izigame.me

Noita is a very unique game and I highly recommend you to pick it up! With its two main selling points being wand building and alchemy, I am sure there are many other reviews focusing on what the game is, what it does well and what not. Most importantly however, this game is extremely difficult, hence why I decided instead to give some very important help for all the beginners out there. This review does contain spoilers, however I truly believe you need to hear these things if you don’t want to suffer for the first 50 - 100 hours playing this game. Also even after reading everything I have to say, you will still be left with enough content to discover on your own.
The beginner player
If you just picked up this game there are some very important points to consider before jumping strait into your first run, or rather your first death (which will come rather earlier then later).
(B1) This game is extremely difficult, I really can’t emphasize this enough. You will die a lot and it will often be caused by total bullshit. I once got sniped by an Ukko while in the holy mountain (safe area)... I don’t know how he got there, but that is Noita for you. The earlier you can accept this fact the better. Don’t despair over "getting Noita’d"!
(B2) Early on you will lose a lot of your HP from random ticks of damage, e.g. stepping on lava, stepping on toxic sludge, catching fire, etc… Luckily there is a very easy fix to all these issues: WATER. Your very first priority in the first level should be finding some water. Also don’t forget to hotkey your water flask (I use my right mouse button since it is that important). While wet you cannot catch on fire, water turns lava into harmless rock, and it turns toxic sludge into more water. So always stay wet and get used to squirting ;)
(B3) Speaking of hotkeys: You should set up and get used to hotkeys for your first one to three wands and one to two items. Always using those slots for the same purposes e.g. wand 1 = DPS, wand 2 = movement, wand 3 = digging, item 1 = water, item 2 = tablet (you can throw the stone tablets, which one of can always be found right of the first level, before the lava lake, at enemies dealing massive damage), will build muscle memory and reduce at least the chaos that is caused by miss clicking wands / items.
(B4) Are you a greedy person? Is it really worth losing 20 HP because you jumped into a pool of lava just to get that singular small gold nugget? The obvious answer is: No! Starting out with Noita you might value gold much more than you should. And while yes you need some gold to be able to buy spells / wands at the holy mountain shops, it really stops holding its value rapidly after just a few levels. A good benchmark to keep in mind is to collect >600 gold in level 1, >800 gold in level 2 (which can be very easily done by digging the gold veins found here!), and >1000 gold in level 3. After that point enemies start dropping so much gold that you really don’t need to worry anymore.
(B5) Last tip for the true beginner. If you start your run with either Levitatium (potion that makes you fly up much higher) or any explosive wand that can shoot a little hole in the side of the mountain you spawn in front of, you can actually go up instead of down! On the top of the mountain you will find the mountain alter, which contains a so called "orb of true knowledge" which gives you a +25 max HP boost (first time collecting it unlocks some spell though) and a tablet. Offering this tablet to the gods by throwing it at the alter you get rewarded with about 100 gold. So depending on your starting layout you can start your run with +25 max HP and +100 gold!
The intermediate player
Having played this game for about 10 to 50 hours most players hit the intermediate wall. This is where you kind of understand the basics of the game, but haven’t actually acquired enough skill in any of its systems to consistently leave the first few levels alive. DO NOT DESPAIR! Every player hits this point and if you can push through it, the game will truly open itself to you.
(I1) The main issue now is a well… skill issue. So what do you do about it? In my opinion the best thing is to focus on is one area at a time. At this point you hopefully minimized the little tick damage from the environment (remember point B2 above about staying hydrated?), so the next big source of damage are the actual enemies. The enemies in this game have ridiculous aim, to the point where if you don’t move they WILL hit you. However, this game is very consistent with its dodging. Basically all attacks have some sort of visual or audio clue when to dodge. For example, the Hiisi shotgunner will always chug his shotgun before shooting. If you get used to flying up or down whenever you hear this sound he will never hit you again.
(I2) Taking about enemies, learn to outplay them. Many enemies, despite them seeming way too strong for the level they first appear in, have significant weaknesses. Robocop not caring about your spark bolds? Well throw some concentrated mana at him, since he is made from metal, it will make very quick work of him. Satan is haunting you in the Mines? Try showing him a nice little puddle of water... turns out he is allergic! Hiisi CEO spawns a million employees? Just stay directly above or below them and watch how they won’t even try to shoot you.
(I3) Generally speaking this stage is where you absolutely should watch some guides, join the discord and ask for some help, read through some wiki pages etc. Look at the end of this review to find some recommendations I highly suggest you engage with. Please realize that this game is one of those, where you kind of need to look at the wiki while playing. Obviously it gets better the more knowledge you accumulate but at first just keep an eye on there while playing. A good habit is to just pull up the wiki page for whatever new spell / item you find and quickly skim through it.
I CANT PUT MORE CHARACTERS IN MY REVIEW, SO THE REST IS IN THE COMMENTS LOL