Somebody spilled some Minecraft in this hardcore first-person RPG, and I love the result way more than I ever thought possible

When I finished my first session of Nox Mortalis' astoundingly long and open-ended demo, I was convinced it had missed the mark: Too obtuse and unforgiving. Melee combat that was spotty at best, with an overreliance on an aggravating parry mechanic. I get not having a map, but no compass in this open world game?

Turns out I'm just a dumbass. My second time giving Nox Mortalis the old college try, I actually read its handy and concise (<10 pages) in-game manual, and got absolutely hooked. Oh, and that compass gripe? You gotta craft it, no handouts here.

Nox Mortalis has a core idea that's so good, I'm surprised I haven't seen its like before: Use the mechanics and conventions of survival games like Minecraft or Rust as the basis of a singleplayer RPG, specifically a moody, hardcore dungeon crawler of the King's Field or Ultima Underworld variety.

Its dithered, early 3D visuals didn't grip me as much as recent genre-mates like Lunacid or Labyrinth of the Demon King (read our review here), but Nox Mortalis still has a fantastic sense of ambience⁠—it's another great take on the lo-fi PS1 throwback vibe.

Tree Puncher Gaiden

I'm a big fan of first-person singleplayer RPGs, but I don't much go for tree punching simulators⁠—just not my thing usually. But this makes for a surprisingly great grounding and resource management system in Nox Mortalis. You have to use the same materials⁠—wood, coal, increasingly rare and difficult to mine metals⁠—to produce your weapons, ammo, supplemental gear, and even keys to unlock chests.

I need a copper pickaxe to be able to mine iron ore, but I also need a ton of copper keys to properly loot the dungeons I'm exploring. Once I've got some iron, the doors open up to crafting powerful throwing spears, tantalizing bullets for a flintlock I've yet to find or craft, and, of course, iron keys and an iron pickaxe to keep reaping the rewards of higher level zones.

Crucially, there's no guesswork for the crafting: You unlock recipes upon finding the requisite materials, and this auto-population of the crafting list reminded me of a strategy game tech tree, a parallel progression system to finding gear out in the open world or in the dungeons.

Nox Mortalis' demo is extremely generous, and feels more like an early access release. It took me four hours to clear (I think) every side dungeon and enemy camp on the overworld, as well as the sample 15 levels of the central megadungeon the game is structured around.

It's got a very satisfying rhythm and power curve: Hunt and gather in the overworld to tackle the first few levels of dungeon, then use your spoils to go back aboveground for challenging encounters and to more quickly replenish your supplies for the next excursion below.

I started out gathering sticks to craft a wooden pickaxe and bolts for the crossbow I found, and ended the demo zooming around at 70 miles per hour, using a katana to one-shot skeleton knights I found impossible to deal with during my furtive first attempt.

If I have one concern, it's whether developer Gemezl will be able to satisfyingly stretch this loop over the course of the full-length version of the game, particularly since I was already so overpowered at the end of a four-hour demo. At the same time, adjusting that power curve to be more gradual, plus adding more powerful weapons and enemies beyond what I encountered, should be able to make up the difference.

I'm already spoiling for the full game, then, but we're in for a wait: Nox Mortalis currently has no set release date, and Gemezl seems to be using the demo to source feedback much like an early access launch. You can wishlist Nox Mortalis and check out the demo for yourself over on Steam.