Glitch Factory’s No Place for Bravery (NPFB) is a touching isometric souls-like about the lengths a father is willing to go to for his children.
Players step into the boots of Thorn, a world-weary warrior who has put his violent past behind him to live a peaceful life managing a tavern.
Years after his daughter Leaf goes missing during a hunt, Thorn receives word that she may still be alive. So he shuts up shop, picks up his sword, and goes on a quest to find her.
Although the premise is another heroes journey we’ve seen a million times before, what sets No Place For Bravery apart, is the quality of its writing, characterisation and the care and attention the devs have taken to create a cohesive and dangerous world, with a past as troubled as its protagonist.
The land is scattered with reminders of war as the corpses of downed titans punctuate the skyline. But despite the gory vistas, it’s an intimate tale and a journey well worth taking.
Be warned, No Place For Bravery is challenging and nearly as unwelcoming as its setting. It’s a souls-like, so be prepared for tough battles, unrelenting bosses, enemies respawning after you have a rest at a bonfire, and losing resources every time you fall.
Like every soul’s game, your currency is directly tied to your ability to level up, but you unlock more powerful skills and abilities instead of plough points into stats.
Combat is also similar, with learning to read enemy attack patterns, your position, and successful parrying becomes paramount to success. Every successful parry takes a large chunk out of the enemy’s posture bar while blindly slashing away only chips away at their health. Once your foe’s posture bar is gone, the stunned enemy is left wide open for a brutal finisher that rewards you with more loot.
Although the game is more than happy to flood the screen with enemies, once you figure out the flow of battles, bringing down scores of the bastards becomes a lot easier, and you’ll soon have the battlefield looking like it’s been attacked by an angry toddler with an opened pot of jam.
Though one thing I will say: the archers can go to hell. Dying because some sod off-screen hits you in the back with a projectile, and the buggers in NPFB are masters at it, never fails to be frustrating. It’s even worse during platforming sections, as you often get knocked out of the sky mid-jump and plummet to your death. There’s no way to avoid it either, as it’s almost impossible to time the bolts, or see if one is coming.
No Place for Bravery has a gorgeous pixelated art style similar to Hyperlight Drifter, with varied and intimidating enemies, well-realised characters and beautiful vistas. This is brought to life by top-notch animation and sound design and a stirring score by Eduardo Zolhof.
If you’re in the market for a fast-paced retro-styled souls-like, with excellent world-building and a compelling narrative, you could do worse than putting down your pint, sharpening your steel and going on an epic journey with Thorne. Just remember this wicked world is No Place for Bravery.