Novus Inceptio vs Salem
Novus Inceptio
Novus Inceptio has all the hallmarks of a great sandbox game in the making, despite still being in early access. Aside from its mysterious sci-fi theme, the game features a variety of fun anomalies (mini-worlds) where you can discover, explore and possibly piece together story snippets about the stuff that had happened in the past. The game also has a more complex and in-depth crafting system, auto-harvesting feature, and a potentially fun underwater exploration/harvesting aspect that will definitely elevate the overall gameplay quality. However, the developers definitely need to make sure the game’s fundamental features, such as its action-based combat system.In addition to being an indie game, Novus Inceptio is also a work-in-progress. However, from what can be seen and experienced, it already has most of the winning features it needs to “make it” in the sandbox genre. It has a very interesting anomaly game concept that allows players to discover and explore multiple mini-worlds. It also offers an in-depth crafting system and farming, though its building and combat aspects are still pretty rudimentary. If you enjoy playing survival/sandbox games, Novus Inceptio is a breathtaking game that you wouldn’t want to miss!
Salem
Salem is an old-school and somewhat obscure (but fun) sandbox MMORPG that unlike Wurm Online has a stronger emphasis on its in-depth crafting system and survival aspect rather than building.Similar to Wurm Online though, Salem is not a voxel-based game, but you are still able to mold the game environment through resource gathering, mining and digging in a way that reminds me of the currently-shelved MMORPG, EverQuest Next: Landmark. Of course, although not exactly the focus of the game, you can still build your homestead and the process is quite similar to Wurm Online except that it occurs at a much higher speed.
Not to mention, the game world in Salem is simply humongous to the point where it feels like an actual world. Salem also borrowed some features from ArcheAge where open-world PvP is the norm, so you'll need to be vigilant at all times, but players who kill and steal for no reason will be labelled as criminals and can be punished.
However, as good as it is despite being an indie MMO and all, Salem does have its fair share of flaws due to its low development budget. So, we'd recommend you to take a look at Salem without carrying along any high expectations. It's a pretty good MMORPG like Minecraft, but if you're expecting a Minecraft clone, you may end up disappointing yourself.