Noita is a single-player action-adventure “rogue-like” game developed by Finnish developer Nolla Games and released in September of 2019 on Windows and Steam.
Noita is a 2d physics-based rogue-like where “every pixel is physically simulated.” (A “rogue-like” game is one where every death starts you back at the beginning. It is named for a DOS based game from the 1980’s called ROGUE.) In this genre of games where there is stiff competition for the gamer’s attention, Noita manages to stand a few inches above the crowd in some very unique ways: every “physically simulated” pixel seems to come alive on the screen; there are MANY explosive and enjoyable ways to do battle; and lastly, Noita somehow makes dying FUN so we return, round after round, just to see what will happen next!
Utilizing a variety of wands and potions (and the environment) to your advantage, you must delve ever deeper underground, brave the many strange creatures that are out to kill you, and discover the secrets within the Holy Mountain. Death will reset you to the beginning of the game, and there are no permanent upgrades to be unlocked, so finishing Noita is due purely to skill and luck. You start with the same equipment at the beginning of every run — two wands and a bottle of water. You must find and pick up more wands and potions, as well as max health pickups, as you progress.
Utilizing its pixelated graphics as more than just an aesthetic consideration, Noita boasts an impressive physics system. Every pixel is physically simulated, whether it works alone as a drop of liquid or together with other pixels as part of your flapping cape. Small to medium explosions may dislodge a few pixels from the ceiling, and massive ones will send large chunks of deadly rock hurtling downward from above. Fire will vaporize water into steam, which will rise and cool, dripping back down as water once again. And acid eats through solid surfaces, releasing flammable gas as a result of the reaction. These are but a few of the interactions present in the game. Finally, any physics system wouldn’t be complete without a method of manipulating things around you, so you can kick loose objects to send them flying.
The physics system isn’t Noita’s only highlight. Throughout each run, you will find, equip, and modify a plethora of randomly generated wands. Each wand you find has a list of major stats that determine its performance — spell cast speed, maximum mana, mana recharge rate, etc. These intrinsic stats are fixed, but the spells the wand holds are not. In the temple area between levels, you can swap around the spells in your wands to create the ultimate destructive machine. From basic magic bolts to the almighty nuke and innocent deercoy (exactly what you might think it is), the list of spells present in Noita is huge, and it only grows with regular content updates. Combined with randomly generated stats, the massive spell selection makes an astronomical number of possible wand configurations.
Noita is a difficult game, and its difficulty escalates quickly. Health is scarce; the only reliable way to regain health is a full refresh between levels. You must make the best of the wands and spells that you find, and choose perks carefully. Many perks are seemingly overpowered (there’s an entire line of damage immunity perks), but you will need them to survive in later levels. The delicate balance between exploration and progression — risk and reward — is vitally important in Noita’s early levels. Exploration will get you greater maximum health and more powerful wands, but enemies will gradually whittle away your vitality, making continuing within the level continuously riskier. Progressing quickly to the next level is safer for the present, but you will likely die later if you don’t take the time and risk death to become more powerful.
However, the ever-looming possibility of death should not discourage you from having fun. Noita offers endless opportunity for the strange and random. Turn yourself into an earth-devouring worm by dousing yourself in chaotic polymorphine, or accidentally become a fish and flap around as you suffocate in air. Take the Glass Cannon perk to multiply your damage and blast radius by 5, but limit your health to 50 in the process. Unleash an explosive spell and watch as you obliterate everything onscreen (quite possibly including yourself). The possibilities are endless.
The organized chaos of Noita’s gameplay is quite an achievement. Each run offers different wands and perks, so your strategies may vary wildly. One run you may try to sneak your way to the final boss with permanent invisibility, and another you might blast everything to pieces with the Explosion Immunity perk and a nuke wand. Noita contains many secrets — some easy to find, others devilishly well-hidden. After 50 runs, I have not gotten bored and have barely scratched the surface of the secrets to uncover. The developers frequently add more spells and secret content to the game, so I think I will be coming back for quite some time. If you enjoy roguelikes or physics-based games, I heartily recommend Noita.
The Numbers:
Gameplay: 9/10 — The customizable wands give Noita one of the best 2d combat systems I’ve seen in a while, and the physics are great to play around with. However, you sometimes won’t find a good wand or very many health pickups early on, which can be frustrating.
Graphics/Visual Style: 9/10 — The physical simulations of the game require a lot of processing power, and I experienced some slowdowns (especially when playing on my laptop). The sheer number of things onscreen during more frantic moments may become confusing. However, tying the physics system with the visual style was a brilliant move, and I love the aesthetic.
Learning Curve/Ease of Play: 8/10 — While the controls are supremely simple, Noita becomes very difficult very fast, and it gives you no permanent unlocks. I happen to like this feature, since it made my completion more meaningful, but others may not.
The Final Verdict: 9/10
Written by Cuthalion42
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