The horror of the blank page. It’s something every writer dreads. And it’s a horror I was facing after trying out a preview of the upcoming game from Moon Studios,No Rest For the Wicked.I thought it would be an easy thing to cover, something easy to knock out of the park. After all, these are the folks behind theOrigames, which have been frequent Game of the Year contenders, and now not only do they have a new game, but one that’s also branching out in a whole new direction for them – action-RPG games – which should at least be interesting. And yet, after trying it out, all I could think of was one question that lingered in the back of my mind for the longest time: “What the heck is this game’s big selling point?”
Baffled, I decided to wait until the following day’s “Wicked Inside” showcase for the game,which you can check out here,hoping that it would give me more to work with. And while there were some notable details revealed, I still felt puzzled by whatNo Rest For the Wickedplans to offer. In the presentation, the studio’s co-founders basically say that after helping to revolutionize and revitalize the metroidvania genre withOri and the Blind Forest,now they’re hoping to do the same with action-RPG games. ButOricame at a time when new entries in the metroidvania genre were a rarity, and in contrast,Wickedis arriving at a time when we already have a surplus of dark action-RPG games, soulslikes or otherwise (and yes, the team has elsewhere stated thatDark Soulswas an inspiration). So what exactly is supposed to make this all stand out?
Hunting for Uniqueness
At this point, I should probably clarify that me asking this question isn’t the same as me saying that I didn’t like the game. In fact, I have no problem going on the record that, even in just its first ninety minutes or so, I thoughtNo Rest For the Wickedwas incredibly fun. Movement was smooth, combat was intense and enjoyable, there’s a lot of exploring to do, and everything looks gorgeous. It’s just that if you were to try to pitch this game to me (and you didn’t have the benefit of a reputation that comes from making games likeOri), it would come off as white noise, with a lot of the core mechanics and premise feeling standard.
Ideally any good game should have at least one core thing you may point to – a gameplay mechanic, a premise, a setting, even just a character – and use it to identify what makes it special. But I was blanking on what makesNo Rest For the Wickedspecial, as much as I liked it. One could start with the “painterly” style, which is impressive and eye-pleasing. That said, given their previous titles, a Moon Studios game being a visual delight barely comes as a shock. And while the world of Isola Sacra is impressive, so far it’s still mainly the same kind of ruined medieval fantasy world seen in several other games. Even the reveal of the first boss, a large, shambling monstrosity known as Warrick the Torn, evoked little more than thoughts of “Yep, that sure is aDark Soulsboss.”
It’s The Little Things
Speaking of which, the mere mention ofDark Soulsshould give you an idea of what a lot of the combat is like. Tough enemies, an emphasis on precision and parrying, dodges, tough-as-nails enemies off the beaten path, huge bosses and a type of location that you respawn and heal at. Be it third-person or with a more top-down view such as this, a lot ofNo Rest For the Wicked’sgameplay is familiar. The combat is described as being more “animation-based,” though, with every weapon having its own unique animation, and with it, its own speed and impact. It’s a welcome touch, even if it was hard to notice the details while trying not to die.
Moon Studios Goes Big With No Rest For the Wicked
It’s not thatNo Rest For the Wickeddoesn’t have its own unique twists on the formula, it’s just that they’re more subtle. While the world isn’t procedurally generated, all the loot is randomized with each game, which can present a lot of opportunities, encourage more exploration and make a lot of secret areas surprising in more ways than expected. Areas have a lot more verticality to further encourage exploration, and even require balancing acts to get across certain points. And while the game has fixed camera angles, the presentation cleverly tries to show players as much as possible over the horizon when traversing certain directions, giving them a greater idea of what they’re in for. But it’s hard to sell such a game based on those features.
In fact, the only problems withNo Rest For the Wicked(aside from a few cheap hits) is that all of its most interesting stuff is either A. subtle, coming in little gameplay touches as previously mentioned, or B. simply wasn’t in the preview or won’t be here until later. Case in point, there’s the capital city of Sacrament, seen in the showcase, where you can make a home, purchase properties and meet/help out the locals. Looks interesting, but Sacrament wasn’t in the preview, leaving me to wonder what the point of all the resources collected was when the actual area you can craft them in wasn’t there yet. There’s also the ALIVE endgame system, where previously-visited areas won’t remain the same, and can change throughout the game, as seen with the beginning area now containing a bunch of deadlier, plague-infected monsters, compared to the human enemies that were there before.
Watch This Space
But disappointingly, there’s also a lot of the narrative, characters and world that isn’t here yet, even though that could end up being one of the biggest draws. The preview only had a couple of cutscenes and about three NPC interactions, all of which only laid out the bare minimum of the plot. You play as a holy warrior known as a Cerim, tasked with defeating a corrupting plague known as the pestilence, all while your land grapples with the death of its king as rebels on Isola Sacra fight back against the government. And that one sentence basically sums things up for now. There’s political intrigue to be had here alongside all the monster slaying, which could be intriguing, and there are ways to shape Sacrament and other places on the land, but how everything will go down doesn’t come until later.
Based on its initial preview,No Rest For the Wickedstill seems like it has the making of an incredible action-RPG, even if it seems to be saving what could very well be its biggest guns for later, making the decision to launch in Early Access an odd one. But as mentioned, there’s still a ton of fun to be had here, and we’ll see how the game handles the start of its journey whenNo Rest For the Wickedcomes out on April 18 in Early Access for PC, with Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 versions to follow later.
