No Rest for the Wicked (Early Access) Review – A FRUSTRATING ATTEMPT FULL OF POTENTIAL!
No Rest for the Wicked puts you in the shoes of a Cerim, a holy warrior that ventures into Isola Sacra. Your reason for being there? To investigate the mysterious plague, known as the Pestilence, that has enshrouded the island. This plague has not only infested creatures throughout the land, but has even turned the very people who inhabit Isola Sacra into mindless and dangerous monsters. But that is not all that you get wrapped up in on your journey. After the death of the King, the land falls into confusion as Magnus, the King’s son, assumes the throne. Unlike his father, he is more interested in personal gain rather than helping his people. So naturally, rebellions form and fight back against his corrupt leadership. The narrative sounds intriguing, doesn’t it? It is an excellent way to set up this brutal experience, and really starts things off on the right note.
No Rest for the Wicked has some infuriating combat!
The gameplay, however, is where the cracks begin to show. The basic mechanics work well and the core combat can feel fluid, as you slice your way through some enemies early on. But there are a lot of moments that will show that this early access title is not yet where it needs to be. Some enemies can knock you prone and stun lock you. This causes you to basically lie there and take a beating till you die. This brutal punishment for making a slight mistake just seems way too severe. I could understand if this occurred in the boss battles, as part of learning their attack patterns, but this happens with ordinary enemies. If they knock you into a corner, you’re dead. If they knock you prone, you’re dead. This takes a lot of the fun out of the experience! Especially because you still take damage when you guard with your shield.
Even parries only work if you time it exactly right, and the window of opportunity for a parry is minuscule! Now I know the immediate response from some will be “just GIT GUD!”, and whilst I do agree that there is definitely a learning curve, the amount of times you will die to pure BS… that is baloney sandwiches… is honestly infuriating. I have died to an arrow that has hit my shield, to a bomb that I was outside the radius of, and to enemies that I literally could not dodge, parry or block. And mind you, these occurred in areas that were deemed “safe” to traverse.
Performance issues
Remember how I mentioned the difficulty of timing the parries? Yeah, well that is made even worse when you take the game’s performance into account. I am aware that No Rest for the Wicked is in early access, so there are some issues to be expected. However, the amount of times the frame rate has dropped significantly was another point of frustration! It happened way too many times when I was either in the middle of a boss fight, or taking on a group of enemies… And because the game requires split second reactions, this led to countless deaths! Honestly, this was so painful! When the game is running okay, things work relatively well, but it is just too unstable at this stage.
The upside to No Rest for the Wicked
No Rest for the Wicked has a lot of potential! There is a good game underneath some of the frustrating issues. The game’s world looks great and I really liked the unique visual design. Each area was lovingly crafted with intricate details, and the character models are aesthetically pleasing. Also, the enemies in particular are super creative. I love the grotesque designs of some of the larger creatures. It really adds to the game’s plague infested feel!
Decision
No Rest for the Wicked is a game that whilst I cannot recommend at this time, is definitely worth keeping an eye on as it continues to develop. The current performance issues and some infuriating mechanics may cause you to put down the controller before seeing all that the title has to offer. As I mentioned, it is in early access, so hopefully the game will improve significantly with time. Unless you love challenging yourself to the point of agony, maybe hold of making this purchase for a little while!
By Samuel Incze – Reviewed on PC
Unscored
No Rest for the Wicked offers an intriguing world and satisfying combat, but unbalanced difficulty and technical problems create frustration. Hold off until they iron out the kinks if you prefer a smoother experience.
This game was reviewed using a download code provided by Private Division. The Beta Network uses affiliate partnerships, however, this does not influence reviews or any other content published. The Beta Network may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links that are on the website.
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