No Rest for the Wicked

After a brutal start, No Rest For the Wicked's early access build settles into a compelling gameplay loop, but a lack of standout moments tempers expectations. [Early Access Review]

No Rest for the Wicked is a diamond in the rough that just needs to have a few unsharp facets polished so that it can shine as it deserves. [Early Access Score = 80]

No Rest for the Wicked is a game that truly deserves the label 'promising'. There is no denying the exceptional quality of its art and the quality of its action gameplay, but the negative experience caused by errors in numerical balance and system design completely undermine the excellent impression left by its other aspects. [Early Access Provisional Score = 75]

While it has downsides and requires various quality-of-life fixes, No Rest for the Wicked has great potential to be an excellent blend of ARPGs and Soulslikes in 1.0. [Early Access Provisional Score = 75]

Announced a few months ago, No Rest for the Wicked is reminiscent of games like Diablo and Hades, and FromSoftware games, and also takes nice things from other series. It's not as cute and fluffy as Ori, but while the tone and atmosphere is significantly darker, you can see some similarities in the highly detailed, "painterly" graphics that I can't compare to any other game. [Early Access Provisional Score = 90]

No Rest for the Wicked isn't bad - in fact, there's so much potential in this mishmash of genres that it's worth keeping an eye on. At this stage, however, there are a lot of rough edges to smooth over. [Early Access Score = 60]

While No Rest For The Wicked still has some mechanics to refine and tune, and a story to finish, its current form is enjoyable and its future prospects are bright. If you can get through the first dozen combat encounters, and improve along the way, you’ll be rewarded with a game that distills elements of many popular games and selectively throws some of their "worst" elements away (weapon durability being the exception), making a more accessible but equally enjoyable extremely challenging action RPG. [Early Access Review Score = 80]

No Rest for the Wicked is a compelling and unique action-RPG that blends a whole bunch of great genre ideas into one promising package, even though its incompleteness can be felt throughout the abridged early access version’s story. With lots of loot and inventory shortcomings, some technical issues, and some isometric camera angles that take getting used to, there’s still plenty to tweak in the months of development to come before 1.0. I, for one, hope the balance of inventory management and grinding health items tips back more in favor of getting you into the action of its skill-based combat. But even in this early state – before co-op multiplayer even arrives – I’ve had an absolute blast with the precise and challenging combat, memorable exploration, and art, voice acting, and characters that make me really eager to see more of the story and further explore the high-risk, high-reward roguelike mode. With so much going for it already, I could easily see this becoming a landmark game for action RPGs, and that potential is exciting. [Early Access Score = 70]

All of the positives are groundwork for what could be a really exciting game. Its core gameplay has proven to be more than satisfactory and deliciously engaging — even if using slower builds feels like throwing yourself against a brick wall. But there’s still enjoyment in that. Overall, it’s a fantastic package comprised of gorgeous environments, room for experimentation in terms of character build and an interesting narrative. It will be interesting to see where No Rest for the Wicked ends up, even a week, month, or years from now. [Early Access Score = 70]

No Rest For The Wicked is a highly promising game that can only improve during its time in Early Access. It makes exciting changes to the ARPG formula, has phenomenal art and visuals, and has fun combat. While I would like to see some changes addressed to the game’s balance (particularly in the ability for players to grind XP / levels), it has quickly become one of my new favorites. [Early Access Review]