Nobody Saves the World shows Drinkbox still has several types of bite

Since releasing Guacamelee in 2022, the team at Drinkbox Studios has continually pushed its boundaries while all the same keeping the in-firm style that fabricated the Metroidvania such a hit. Whether information technology was Severed'south experimental touchscreen gameplay or Guacamelee 2 taking the original game in a novel new direction, the studio is always proving that it has more to give players. Their new action-RPG Nobody Saves the World, and so, is the culmination of all of the team'due south previous works, while proving that it still has some surprises upwards its sleeves.

Finding the perfect form

Nobody Saves the World's core mechanic is all about switching from i form to the other. You're a fledgling wizard who has found a magic wand and must employ it to save the people of this world from the anointed Cataclysm. This wand lets you lot turn your shriveling body into a speedy mouse ready to seize with teeth an opponent's ankles or a massive bodybuilder who will literally starting time to throw some weights around if he gets into a scuffle.

Drinkbox actually kind of experimented with a similar mechanic back in Guacamelee 2. In that game, yous could plow the lead character, Juan, into a chicken at will and use its moves to go through different combat encounters and puzzles. However, Nobody Saves the World expands that thought by giving you more than xv different forms to play around with. Each comes with its own set up of passive and active abilities that y'all tin amend over time. It's kind of like the classic children's serial Animorphs if information technology was set in a fantasy kingdom.

Anarchy ensues when yous start to mix and match abilities from different forms onto a new one. You accept your Ranger grade's fast-shooting arrow ability and mix it with your Zombie class'due south skill that lets them reanimate the dead and of a sudden you've created your own massive undead horde of minions that's running wild on the Calamity's monsters. This ability to create your own classes out of each form is stunningly inventive and incredibly satisfying.

Counteracting your impressive arsenal is an assortment of enemies that run the gamut of fantasy tropes. Given the game'due south length, they could probably use a bit more variety (particularly in the form of dominate enemies), but what is here will test both your thumb skills and your power to think creatively. In many ways, each combat encounter feels more like a puzzle box that needs to be solved over an activeness game.

On top of that, Nobody Salvage the World does an splendid job of dropping in several types of challenge dungeons to spice things upwardly. For instance, ane dungeon forces you to fight against enemies that heal whenever y'all do. Another multiplies all damage sources (both yours and the enemies) by 999. How exercise you lot handle that? At first, it might not seem possible, simply somewhen, y'all'll earn the tools to make it happen.

The Drinkbox way

If it's non clear already, the gameplay loop of Nobody Saves the World is exceptional. If you've ever played a Drinkbox game, that shouldn't be that surprising. The Studio has consistently given players games that just feel skilful in your hands. Nobody Saves the Earth is no different, and that familiarity carries to several other parts of the game besides. While this is a new universe and new genre for the studio, this is very much a Drinkbox game.

In nearly respects, that works in Nobody Saves the Globe's favor. Graphically, Drinkbox actually nails the pocket-size details. If you stand notwithstanding while in the Bodybuilder form, he slowly flexes his pecs. Many of the Rat form's abilities pop up with a graphic on-screen when you lot use them which helps you find the smaller grapheme in a sea of baddies. Information technology all works and then cohesively and serves to add to the gameplay in novel ways.

Nobody Saves the World is too pretty funny. I wasn't rolling on the floor laughing, only the game did get a few chuckles out of me. As a whole, the story is relatively boilerplate, though not poorly told. At the finish of the day though, you're coming to this i for the gameplay.

The one issue that the Drinkbox style has on Nobody Saves the Globe is their propensity to go over the top for content. More of a adept thing isn't necessarily a bad thing, but Nobody Saves the Globe can beginning to drag at times if yous're trying to practise everything. Guacamelee 2 was a flake similar, equally the studio wanted to build on the original. That game started to feel a niggling swollen at times if you weren't into the action. Nobody Saves the Earth never lost my attention, but information technology's easy to imagine the player who would fall off.

The verdict

Betwixt the fun-filled gameplay and artistic problem-solving, Nobody Saves the World might but exist the best game Drinkbox Studios has ever released. Building your own class from the different forms you lot earn never stops being a nail. After finishing the game, I immediately hopped into New Game+ just to level up my forms even more and see what they could practice. Early in 2022, Nobody Saves the World seems like a must-play and the perfect evolution of almost every idea Drinkbox Studios has adult since its founding more than a decade ago.

+	Inventive gameplay through form shifting
+	A genuinely funny script
+	Tons of content for diehard players
–	Slightly lacking in enemy and boss diversity
–	Can drag toward the end if yous're doing everything the game has to offer