No Rest for the Wicked Early Access Impressions

No Rest for the Wicked is the latest title from Ori developer, Moon Studios. The game is an isometric action RPG clearly inspired by soulslike titles. No Rest for the Wicked just launched into early access on Steam. Check out our thoughts on Moon’s Studio’s gloomy, yet beautiful, new soulslike IP.

No Rest for the Wicked in a Dark and Gloomy World

No Rest for the Wicked takes place in a gloomy and gritty medieval world. In the year 841, King Harold has just died and news of his death spreads across the kingdom. His son, Magnus, should take the throne. However, Magnus is seen as arrogant and unexperienced to take the crown.

All the while the “Pestilence” plague has mysteriously reared its ugly head once again. The disease has not been seen for over 1000 years. During this chaotic moment, Madrigal Seline, an ambitious clergy member jumps at the opportunity to prove herself. Both Magnus’ and Madrigal forces clash on the island of Isola Sacra. Isola Sacra is witnessing rebel groups warring against the local government for control around the island’s ruins.

Players take the role of a Cerim, a mystical holy warrior with magical powers sworn to eradicate the Pestilence. However, you’ll soon realize that you will be in the middle of a brooding political struggle while trying to rid the world of an ancient disease.

For the most part, the story stays in the backseat. The main narrative beats are presented in gorgeous in-game cutscenes that occur during key moments in the game. This includes getting shipwrecked onto Isola Sacra, defeating the first boss, and more.

Unique Art Style

When it comes to the art style of No Rest for the Wicked, was offputting at first. The long-armed characters and elongated heads reminded me of a background character in Shrek. I didn’t have to go deep into the game to react that way. Just from the character creator itself, you can see all that long-armed characters are standard. While my first reaction to Sacrament local, Ellsworth, was how long his head was. Needless to say, this didn’t bother me the more I played the game.

Over time, I grew to appreciate the unique art style. Especially the environments, which looked impeccably detailed from the get-go and complemented the gritty style the game is going for. Ruins looked desolate, while swamps had a humid look and feel to them. Another aspect that was spot on was combat.

Combat with an Umph

No Rest for the Wicked surprised me with its gritty and visceral combat. Every swing of a weapon had resounding resonance, impact, and a thumping audio cue to match. This was a stark contrast to Ori’s more graceful and whimsical combat. All the while managing your stamina to ensure you still have enough to block, dodge, or parry incoming attacks. Even defensive actions like blocking have weight to them that can momentarily paralyze the Cerim. But what was most surprising is that Moon Studios carried over its pedigree of great feeling games into an entirely new genre it hasn’t tackled before.

Naturally, any soulslike fans will feel right at home in No Rest for the Wicked. Expect challenging fights, and punishing bosses that will undoubtedly test your strategy and resolve. Weapons have distinctive feels to them in addition to having special abilities or spells that use focus to perform. Staffs usually have spells associated with them such as fireballs. While more traditional melee weapons like great swords and daggers will have abilities such as slashing spin and piercing crush that can only be performed when equipped.

On the defensive side of combat, while many will be more inclined to dodge out of harm’s way, parrying is also an option. Though the parry window is not as generous as say Sekiro, it’s still serviceable when timed properly.

Weapons and armor do have durability that degrades when in use. Also, dying will result in a steeper fall in durability for your gear, as an incentive to stay alive.

Interesting Respawns and Fast Travel Blues in No Rest for the Wicked

Cerim Whispers are the bonfire equivalent in No Rest for the Wicked. However, when you activate them, enemies don’t respawn immediately. In fact, they respawn (sometimes with newer types of enemies) when you travel away for a while. Yet there is one very annoying game design decision that makes the game loop tedious.

Once you defeat the first boss, it opens up access to the town of Sacrament. From the Cerim Whisper there, you can only travel to the last Cerim Whisper you activated as opposed to any point of your choosing. Undoubtedly, this makes going back and forth between the field and Sacrament quite a chore as it adds unnecessary amounts of trekking.

Systems for Days

Similar to Dave the Diver, No Rest for the Wicked has multiple different systems for players to experiment with. There are cooking and crafting systems that restore health and provide other boosts like focus and stamina regen similar to Tears of the Kingdom. Furthermore, you can also upgrade weapons, socket gems, and enchant weapons to get additional stat bonuses and increase rarity level respectively. In addition, players can fish, mine ores, cut trees, and dig up mounds for goodies and crafting materials.

Players can also invest in the main town Sacrament where they can provide crafting materials in projects to renovate different buildings and access points in the city. You can even craft furniture too. There are daily and weekly bounties found with Captain Randolph for players to complete and gain access to rewards such as experience, crowns, gear, and crafting materials. However, it’s not clear whether you need to be online to access these bounties. At first, These systems were a bit overwhelming when first introduced to them at Sacrament. But the more I visited the town, the more it became second nature. Best of all, it added additional purpose when I ventured out of town.

Still Cooking in the Early Access Oven

Despite releasing into Early Access, No Rest for the Wicked has a strong foundation to build upon. In fact, Moon Studios provided a roadmap for future content. This includes multiplayer, The Breach, and more new content. As of writing, Moon Studios has already provided 2 hotfixes to improve some quality-of-life issues in the game. This includes increasing weapon and equipment durability and reducing the costs of fixing your gear. No doubt this is extremely welcomed.

No Rest for the Wicked Early Access Wrap-Up

No Rest for the Wicked is a journey both for players and Moon Studios alike. The Early Access was a gambit for the studio, but it looks like it will pay off given the speed of early hotfixes the game has implemented. It’ll be interesting to see where the game goes in a few months. But for now, the game has gritty combat with town-building, crafting, and gear upgrades that will surely make players come back for more, especially with the launch of multiplayer.

No Rest for the Wicked is available now on Early Access on Steam. It retails for $39.99 but has a limited-time release offer for $35.99.

Note – A key was provided for the purpose of this early access preview.