Next Run

Eight classes, one clock, and the Gates of Hell

Next Run is developer Clarus Victoria's fantasy strategy RPG, released 6 November 2025 for Windows, macOS and Linux. Players choose from eight classes, Warrior, Mage, Lord, Artisan, Leader, Necromancer, Peasant and Druid, each opening a distinct path through the game's systems, before setting out across a procedurally generated map to uncover ruins, battle escalating waves of demonic enemies, and build toward one of several possible victories through strength, magic, economy or cunning. Turns are the game's core currency: every action, from crafting gear to recruiting allies to exploring a dungeon, costs time, and a wave of enemies grows more dangerous with every turn spent elsewhere. Sandbox mode strips that timer out entirely for players who'd rather explore at their own pace, while Nightmare mode pushes the pressure further for players who want it.

A loyal fanbase finds the loop genuinely addictive

The clearest, most consistent thread in Next Run's review corpus comes from players with history with Clarus Victoria's earlier games. One detailed review captures that loyalty directly: "Only bought to support the dev since marble age was such a great game... really like this dev though from his previous games, really only bought to support in hopes he comes out with more titles in the future." That goodwill recurs across many of the corpus's more engaged reviews, with one describing the pull of the run loop bluntly: "Just one more run! Then i can go to bed. Lot's of replay value. Each class pushes you to deploy different tactics on the map." A separate reviewer goes further, describing a genuinely surprising depth beneath an unassuming first impression: "The graphics will put you off. The title screen even moreso. It looks like it will be a budget game with budget mechanics. Its not... I bought the game 4 days ago and already have a life-questioning 44 hours gameplay on it."

When the clock never stops, exploration suffers

Set against that enthusiasm, the single most dominant and heavily repeated complaint in Next Run's negative reviews concerns its core time-pressure design. One of the corpus's most detailed critical reviews lays the problem out systematically: "There is no room in the gameplay to do anything that isn't an efficient means of progressing," citing not enough time to explore fully, not enough time to revisit earlier zones, and limited resources that discourage experimenting with crafting for fear of falling behind. A separate reviewer frames the same frustration differently, enjoying the game overall while still noting "the time between attacks are simply too fast for you to be able to do much depending on the class you picked," concluding the difficulty curve made further progress "not worth the effort" for their build. A third detailed review echoes the same core tension while still recommending the game, noting the tutorial "only explains maybe 5 of the 20 systems," leaving too many interlocking mechanics for a time-pressured player to reasonably learn on the fly.

A recurring, pointed complaint about AI-generated art

A separate, independently repeated complaint sets a meaningful share of Next Run's negative reviews apart from ordinary balance criticism: several reviewers specifically call out the game's visual presentation as AI-generated, and object to it on those terms. One of the corpus's more detailed negative reviews doesn't mince words: "It is very simple 1980s RPG mechanics painted with a thin coat of very poor AI 'art'... Clarus Victoria has released a masterpiece or two, genuinely, in the past. This game is a stepping stone towards new, better games. But this game itself is trash." A separate reviewer frames the same complaint with more ambivalence, praising the underlying design while still marking the game down over it: "The ai art looks stinky but this dev knows how to make a consistently engaging gameplay loop. Just please pay an artist next time Clarus, my eyes are bleeding from this one." That combination, real respect for the studio's design instincts paired with specific, repeated frustration over the art pipeline, shows up often enough across independent reviews to read as a genuine, distinguishing factor in the game's more mixed reception rather than an isolated complaint.

A roguelike label some reviewers say oversells the structure

A further, more structural complaint concerns genre framing rather than execution. One detailed review argues the roguelike tag doesn't hold up under scrutiny: "It has 'roguelike' only in the name: from one run to another, you do not accumulate anything: no cards, no strength, nothing. It is just a standard, meh non-roguelike game." That critique sits somewhat apart from the corpus's other complaints, which mostly concern pacing and presentation rather than structure, but it points at a real gap between how the game is marketed and how at least some players experience its actual run-to-run design, since nothing carries forward between attempts beyond what a player has personally learned.

Value

At NZ$14.75, Next Run asks a modest price for a strategy RPG that earns genuine, specific loyalty from developer Clarus Victoria's existing fanbase, and its Mostly Positive score, 53 positive against 17 negative across 70 reviews, reflects real division rather than broad consensus. That reception splits along fairly consistent lines: reviewers who click with the class-based, time- pressured run structure describe something genuinely addictive worth dozens of hours, while reviewers put off by the relentless pacing, thin tutorial, or the game's AI-generated art tend to bounce off hard. For fans of the developer's earlier work or players who enjoy tightly time- pressured roguelike RPGs, Next Run already delivers real replay value; for players sensitive to AI-generated art or wanting a more forgiving, exploration-friendly pace, the current review corpus suggests going in with clear expectations first.