Brief review for the next day: Small game, big connotation

With the development of games, the definition of games is becoming more and more magical. From being based on the earth at first, to now exploring the outer space at will. From old times to fantasy future technology. Games seem to be more and more about having fun and are getting further and further away from our reality. As for the game "The Next Day", although it is under the banner of horror, the content is extremely realistic. The connotation makes me inevitably think about it after playing it.

"Tsugunohi" (Tsugunohi) is developed by ImCyan. The game definition includes: adventure, independence, horror, rich plot, etc. It will be officially launched on Steam on August 13, 2021.

A simple horror game, an alternative walking simulator

Tomorrow’s game positioning is: horror. But the game is different from other horror games. It brings players into a "horror world" through free exploration, rich operations, various scenes and mysterious and bizarre plots.

The "Tomorrow" is a different kind.

Fixed exploration: The game only supports players to control walking and read character sentences, and there is no other free exploration content.

Simple operation: Completely different from the xy axis that most games have for movement, the next day only has the x axis, and it is one-way. So the keys we can operate except "←" and "Enter" for reading text. (One or two interactive keys are added to some chapters)

Simple but changing scenes: The game is divided into nine chapters, each chapter has a different map, and you can only cycle through one map in a chapter. The difference is that with every new day, new events will always occur in the map, which will continue to promote the development of the plot.

Plot with rich implications: Except for the first two chapters of the game, which are more focused on practice, each subsequent chapter has a lot of content hidden in the plot.

Based on the entire content of the game, I feel that the game is more like a walking simulator with a "horror factor".

Weird and fickle music: The game music will continue to change as the plot progresses, which not only hints at the depth of the plot, but also subtly exaggerates the horror. The music design of each level has its own unique "wonderfulness".

Personal speculation on the meaning of the game plot (contains spoilers)

Because I am an atheist, I prefer to look for templates in reality for the plot settings of horror games. My understanding of horror games is that people's fears/fear of real things are exaggerated.

As mentioned above, the plot of the game is revealed intentionally or unintentionally at the beginning.

There are also "real story" prompts at the beginning of some chapters. It proves that the plot of the game is indeed based on reality, but there is no official answer/interpretation online. Then I will give you some examples of my thoughts and guesses about the plot after playing the game.

: Junior high school boys after school, the boys walked home as usual and passed the same intersection. He was too tired and didn't seem to notice a "child" watching him in the fence on the street. With the boy's indifference, the child-like hungry ghost continues to grow, and eventually begins to affect the surrounding things, including the boys passing by every day, and the human world becomes like a "hell".

This chapter has no obvious meaning. At most, it implies that human indifference will affect all changes.

: After the club activities, the female classmate was on her way home. She always felt someone watching her at an intersection. Finally, she found out that it was a girl in a red dress with disheveled hair, and the female classmate was also there. One day he was devoured by this monster.

This chapter is similar to

, there is no special meaning, more like a Japanese horror movie - red dress, disheveled hair.

: Elementary school girls after school. On their way home from school every day, girls will pass by their mothers who go shopping for groceries. But one day when it rains after meeting their mothers, their mothers "disappear". Dad then called the police, who arranged for personnel to guard the street. As there were more and more telephone poles on the street, the police and the girl disappeared. Dad's search was fruitless, and he encountered the same thing on this street - they turned into telephone poles. The family is finally reunited.

This chapter started with the increasing number of telephone poles. I consciously or unconsciously thought of something that often happened in the old days of Japan - the 1988 iron barrel cement corpse hiding case (Seto Cement Corpse Hiding Case) ). Many novels, film and television works about Japan often reveal that gangsters bury corpses in concrete.

This chapter seems to be a tribute to this event, or something that has become central to the horror factor in Japan.

: In the closed future, the female student in the opening keeps saying that she can’t do it today (unsuccessful). While slowly walking to a bridge, she suddenly jumped into the river. The miracle is that she did not die, but lived the day again. Of course she still failed as usual, and kept going back and forth like this. She seemed to be hesitating whether to continue to start over, but greed still defeated her. This time after she jumped, she did not "resurrection" as usual, but It is falling into an endless abyss.

The core content of this chapter is "suicide". It is well known that the suicide rate in Japan is relatively high. Economic pressure, rejection by colleagues, unsatisfactory life and the current invasion of the virus are all increasing the suicide rate. . It seems that suicide can lead to liberation/rebirth. This chapter of the game shows this problem-if life is not going well, suicide will come back again. But the ending also warns people that suicide cannot change anything, it will only destroy the self.

: A strange story about cats. Cats are cute and cute. They walk in their own territory, through alleys, under cars, and in parks. But one day, there are many jars on the road, and there seems to be something in the jars. The cat didn't pay attention, but its steps became increasingly heavy. In the end, the cat disappeared, leaving only a "cat-finding revelation".

This chapter can still be compared with the reality of Japan - too many feral cats. And how does Japan deal with too many cats? That's naturally hunting, direct killing, poisonous food (Cat Island Murder), etc. This chapter uses the perspective of a horror game to reveal the situation of cats in Japan - they "disappear" if they are not careful.

: Parallel car rides in the dark. A school girl who takes the tram home every day takes the tram as usual, but one day, she finds herself on a "dian car" that is not in reality.

Trams are very popular in Japan, and the probability of tram accidents is also very high. Therefore, the text of this chapter is written as the pronunciation of "electricity" in "Dian". On the one hand, it commemorates the frequent accidents of Japanese trams (Fukuchiyama Line derailment accident). On the other hand, it is a metaphor that in Japan, when you take a tram, you don't even know that you are Is it a tram or a tram that I got on (not now).

: Whispers from the Dollhouse, a playful child explores a house. Finding it was filled with dolls, while playing with it she heard a voice whispering, calling her to go deeper. She was able to resist the temptation at first, but

it was clearly aimed at children's "curiosity and playfulness", and it was a scary chapter that served as a warning to children (if you are playful and listen to strangers, you will controlled). On the other hand, dolls are also a popular horror factor in Japan.

: At the railway crossing in Lingke, the twin sisters died tragically at the railway crossing one day, just because they had an quarrel with their sister that day. When my sister passes this intersection, she can always sense something is wrong. It was true that she deliberately left her sister alone because of jealousy. Who knew that after her sister died, she still cared about her sister and drove a car to take her away to stay together "for life".

The map in this chapter has the logo of "Kisaragi", and Kisaragi Station is also a symbolic name for supernatural events in Japan. The plot also shows people's perception of the twins' "telepathy" and hints at the pain of committing suicide by lying on the train (it is not a pleasant death).

: Love’s Cry of the Dead, Ai-chan (Kizuna Ai) was a very popular VTB at the time. Where will you go after the live broadcast? Of course she was at home with the computer, but she didn't seem to be the only one in the computer. There is an even more terrifying person who wants to replace Ai-chan, but Ai-chan was unaware of this until she was constantly invaded, causing the picture quality to deteriorate and time to go back. Ai-chan is trapped in a year before she was born, seemingly unable to return and replaced by a new character.

This is obvious. It directly reflects the popularity of Ai-chan, to being divided into multiple roles by the company to share the popularity. In the end, the character's image collapsed and was gradually replaced by the new VTB. The game makes this reality terrifying. , displayed in the game.

Summary

The overall process of the game "The Next Day" is 3 hours. The whole process does not require too many operations, so the player's attention will be more focused on the details of the scene. This just plays into the hands of the producer, a "ghost face" that pops out, a "little ghost" that flashes by, and a "impossible" situations. They all slowly change in repeated scenes. This old-fashioned but practical method has a certain degree of fright.

Different methods are used in all chapters to enhance the horror atmosphere, which also brings a richer experience to the simple game. This article only gives an overview of the game's plot, but the horror techniques are worth experiencing for yourself.

The plot of the game is more or less consistent with real-life events/Japanese horror factors. It is both "scary" and commemorating those things.

All in all, as a horror game, Tomorrow does not have so many bells and whistles, but more of an investment in the plot. For horror game players who like simple walking simulators, this is a rare work that allows us to stroll through the game and experience and recall those things that the game wants to "keep".