Nobody Saves the World gives a glimpse into a combat-focused Zelda

I’ve never played a Zelda game for the combat. Even The Legend of Zelda – Breath of the WildI will always remember ‘The Game of Physics,’ a puzzle game with many overlapping physics that encourages creativity and violence. But The World is not Saved by AnyoneThe recent Drinkbox Studios release, ‘The Combat-Centered Zelda Game,’ shows me how it might look. And I’m enthralled.

The World is not Saved by Anyone — which is available on Xbox Game Pass right now — puts you in the shoes of a shapeshifter named Nobody as they travel from dungeon to dungeon across a sprawling map, all the while unlocking new corporeal forms with which to defeat hordes of bad guys. There are many options. You could be a rodent, a mermaid, bodybuilder or stage magician. You can eventually combine their abilities, playing chemist as you grant the ranger’s poison effects to the horse’s “gallop” attack. As Owen Good wrote in his review, it’s a concise, coherent, steady dopamine drip of a gameplay loop.

While it might seem strange to compare an unusual action-RPG to Zelda’s more reserved Zelda series with a similar structure, they have a lot in common. A hero navigates large areas of the world, encountering a wide variety disillusioned characters, each with their own distinct side quests. No one’s map itself strongly mimics those in several top-down Zelda games, most notably that of The Past as a LinkThe center of the castle and surrounding biomes is located. The protagonist explores both minor and majordungeons. These contain important story-critical collectibles.

Image: Drinkbox Studios

It’s what you do Inside It is the dungeons which set these games apart. Whereas Zelda’s temples rely on environmental puzzle-solving, No one’s interiors They place a lot of emphasis on satisfying, crunchy combat. Many enemies have various physical and elemental obstacles, so half the challenge is finding ways to beat them.

Despite the chaos, however No one’s fighting is almost completely relegated to the Xbox controller’s face buttons. It could even be called button-mashy. Even with all of the abilities synergizing, min-maxing, and ability synergizing required for later dungeons, combat is still very simple on a mechanical level.

It’s worth noting that several Zelda games have taken a more violent approach. Zelda’s Legend: The Oracle of Seasons, Capcom’s Game Boy Color entry that was released simultaneously alongside The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of AgesIt is far more active than its logic-oriented sibling. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Even though they were proof of concept for Wii MotionPlus, the more complex swordfights felt like a problem rather than a boon. (Zelda 2 The Adventure of Link Is basically Just combat, but it’s a two-dimensional side-scroller, and thus, not relevant here.)

Image: Nintendo via Polygon

Even so: While Zelda combat often feels ancillary to the overall experience — a mere distraction along the way — The World is not Saved by Anyone It gives me a clear glimpse of how a highly-tuned, action-oriented Zelda may feel. The frantic dungeon skirmishes don’t detract from the overworld exploration, and the simple mechanics don’t hinder the character-building depth. In other words, the combat doesn’t feel like an afterthought, but rather, a loop that ties the game’s systems into one strong knot.

The World is not Saved by Anyone It is one of those games that seems so simple, but it reveals more and more detail with each passing second. It may not be as challenging as my favorite Zelda games, or as cerebral in its design themes — but it is excellent nonetheless. And it has me aching for a Zelda that can mine as much gold from its combat’s depths.