No Rest for the Wicked - Moon Studios' Stunning Tech Evolution - DF First Look

Moon Studios - the creators of Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps - have finally returned with a spectacular new game, No Rest for the Wicked. Available now on Early Access for PC users in preview form, John Linneman had had the game for a couple of weeks, offering up this extensive preview on the latest iteration of the 'Moonity' engine along with his thoughts on the game so far.
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00:00 - Introduction
02:16 - The Basics
04:06 - Curved World
05:39 - Lighting and Shadow
07:25 - World in Motion
11:01 - Future Effects
13:01 - Performance and Options Menu
15:56 - Final Thoughts

[@tinobrown1780]

Moon Studios is an A class developer. State of the art when it comes to art style, and mood setting.

[@lolmao500]

I really hope its a huge success so their talents are rewarded... if people stopped buying crappy aaa games that dont inovate in anything, we would get better games. IF I could fire everyone at ubisoft, ea, activision and blizzard and replace them with clones of these guys, I would.

[@brunohhh]

@@lolmao500 Except for how they treat their employees

[@ElDaumo]

@@lolmao500Indie game sales are at an all time high. AAA doesnt Take away from Indie at all. If anything, its Gamers coming to the Indie scene with a AAA consumer mindest that hurt small Indie devs and studios. These „III“ companies are absolutely safe economically

[@Average_Mortal]

What do you mean? It's not "Blizzard level", right? ​@@brunohhh

[@hundvd_7]

If Skull and Bones is AAAA, then Moon Studios are reaching double digits of As

[@a_witcher94]

I love how proud and open the devs were about the tech behind it .. hope more devs follow their example!

[@SamuraiMujuru]

Cranking up the rain turns it into a Kurosawa-level downpour.

[@streetmagik3105]

The art design is incredible! It looks amazing.

[@TheCrewExpendable]

Yeah the art is crazy good. Too bad its wasted on loot-based Diablo clone.

[@fcukugimmeausername]

Sitting on 59% approval in Steam. Yikes. Avoid, avoid, avoid.

[@darkcult99]

Looks like they used AI art … Did they?

[@Mohgenstein]

@@TheCrewExpendableIt’s not loot based, it’s a dark souls style ARPG game

[@Mohgenstein]

@@fcukugimmeausernameAww kinda sad how you spend your day copy pasting this comment everywhere, not enough attention? 🤭

[@InnuendoXP]

I love the style of this game. A lot about it makes me imagine if Blizzard kept the tone of Warcraft II going forward rather than the chunkier, lighter tone of WC3 that continued into WoW.

[@tatianaes3354]

I still want Warcraft 1/2 follow up. Those two games already had a perfect formula that was not in any need of adjustment other than upgrading graphics and making new content.

[@johngalactus4014]

Wow, the art style. It's gorgeous.

[@jackiemortes]

Get the Ori games, they're on sale at the moment. Essential for anyone even remotely interested in video games.

[@DanKaschel]

​@@milktruckdrivertell me you don't know anything about rendering techniques without telling me you don't know anything about rendering techniques

[@HPblu3]

@@milktruckdriver Me when I have no clue what I'm talking about lol

[@PCGGC]

Beautiful and visceral. A great departure and evolution from Ori

[@carlosdonizetti9573]

This kind of art style is excellent because it will age muuuuuuuuuchhhhh better than other graphics focusing on realistic enviroments !

[@maboilaurence8227]

This, good graphics are great, but good artstyles are immortal.

[@spiderjerusalem8505]

And I think it's also the most technically complex heavily stylized graphics yet

[@BoxoSpoons]

It really makes me disappointed we don’t see as much of this level of stylization in many AAA games nowadays, especially since on current hardware a game like this can look just about as good as it could ever need to look. Those cutscenes are practically flawless visually.

[@spiderjerusalem8505]

@@BoxoSpoons, yeeah, I think Ori WotW and this game will look amazing forever. Not just "aged well" or "still looks good", but one of the best of all time. First Ori is great, but loses the comparison to second one visually, imo.

[@kosmosyche]

Yeah, something about the way they use colors in Oris makes both games look stunning. It's almost the same effect as some of Studio Ghibli animation films. You see it and it immediately attracts you. Very talented artists work at Moon Studios, who know exactly what they are doing.

[@Dionyzos]

That curved world implementation blew me away. It adds so much to the look of the game. I'm usually skeptical about isometric games but this looks so cool.

[@fabian2970]

Totally agree

[@spiderjerusalem8505]

Yeah, such a good addition that makes a lot of sense when you see it, but how many isometric games did that before?

[@FryCanon]

I was literally coming to comment that as well. My brain broke a bit. I never even thought how much more room it would feel like if I could see the horizon. I need this in PoE and D4

[@Satanjugend]

it's not isometric, it's perspective projection

[@InnuendoXP]

​@@FryCanon yeah it's so good to see a game push the ARPG forward in a way that's not seemingly just trying to do Diablo II again

[@xilix]

Moon REALLY knows what they're doing. Such a breath of fresh air. Such beautiful, thoughtful work that's all-encompassing. I'll definitely be grabbing this when it's officially released.

[@erickpassos]

Always follow every review you guys do, but this one feels special. Proud to be see the tech me and my colleagues helped build (Quantum) be a such a fundamental part of an amazing game like No Rest for the Wicked. Thanks for the mention.

[@2ksnakenoodles]

Do you work at Exit? I don't use Quantum, but thank you for Photon PUN! During the pandemic, I made a few multiplayer games that me and my friends played, thanks for providing the tools for making that possible ❤

[@erickpassos]

@@2ksnakenoodlesthank you for the kind words. Yes, I work at Photon/Exit Games, as part of the team who develops Quantum and Fusion.

[@fcukugimmeausername]

Sitting on 59% approval in Steam. Yikes. Avoid, avoid, avoid.

[@gdx1037]

@@fcukugimmeausername Imagine being influenced by random Steam reviewers. Hell, let's just pull up a review for the fun of it. "Not Recommended 5.1 hrs on record Cat Mario 3d" Personally I prefer to make my own opinion but hey, if you want yours to be based on Steam reviews, go ahead.

[@Dr_Jim57]

"And the Lord said unto him, David, go forth and ye shall lay bare a golden path". I thank u for making such a Christian game Thank you and God Bless , DrJim

[@ddthegreat]

What a great first look! Major props to Moon Studios for providing all of the behind the scene footage!! Really helps give an appreciation for what they've accomplished! Excited for the full release!

[@GhostriderMWW]

Thanks for such a thoughtful and comprehensive look at our game.

[@Dr_Jim57]

Thanks but I had nothing to do with this ??? Why are you messaging my youtube???

[@m0nztam0nk]

The mud and smoke simulations look absolutely amazing!

[@DrLilo]

This game wasnt on my radar until now. I think I might buy it!

[@TheDarksideFNothing]

I always LOVED the look of the ori games. I own both. But I can just never get myself to stick with them. I'm just not one for metroidvanias But THIS I think I'll finally be able to play a moon studios game!

[@jnee]

This is exactly what I want from new games, SIMS!! Gimme fog, wind, water, mud. I'm really not bothered by 4K 60.. I just want to see a reactive dynamic world

[@johnnysacrimoni2404]

A choppy frame rate ruins all of that. You need a consistently smooth 60 fps as the foundation to back up the reactive dynamic world

[@D33STRUCTIV3]

Visually, this seems masterclass. I’m so excited to take it for a spin.

[@TheMasterblaster32]

Needs optimised

[@Hezkore]

The intro and hand-painted appearance reminds me so much of what Guild Wars 2 originally did, but then stopped doing for some reason. I remember being blown away when my custom made character walked into the shot of, what I thought was, a pre-rendered cutscene.

[@Nucleosynthese]

Excellent video! I really enjoy this type of game coverage

[@chrisbanister8192]

The Inception “bwaaaaaah” at 5:20 😂

[@stevelogan3714]

Lmaoo so random 😂

[@gornes2403]

and obligatorily accompanied by the dramatic soundtrack from the movie 😆

[@HugoLamarche]

Such a cool video with so much behind the scenes. Can’t wait this come out of Early Access !

[@crestofhonor2349]

This game has to be one of the best looking games of 2024. Fantastic graphics and artwork. Character models are stellar and textures are high enough resolution to not show any issues. Effects work and lighting are top notch. Moon Studios showing once again they are some of the best studios when it comes to graphics and imitating 2D in a 3D world

[@katanalevygames]

Wonderful to see these art/tech breakdowns from the devs rather than the typical closed door/buzz word presentations. They are pushing some really incredible visuals and I think this will be one that sticks around for a log time due to what they are doing visually.

[@PropaneWP]

This type of painterly 3D graphics looks similar to the technique used in the Arcane (League of Legends) cartoon. It's very cool.

[@AnimeUniverseDE]

I want more games like it

[@kopmis]

This is one of the best Digital Foundry videos I’ve ever seen. Incredibly interesting in-depth look at the tech of a beautiful game. A video like this is the best advertisement a game could ever get.

[@KenzieSFT]

Fellow tech art person here: excellent work, and your presentation here is really great. Our team is all watching it this morning.

[@GlazeonthewickeR]

This looks beautiful. Every time I remember this is coming out I get excited all over again

[@BaNeArroW]

It's Moon Studios. It's a home run!

[@emanuelecoppini2023]

It’s so stunning that I’m going to cry only for watch this video! I love Moon studio!

[@rickylovesyou]

That art production is stunning.

[@drunksupportcharacter]

Man, these guys are talented, to the point where it has an effect similar to the dragons crown style of art but 3D, nice to see that such a thing is possible.

[@jamescole3143]

Thank you DF!

[@gustavobarandas2012]

Great job as always John 😊

[@mynameismud-qd9vu]

Can't wait for this one! Moon Studios is a top notch studio.

[@Jebble347]

This is the sort of stuff I love to see. It showcases exactly why Moonlight Studios is so amazing, they care so much. I do wish they would publish more of these things on their own channel regularly.

[@jamesweymouth]

I'm so amped for this. The Ori games are some of my all-time favourites.

[@Arkaha]

What a phenomenal looking game... Thanks for the initial overview!

[@fraktux]

Definitely this is a superb implementations 🤔: "Motion blur works independent of the frame rate but the way it's applied ensures that it's mainly visible on large exaggerated animations so you get all the benefits of per object motion blur but you don't have blurry camera movement".

[@GreatistheWorld]

Seeing how the lighting works blew my mind. Never ever would have suspected it was all real time

[@st0rm_ssb]

God this looks amazing

[@MatthewSanthos]

YEAAAAHH WAS WAITING FOR THIS

[@marckwald]

Okay, you've convinced me. Added to wishlist and buying on full release!

[@debopamseal1072]

I am sold, I'll be getting this when it comes out, it looks fantastic!

[@jerrygirard254]

yeah John the legend can't wait to play this

[@ope314]

So ready for this

[@Flornmonk]

My god this looks absolutely incredible!

[@willuigi64]

The use of their tech to enable beautiful, high quality, stylized art may be the best I've seen yet.

[@Shadowclaw25]

well ...looks are great..but the performance is like 4x of what it should be.

[@Superdazzu2]

@@Shadowclaw25 maybe you mean 0.25x? lol basic math be like: nah

[@malobuchino]

Kudos for the video and thank you for helping the developers

[@Nickydo111]

That is absolutely stunning.

[@iDriveAhondaCivic]

I was thinking about picking this up today. It looks so good

[@joinkusbelinkiusthethird]

This looks amazing, this is definitely on my radar now

[@techsamurai11]

These guys at Moon Studios are smart. John, you did a great job showcasing their in this video!

[@bonzero]

this is absolutely amazing!!

[@Brian.M]

Wow, this is looking really impressive!

[@DarkOgr]

Great work for Moon Studio! Love them)

[@n9ne]

cant wait for the full release

[@AnimeUniverseDE]

This painterly art style is soo good

[@via_negativa6183]

The environmental ambience and detail of this game is some thing I've been looking for in an arpg for a long time.

[@netdoom]

I’m blown away

[@CodyHimselfXI]

Okay, I am all in on this one.

[@RocketSlug]

You called out that their simulation engine is based on a networking model where simulation and render are in separated, and yeah that's a big part of how rollback networking works in fighting games. Really cool that they're using it in the base single player experience to improve responsiveness. And I'm loving the art style. The painterly look and those fog physics just make me want to see them work on a Mistborn game.

[@ptajimura]

Woah, Mistborn in this style would be gorgeous. 21 hours in the game and I think gameplay mechanics would also suit mistborn really well

[@The_JCM]

AMAZING I can't wait *.*

[@trza49er]

Amazing in terms of the aesthetic. The lighting and shadows in particular are just world class. I expect the soundtrack and gameplay to be equally great, Moon has earned their stellar reputation.

[@markovrbas]

It looks beautiful!

[@verifiedmilk]

Man this looks amazing

[@paweldurczok]

I have to say, playing this today and seing it for the first time uncompressed and in real-time gave me a Vagrant Story moment. Visually it's absolutely remarkable.

[@IcalebthelionI]

This comment might be enough for me to pick it up, I wish they’d remake Vagrant Story. Easily one of the best games of that generation.

[@techsamurai11]

A behind the scenes video would be awesome!!! Hope it happens!

[@ThePokestopPapi]

Incredibly stunning.

[@Bast6]

This game looks so beautiful. Art direction is EVERYTHING

[@jjlw2378]

I've been playing all day. Feels like something special.

[@MoeFokah]

Sheesh. Them environments with weather effects! 👌🏿👌🏿👌🏿

[@majidsiddiqui2906]

Nice feview. Games looks great. You have convinced me to buy this game to try it and support the devs.

[@Lewdology]

Old School Ys successor I had no idea was even in the cards. Looks unbelievable.

[@MemoriaVisible]

Me alegra mucho saber que viene un nuevo juego de Moon. :)

[@ninives]

It looks promising, definitely keeping an eye on this one

[@etbadaboum]

It looks incredible. The cut scenes are gorgeous especially the facial animation which is my main point of interest.

[@3rodox]

Very impressive.

[@muddrox887]

Okay, I'm interested!!! Wasn't before, but now I'm buying this day one.

[@JoeCobragaming]

Another masterpiece in the making.

[@krisw4846]

This game looks awesome so far👍 ...cant wait to play it

[@devonmarr9872]

5:53 I love heavy AO in games generally. This is great

[@mmo5366]

Looks phenomenal. Sounds like it plays phenomenally. Take my money please!!

[@Randy7777]

It's beautiful!!!

[@Goolix_Aero]

I look forward to playing this on Switch 2 in about 4 years

[@Core1138]

Love those bespoke mouse cursors!

[@user-dq9pm8ug6b]

Amazing combination of high end tech and art

[@GamingTech-YouTube]

What a fantastic game and video!

[@user-te2ks6yc8v]

ok, Im gonna pull the trigger and get this on early access, looks promising

[@Benefits]

This game looks absolutely incredible.

[@rekware9320]

This game looks stunning!

[@Jose_31416]

This IS my most anticipated game at the moment

[@futurafrlx8874]

Such a great looking game. Absolutely stunning.

[@user-dq9pm8ug6b]

man awesome you already have a look under hood :) I was curious about when the Artists will do their art blast over at Artstation so I can have a closer look.

[@Jeroen4]

One of the most beautiful games I have ever seen!

[@GaminylGames]

This looks absolutely fantastic. I would usually never be interested in games like this but you've really sold me. Atmos on PC is the cherry on top

[@blackcaesar8387]

looking forward to playing this on my 85inch miniled

[@browninplay]

I do love the look, and play style of this game, but recommended requirements at the moments are 3070 ti class GPUs, and AMD 5800X3D class CPUs - that's insane, I expect this to drop hopefully as early access goes on, but atm - these are some high-end specs. I hope it does get optimized properly by full launch because I really would like to try this game out :/

[@user-sq2bf2gh4n]

this is really crazy

[@MrSmitheroons]

Art direction is still the most important thing for visuals. This tech is really cool, but the main reason it works is that it serves the art direction really well. BTW this video looks STUNNING even at 480p. Maybe that's because it's lower motion than an FPS game, so KZbin compression doesn't mess with it up too badly, but also the contrast and colors, proportions, every art decision is really beautiful and you don't need a bajillion pixels to see that! Love to see this sort of thing. We can all get a bit distracted by "new tech," but games are art at the end of the day, and good design matters a lot. Engineering is super important in service of the art, but without good art design it's not going to make a great game. Also, the steps they have made to keep the essential gameplay loop (controls responsiveness, simulation timing) working great, even on a system with a lower-end GPU, is great to see. Keeping games playable on older hardware is a blessing. Sure, let people pay for an expensive GPU for more bling if they want and can afford it But being able to play in the first place is the main thing for folks on older or budget hardware. Really appreciate their attention to that area of the game. Just my thoughts. Thanks for this video!

[@randydonovan7844]

Game looks so gorgeous.

[@OMjosh123]

Sooo awesome to Hear John again!!! Great video as always!