Pixelated Dungeon Running
There is seemingly no end in sight to the amount of roguelites that come out on a weekly, nah daily basis. There are highs with Elden Ring and many others that I don’t care enough about to name, and then there are lows like The Last Orcuru which I had the pleasure of playing for review. Ahem. Well, the nice thing is that if there was interest to be had in Bravery and Greed it leans heavily toward the likes of Elden Ring, oh different to be sure but with its various game modes and multiplayer addition different is good.
The narrative for Bravery and Greed is pretty light but for the type of game it works pretty well. Four friends are drinking in a tavern as they plan to rob the Dwarven Sky Fortress, but in order to get there the group will have to clear 4 realms based in the usual fire, earth, ice and death (it’s a Necropolis its basically death) and use their keys to open the door to their fortune.
MSRP: $19.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, Switch, PC
Price I’d Pay: $19.99
Bravery and Greed is a side-scrolling roguelite which boasts pixel graphics that would rival the best the SNES has to offer. There are 4 classes to choose from the usual knight who welds a sword and shield, a rogue who duel welds daggers and has bleed and dash attacs, an Amazon who uses a sword and a chakra like Lucy Lawless’ Xena Warrior Princess. There is a wizard who I love, who can fight with his staff but his real power comes when he tosses it out and summons his familiar which players can then use to pummel enemies in the dungeons. He’s probably got the highest skillcap but if you like magic characters its worth it.
As players take their chosen hero through each of the dungeons they will clear rooms of foes and as a reward after clearing every 3 or 4 rooms a gold chest will appear. These chests will be full of food or if players are lucky, a relic can be equipped that will augment their power in some (usual) beneficial way. As players move through the randomized dungeons they will also find statues that they can pray too which will provide them with even more boons. For instance, praying at the statue of War will offer buffs to attacks or praying to the Goddess of the Green will buff health or cause equipment to offer life steal.
None of these buffs carry over in-between runs, so if one dies they will start over with nothing, what does carry over is the gold that players will find. All the gold is counted in the “Greed o’ meter” which when filled will unlock a new follower that can be found in future runs, one of the arcanum cards which can tweak future runs or one of the powerful wands which can do various things like freezing all the enemies on screen to summoning minions to attack on their behalf.
Im not the biggest fan of rogulites, lord knows I’m not but Bravery and Greed is good time. Having different game modes in addition to the standard roguelite really helps this, sow hen players are tired of trying to rob the dwarfs they can hop online or play with friend’s same screen in some deathmatch or survival matches, which will spawn waves of enemies that increase in difficulty for players to defeat. My biggest gripe with Bravery and Greed is that unless you have a dedicated friend base to which you can play multiplayer, you will be forced to use the quick match system and it is janky at best.
While I was able to complete some matches, I was disconnected in the lobby more times than I can count, and the awful wait time doesn’t help things. The latter being more an issue of sales than technical prowess, but it is notable if you want to play multiplayer but just don’t have friends who are interested. Bravery and Greed is a good time and for the price tag of $19.99 its low cost of entry is welcoming in this new age of the commonplace $79.99 games.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
