Why Moon Studios Made No Rest For The Wicked Instead Of A Third Ori Game

Why Moon Studios Made No Rest For The Wicked Instead Of A Third Ori Game

No Rest for the Wicked, the upcoming action RPG from Ori team Moon Studios revealed at The Game Awards 2023, is gracing the cover of the latest issue of Game Informer. After checking the game out for a few hours and speaking to some of the lead developers at Moon Studios in Vienna, Austria, both myself and cover story writer Marcus Stewart are excited about No Rest for the Wicked – you can read more of our preview thoughts here, and you can read the cover story here. 

But, excitement for No Rest for the Wicked aside, both Marcus and I are big fans of the team’s Ori series, which began with Ori and the Blind Forest in 2015 and continued in the 2020 sequel, Ori and the Will of the Wisps. That’s why we couldn’t talk to Moon Studios about No Rest for the Wicked without asking how the team decided to make it instead of a theoretical third Ori game. 

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It turns out, the answer is simple: the team feels like the the story of Ori is complete.

“I think were were pretty happy with where it left off,” tech and production director and Moon Studios co-founder Gennadiy Korol says. “I think we were able to complete the story of Ori. It’s a complete arc now; if you play both games, it’s a complete story. So it felt like the only way we would come back to Ori 3 is if we have more to say, more story to tell.” 

However, while No Rest for the Wicked is Moon Studios’ main focus for the time being – and considering it’s a game being developed alongside the community in Early Access, it could be the studio’s focus for years to come – studio CEO and creative director Thomas Mahler says he has some ideas for a third Ori game. 

“I have a title for it already,” he says. At this point, Korol jumps in to explain he didn’t know about this, stating, “I didn’t know that it was on the table.” 

Mahler continues, “I have some ideas, but so far, right now, we are completely focused on No Rest for the Wicked for the time being.” 

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So there’s a little hope, Ori fans – it just might be a while. At any rate, if you’re a fan of the Ori games, you should check out No Rest for the Wicked because while the two series are extremely different in many ways, the Ori DNA lives on in No Rest for the Wicked. 

No Rest for the Wicked hits Early Access on PC next month on April 18. 

While waiting for its launch, check out this feature breaking down the Early Access roadmap and endgame content of No Rest for the Wicked, and then check out more than 25 minutes of the game in our No Rest for the Wicked New Gameplay Today. 

You can learn even more about No Rest for the Wicked by checking out our features and videos rolling out over the coming weeks in our exclusive coverage hub below. 

All 8 Episodes Of Amazon’s Fallout TV Series Now Dropping One Day Earlier

Amazon Studios’ Fallout TV series will premiere one day early, with all eight episodes now hitting Prime Video on April 10 at 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET. The series was originally due out on April 12 but Amazon announced it had moved the launch day up to April 11 alongside a new look at the show. Now, Amazon has moved the date up one more day, meaning you can check out this live-action adaptation of the post-apocalyptic wasteland tomorrow. 

Walton Goggins, who plays The Ghoul, announced this news during a new Fallout commercial that aired last night (April 8) during the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Game. After the first episode airs at 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET tomorrow, the other seven episodes will be available for viewing exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide. 

All 8 Episodes Of Amazon’s Fallout TV Series Now Dropping One Day Earlier

If you haven’t yet seen it, check out the latest Fallout trailer for a new look at the show: 

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“Based on one of the greatest video game series of all time, Fallout is the story of haves and have-nots in a world in which there’s almost nothing left to have,” a press release reads. “Two hundred years after the apocalypse, the gentle denizens of luxury fallout shelters are forced to return to the irradiated hellscape their ancestors left behind – and are shocked to discover an incredibly complex, gleefully weird, and highly violent universe waiting for them.” 

Amazon Studios, which is behind series like The Boys and Invincible, is producing Fallout alongside Kilter Films and executive producers Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy. Nolan directed the first three episodes of Fallout. 

Fallout premieres on Prime Video on April 10. 

For more, check out the teaser trailer for Fallout released back in December. After that, read Game Informer’s reviews of Fallout 4 and Fallout 76. 

Are you checking out Fallout tomorrow? Let us know in the comments below!

Dredge Live-Action Feature Film Announced

Dredge Live-Action Feature Film Announced

In March 2023, Dredge became one of the most talked-about games of the year thanks to its combination of engaging fishing mechanics, an enthralling atmosphere, and a fun story involving sinister secrets buried at sea. Ahead of the BAFTA Awards on Thursday, at which Dredge is nominated for four awards, developer Black Salt Games has announced a collaboration with production company Story Kitchen to adapt the critically acclaimed title into a live-action feature film.

In the game, players explore a mysterious archipelago as a fishing boat captain. However, the longer you play, the more unsettling the water surrounding the collection of remote islands becomes. The press release pitches the Dredge live-action film, saying, “Think The Sixth Sense on the water. A grounded atmospheric cosmic horror blend of HP Lovecraft and Ernest Hemingway.”

“We are excited to partner with such an experienced studio team to bring the world we created to live action and ignite the imagination of audiences across the globe,” a joint statement from the Black Salt Games team said in that same press release.

Story Kitchen was founded in 2022 by Sonic the Hedgehog 2 producer Dmitri M. Johnson, former APA Agent Mike Goldberg, and their production and development executives Timothy I. Stevenson and Dan Jevons. “Dredge is a captivatingly eerie and profoundly rich story that had us completely hooked from the very beginning,” a joint statement from Story Kitchen said in the press release.

Dredge currently has an 80 out of 100 rating on the reviews aggregate website Metacritic. If you missed it, it is currently available for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC. 

Check Out Ermac’s Mortal Kombat 1 Debut In New Gory Gameplay Trailer

Check Out Ermac’s Mortal Kombat 1 Debut In New Gory Gameplay Trailer

Ermac is the next fighter to join the Mortal Kombat 1 roster, and developer NetherRealm Studios has released a new gameplay trailer showcasing what players can expect of the shadowy warrior. The trailer also reveals Ermac hits Early Access on April 16 before his full release on April 23, and that Mavado will join the Kameo roster later next month. 

“Ermac is a collection of souls bound together by Quan Chi’s dark magic that are intended to function as a group mind,” a press release reads. “But that spell is temporarily undone when Ermac is defeated by Mileena and the mind of King Jerrod, deceased ruler of Outworld and one of the souls in Ermac’s collection, takes control and rejoins the royal family, aiding Empress Mileena’s reign. 

“Eventually, the amalgam of souls re-establishes control, and Ermac retreats to Outworld’s shadows. No longer Quan Chi’s slave, nor bound to the royal family, he must find a future worth fighting for.”

Check out Ermac in the Mortal Kombat 1 gameplay trailer below: 

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To get Ermac, purchase the Premium Edition of Mortal Kombat 1 or buy the Kombat Pack for your Standard Edition of the game. The Kombat Pack indudes a Jean-Claude Van Damme character skin for Johnny Cage (available now) and one-week early access to six playable DLC characters: Omni-Man (available now), Quan Chi (available now), Peacemaker (available now), Ermac (coming April 16), Homelander, and Takeda Takahashi. The Kombat Pack includes all five DLC Kameo fighters, too. 

For more about the game, read Game Informer’s Mortal Kombat 1 review. 

Are you going to use Ermac next week in Mortal Kombat 1? Let us know in the comments below!