REVIEW / Bravery and Greed (PC)

Have you ever wanted to go back to the simpler times? The time before long obligatory tutorials? The time before microtransactions? The time when it cost a quarter to play? Whether you said yes to any or none of those, it doesn’t matter. The more important question is as to whether you like mindlessly plowing through enemies in pure party chaos? If this is a resounding, “Yes!” then I might just have the game for you. I’ve been exploring the PC version of Bravery and Greed and party-driven antics are very much the order of the day.

Bravery and Greed is the perfect callback to every 2D side scroller beat ’em up from your childhood, with some modern flair. Think games like Broforce, filled with frantic cooperative gameplay. The game supports up to four players, with four different characters to choose from. Each character has a similar control scheme, but a unique action set. There are no set “role” requirements, so people are encouraged to play in whatever fashion they find most fun.

Bravery and Greed is a rogue-like game with most of the features you would expect. You’ll get plenty of randomized dungeons to crawl through, equipment that resets with every run, no permanent upgrades, and so forth. As you proceed through your run, you will find loot and upgrades that will allow you to customize your playstyle in a great many ways. This being said this title is ticking all of the boxes for the roguelike fans amongst you.

For this game in particular, the upgrade and equipment system makes it very easy for you to craft your own special build with only mild reliance on luck and RNG, this is really important because those are three little letters that can make or break a perfectly good game. Perhaps the most random element of Bravery and Greed, though, will come down to the group of friends that you play it with.

Bravery and Greed features a couple different modes for you and your party to enjoy like PvP and Horde. These modes are welcome and novel, but the main draw for this title is the Adventure mode, where you delve into dangerous dungeons filled with traps, monsters and loot galore.

While Bravery and Greed is quite enjoyable when played solo, allowing for more experimentation of character build; multiplayer is clearly the main focus here. Rolling around each dungeon like a bunch of money-hungry fiends is a childlike delight with the right group of friends. Your abilities are punchy, satisfying, and effective, making charging through enemies with nothing but slamming the trigger very effective.

One of Bravery and Greed‘s notable features is the ability to loot your friends when they fall in combat. Whenever you would go to resurrect an ally, you have the option to viciously ransack their coin purse. These are exactly the type of silly, fist-shaking shenanigans that me and my friends love. It adds another level of tension and drama to this already polished experience.

Bravery and Greed should absolutely be commended for its presentation. The sprite work is very pleasing to see, with animations that feel weighty and satisfying. There is a large diversity of enemy types and environments to adventure through and I was rather impressed by the level of fidelity this small team accomplished.

The only notable issue I have when I play with my friends in multiplayer is that I have a tendency to lose track of myself. Even though each character has a different design, they are of similar size and can get easily lost in the chaos. Heaven forbid there is more than one of the same character. You can change the color scheme of your character, but that change is not always contrasting enough. Alongside that, the Warrior and the Amazon have similar swords, making it even easier to confuse the two.

At the end of the day, Bravery and Greed is an absolute treat to play, with a strong core game loop, satisfying controls, and an appropriate amount of charm. The upgrade system is well thought out and provides meaningful choices to make every run feel a bit different but not out of control for people who like to craft their build. At its core, Bravery and Greed is a chaotic multiplayer beat ’em up worthy of many hours of griefing between friends. For Rekka Games, this is a strong first title. And I’m excited to see what they might do next!

This review is based on a retail version of the game provided by the publisher.