Yet being able to chuckle at the asinine characters and their quick jokes populates Nobody’s world with a ditzy personality that is meant to be inviting with charm. I barely remember what the Calamity was going to do aside from cover the world in gross blobs and thorns. I don’t feel guilty for not remembering the name of the mage or wizard or whatever players are trying to find to save the world from the encroaching threat of the evil Calamity. As a pale white humanoid with vacant holes for eyes named Nobody, players obtain a wand that allows Nobody to transform first into a rat, then a knight or a ranger, then a horse, later a dragon but first an egg, at some point a muscled bodybuilder.

Using the story of a wizard gone missing and an icky force known as the Calamity, Nobody Saves the World provides players with a minimal story that relies more on oddball characters to compel investment.

Adore the exploration of Zelda but yearn for a challenge or a modicum of thought when fighting against legions of strange beasts? This is where you should turn. Regardless of where you see the similarities in Nobody Saves the World, its unique language of transformation-based combat serves as a boon to the genre. Splashes of violence and style spurt from the corners like Hotline Miami. There’s Binding of Isaac scrawled all over its visuals and in the swarms of enemies that flood in from all directions. Nobody Saves the World undoubtedly stitches the flesh of Link to the Past onto its coat but it is one of many skins. Where Guacamelee! could be easily marketed as a Metroidvania, its Luchador hero’s emphasis on melee combat resisted the traditions of super missiles, swords, magic, space jumps, and transforming into bats. As much as I want to compare Nobody Saves the World to The Legend of Zelda, I feel like doing so would be a great disservice to DrinkBox Studios’ latest genre retooling.

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