Rifle Recoil Control skill is increased by 1 level.
• Pathfinder
  • Charismatic: The Trading skill is increased by 1 level.
  • Resourceful: The Healing skill is increased by 1 level.
  • Cold-blooded: The Sniper Rifle Reload Speed skill is increased by 1 level.
• Ghost
  • Resilient: The Stamina skill is increased by 1 level.
  • Tenacious: The Injury Resistance skill is increased by 1 level.
  • Trained: The Automatic Rifle Reload Speed skill is increased by 1 level.

The Day Before‘s gameplay is rather pedestrian and straightforward, with little in the way of complex movement mechanics and combat options. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, particularly when viewing the game as an extraction shooter, but games of this kind will usually build on its barebones gameplay fundamentals with unique abilities or mechanics for each class, allowing players to craft a personalized experience while increasing the replay value of the title. The Day Before fails to provide this variety, with each class’ traits being bland stat buffs that, while providing potential advantages in certain situations, most definitely do not alter the experience of the game in any meaningful way.

In Defense of The Day Before’s Class System

There is enough fervent criticism of The Day Before, so it may be worth examining its class system in a more balanced light. While its true that most games with classes take steps to make them play differently, this approach often necessitates restrictions. In other words, players may be locked out of certain abilities or mechanics from the start of the game, based on their class choice, leaving them in a potentially frustrating situation if they later change their mind about their chosen class. There are plenty of games that take a similar approach to The Day Before‘s class system, but manage to do it well, either by allowing for more fluid, interpretable class definition throughout each playthrough or by having strong enough gameplay to distract from the limited variety.

That said, The Day Before lacks the depth and mechanical complexity of such games, and its by-the-numbers third-person-shooter gameplay could have greatly benefited from unique class-building options. As it stands, it wouldn’t be surprising if many The Day Before players, even those who hyped it up on Steam ahead of its launch, are wondering why classes are in the game in the first place.

The Day Before

Following a terrible pandemic, players must survive in the harsh post-apocalyptic world of The Day Before filled with infected monsters and other opportunistic survivors. An MMO and survival game from FNTASTIC, The Day Before boasts an open-world, multiplayer environment where players can scavenge and fight for their lives.

Released

December 7, 2023

Developer(s)

Fntastic

Publisher(s)

MYTONA