Bravery & Greed | PS4 Review

Have you ever seen those 'Conan the Barbarian' movies? The ones where a destined to be king barbarian, and group of tag along outcasts travel the world in search of riches, and power?  Well, Team17's "Bravery & Greed" has a storyline that's not all that different than those films. As an odd pairing of four adventurers you have a plan to infiltrate a long forgotten, and abandoned Dwarven vault that is told to have the wealth of kings. To gain access to said vault they need to collect the four colored gems in order to open up the sealed door. Each gem is protected by a guardian that must be defeated in order to obtain the gems in their possession. This of course will take the adventurers through various lands filled with monsters, traps, and other deadly hazards. Though it is an adventure rich in bounty for those who can survive long enough to loot it, it is equally as trying with the randomized challenge presented. 

As one of the four adventurers of "Bravery & Greed" including a knight, a valkyrie, a thief, and a wizard you must take up your arms, use your abilities to the best of your ability, and loot the lands of coin, perks, and equipment in order to prepare yourself for the task at hand. That task being the recovery of the four fabled dwarven gems. Gems that each align with thematic elements including that of Chaos, Order, Darkness, and Life. Something that also plays into the perk and equipment system. This undertaking is one not so easily won though as the each playthrough is a roguelike run that will only reward those that can make it far enough to make bank. Though death is likely to occur it is through an untimely demise that the gold you collect carries over into the "Greed-O-Meter" rewarding the party with treasures like Arcana, additional equipment, and followers as it fills up. It is these bonuses that will better help you make a full playthrough in the playthroughs to follow.

Gameplay comes in four different modes within "Bravery & Greed", and some are more content heavy than others. Featuring both single player content, and local/online multiplayer options this experience provides variety, regardless of choice. This includes a wave based survival mode, the main metroidvania adventure mode, and two types of PvP with matchmaking options adhering to both single player versus and multiplayer team based combat. In Survival mode, a side option to the main mode of play, you are placed in a fixed arena style stage with a lever that can be pulled after each cleared wave to spawn a stronger mob of enemies, and more generous rewards. It is here you can have more straightforward waves or waves without treasures. All with the turning on/off of a main menu toggle. Survival is the key to a long lived playthrough here.

In the way of adventuring, adventure mode is the main roguelike metroidvania experience where effort put in equals loot, and rewards that can be carried over. It is here that you will start off by learning each characters' move set via a training stage, and carry over that know how into the themed lands of the "Bravery & Greed" world. 

Each character you play as comes with a handful of different attacks dependent upon class. This includes melee combos, charge attacks, air attacks, and special attacks/abilities. The valkyrie class, for example, can parry, throw a recoverable chakram disc, and use her sword to perform combos as well as charged attacks. Alternatively, characters like the Wizard have special attacks that play into their magic role. The wizard, in particular, can throw his wand, and summon a controllable elemental. The thief, on the other hand can go into a stealth mode, and shoot arrows. Lastly the knight has a shield for defense, the ability to temporarily buff himself, and a special potion replacement that gifts him temporary invulnerability as well as health regen per hit. All four characters can also wield wands that have cooldown abilities.

Along with these specialized character based move sets comes the added ability to change their colors at the starting menu. Like a fighting game. That, and the ability to equip equipment of any of the four color-coded types in mix or match fashion in the actual game, itself. Perks of course come into play through special shrines, and treasure chests after the clearing of a wave of enemies in sections of the interior maze. These perks can buff the player, and add passive or additional active abilities for use in a playthrough. Some even extend the single lives into retries after death. Coupling, and pairing equipment can make or break your playthrough as a result. There are several pieces of equipment that each character can equip including a wand, gauntlets, boots, and amulets.

Stage, and level progression in the adventure mode is a metrodivania endeavor complete with an accompanying onscreen map. Each biome is broken up into mini areas of spawning and respawning enemy mobs as well as shrine and treasure rooms. Eventually ending in a boss room. When it comes to spawning enemies some mobs will leave behind chests once defeated. These chests include everything from healing foods to equipment, and even gold coins. The shrines, on the other hand come in two varieties, and include special equipment as well as buffs to stamina, or life. In-game stamina determines what actions a character can perform, and life is what keeps a character from that inevitable death screen. A screen that grades your efforts through icon inclusive feats as well as wealth amassed, time spent and death dealt. Also worth mentioning are the occasional vendors that will sell wares for a price. That price coming from the gold you have collected. All in all it's a very simple yet environmentally rich experience wherein success is dependent wholly upon character knowledge, and build.

After each game over, or death your gold is tallied up and fed into the "Greed-O-Meter". When one bar of the 'Greed-O-Meter' is filled it rewards you with a treasure. This can be Arcana cards, perks that can be discovered in follow-up playthroughs as well as followers that can be found, and rescued to assist in your journey. The Arcana cards act as permanent buffs, and passives that can be stacked after having been unlocked. Playing into character abilities, and world modifiers. The modifiers of course change up the nature of enemy confrontation, and other things. Rewarding you in different more lucrative ways once equipped. 

In addition to survival, and adventure mode there exists a PvP and Team PvP with parameters that can be set prior to diving in. In these modes players can play on certain maps, have a certain amount of lives, and alter the nature of loot. The end goal being the beating of the opposing player/s more times than they beat you. PvP of either type can be played locally or online with the character mechanics intact.

Modes, while being the bulk of the offering, are not all "Bravery & Greed" has to offer. There are screen filters, font filters, and blood effect toggles that can be switched on/off or tweaked to the players liking. It is these customizable options that personalize the experience, and bring to the player something that caters to their preferences. There's even an in-depth bestiary that includes everything from monsters and bosses killed to equipment pieces discovered. A rich compendium filled with details and descriptions.

The Verdict ...

At the time of this review online multiplayer is as dead as a dried up fish out of water. As such I was only able to play a single player playthrough in Survival and Adventure. Both modes of play were good in their own right. Adventure, alone, could have been a full game, but Team17's onboard developer decided to go that extra mile. For that extra effort the player definitely gets more bang for their buck even without populated online servers. I will say that the adventure mode is by far my favorite part of the game, and is where most players are likely to spend their time. It is a competently built metroidvania with roguelike features, and unique playable characters that each change how you approach a playthrough. While going solo is doable it is the multilayer that will more than likely be the go to experience for people who buy into this game. It is fun either way, but fun with friends is always so much better. As a game, 'Bravery & Greed' is a buy worthy bundle even if you buy it for solo play!