No Rest for the Wicked, the Early Access ARPG from the developers of Ori and the Blind Forest, has received its first major update since its release.

Avoiding the trashy mobs that explode all over the screen found in many ARPGs like Path of Exile and Diablo 4, NRftW has a more measured pace. There are only a handful of enemies to fight at a time, and the emphasis is on the mechanics and timing of combat rather than how quickly you can defeat 9 million monsters.

Nevertheless, it has everything one would expect from an ARPG, and then some. A wide variety of builds with many abilities, tons of loot that uniquely influences your play style, and grimdark rogues trying to stuff you in the cracks.

There's also player housing, a city builder system to upgrade hub buildings and merchants, and a full rogue-lite mode at the end of the game where you play a steady stream of maps and monoliths instead. It is this endgame mode that has garnered the most attention in the first content update released yesterday.

The crucible's rogue light mode has been expanded, adding art themes, more randomness, an entirely new enemy type, and nearly doubling in size. It also addresses the pesky performance issues that made some Early Access players uncomfortable. In addition, stray animals have been introduced to the harsh world of Sacra and, importantly, can be made into pets. Full patch notes for the update can be found on the Steam page.

Personally, I tend to shy away from Early Access, but I'm looking forward to trying No Rest for the Wicked; Path of Exile 2 features more complex bosses and deeper mechanics, and the frenetic pace is similarly reduced. ori and the Blind With art by the same team that worked on Forest, the housing and crafting systems are by all accounts surprisingly satisfying, and the roguelite endgame will set your teeth on edge.”