14 DAY TRIAL // 
Who do you think is the best suited to save the world? A knight in shining armour? Perhaps a mighty wizard? How about a rat? Or a horse? Or a zombie? Certainly not a slug! Or perhaps all of the above. Nobody Saves the World offers you some pretty whacky and exciting choices, in a dungeon crawler that manages to turn grinding into fun.
The newest game signed by the developers of the well-known Guacamelee franchise, DrinkBox Studios puts a new spin on the action RPG genre, offering some pretty unusual character class choices. Nobody Saves the World is rich in humor and mixes different elements from different genres, the result being a fresh and entertaining experience. Being their most ambitious project up to date, this game is a splash of color that deserves our attention.
The title is not misleading in any way, since you start your adventure as Nobody, a white empty husk that comes into the possession of a magic wand that will allow him to assume the form of 18 different creatures. He will need all the help he can get in his quest to defeat the Calamity by gathering the 5 pieces of an ancient artifact. His road will not be straightforward since he will have plenty of side quests to take on and dungeons to explore.
The boldest move of the developers was to put the focus on the 18 forms our hero can assume, each with its own unique set of abilities, strengths and weaknesses. From the vicious rat to the slow slug and the majestic horse, each form has its purpose, representing a different class best suited to face specific challenges. The slug for example can crawl in tiny spaces inaccessible to the guard or the ranger. The zombie losses life points constantly, while not feeding on enemies, but his death can have devastating results on the opposition you need to face.
Each form has 5 ratings, from F to S, that can be improved by completing character specific tasks. With each level up you core attributes improve, making your form more resilient and more deadly. Also this improvement is needed to unlock more and more advanced forms. For example, if you grow your rat enough you will be able to turn into a ranger or an egg. Each form also has its own abilities tree, with specific abilities that you can improve.
After the first couple of hours, when you have mastered the basics of each form, and as you unlock more and more forms you will be able to equip them with abilities that are native for them. for example, you can equip the Ranger with the powerful AoE boot attack or the guardian. Or the egg with the devour ability of the rat. In the end, the system allows you to create your own very unique characters by mixing and matching all the skills and passive attributes of all the forms you have unlocked and perfected.
This process involves a lot of hours of grinding through various dungeons, exploring every corner of the map in the sweetest metroidvania fashion, and successfully completing the side quests. While in other games the word grind is synonym to something tedious and unappealing, the way Nobody Saves the world was built makes this activity fun even in the long run. Since the first hours you will encounter challenges that can be unlocked later on, by developing new abilities and unlocking new forms. This means that you will have to visit most of the locations multiple times.
But it is rewarding to discover how to tackle the different quests using and combining everything you have unlocked. The progression is no way linear and leaves plenty of room for experimentation and accommodates your playstyle. The flipside of this extended freedom is the frustration caused by managing your way through a dungeon until the boss fight just to find out that you miss the ability or the required form to finish him. This scenario ends with your death which means that you will be teleported out of the dungeon, and you will have to try again, facing a different randomly generated layout.
Another aspect that could have been improved is the variety of the elements that are used to build these dungeons. Visually there is a variety in themes and elements, but the structure itself is pretty simple and relies on the same few game mechanics. After the first couple of successful dungeon crawls you already know what you can expect: a couple of levels, with a key hidden somewhere or a door that you can unlock by eliminating a certain number of enemies, all ending with a boss fight.
Although dungeons related to the main storyline are not randomly generated, they obey the same principles as we just described. As such they became predictable, and without a real differentiator they are lacking their unique identity. The same can be said about the secondary quests, that lack originality. Of course, they carry the sense of humour that characterises the entire game, but with a few exceptions, they are built on the same cliches as most action RPGs.
Visually the game is as whacky as it’s concept, but it all fits together in a colourful experience. The cartoonish graphics complements perfectly the atmosphere, and the framerate does not present hiccups to distract you from hacking the enemies. The soundtrack is not exactly what you would expect, and sometimes the electronic music is in a sharp contrast with the regions that have somewhat medieval inspiration.
The Good
- Ingenious character system
- Colorful visual style
- Grinding made fun
The Bad
- Level design lacks originality
- Uninspired secondary quests
- Inconsistent humor quality-wise
Conclusion
Sure, it can become a tad repetitive, and the humour has its ups and downs just as the level design, but overall, the experience is a memorable and enjoyable one. Nobody Saves the World has a lot of soul and quite a few flickers of originality, worth to be experienced since it is part of the Game Pass Ultimate catalogue.
Review code provided by the publisher.
