This game is so good and so fun that I don’t see myself playing other ARPGs for a while.
The first reason is the combat: it’s involved, engaging, and genuinely fun. By limiting the number of enemies the player fights at once, the game is able to expand the complexity of combat itself. Fighting feels physical rather than just a numbers-and-AoE exercise. Most other ARPGs end up as boring one-shot AoE grindfests by comparison. The evolution in combat that NRFTW brings to the ARPG genre feels, to me, as impactful as the shift from old turn-based RPGs to the action-oriented combat of Diablo 1.
The second reason is the graphics and level design, which are simply outstanding. Progressing through levels, exploring, and solving small environmental puzzles genuinely feels like an adventure, without ever becoming obnoxious, and it strongly incentivizes full exploration. This is something you rarely, if ever, see in other ARPGs. Traditional procedurally generated levels just can’t capture this—they’re too simple and too repetitive.
The level of detail, complexity, and fun packed into NRFTW’s handcrafted environments is not something procedural generation can easily replicate, at least not yet. Adding new levels and biomes with this level of quality will be a major apeal for the future of this game.
I also like the wood chopping, mining and fishing part of the game though, to me, it feels a bit too much. I don’t like that so much weight in the game is put on it because of how much of these ressources is needed to upgrade the town.