No Rest for the Wicked (video game)

No Rest for the Wicked is an action role-playing video game developed by Moon Studios and published by Private Division. Set in the year 841, the player assumes control of a holy warrior who must travel to the island of Isola Sacra to investigate a plague named the "Pestilence". The game was released for Microsoft Windows through early access in April 2024. Full versions of the game are set to be released for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and Series S.

Gameplay
No Rest for the Wicked is an action role-playing video game played from a top-down perspective. At the beginning of the game, the player can create their own player character. Players will collect a variety of weapons in the game, and gear is divided into different rarites. Each weapon also has its own unique movesets, and can be enhanced with runes to further boost its combat capabilities. Gameplay is similar to a Soulslike game. Players can strike an enemy with their weapons, parry, dodge-roll, and block attacks, though all of these actions will consume stamina. The armor worn by the player character will also affect the player's moveset. For instance, players wearing a set of agile armor will be able to perform a fast quickstep, which allows players to evade attacks without consuming a lot of stamina. Focus will gradually accumulate during combat, allowing players to unleash a special attack once a certain threshold of Focus is reached. If the player character dies, they will respawn at the closest Cerim Whisper point. While the player's health is fully restored, enemies which have already been slained remain dead, while the health of wounded enemies will not regenerate. As players progress in the game, they will gain attribute points, which can be spent on seven different domains (namely health, strength, stamina, dexterity, faith, intelligence and focus) to enhance the player's combat performance. The game also has a "soft class" system, allowing players to experiment with different playstyles freely in the game.

Players will eventually reach the settlement of Sacrament. The city will eventually evolve as the player progresses and completes side objectives, therefore unlock additional rewards and opportunities. Players can also purchase and decorate their own house in the city. Resources collected in the wilderness can be used to craft new gears, furniture for the player's house, or contribute these resources to build town improvements. Players have to explore off the beaten path in order to find hidden chests and materials. Players can also participate in activities such as fishing and farming while not completing missions. Once the player completes the main campaign, they can access endgame content named "Cerim Crucible", allowing players to test their skills against the game's toughest enemies. The game also supports both 4-player cooperative multiplayer and player-versus-player competitive multiplayer modes.

Premise
The game is set in the year 841. The player assumes control of a Cerim, a group of holy warriors imbued with magical abilities, who must purge the "Pestilence", a plague which has transformed the locals of Isola Sacra into dangerous and mindless monsters. Along the way, the Cerim becomes entangled in political conflicts between the rulers of the kingdom, and the rebels who seek to overthrow it.

Development
Moon Studios, which had a team of 80 people, served as the game's lead developer. When the game was revealed in December 2023, Gennadiy Korol, co-founder of the studio, revealed that they had been working on the game for six years. The studio first began working on the project following the release of Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition, though full production quickly stopped as the studio was not "ready to take on online multiplayer, PvP, a full-blown RPG in 3D" at the time. Only a small team continued to work on the project while the bulk of the studio worked on Ori and the Will of the Wisps. Production of the game officially began in 2018. Elements from the Ori games, such as its interconnected worlds, were carried over to this game. The "Wellspring Glades" section from Will of the Wisps, in which players help out non-playable characters to improve the area, was created as the studio wanted to experiment with basic town management mechanics before significantly expanding them with No Rest for the Wicked. No Rest for the Wicked is powered by a customized Unity engine.

According to Thomas Mahler, the game's creative director, combat in the game was designed to be "visceral". The system was animation-driven, and players need to observe the combat animation of enemies in order to identify the best timing to strike and dodge. Combat in the game was inspired by FromSoftware's games, Monster Hunter, and fighting games. The stamina system was added to the game to deter players from mindlessly spamming attacks, and instead encourage to strategize and plan their attacks before striking. The visuals of the game was designed to be similar to that of a painting. The team intentionally avoided pursuing photorealistic visuals for the game, believing that it may dilute the game's identity, and avoided adopting a cel-shaded visual style as the team wanted the game to be detailed and "immersive". A Song of Ice and Fire and Shakespearean tales inspired the game's world and story. With No Rest of the Wicked, the team wanted to shift from "smaller, allegorical" stories from the Ori games, to an "an epic fantasy saga" with actual humans who have their own story arcs and conflicts.

Private Division, a division of Take-Two Interactive specializing in publishing video games from smaller developers, announced that it had partnered with Moon Studios for the development of their next game in July 2020. Mahler named Diablo and Path of Exile as the game's potential competitors in February 2023. It was officially announced at The Game Awards in December 2023. The game was released via early access for Windows PC on April 18, 2024. At its launch, the game will include the opening chapters for the game, while subsequent updates will introduce new story chapters, gameplay mechanics and multiplayer modes. Versions for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and Series S were also set to be released after the game's early access launch.