Grimdark hack-and-slasher No Rest For The Wicked has received its first major update — or at least, the first one that doesn't focus on bug fixes and performance improvements. It focuses on revamping the Crucible, the replayable roguelite of the last game, adding more randomness to arenas, and adding a new player empowerment system.
“One of the biggest features we've always envisioned for Crucible but never got to release at launch is Echoes. Echoes allow you to customize each run with a wide variety of buffs and effects, and it creates an incredible amount of possibility because it allows you to build on top of your build,” Moon's own introduction to the update reads. “Thanks to Echoes and their randomness, no two runs in Crucible will ever be the same.”
The number of random rooms you'll fight in has been tripled, a new art theme has been added, a new vendor, and a new enemy faction called the Gloam has been added. Glowing with a “distorted bioluminescence,” the Gloam will only appear in the Crucible for now, but will be added to the overworld in a later update.
Beyond the Crucible, the update adds some overworld expansions, new era upgrades, “hittier” effects in combat, strays to pet, a few additional performance upgrades, and Steam Deck verification. You can find the full patch notes on Steam.
No Rest For The Wicked comes from Moon Studios, best known for two previous Ori games. If you're looking for another emotional metroidvania from them, you're in luck: No Rest is said to run in Early Access for up to ten years.