Highlights
- No Rest for the Wicked offers a unique approach to player choice by allowing them to create their own classes without preset builds.
- The game's emphasis on player-owned property and diverse gameplay styles adds a dynamic element to the typical action-RPG experience.
- Moon Studios' decision to remove rigid class structures in favor of weapon-based playstyles sets the game apart and allows for player freedom.
No Rest for the Wicked is an intriguing game in the sense that it’s an action-RPG with all the bells and whistles the genre could want to incorporate, and yet it also plans to add multiplayer co-op and PvP and reap the rewards of an early shelf life in early access. Early access certainly isn’t anything out of the ordinary nowadays, but each game experiencing early access is different concerning how transparent developers are with players and what they plan to achieve across an early access roadmap leading to a full release at some point. No Rest for the Wicked has its own roadmap, but one unrelated and subtle detail stands out chiefly.
Many games are better for having an early access period beforehand—Hades and Baldur’s Gate 3 being exemplary proof of that—and it’ll be interesting to follow No Rest for the Wicked on its way to a full release and whatever content may be added thereafter. Based on what’s been shown already in No Rest for the Wicked’s dedicated showcase and some early preview builds it seems as if player choice will have a massive role, particularly regarding classes. In fact, No Rest for the Wicked purposefully doesn’t have any build or class presets as a way to help players pave their own path without too much structure bogging them down and that may be Moon Studios’ most brilliant decision.
No Rest for the Wicked's Music Already Set a High Bar for the Game
Moon Studios' upcoming No Rest For The Wicked had some hauntingly beautiful music in its trailer, putting it a cut above the rest.
No Rest for the Wicked Seems Familiar Yet Refreshing
Fantasy action-RPGs come in all shapes and sizes now with fewer elements actually delineating one from another, ranging from anything as nonchalant as a camera perspective or as significant as a gameplay loop. Elden Ring and Diablo 4 are both action-RPGs and share hardly any similarities, for example.
No Rest for the Wicked is an amalgamation of many action-RPG trappings and will likely be much different when it fully releases compared to how its humble beginnings will take shape this month, but it’s already terrific to see how dynamic its gameplay aims to be. An unexpectedly large part of progression seems to be how players can own property and fill it with gameplay-oriented and ornamental furnishings, but how players build their characters will also be markedly authentic due to a lack of rigid ‘classes’ to spec stats into.
No Rest for the Wicked Lets Players’ Classes Become Their Own
With many action-RPGs prematurely dictating or guiding how playstyles or preferences will need to be decided on early, it’s a relief that No Rest for the Wicked is making that structure more loose. According to Moon Studios, the idea behind having no actual classes offered in No Rest for the Wicked’s custom character creator is that players can decide how they like any weapon they come across and create their own build or class from then on.
No Rest for the Wicked’s weapons apparently all create unique playstyles and, while that’s nothing new for most action-RPGs, it is kind of clever to not also label a character with a class before players can decide how they’d actually like to go about the game. This is perfect for if players decide they like one weapon more than another at any given moment—depending on how rigid and unforgiving stat allocations are in No Rest for the Wicked, it sounds as if players have the freedom to change their desired playstyle and ‘class’ on a whim.
Of course, this means No Rest for the Wicked needs to sell its promise of weapons all being authentically rare and diverse, but randomized loot will hopefully help each experience feel dramatically different.
Either way, it might be wholly refreshing to dive into an action-RPG and build a makeshift ‘class’ as players progress and explore. However, what will be challenging in No Rest for the Wicked’s early access state is making that promise compelling. If only so many weapons or abilities are available in its opening chapter and throughout subsequent updates it might appear limiting, regardless of what content is available when it launches fully in the future.
No Rest for the Wicked
From Moon Studios, creators of the Ori franchise, is an ARPG-style game called No Rest for the Wicked. The plague Pestilence has swept over the land and King Harol has died, leaving the land in turmoil. Players become a Cerim, a member of a group of holy warriors sworn to take up arms against Pestilence and cleanse the land.
- Platform(s)
- PC , PS5 , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S
- Developer(s)
- Moon Studios
- Publisher(s)
- Private Division
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG
- Number of Players
- 1-4
