Every so often you will see a game that tries to shake up the status quo. An entire genre can get stale if the big releases maintain their dominance with bubblegum development. Call of Duty is a good example of this, using a tried and tested formula to push out the same reheated dribble each year. It’s safe, it sells and does the bare minimum for innovation. It takes real guts to spend your precious five or so years of game development, on something that breaks convention and is, at the end of the day, a risk.

This week a new game from the developers of Ori and the Blind Forest landed on our shores. Moon Studios has said this is a real make-or-break moment for them as they are aiming to revolutionise the ARPG genre and offer something different from the big hitters in this space. Now with a week of play under my belt, I am happy to bring you my first impressions of this ambitious new game.

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Last year I dropped a bollock by getting swept up in the hype for Diablo 4. The game launched and for a few hours, it was grand. However, soon I started to see the issues under the pretty aesthetic. I had come for the combat, exploration and gorgeous breakable set pieces. However, in retrospect, the whole thing ended up feeling like a treadmill that only really cared about how many times I clicked my mouse.

The lack of skill slots really jared with me, I wanted to leap into combat with a tantalising range of options and mix things up with varied strategies. Friends would say, ‘That's not what Diablo is about’ but this didn't help: I just wanted to have some fun. A week later (and £80 lighter) I accepted this game wasn't for me and hit the uninstall button. This week I found precisely what I had been looking for in No Rest for the Wicked.

Breaking the Mould

You start in familiar territory and yet, even here, things already feel markedly different. Character creation is pretty simple, but damn the unique style has gotten people talking. The body morphology of humans is way off-kilter and I love it. The female character I made is thicc, with massively exaggerated appendages that make her look like she could choke a dozen donkeys with one arm. Once you have named your server the opening cinematic cranks up, all played out with the lush in-engine assets. 

It turns out the world is being besieged by a horrific plague that distorts men into walking limb kebabs. You take control of your character on a ship, heading across choppy seas to the infected island of Sacra. Immediately it feels good to move around this beautiful game world, chatting to the skittish crew and learning ‘your kind’ are not a welcome presence. You awake from your slumber as the ship is being attacked and this acts as a tutorial of sorts. Needless to say, things go awry and the ship is obliterated against the jagged cliffs of your new home.

After another beautiful in-engine cutscene, the game begins proper with what's left of your clothes barely hanging onto your robust frame. With the elements lashing against your bare skin you start moving, leaving darkened footprints as you pad across the waterlogged sand. You disturb some seagulls chowing down on the crew, now limp and cold on the shoreline. As you move around this starting area you start to appreciate the intuitive movement system. Pushing against objects lets you climb them, gaps you’ll leap over and ladders scurry up like a ferret up a drain pipe. Each transition blends into the next flawlessly, such as how you throw yourself sideways when climbing down. 

You start to see out-of-reach treasure, boarded over caves and climbable vines promising either a reward or a fall. Each area is covered in alternative routes, hidden crevices and secret rewards to uncover. This is one reason why this game immediately reminded me of the excellent environmental storytelling in Dishonored. The traversal has also been handled with a deft touch, for example when creeping along a narrow beam there is just enough stickiness to make it feel fun without being impossible. If you then aim at another reachable ledge, your character will hop across intuitively.

Heavy Metal

The combat in No Rest for the Wicked is your bread and butter and a million miles away from games like Diablo or Path of Exile. Starting out, you just have your meat hooks to punch the local crabs to death. Successive attacks animate beautifully and holding attack charges up a super punch. Mouse and Keyboard is supported but this is a game built around playing with a controller. You can also sprint and attack to do a hefty kick to the face. This attack template tracks with each weapon type you pick up, from one-handed swords, maces, claymores etc. It's pretty fun to learn how each weapon attacks as they all offer different tactical options and the animation is sublime. 

Sneaking up on unaware foes and throttling them is also a solid option, although I would love to see a better gauge on stealth detection and enemy awareness. As it stands enemies just seem to randomly detect you, even if facing slightly away. I was amazed to see that stealth takedowns change based on the weapon you have armed, such as a vicious neck slash when holding dual daggers or a reverse body slam when empty-handed. Your actions such as dodging or attacking take a bite from your stamina, do too many and you'll be left vulnerable. So combat is this dance of strikes, evasion, recovery and repeat: souls-like, as some have come to know it. There is also a parry mechanic, which if timed well, leaves your opponent open to a good chop or two. As you fight your focus metre will fill and this powers your runic attacks which have a huge range of abilities. 

While this combat system isn't something new, to have it in an isometric ARPG feels fairly unique. The real magic sauce is how much weight and momentum each attack has, affected by your armour level which in turn is worked out by the weight of the gear you have on. When your attacks connect with objects like barrels, they shatter into bits and the resulting physics demo is glorious. Connecting with enemies is equally awesome and you can see the impact jar them for a second. Smaller enemies crumple as they die and limbs get lopped off with gratifying frequency. The ragdoll physics also makes for some hilarious post-death acrobatics. This combat system is also a hotbed for unexpected events like archers landing shots in the backs of their comrade's heads or brutes charging past you off a cliff.

Drop Dead Gorgeous

So anyone who has played this team's prior games will have an idea of their graphical acumen. Both of the Ori games were stunning and looked more like Pixar films. They also played really well, with fast responsive controls and top-tier level design. Well, they have surpassed this bar by a considerable margin with No Rest for the Wicked. 

All of the environments I have seen so far are like a living painting in front of your eyes. Grass, trees and cloth are all undulating in the wind. Water is everywhere from the waves of the ocean, to the spray coming off your sword as you swing in the rain. They are even considering adding full liquid and mud simulation in a future update. 

Lighting is another element of the whole, that elevates every scene. Torches fighting in the wind to stay lit in darkened chambers, glowing campfires in the woods casting a red outline to those staying warm nearby and a whole manner of spell-based fireworks. As the time of day and weather shifts this also shows off the exquisite environmental effects. There is even proper smoke and mist simulation which grounds every scene and is fully dynamic when people move through it. The game world is actually curved which makes the horizon much more visible: it’s a neat trick that lets players have a better idea of where they are going. Your character and the many other beings in the game have fascinating designs and mind-blowing animation. You really must see it moving to appreciate it fully.

Crafty Folk Abroad 

So the most surprising aspect of playing No Rest for the Wicked is all the elements around the combat. Pretty soon after washing up on the beach, you will start to pick up various tools such as axes, spades and even fishing poles. While gathering materials in games is nothing new, even here we see an obsessive attention to detail. What I love is how these resources are so naturally placed within the environment, you'd be forgiven for thinking they were just part of the eye candy.

Your first main task is to make it to Sacrament, a castle town that serves as a hub for most of the vendors and NPCs in the early game. Exploring this space has left a real impression on me. I've seen so many towns and villages in games, filled with all manner of distractions but to be honest; most of the time I'm not interested in the inane yammering of the townsfolk. In Sacrament, I have spoken to every person and explored every nook and cranny. I don't think I've ever seen such an equally beautiful and engrossing place in a video game with lofty towers, secluded babbling brooks and an aesthetic you would normally only see in markee Disney films. It also helps that these characters come out with some really interesting comments and even little stories. The quality bar for the voice acting is very high across the board, not just in the main story beats.

There are a whole manner of crafting NPCs to use and each is bursting with personality and goods alike. These services already mesh really well with the wider game, such as enchanting basic weapons you find or turning raw ingredients into substantial meals. You can also pour resources into building projects which, when complete, will create shortcuts and access to new content. There is even a full housing system which you can kit out however you wish. Of course, some will have storage chests covering all superfluous floorspace and others will indulge in their inner nesting instincts. If you rescue the local landlady's husband and help rebuild the inn, this will also offer a soft bed for the night and grant you a rested buff. 

In fact, when you look at all these systems and then consider it will be multiplayer: it could almost start to feel like an MMO.

Hot Off the Press!

I find it heartbreaking to see a group of people trying to build something wonderful, only to be shit on from up high by those who have no skin in the game. It's no secret I have a lot of issues with the mainstream gaming press, namely for political point scoring and inconsistent standards. These sites can, quite literally, shutter a studio if they get it wrong, which is why I am often incredulous at the drive-by reviews we often see from the likes of PC Gamer and Kotaku.

So while I have been growing weary of the dire coverage of this game, it is after all a work in progress. In the last week, the developers over at Moon Studios have been on fire with hotfix after hotfix, five at the time of writing. Even in the first one they addressed the equipment degradation so many had complained about, which is now much more forgiving. Tweaks to stamina, food consumption, loot RNG, performance improvements and so much more are being worked on. There are just too many to list here but the point is they are working their ases off to address immediate issues and push towards a more complete game.

What is really exciting is that tightening up the current game is just the start, as there is so much more to come in the future. Checking out the early access roadmap we can see that in update one, multiplayer will be added which I am very much looking forward to. It is going to be very interesting to see how this massive change will be handled in terms of server progression and party combat dynamics. It has been reported by the devs that friendly fire will be on by default.

Adventure Awaits

So there we have it, No Rest for the Wicked is such a breath of fresh air. It has the looks, the gameplay chops and already enough content to keep people busy for hours. It is also being sold at a very reasonable price, something Ubisoft should take a look at. As mentioned, the team at Moon Studios are hungry for this challenge. With so many changes and fixes in one week, it's hard to see how this game will not be a huge success. 

Thank you for reading my preview for No Rest for the Wicked. Updates will follow as more major updates get rolled out.