Xbox One Review Code Provided by Drinkbox Studios
Nobody Saves The World made a small splash last year when it released a demo as part of an indie festival during the Game Awards. That demo had everything the game needed to sink its teeth in me; innovative RPG mechanics, an irreverent, zany story, and enough secrets and hidden paths to make any exploration fan swoon.
I’ve now played through the full game from Drinkbox Studios, and Nobody Saves The World fully delivers on its promise of being a cheeky, off-the-wall adventure with some truly wild gameplay. It’s not without a few flaws, but the roughly 14 hours it took for me to beat the main campaign were filled with exciting discoveries and more than a few laughs.
Story
The story of Nobody Saves The World might sound familiar to anyone who’s played an RPG in the past; an ancient evil has resurfaced and is determined to destroy the world once and for all. Only the most powerful wizard in the realm can defeat the beast, but he’s mysteriously vanished.
Rather than play as a fabled wizard, Nobody Saves The World puts players behind the eyes of a strange little creature known simply as Nobody: a pale, naked amnesiac who stumbles upon Nostramagus’ Wand of Power and gains his magical ability to take on a series of ever more ridiculous forms. And thus, the game begins in earnest.
Nobody is a fascinating character and a creation Drinkbox Studios should be very proud of. It’s rare to find this much emotional depth in a silent protagonist, especially when that emotion is entirely conveyed through subtle facial expressions. Nobody spends most of the game with a blank look on their face, but the brief moments where their eyes narrow or they smile breathe life into the character.
The rest of the cast is just as colorful, if not more so, including standouts like Octavia the Witch and Randy the Rad. Randy is a particularly wonderful character, and his journey in parallel to yours throughout the course of the game has an incredibly strong emotional payoff.
With such great characters, you’d expect the story to be strong as well, but unfortunately, that’s not really the case with Nobody Saves The World. The story isn’t bad by any means, and there are a couple of intriguing twists along the way, but it never really breaks out of the standard “underdog hero vs. ancient, world-destroying monster” motif.
The story also frequently slips into drawn-out lulls that created a disconnect between major plot points. Nobody Saves The World wanted me to spend most of my time exploring the world, engaging with the side quests, and clearing optional dungeons, but this meant I spent hours at a time without seeing any more of the game’s main campaign.
Gameplay
Nobody Saves The World is without a doubt the most unique RPG I’ve played in quite some time. The entire game revolves around Nobody’s ability to change into different forms, each with their own abilities and perks that completely change how you engage with combat. While the early forms mimic standard RPG classes, some of the later ones break all known RPG conventions.
Each form comes with a standard ability that is unique to that form; the Guard slashes with his sword while the Ranger shoots an arrow that can poison enemies. As you level them up, they gain new attacks and passive benefits that change the way they play. Certain classes can dish out status effects, while others will send enemies flying backward, dealing additional damage if they crash into something.
Learning the ins and outs of each character kit is the true joy of Nobody Saves The World, and meeting the objectives of the different form quests challenged me to play in ways I wouldn’t normally have tried. The combat gets even deeper once you unlock the ability to customize your forms, giving them attacks and passive perks from any other form you’ve unlocked.
In this way, Nobody Saves The World is every build crafter’s dream, offering hundreds of different combinations to tackle just about any scenario the game can throw at you. I had a blast running through a dungeon with a damage-resistant, stun-happy Bodybuilder who could shoot arrows, then switching to a Necromancer who can summon both demons and zombies to create an immortal army of loyal soldiers.
In addition to wild combat potential, there are also some neat environmental uses for each form that the game doesn’t explicitly tell you about. Traveling through water requires specific forms, and certain side quests challenged me to come up with unique customizations in order to meet their specifications.
But even with all that good, something about Nobody Saves The World’s gameplay feels a bit off. The challenge level of any video game is a hard balance to strike, and Nobody Saves The World often misses the mark in some frustrating ways. Massive difficulty spikes forced me to grind out experience in procedurally generated dungeons that, while visually impressive, began to grow tiresome in the later portions of the game.
But the biggest issue I had with the game was in the decision to block all form quest progression while inside major dungeons. Leveling up the forms and unlocking new abilities was my favorite part of Nobody Saves The World, and stalling that feature made these dungeons feel less like intriguing skill checks and more like chores to get out of the way.
Audio and Visual
There’s a charm to the art direction in Nobody Saves The World that suits it perfectly. The character models strike a balance between adorable and uncomfortable that wouldn’t be out of place on an Adult Swim cartoon, and the monster designs are surprisingly grotesque for such a colorful game.
Speaking of the color, Nobody Saves The World sports one of the most vibrant color palettes I’ve seen in a video game in quite some time. Everything about the world just pops with life, and the staggering variety of biomes really drives home just how beautiful this game can look at times. Every region of the world has a unique aesthetic, including most of the optional demi-dungeons, and they all showcase just how strong the art direction is in this game.
The sound design is equally entertaining, with a chorus of different sound effects that accompany each form’s attacks. I often found myself stopping to find the source of noise only to realize it was the sound of my own character’s footsteps. Unfortunately, Nobody Saves The World’s music isn’t as compelling and got downright annoying if I spent too long in any one region.
What Could Be Better
The various forms and how they interact with the world were my favorite parts of Nobody Saves The World, and I wish the game had more elements of that throughout. There are some great quests that use specific forms to solve riddles or change the environment, but they felt few and far between.
I also would love to see the quick-swap form wheel get manual customization. Having the ability to set which forms are on it and where they’re located would make switching forms on the fly a lot easier. I also would have liked to see more of the optional/side-content actually connect to the main story in a meaningful way. Most of the optional dungeons don’t have any story context, even if they are artistically excellent. I’m looking at you, Dead Dragon Dungeon.
Verdict
Nobody Saves The World is a truly remarkable game, and it stands apart from just about every other game in the genre. While there are some flaws in the story presentation and dungeon mechanics, the wacky cast of characters, colorful world full of secrets, and wonderfully innovative combat system all make Nobody Saves The World an easy recommendation for any gamer who’s looking for an enjoyable, little adventure.
