Summary
Moon Studios’No Rest for the Wickedis currently making the rounds in early access as one of the year’s most anticipated ARPGs. It comes as no surprise given the hype surroundingNo Rest for the Wicked’s initial reveal at The Game Awards 2023 and the pedigree of its developer, the team behind the excellentOrigames. Moon Studios is already setting a high bar for the game’s continued development as it rolls out regular hotfixes and responds to player feedback, acknowledging areas where the game can and will improve over the coming months. One of the more common gripes among players isNo Rest for the Wicked’s implementation of an equipment durability system.
Death is a regular occurrence inNo Rest for the Wicked, to the point where it is baked into the game’s systems fundamentally. Players can expect to find plenty of loot at varying levels of rarity like in other ARPGs, but each death incurs a penalty on any equipped gear that results in its gradual deterioration, with broken equipment eventually becoming unusable. It makes sense for agame with Soulslike elementsto incorporate some kind of penalty for death, but the current version ofNo Rest for the Wicked’s equipment durability system is arguably in need of some tweaks.
Equipment Durability is No Rest for the Wicked’s Trade-Off for Experience Penalty Upon Death
Though it’s not a Soulslike per se,No Rest for the Wickedis much more challenging than what one would find on offer inother ARPGs. In particular, combat is much slower-paced and methodical, with the weight of each swing and careful stamina management considerations to make in every nail-biting encounter. Ultimately, death is a fairly common occurrence inNo Rest for the Wicked, but the game doesn’t incur a penalty on the player in the form of lost experience points similar to FromSoftware’s Soulsborne games or other Soulslikes.
Instead, the primary penalty for dying is loss of equipment durability. Degrading equipment places a bit of pressure on the player to observe enemy movements and get comfortable withNo Rest for the Wicked’s parry mechanic, especially with the hefty price tag attached to the act of repairing equipment at a forge. Though it can be tedious to need to repair gear that’s essential to a character build every few deaths, the trade-off is that players never lose any of their accrued progress toward making their character stronger and more capable in battle.
Equipment Durability Needs Some Adjustments if it’s Here to Stay in No Rest for the Wicked
In place of any other significant penalty for the common occurrence ofdying inNo Rest for the Wicked, it’s safe to assume that degrading equipment is here to stay. That said, if the system finds its way into the 1.0 release of the game, it needs some balancing and adjustment during the early access window to bring it more in line with the rest of the game.
Further, the rate at which equipment degrades is something that seems to be a sticking point with many players, with equipment becoming in danger of breaking after just a handful of deaths. Equipment arguably needs a much slower degradation curve for the balance of the system to feel more in line with the rest of the game. Players will pick upnewNo Rest for the Wickedgearregularly, but with an upgrade and refinement system in place for favorite pieces essential to a build, it makes more sense not to punish players for hanging on to specific armaments.
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.
