(Photo courtesy of DrinkBox Studios)

Christopher Medeiros
Connector Contributor

“Nobody Saves the World” blasts onto the screen as players obliterate hordes of swarming monsters. This top-down ARPG (action role-playing game) by DrinkBox Studios tosses the player into a goofy, witty and unassuming fantasy world. Players are bound to get hooked.

The illustrated graphics aptly fit the game’s identity. The cartoonish aesthetic and upbeat electronic tunes match the cheeky vibe that the dialogue and story provide. Regardless of playful and unique artstyle or type of humor one may enjoy, the game provides an awesome gameplay experience. Decimating enemies with crazy abilities doesn’t always sustain fun and challenge. In this game it does.

“Nobody Saves the World” investigates the disappearance of the missing wizard, Nostramagus. During their search, the player, a pale hairless humanoid, sifts through a drawer to find the crux of their new powers: the wand. This wand allows players to shift into different forms such as: rat, mermaid, rogue, dragon, etc. With power in hand, “Nobody Saves the World”  answers the King’s call to expel a horde of monsters squatting on the throne. The Grand Castle houses evil floating skulls, massive bugs and feline warlocks that require destroying. An ancient evil threat, the Calamity, emerges with ominous, threatening words. The rest of the story takes the player through a fairly packed and expansive map to take down dungeons and defeat the Calamity, the evil force infesting the land with monsters.

The task ahead isn’t original or compelling, but the story’s attractiveness comes from the comedic, witty dialogue and circumstances. The story gives some laughs and an overall sense of goofiness, but it doesn’t provide any narrative compelling enough to keep players from mashing the button through dialogue so they can get back to the reason they’re playing: to kick monsters’ butts.

That brings up gameplay. The game recommends a controller to play. It is simple yet complex. It has a depth to it that will be apparent in the first few minutes or so, but becomes incredibly evident for the rest of the game. Forms are like classes. They have levels tied to them, allowing new abilities and new forms to become unlocked as the player completes form-specific quests. Each form gives the player different abilities that they unlock through playing with that form. What is great about “Nobody Saves the World” is that players can swap abilities earned from one form and use them in a different form. One can use the horse’s gallop as a rat, or the archer’s arrow flurry as a slug. This gives players an incentive to try out and play each form they unlock. It also provides the opportunity to craft builds with a mountain of ability combinations. It is left for players to decide how to play. If the player wants to be a bodybuilder that inflicts poison damage, flexes and throws barbells,  they  can do that. If they want to assume the form of a magician that summons an army of bunnies that explode, they can do that too.

The class system in this game allows for a great amount of customization and complexity. Abilities provide build crafting and discovering new synergies and play styles. That clever mix-matching of abilities and using multiple forms becomes essential to making it through the game. While the monsters in the open world pose a significantly lesser threat, dungeons serve a serious challenge. Different damage types are needed for different wards, sometimes multiple at once. Ranged or close quarters attacks work better against different types of monsters. The game demands players to use brain power when they enter a dungeon. The player must complete dungeons if they want to complete the story. It’s fun to have a challenge, especially when the toolbox gifts players with so many fun ways to play and succeed.

So far, playing 15 hours of “Nobody Saves the World” has been an immense joy. There are still forms to unlock and dungeons to conquer. DrinkBox Studios have proven themselves to be a wonderful indie developer with their metroidvania-like “Guacamelee!” series. “Nobody Saves the World” pushes them into another genre that they simply crush. “Nobody Saves the World” is available on Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S for purchase or as a Xbox Game Pass title.

Rating: A-