Nobody Saves the World Review: A grind that does not feel tedious

The main contention with Nobody Saves the World is regarding its grind: if it’s too repetitive without much reward or if it’s just right with the variety of eighteen forms enriching the gameplay. But before jumping into that debate or providing an opinion, one must know what the game is about.

Coming from the Canadian developer DrinkBox Studios, Nobody Saves the Word is a dungeon-crawler action RPG where Nobody, played by you, saves the world from the resurgence of the ancient Calamity. The game’s Nobody can shapeshift into numerous characters that make up the backbone of the title.

In Nobody Saves the World, learn to embrace the different forms in an attempt to play the savior

Nobody Saves the World starts a bit similar to how Chicory: A Colorful Tale began. The great Nostramagus, the most powerful wizard, is nowhere to be found as the world gets swallowed by the ancient Calamity. Nobody wakes up, not knowing where they are.

An NPC directs them to Nostramagus, who can cure Nobody of their amnesia. Upon entering the “Home of the Legendary Nostramagus”, players learn that the wizard is missing, and his “intrepid protege”, the colorful Randy the Rad, thinks he’s going to avenge him.

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On interacting with the drawer around the room, the player will find the wizard’s wand, then be called a suspect by Randy and get imprisoned in the basement. The wand allows Nobody to transform into unlocked characters, the first one being a blue rat.

Wheeling through the different avatars

Upon gaining XP, the levels of the form increase, and newer ones get unlocked. Each character has a unique active and passive skill, but gamers can mix and match abilities from other forms to make the perfect form.

Imagine a horse shooting a barrage of arrows or a knight with a rat poison bite. You get the gist.

Wheeling through different avatars (Image via Nobody Saves the World)

This unique mechanic also makes up for several quests. One of them, in the rat form, was to use poison-tipped attacks from the ranger’s kit to poison a certain number of baddies.

Another was on the knight, where users have to gather a certain amount of mana by breaking things, which is an ability of the horse. Completing these quests gives XP, which ranks the character up and unlocks more forms.

This motley crowd of characters, consisting of the likes of a bodyguard, a monk, a dragon, a mermaid, an egg, that players unlock as the game goes on is, in my opinion, the biggest attraction of Nobody Saves the World. There is no one particular way that users have to progress.

Dungeons are filled with enemies immune to one or the other ability, and gamers have to utilize the different forms and movesets to clear off the spawns. In my playthrough, I took a special liking towards the turtle for a long time and would utilize abilities from other forms.

The world that is to be saved

The world of Nobody Saves the World is quite extensive and filled with colorful NPCs, objects, and settings. Littered with dungeons and side quests, the game offers a surprising amount of combat variety that will keep players entertained.

My encounters with numerous NPCs were often humorous. With their world falling apart via the re-emerging Calamity, the dialogues have a lively wit about them. The unique esthetic of the world is translated into the characters that inhabit it.

The numerous quirky characters (Image via Nobody Saves the World)

The primary quest of the game is to go around the map in search of shards of a magical gem that users can get after clearing dungeons. The door of these dungeons can be opened with a set amount of stars, which accumulate by completing side quests of different characters.

Looking at the combat mechanics

The earlier mentioned mix and matching of different abilities saves Nobody Saves the World from becoming a dreary game. The innumerable permutations and combinations allow players to be creative in whichever form they prefer and whatever abilities they can use with that form to move through the world.

With each new unlock, the abilities of those forms are also made available to gamers. The moment I had unlocked the magician, I equipped him with the knight’s Stomp and the ranger’s Poison Tipped.

As the game progresses, the dungeons also force the players to prepare in a certain way.

Some enemies have to be made vulnerable by a certain kind of attack before they take damage. There are also dungeons with special modifiers installed that affect how users will go about clearing it. Dungeons are mostly procedurally generated levels that end in a big boss fight room, which rewards a big chest.

Opinion

The world of Nobody Saves the World is filled with colorful characters and enemies that players can engage with using 15+ unlocked forms on top of Nobody, the almost hapless, eyeless white humanoid. On top of that, the title also features a multiplayer function where another player can drop into your game.

The unique dungeons (Image via Nobody Saves the World)

Those who enjoy clearing dungeons in their action RPGs love dealing with the different kinds available in this game, with added modifiers like all damage being x9999 or wards regenerating. With modifiers further changing the rules of engagement, the game always keeps players on their toes in the corridors of these dungeons.

But the Calamity-ridden world is not free of its woes. One of the primary concerns I have with the game is the clunky feel of the controls when it comes to shifting forms. Since time does not slow down or pause when you bring up the wheel for quick shifting, the mechanism puts users at a disadvantage.

The calamity infested world (Image via Nobody Saves the World)

Coming back to the very first point brought up earlier, it can be said that the grind here is subverted by the fact that XP is gained through completing various quests rather than simply hacking and slashing enemies. The quests are rather nifty and engage gamers to experiment with the forms and abilities.

Even then, the grind can get annoying in the early parts of the title. This is not so much that it ruins the experience or becomes tedious, but enough that it was noticeable for me.

Even then, Nobody Saves the World is an enjoyable experience. Characters like Randy the Rad, Ratsbane the One-Punch Monk, and Marty Joe pepper the adventure with colorful wackiness, while the combat feels perfectly balanced for the most part.

Ratings for the game (Image via Sportskeeda)

You will find yourself spending many hours unlocking the various forms and leveling them up. Become a monk, a bodyguard, a ghost, a zombie, or an egg hatching into the mighty dragon; Nobody Saves the World feels just grindy enough without tipping you over the edge.