Noita Preview

Back when PalmOS was still a thing, I had a Palm handheld computer. No, not a smartphone, this was a handheld device used for taking notes, recordings and playing games. Also writing fanfiction. The only reason I bring that up, is because of a game which was a literal sandbox. Sand fell from the top, and you could change it to different elements - or you could just draw in those elements using the stylus.

But what does any of that have to do with Noita, a pixel-based side-scrolling roguelike from Nolla Games? The way that those elements interacted. If you filled the screen with oil before putting down one pixel of lava, the screen would fill with fire in moments. So, when you enter the dungeons of Noita - at least I’m guessing that’s a place name and not your wizard’s name - you should know that you’re in for something dangerous. Most of the time it’s you forgetting that you’re surrounded by burning wood because you shot a lantern, but it’s also full of enemies and acid.

AND SO MUCH FIRE

You go through the dungeons one-by-one in the same order each time, but as they are procedurally generated you can never take the same route. Because at the bottom of each section are portals to relative safety, and to get there you need to dodge, avoid and kill every monster in your path.

As a wizard, you’re aided in this quest by your ability to levitate short distances and your trusty wands. One fires bolts of energy, and the other drops three bombs before requiring a recharge in the aforementioned safe rooms. Thankfully, you will come across many other wands located on pedestals throughout the dungeons. Again, these are random, so you might find one that simply lights the area around you, or you may find one that fires sticks of dynamite in a random dispersal pattern. Some are even chainsaws or drills, and my favourite one fires circular saw blades!

There's too many with limited ammo, though!

When you reach a safe room, by hook or by crook, you can edit the spells that are attached to each of the four wands you can carry. Move spells from wand to wand, or buy more using the gold you pick up from your fallen foes. The deeper you go, the more expensive the wands and spells become. You will also find three perks to choose from in each room, randomly selected. Things such as a permanent shield, longer levitation, or exploding corpses - you can get one on each visit. Oh, and word of warning, avoid using the more powerful spells in the safe rooms, otherwise you “anger the gods” and they come looking for blood…

Damned world eating worms

While you’re fiddling with the spells on the wands you’ll come across modifiers. Say you can have a wand with a firebolt. Add a modifier, and now it fires a spread of three firebolts. Another modifier and it leaves a trail of gunpowder behind it! I actually just thought of that one, I’ll have to try it and see what kind of fires it starts…

This. This is the kind of fires...

The enemies found in Noita’s dungeons are varied and well designed. They will also fight each other on occasion (and pick up wands so mind out!). Wasps, sentient toxic goo, elementals, giant environment-eating worms, rats… There are lots, and you’ll soon be very good at identifying which ones you can kill close by, and which you need to snipe to avoid getting covered in lava-blood. As well as which ones can snipe you with their actual sniper rifles… I love a lot of the great designs - they even managed to make spiders that don’t elevate my arachnophobia, but still look creepy as hell!

One of the things that I was surprised to stumble across was running out of oxygen. Sure, you need to breathe, so going underwater brings up a little O2 meter, as does getting trapped in solid ground (damn Teleportium…). However, if your head is in thick vapour or smoke, it also comes up. The first time I was flying up into some water vapour and realised that I was running out of air, I was amazed. It’s a little touch, but fantastic.

Now, I just mentioned Teleportium. That’s because you can pick up bottles of potions (and blood) to aid you. There are a few, but one of them, called Polymorphium, will change anything it touches into a random monster. Once the potion dries, it returns to normal - yes this includes you. It’s a good disguise to get past enemies, as is Teleportium - but that will randomly teleport you anywhere. Not always into the best places…

I know that I said that you always start with the same two weapons, but there’s actually a second game mode. Daily Run gives you a different two wands, as well as a single layout of the dungeon, and it changes every day. It’s a decent way to mix things up, for when you’re getting annoyed with those damned electric elementals in the ice cave.

For an Early Access game, Noita feels quite complete. I know that they have plans for more features, and of course some balancing so you have more than a 50/50 chance of getting through the first dungeon, but they could have just released the game as-is. Of course, I would be complaining about it due to balance issues, and I really want people to enjoy this game. Every pixel is simulated and based in physics, so the glass (or ice) can be shattered, gunpowder flashes with flame where coal burns slower… There are tons of great touches in Noita, I'm going to be playing this all the time.