Highlights

  • No Rest for the Wicked surprises fans with a unique fantasy setting, visceral combat, and music that sets it apart from other games.
  • The trailer music, composed by Jason Graves and featuring Malukah, is well-received and conveys the story through dynamic instrumentals and tragically beautiful vocals.
  • The lyrics in the trailer hint at religious undertones and the return of something significant, adding depth to the game's core ideas.

No Rest for the Wicked shocked Moon Studios fans with a surprise reveal at The Game Awards recently. Not only does the upcoming ARPG show off visceral combat, a unique fantasy setting, and an art style reminiscent of some classic Xbox 360 titles, but music that puts it a cut above the rest.

Moon Studios unveiled details of the game, such as its ARPG genre, earlier in 2023. The Ori series developer then gave audiences a full reveal trailer at The Game Awards. From the sparse details released thus far, the plot of No Rest for the Wicked looks to revolve around the aftermath of a dead king, the resurgence of a dormant plague, and the opportunism of religious institutions.

Ori and the Blind Forest art
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No Rest For The Wicked Has Some Exceptional Trailer Music

Though not as hyped as some of the other games revealed at The Game Awards, No Rest for the Wicked has been set apart by its trailer's fantastic music. Composed by Jason Graves and featuring Malukah, the trailer's song 'We Prayed For Summer' has been well-received by audiences. The song contains both dynamic instrumentals that greatly accent the visuals and beautifully tragic vocals that convey a lot about the story. Its high quality certainly induces confidence in this bold departure from the Ori series.

Beginning with the instrumentals, vocals only emerge around 0:33 in the trailer. Before this point, echoing vocals carry the music—though even here they're married quite well to the sounds of turbulent seas and crashing lightning. This emphasis on atmosphere is a feature of some of the all-time best video game soundtracks, such as in The Witcher 3; it helps immerse the player in the world. The atmosphere in this initial section is dire. The lack of instrumentals reflects the solemnity of a shipwrecked crew lost to midnight tides.

Strings build as the studio logo is shown in the trailer, and percussion joins once gameplay is revealed, as if signaling the drums of war. This perfectly escalates tension, providing a strong contrast to the building music of the earlier section. Brass parts swell up, surging in time with the action. The percussion does the same on a more focused level; it beats in time with the fall of a flying creature or the landing of various attacks. This musical dynamism, seen in games such as Dying Light 2, adapts the score to the action onscreen. It would be great to see No Rest for the Wicked take this element into its soundtrack, especially with how well it works here.

The lyrics are also a standout element in this trailer, helping differentiate it from Moon Studios' past games. Sounding almost like a siren song, echoing without instrumentals and played over churning waters, the first verse sets up the idea of something returning. The singer references her drowned sister and how she "still visits by the light of the moon." The chorus, which plays twice in the video, then begins. Its lyrics can tell us a lot about what the game's core ideas might be:

• "We prayed for summer, we prayed for fall" likely references religious rituals related to harvest (as was common in medieval societies).

• "To prosper, to love, to forgive"/"For harvest, for mercy, for rain" references broader concepts in its first iteration and more concrete things in the latter, emphasizing the more dire circumstances in the following instance.

• "Our prayers came back like a little lost lamb, dying so that we may live"/"And our prayers came back like a voice in the dark: answered, but not quite the same" both reference that idea of returning. The first iteration's mention of a sacrificial lamb is likely an invocation of a Christ-like figure, furthering the game's religious undertones.

Though Moon Studios hasn't shaken off some allegations about its workplace, it has at least captured the attention of gamers again with No Rest for the Wicked and its haunting music. Right now, however, fans will have to wait before more is revealed.