Platform(s): Xbox Series (version reviewed), Xbox One, PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch
Genre: Action RPG with flexible Job System that isn’t called Final Fantasy

Ever want to see a pale naked guy transform into a horse that can shoot arrows and summon circling disembodied fists? In Nobody Saves The World, you can!

In this quirky action RPG from game studio Drinkbox, the folks renowned for the equally zany search action title Guacamelee, you play an albino amnesiac who suddenly possesses a wand that can change him/her into different Forms. Our white hero can transform into a speedy rat, to a bodybuilder, to even an ass-kicking Monk, though he/she has to start from the bottom of the proverbial food chain and level up to open up new Forms. Heck, there’s even a joke Form that starts out useless but is essential for getting the game’s uber Form in the late game.

Essentially it’s another take on the patented Job system that’s famous in your high tier Final Fantasy entries, but with a twist on its upgrade system. See, you’re given a slew of quests that are either general or specific to the Form. Complete the former to level up your character’s base stats and complete the latter to upgrade the Form you’re in. Better Form grades equal more skills active and passive. Newer Forms also open up previously-barred places when exploring; you can’t navigate past the water unless you’ve unlocked a Form that either lets you swim or float across it.

Quest For Glory

In addition, completing quests will net you a Star key, which you’ll need to unlock main story dungeons. Quests come in many, many forms and are the crux of Nobody Saves The World. Some are standard like completing dungeons from gingerbread houses to even literal bellies of dead beasts, or help out one of the many townsfolk and NPC with a quest in the area. Form-related quests include killing a good amount of foes with specific abilities, or even doing achievement-level feats like pulling off an attack that lasts 10 seconds or so, or even killing a group of enemies with specific skills.

These quests even go as far as to make sure you also take certain abilities of a Form and use it on another Form, to ensure that you experiment the best combination for action RPGing. Remember when I said you could transform into a horse with arrow-firing abilities? I was not kidding; if you level up enough, you can equip your horse with that ranged attack and anything else that’s available and unlocked.

And to do the latter, you’ll need to complete and grind a buttload of quests. That’s the beauty of Nobody Saves The World: quests are doled out bountifully so that you can complete them whenever and wherever you are at in the game’s weird-ass fantasy setting featuring wizards, thieves, chaos magic, and snark. There’s a ton of the latter in the game’s narrative and sidequest NPC dialogue; a standard in a Drinkbox-made title. It’ll make you chuckle a bit, and keep you engaged in its colourful and silly aesthetics.

Best of all, the gameplay loop of unlocking Forms, upgrading Forms, and killing the many, many enemies in style with all your options available is addictive and feels cathartic thanks to the game’s spot-on controls and easy inputs. Having the Monk deal a screen-clearing Ray of Light attack that stuns and poisons foes, while having it heal you is an example of game-breaking combos you want to aim for with Nobody Saves The World’s fun and flexible system.

Of course, the game does take a few hours to get into gear with its plethora of Forms and abilities mix-and-matching; you only start off with 3 or so in the earlier parts of the game. Once you’re tasked with searching the rest of Nobody Saves The World’s map for the MacGuffin gems – about 4 to 5 hours through- the aforementioned place is your playground. You’ll get lost knee-deep in quests, dungeon-trekking, and achievements-hunting unlocking Forms and buffing up the ones you have.

You can also co-op with another albino shapechanger for JRPG tag-teaming action. If that’s not enough, there’s even a New Game+ so that you can start with all the forms you’ve unlocked and experience a buffed-up challenge. All in all, score one more for Drinkbox Studio’s portfolio from this 2022 esoteric and Job-filled take on the action RPG genre that’s too hard to put down.

Pros

• Fun action RPG controls and combat feel.
• Tons of Forms/Classes & skills to experiment with.
• Charming aesthetics and humour.
• New game+ options.

Cons

• Starts slow and limited.

Final Score: 80/100