How the Grand Theft Auto publisher's indie label is dying a slow death behind the scenes.
In recent weeks, reports have surfaced that Take-Two is shuttering Kerbal Space Program 2 developer Intercept Games and OlliOlli World developer Roll7. Now, IGN has learned that not only are these closures imminent, but they are a part of a larger move by Take-Two to either sell …
No Rest for the Wicked is out now on early access, giving us our first glimpse at Moon Studios' latest project. The developer's prior offering - Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and The Will of the Wisps - turned the Metroidvania style of game on its head, offering a powerful, fresh experience that is difficult to forget. And now, four years later, Moon looks set to do the same for action RPGs with No Rest for the Wicked. Simply put, No Rest for the Wicked couples a stunning visual design with elements inspired by From Software's Souls titles, Blizzard's Diablo and even Animal Crossing - and yet the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
At its core, Wicked remains a game rooted in the Unity Engine but with a vast range of customisations transforming it into its own thing, hence the nickname - Moonity. This, however, is used only for the game's presentation layer - the graphics you see on-screen. Moon has also built a new simulation engine - built on top of Exit Games' Quantum Engine - to handle game logic, including a fully deterministic 3D physics system for networking, which No Rest for the Wicked will feature at a later date.
What makes this setup work well is the division between rendering and simulation - basically, input responsiveness is separate from frame-rate so, if you're playing on a lower end platform, like a Steam Deck, at 30fps, the game will still feel as responsive as a game running at a higher frame-rate. The visuals, however, are striking. First and foremost, Wicked supports HDR on day one - this is important as we have largely considered Ori and the Will of the Wisps to stand out as one of the best examples of HDR in any game released to date. The HDR implementation is superb and just as intense and engaging as Ori. It makes a gigantic difference if you use an HDR display.
How do you respec in No Rest for the Wicked? In this punishing ARPG, you’re going to want to pay close attention to your stats when you level up. Your stats determine what type of equipment you can hold and what type of class you’re able to construct. If you put your stats into the wrong categories, you could potentially lock yourself out of a powerful build.
In the No Rest for the Wicked early game, your first set of stats are practically determined for you based on the items you have in your inventory. That being said, if you’re looking to create the most optimal build possible for your favorite class, you can’t afford to waste any points in this RPG game. Here’s the latest information on whether you can respec in No Rest for the Wicked.
Diablo 4's fourth season got a hearty month-long delay, owing to the fact that it's spring-boarding a complete overhaul to the game's itemization, crafting systems, and endgame. Plenty of folks, myself included, are more than a little excited for a new start to Blizzard's powerhouse IP, but we're stuck waiting until May 14. So rather than sit on our clicking hands, I have a few suggestions to help pass the time:
Grim Dawn is my absolute favoritest-favorite action RPG. Not only is it an absolute beast in terms of its content (if you cop the expansions on one of the game's regular sales, you're looking at 100+ hours of content at least), it's unmatched in class fantasy and build customization.
Sure, it's not the flashiest action RPG in the world, but its gruff, high contrast aesthetic is a bit reminiscent of the gold-box RPG glory days, isn't it? The oversaturated hue of the spell effects mixed with the pitch black shadows gives it some real character.
Grim Dawn is a fair bit more complex than Diablo, but not nearly the impenetrable fortress that is Path of Exile. Think of it as sitting somewhere in the middle-complexity sweet spot that games like Last Epoch occupy. You can blitz through the campaign on the breezy Normal difficulty or crank things up a few notches and see if your build can stand up to Ultimate.
If you're worried about this game's age meaning it isn't receiving updates or content, you may be pleasantly surprised to hear that that's decidedly not the case. The latest mega-patch, 1.2, saw a whole slew of changes, including difficulty scaling, loot tables, and the addition of an evade button. There's even a whole new expansion on its way, and a second game in early development. So, if you're looking for something with a little grit, it's never too late to become a fan of Grim Dawn.
V Rising is, unlike Grim Dawn, markedly not old. In fact, it's not even fully released yet. 1.0 is hitting just a bit shy of Diablo 4's new season, on May 8, but you can explore plenty of the game's content right now in Early Access.
The elevator pitch for V Rising probably went something like, "What if Diablo, survival crafting games like Valheim, and old-school MMO's got thrown in a blender?" You'll hunt down treacherous bosses and collect bear asses both, all in service to your ever-growing castle. The game has the same sticky mechanics that all the great survival games do: you'll craft increasingly impressive and useful tools using workbenches, but you'll only find the blueprints after defeating some of the world's many, many big-bads.
By day, you'll likely be cooped up in your castle, rearranging furniture, stocking the furnace with ore, that sort of thing. But come nightfall, when the sun's rays won't cremate you, you'll be pushing further and further into the wilds, collecting resources and slaying foes.
If you've got a knack for building houses in The Sims or seeing how big you can make your Minecraft fortress, V Rising has a fantastic base-building system that's sure to satiate your lust for interior design. If you also enjoy skill-shotting folks in MOBAs, the game so happens to use WASD movement such that its combat plays like a frenetic mix of League of Legends and Lost Ark. It'll take some getting used to, but this weird combination of cozy homebuilding and action is surprisingly harmonious.
And at last, we have Moon Studio's (makers of Ori) very left-field foray into the action RPG space: No Rest for the Wicked. I was embarrassingly excited for this game, which launched last Thursday, April 18 into Early Access.
My recommendation of No Rest for the Wicked comes with two caveats: first, you'll need a pretty juicy rig to run it. With a "recommended" GPU equivalent to an RTX 3070, it isn't particularly optimized in these early days. Second, it barely qualifies as an "action RPG" in the traditional, Diablo-esque sense of the phrase. Its combat is slow, methodical, and heavy.
Those caveats out of the way, what's here is very good so far. The first act of the game is available to play, which should run you anywhere from 10 to 15 hours depending on your propensity for exploration and upgrading the capital city of Sacrament using resources found along your journey.
One of the more progressive features of No Rest for the Wicked is its ever-changing landscapes that are a joy to revisit. Starter zones level up alongside your progress through the campaign, and trekking back through previously explored lands may reveal new enemies, bosses, and loot. Loot rarity has had the script flipped a bit too - "common" items are the most customizable, while higher rarities may come with hefty drawbacks in exchange for their affixed bonuses.
It's early days for the game, but after two quick and beefy hotfixes (which went live over the weekend, no less), I think it's worth keeping an eye on at the very least. Jumping in early is always a bit of a leap of faith, but I haven't regretted a moment spent with the game.
The post Three games to scratch that action RPG itch during the wait for Diablo 4 Season 4 appeared first on Destructoid.
No Rest for the Wicked, Moon Studio's new action RPG, is a little less Diablo than many players (myself included) were expecting. This dissonance between expectation and reality, no matter the quality of the game, is a surefire recipe for friction.
A glance at the user reviews, currently sitting at a 65% "Mixed" rating on Steam, tells a story of... well, mostly performance issues. But if you look a little closer, complaints of a low stamina economy, plodding enemy encounters, and a high early-game difficulty start to peek through the usual Early Access culprits.
Having completed the campaign portion of the Early Access content currently on offer ("Act 1" of what will be the full game), I feel well-versed in its weird blend of Dark Souls meets Diablo. And by "blend," I basically mean 100% of the combat stylings of Dark Souls, and 100% of the camera angle from Diablo.
If you, like me, expected to be able to eventually delete even a handful of enemies at once after finding some gear, you're sorely mistaken. Here are some quick tips sure to dispel the illusion that this is a "typical" dungeon-crawling action RPG.
If you find yourself relatively exhausted after each enemy encounter, this is by design. Every fight is a bit of an ordeal, since you're only going to be fighting upwards of five or six enemies total between rest points. Taking on more than one foe at once is a recipe for disaster, but if you do find yourself outnumbered, try to separate enemies by rushing down ranged units. More crucially: take your time. Trying to rush through fights is a guaranteed way to walk away poorer in resources than you ought to.
Your focus meter, indicated by the yellow-orange meter by your health and stamina gauge, is spent using Runes. Runes are essentially spells that attach to your weapons, and every weapon comes equipped with at least one. These are very powerful abilities, and can quickly turn the tide of a fight. There are even some Runes, available for purchase a little later on from Eleanor in Sacrament, that heal you on use. If you also have an aversion to resource-farming, these are a lifesaver when you run low on food.
Stamina got a little bit of a buff in a recent hotfix, but it can still feel scarce in the early game. Since rolling is your most valuable tool for avoiding damage, be sure to put at least 2 or 3 extra points in Stamina so you can keep up with the relentless attacks of speedier foes. Remember: rolling or dodging grants invincibility frames, which means you'll be invulnerable for the duration.
Distance between yourself and the enemy has perhaps the highest impact on the flow of a battle. Some enemies have massive, far-reaching weapons with high recovery times. Some unleash flurries of short-ranged attacks in the blink of an eye. In both these scenarios, simply backing out of reach can create the perfect opportunity for a counter-attack. Because you can sprint at any time, in any direction, running literal circles around foes is a more than viable option in the heat of battle. Remember: sprinting into an attack is faster than swinging from a standstill. Use this to punish!
If nothing else, just don't try to play No Rest for the Wicked like Diablo. Of course, I can't stop you, but you don't want to end up like those poor souls in the Steam reviews, do you?
The post Struggling in No Rest for the Wicked? Stop playing it like Diablo appeared first on Destructoid.
No Rest for the Wicked is out now on early access, giving us our first glimpse at Moon Studios' latest project. The developer's prior offering - Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and The Will of the Wisps - turned the Metroidvania style of game on its head, offering a powerful, fresh experience that is difficult to forget. And now, four years later, Moon looks set to do the same for action RPGs with No Rest for the Wicked. Simply put, No Rest for the Wicked couples a stunning visual design with elements inspired by From Software's Souls titles, Blizzard's Diablo and even Animal Crossing - and yet the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
At its core, Wicked remains a game rooted in the Unity Engine but with a vast range of customisations transforming it into its own thing, hence the nickname - Moonity. This, however, is used only for the game's presentation layer - the graphics you see on-screen. Moon has also built a new simulation engine - built on top of Exit Games' Quantum Engine - to handle game logic, including a fully deterministic 3D physics system for networking, which No Rest for the Wicked will feature at a later date.
What makes this setup work well is the division between rendering and simulation - basically, input responsiveness is separate from frame-rate so, if you're playing on a lower end platform, like a Steam Deck, at 30fps, the game will still feel as responsive as a game running at a higher frame-rate. The visuals, however, are striking. First and foremost, Wicked supports HDR on day one - this is important as we have largely considered Ori and the Will of the Wisps to stand out as one of the best examples of HDR in any game released to date. The HDR implementation is superb and just as intense and engaging as Ori. It makes a gigantic difference if you use an HDR display.
The first No Rest for the Wicked patch notes are here, following a troubled launch that has seen the new RPG game land to ‘mixed’ Steam reviews. The ambitious ARPG blending the perspective and loot of Diablo with Dark Souls and Elden Ring style stats and combat has been a long-awaited passion project from developer Moon Studios, best known for the fantastic pair of Ori games. Despite a mostly positive response to its setting and concept, early performance issues and balance concerns have troubled players, but the dev is already hard at work with its first post-launch update targeting some major complaints.
No Rest for the Wicked revealed its launch date on March 1 during the ARPG's Wicked Inside showcase, which had lots of treats in store for hyped fans.
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