Steam’s Next Fest is currently celebrating upcoming games for a whole week, providing demos and livestreams of a huge array of titles. Honestly, there’s so many demos to choose from that it can be a bit overwhelming, but there’s certainly some hopeful gems in here. Newest one I stumbled across is Bravery and Greed, a 2D roguelite dungeon brawler developed by Rekka Games.
What is Bravery and Greed?
Bravery and Greed opens with a tavern scene featuring a motley crew of characters plotting to break into a dwarf cave supposedly filled with treasure. There’s not much more to the story, but that works for me. You then choose your character class, whether or not to play online in co-op (I was unable to find anyone to play with at the time) and drop into a randomized 2D dungeon to fight enemies and hunt for random loot drops, with more loot varieties being unlocked each playthrough.
In my case, I played as the thief for each playthrough and the abilities are what you would expect. There was the ability to roll dodge, fire a bow, go into stealth mode for invcincibility, et cetera. It all felt very responsive and the combat was speedy and fun. Along with various equipment unlocks, I was greeted by dog companions that could be freed to aid me in my journey. It must also be stated that you can PET your bestest boy/girl! Later on an archer was unlockable as well, so I suspect there to be more companion types in the full game.
The dungeon itself was ice-themed and there’s a bit of a Metroidvania feel as you unlock more of the map. Usually rooms are blocked off by either needing a key or defeating all the enemies in said room before progressing. As the map gets larger, you stumble across the ability to quickly warp to previously explored areas or back to a shop keeper. There’s no experience points, per se, but you’re “leveling” is really a result of loot drops, purchasing items from a shop keeper, and engaging with statues that grant buffs and debuffs to your character. That means each run is a bit different and mixing and matching abilities is your best chance at victory.
After finishing off the dungeon boss, you’re greeted with an Greed-o-meter award screen that looks at your gold collected each run and then grants you new loot drops for subsequent runs. It should also be noted that within these unlocks there is also a card system that allows you to either crank up or decrease the difficulty for each subsequent run in the future.
Conclusion
There’s a lot to like with Bravery and Greed. The 2D art style is charming and nostalgic. You couple that with a speedy Metroidvania where you can drop in and play a session in under 20 minutes and you have what seems to be a well-paced game. The loot drops that I experienced were interesting and the Greed-o-meter mechanic opens up a variety of possibilities for continual playthroughs. We’ll have to wait and see what else Rekka Games shows for other levels, but this looks promising.
