It’s crazy to see the amount of chatter and excitement around the net for this game and it’s not hard to see why. At a glance through the screenshots and video trailers, No Rest for the Wicked comes with unique, detailed graphics with distinct, dark, art style. It manages to capture its grim, depressing world really well – even besting Diablo IV in some cases.
With the promise of exploration, challenging bosses, and intriguing story, No Rest for the Wicked is definitely very promising even if it’s still in Early Access. Does the game deliver?
While the overall feel of the game is great and graphics are stunning, I’m not too much of a fan with the character creation. The character looks weird (things that you’ll actually get accustomed to as you play the game) and there’s not much to customise but at least you won’t spend hours on creating your character alone. There’s also no class or race to select and ponder on. Your character has stats like Strength/Dexterity/etc and these alone will determine what kind of weapons you use and “class” you are going to be in the game.
I think this design is better than having to decide beforehand. You might have get used to playing a Hunter class using bows and arrows in other similar games, but you may find that you just want to go easier with a sword and a shield this time. Or perhaps you find that wielding a staff that generates spells-casting is better for your playstyle in No Rest for the Wicked. Some rarer weapons require higher attributes though and you only get a few to distribute when you level up, so you do have to choose wisely.
The thing that catches me by surprise is how challenging the game is. Now, I was never a fan of Dark Souls (or other games alike) probably just because I’m already over 40 years old and have other priorities in life. A challenging game still keeps me to the edge of my seat and would love that every now and then, but dying to a boss (or even to small goons) over and over is not fun and I don’t have the amount of free time I had when I was still single.
This is especially true during my gameplay when I met the first boss in the game. I probably died more than 20 times before I could finally get through. Okay, I’ve read that many people find this easy enough and some even got through on their first try. Well, good for them, but No Rest for the Wicked is definitely not for those who are used to play games like Path of Exile or Diablo where you are bound to get multiple hits without dying (buttons-mashing kind), or have access to health potions at anytime.
No Rest for the Wicked is not for the faint heart. For example, there is a cooldown after eating a meal (similar to drinking a potion) so you won’t be able to increase your health in rapid succession. There is also a rather-short stamina that gets consumed each time you run, block, dodge, and even attack. Running out of stamina pretty much means you are dead so you have to juggle between your actions carefully. Parrying also has a very short window and missing a parry is devastating, especially against bosses. However, executing it perfectly is satisfying and only by learning this that I could actually get through the first boss comfortably.
And oh, to make matter worse, each time you die, your equipment durability goes down so the more you die, the more expensive it becomes as you have to repair your weapon and armour. Drinking potions to increase your stamina (for example) or consuming your meals to survive during a tough battle is recommended, but when you die, you don’t get these back. So if you ever get stuck in the middle of the game, you’ll probably run out of money to repair your items, run out of meals to increase your health, and run out of potions to buff your character up as the game is auto saved. It is tough.
There is also no difficulty slider here and I can probably understand that the team wants to you enjoy the game as designed, so the only way forward is to actually learn the mechanics, throw away all the things you’ve grown accustomed to with the other games, and well, git gud. Only by doing this that you can truly enjoy the game as intended but I’d really wish I can just bring it down a notch.
There are also other minor quirks where you can’t rotate the camera angle so there are times where you may have not noticed a small path behind a big rock, or falling down from a ledge due to poor judgement. The game is also best to play with a game controller because using a mouse and keyboard has its quirkiness (for example, after some confusions, I only realised that clicking the mouse to attack will attack based on where your mouse cursor is – and not on the direction where your character is facing).
Inventory is also a problem because you can only carry so much and the game gives you tons of loot and resources to carry and manage.
No Rest for the Wicked Early Access Review Conclusion
Okay, so despite of all these quirks in the game, I really have to say that No Rest for the Wicked is really promising. It’s definitely not a game for the faint-hearted but if you like to be challenged where you need to master your techniques to thrive, the game is a solid one. It has a distinct art style that I really like, solid voice-acting, and satisfying combat if you can master parrying, dodging, stamina management, and learning how enemies move and attack.
For those who prefer to be rewarded for actually being good in game and play masterfully, No Rest for the Wicked is surely it. The game definitely has the potential to be one of the best ARPGs for the year and only time will tell to see if they can see it through to the finish line.
You can get the game on Steam.
Disclosure: No Rest for the Wicked Early Access review code was supplied for reviewing
