No Rest for the Wicked Early Access Preview | Ori and the Bloody Blades (PC)

After the release of Ori and the Will of the Wisps four years ago, if you’d asked anyone what Moon Studios would work on next, I doubt they’d come up with anything close to No Rest for the Wicked. Trading in their platforming shoes for something altogether a bit bloodier, No Rest for the Wicked feels like if you took everything the Ori games stood for and then inverted it: the calm, beautiful landscapes of darkness and light have been peeled away, replaced by an equally awe-inspiring grimness and a dedication to precise, guttural combat. This game is hoping to reshape the ARPG genre and let Moon spread their wings. 

And, fortunately, it looks to be doing just that. No Rest for the Wicked launched into Early Access on the 18th of April, despite a rocky start, it’s making most of the right moves. Combat is just as meaty as they promised it’d be, with a focus on survival and preparation that aren’t that common in the ARPG genre. The world of Sacra is as pretty as it is dangerous, with a haunting painterly quality which spreads from its landscapes to its people. 

While there are some roadblocks and some players are going to be more than a bit surprised at some of the decisions made by Moon Studios, particularly in regards to the daily and weekly log-in incentives, No Rest for the Wicked is shaping up to be something pretty special. 

No Rest for the Wicked is currently available on Steam in Early Access for $34.99. It will also release on PS5 and Xbox Series consoles sometime in the future. 

Walk Through the Dark

Story | The Wrath of God and Sickness

In No Rest for the Wicked, you play as one of the last Cerim, a mystical race of beings who were gifted the power to banish the Pestilence. This strangely mysterious plague magically altered the world hundreds of years ago. After being banished once, the Pestilence is back on the eve of King Hrolf’s death, threatening to overtake the small isolated isle of Sacra. Both you and the new King, Maximus, hope to root out the threat before it spreads, as you and the religious zealots known as the Inquisitors arrive on Sacra for that sole purpose. 

After a shipwreck ruins your welcoming ceremony and strips you of your belongings and gear, you must fight your way into Sacra’s main town, Sacrament, befriend (or at least appease) the villagers living there, and find a way to destroy the Pestilence once and for all, before the Inquisitors turn all of Sacra into a bloodbath. 

People of Sacra

So far, the story in No Rest for the Wicked is serviceable grim fantasy fluff. The whole book of fantasy tropes has arrived on the isle of Sacra for a grand old time –  a devastating sickness which malformed the populous into monsters, a violent religious movement that seeks to burn out the heretical disease, a race of blessed beings who alone can beat back the tides of disaster – and, while it’s nothing innovative, it’s enough. 

As an Early Access title, the story is far from finished. There are certain aspects of the narrative I want to learn more about – mainly things to do with the Inquisitors and the religion they so fervently worship – but, on the whole, it isn’t anything particularly new. It held my attention and gave my blade direction during my playtime and, honestly, that’s all it needed to do. 

Opposition to Peace

Gameplay | Surviving Sacra

Combat | Blood and Bruises

Moon Studios describe No Rest for the Wicked’s combat as ‘visceral and precise’ and those are both pretty apt descriptions. No matter your weapon of choice – twin blades, a two-handed greatsword, a scimitar and a shield – every hit you land feels weighty as you carve chunks off your enemy’s health. Fighting in No Rest for the Wicked is a scruffy, scuffed dance between you and your foe, each of you trying to find some kind of opening as you brutalise one another on Sacra’s shores. 

The enemies are equally potent, with the animation and sound effects of their attacks combined with the surprising fragility of your character weaving together expertly into blows that you remember almost instantly. Bosses are imposing and frightening, behemoths that you need to aptly prepare for beforehand if you want the best chance at survival.

Foes of All Types

In fact, survival is a great way of summing up No Rest for the Wicked‘s combat. No matter if you’re fighting a clutch of deformed rats in the sewers or a rampaging warlord as he attempts to burn down the last bastion of humanity on Sacra, every fight is tooth and nail, scraping on by just the skin of your teeth where the difference between success and failure is how many warm meals you cooked before venturing into the unknown. It’s undeniably frustrating at times like any Soulslike is, but the highs are so high and so gratifying that the complaints simply fade away. 

Of course, there are complaints and issues with combat, mainly stemming from the enemy side of the equation. Parrying or stunning certain enemies will only break them for a single attack which, if you’re wielding a weapon like the twin blades which do a flurry of slashes with a single attack, usually means that they recover after your weak first blow, allowing them to quickly knock you over and kill you before you could react. Similarly, stealth and backstabbing are hard to do on purpose because all the enemies seem to have additional eyes in the back of their skulls. 

On the whole, combat is, next to the presentation, the best aspect of No Rest for the Wicked, perfectly encapsulating that precise and visceral element that Moon Studios was hoping to elicit. 

Blood and Sand

Daily Quests and Missions | No Rest for the Farmers

Something you likely wouldn’t expect from No Rest for the Wicked is that it seems to be borrowing a lot of elements from live service titles, particularly regarding how things change on a daily or weekly basis. Not only does an NPC back in Sacrament give you daily and weekly challenges and kill quests which award a small smattering of gear and money, but the difficulty of the world itself will change regularly, with old areas becoming inhabited by new factions and new foes.  

Then there are the Cerim Trials, No Rest for the Wicked’s main form of dedicated end game. These rogue-like inspired mini-dungeons ask you to push through several challenging rooms of high-level enemies in a row, eventually facing off against one of several bosses if you reach the end. These Cerim Trials change each day, with the chambers you battle through and the enemies who inhabit them switching each and every time you do it. 

Just Enjoying Nature

These systems are all double-edged. Having a reason to log in every day and partake in the game’s superb combat, especially in older areas which continue to have value (especially because chests respawn after a certain length of time), is great and gives the entire length and breadth of Sacra value. However, on the other hand, it can lead to periods of sluggishness: in particular, once you hit level 16, the entire world updates and enemies will begin dropping exciting new loot which you cannot equip because it’s all level 21 gear, forcing you to mindlessly farm older areas until you hit that level. 

Whether you respond to this form of stimuli or whether you just cruise through the campaign and then put it down until the next major update is up to you. On the whole, I would say that the introduction of these systems is, so far, a net positive. Between being able to buy and decorate your own house, upgrade the town of Sacrament and watch it grow in real-time, and just go out into the world in search of a new adventure each day, it’s a great success, even if you have to put up with a bit of nonsense here or there. 

Sacrament’s Protector

Art, Audio and Design | Grim, Gruesome, Gorgeous

No Rest for the Wicked is an undeniable triumph in the visual department, continuing Moon Studios’ storied legacy as one of the most artistically brilliant developers in the industry.

While the Ori games create a world where both light and darkness are equally beautiful and mystifying, walking through Sacra in No Rest for the Wicked is like walking into a painting of the Dark Ages; the people are made of uneven shapes and wrong angles, giving even the most helpful companions (of which there are sparse few) a menacing quality; the world is equal parts vibrant and dreary, Sacra’s impressive sights drowned in a layer of almost never-ending drizzle; the monsters which infect the landscape are cuts of inhumanity which are instantly hostile and unappealing in an unsettling manner. 

The Watcher

No Rest for the Wicked is a beautiful game on the surface that, upon closer inspection, is hiding a strangeness and darkness which only makes it better. These aspects are only added to by the superb sound design, with the voice acting, in particular, giving Sacra the same grouchy quality as a northern England town,  paradoxically hostile and welcoming at the same time.

During the time I spent with No Rest for the Wicked, my fondness for its artistic flair only grew as I ventured to new areas and new sights. Like with the story, it’s nothing particularly innovative (save for the terrifying Cerim architecture) but Moon Studios have honed it to a fine, sharp point. I thoroughly look forward to exploring the next haunted pocket of Sacra. 

To New Heights

Technical State | Wicked

As an Early Access title, there were, of course, a myriad of bugs and glitches that I experienced during my playthrough.

During the opening week of Early Access, I had several issues with stuttering and frame rate (which only got worse after they attempted to patch it) as well as several glitches with the terrain. One of the more infuriating bugs I ran into muted all of the sounds for just the enemies even if I quit back to the main menu: now, massive bruisers and tanks were as quiet as mice, allowing them to sneak up and kill me in one hit without me being able to hear them coming. 

Fortunately, Moon Studios is not only aware of these issues but is quite proactive in trying to fix them. During the first week that No Rest for the Wicked was out in Early Access, it received four hotfixes, all of which aimed to either combat severe quality-of-life issues or help with poor performance. While it’s unlikely that your time in Sacra will be unmarred by bugs or glitches, know that Moon Studios seems to be a team dedicated to working on them. 

No Rest for the Wicked game code provided by Bastion.

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