Summary
No Rest for the Wicked’s precision-based combat is gratifying and weighty when players are up against a single enemy, duking it out in a chess-like duel while managing stamina and health simultaneously.Stamina is a dance in and of itselfas players must decide to go for a greedy final attack in their combination string or exhaust their last bit of meter on a panic roll. Blocking doesn’t seem nearly as advantageous as it should be, either, and parry windows are difficult to acclimatize to when many enemies have delayed and instantaneous attacks that melt players’ health bars.
This combat is certainly not perfect by any stretch of the imagination and there are many corners of its mechanics where its apparent Soulslike inspirations fare better.No Rest for the Wickedrestricts the use of healing items with cooldowns before players can consume another, for example; in aSoulsgame, players can drink as many flasks back to back as they’d like. However, where their combat is maybe most different—toNo Rest for the Wicked’s detriment—is in how each approaches mobs. Thankfully,No Rest for the Wickedhas a light at the end of the tunnel for every perilous mob encounter.
No Rest for the Wicked’s Combat isn’t Tailored for Mob Ambushes
Mobs are problematic for a few reasons, but they’re mainly a nuisance when players are flailing about in their midst and cannot somersault their way out successfully, whether locked onto enemies or not. Most panic rolls gravitate around enemies, meaning players are constantly pulled around environments that also happen to be incredibly claustrophobic with few ways to get around lethally quick enemies.
Then, the cherry on top is that many enemies have attacks that can carry them across the screen at once, let alone spam throwables that aim-bot the player with unmatched precision. These enemies are challenging on their own, so finding them in a batch compounds all issues further until there’s seemingly no logical or mechanical way to retaliate or flee.
Enemies can be kited if they are already a considerable distance from one another, but it’s highly unlikely they’ll lose aggro unless players essentially leave the area completely as they follow players for a while. Of course, apersonalized build with a minimal equip load and quick stamina recoverymay allow players to roll around the environment and pass by enemies unscathed, but sometimes that’s not enough and they can be bottlenecked or caught up to in a second.
No Rest for the Wicked’s Enemies Don’t Respawn Upon the Player’s Death
Fortunately,No Rest for the Wickedisn’t wholly punishing in this regard. The silver lining to mobs, let alone any grueling enemy confrontation, is that once an enemy has been slain they do not respawn when players die or create a checkpoint at aNo Rest for the WickedWhisper checkpoint.
Anyone who’s beenhearingNo Rest for the Wickedget called a Soulslikewill be surprised to see enemies remain dead, though that’s not to say a region stays devoid of threats thereafter.
Players will notice the map has gone dark again after they’ve neglected areas or returned to Sacrament to make use of all their inventories’ wares. Then, revisiting these shrouded regions will provide players with replenished resources and enemies alike.
Not all enemies are the same when they come back, andbounties and challenges inNo Rest for the Wickedcan help players prepare for what they may encounter when deciding to trek back to a far corner of the map. As it stands, though, when players are making their way through a region and painstakingly cut their way through a merciless mob of enemies, they can breathe a sigh of relief in knowing that these enemies won’t be an issue anymore as long as they inhabit the area and continue exploring.
No Rest for the Wicked
WHERE TO PLAY
From Moon Studios, the award-winning developers of Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps comes No Rest for the Wicked, a visceral, precision Action RPG set to reinvent the genre.The year is 841 – King Harol is dead. As word of his death echoes throughout the kingdom, the crown passes to his arrogant, yet untested son Magnus.Even worse, the Pestilence, an unholy plague not seen for a thousand years, has returned. It sweeps across the land, corrupting everything and everyone it touches. Madrigal Seline, a ruthlessly ambitious figure in the church, sees the Pestilence as a chance to prove herself in the eyes of her god.These forces converge on the backwater Isola Sacra, where rebel groups and the provincial government fight for control amid the isle’s crumbling ruins.You are a Cerim – a member of a group of mystical holy warriors imbued with remarkable powers and sworn to defeat the Pestilence at any cost. But the task will prove increasingly challenging as you become entangled in the people’s plight and the vast political struggle of this downtrodden land. Chaos will pull you in every direction as you seek to cleanse the land of wickedness and shape the kingdom’s fate.
