14 DAY TRIAL // 
Thorn dashes, closing in with a big shielded enemy, trying to get him to strike and leave an opening for a riposte. Unfortunately, an arrow from another opponent hits and staggers me and I get a quarter of my health cleaved off. I recover, dash again, position my hero behind the big enemy, slash at him a few times and take a decent portion of his own health away. I then decide that tackling the archer is needed before I engage the mini-boss.Careful movement gets me in range, so I quickly eliminate him and, free from arrow worries, return to the fight against the buy with the big shield. It takes time but I know his patterns, prioritize avoiding attacks and finally take him down.
No Place for Bravery is developed by Glitch Factory and published by Ysbryd Games. I played on the PC using Steam and gamers can also get it for the Nintendo Switch. This is a modern take on the action-adventure template, with a focus on combat and a distinctive style.
Our protagonist is Thorn. A soldier disgusted by the destruction, he now runs a tavern, haunted by the loss of daughter Leaf. When a figure from his past re-appears and hope that his daughter can be found emerges, he sets out on a quest that might lead to the salvation of his world, which is slowly destroyed by a creeping malevolent power. Thorn travels with his son Phid and the narrative features decisions and discussions that show the adults struggling to explain their actions and the violence that might be required to reach a righteous goal.
No Place for Bravery is an action-adventure that’s heavily influenced by the souls-like tradition. Players will move across a variety of environments, always on the lookout for enemies, ranging from humans in plenty of armor to undead-seeming creatures with a preference for small knives. Thorn, as a seasoned soldier, has a decent-sized health bar, a decent shield, and a solid and powerful sword. Players need to also pay attention to stamina and stance meters.
The flow of combat revolves around using movement and blocking to avoid taking damage while getting into position to deliver powerful strikes that take down enemies or at least stun them. Bosses pose tougher challenges and gamers will have to revise tactics, learn new skills, understand patterns, and execute solid counterattacks to get past them.
No Place for Bravery does feature some platforming, which is a little imprecise, and Thorn also has to get past traps, sometimes while also fighting enemies. But the core of the gameplay is the combat. I mostly like the system, even with its difficulty spikes, but the developers do not make the most of it. Archers, with a very accurate aim and the ability to shoot multiple arrows, are clearly positioned to make life miserable for players, even if they have the skill to deal with opponents that engage in melee. The sections where archers are combined with platform navigation via dash are even worse.
The game could have used more innovative use of its core ideas, other than the bosses. I like that No Place for Bravery allows players to choose their difficulty at the start. This is a game that emphasizes that it’s hard to master combat and make progress. For fans of other souls-like, this is a selling point, a reason to spend hours learning how to best approach situations and bosses. Newcomers to this space or players who do not want frustration should choose Story Mode to see what the narrative has to offer, although there are combat scenarios that will still feel difficult.
No Place for Bravery certainly has style, using a 2D retro approach to create some impressive moments. There’s enough detail for the main characters to create personality but enemies and locations sometimes suffer from the pixelated approach. I wish the game used less cinematics that emphasize action because they show things that the characters cannot easily do during actual gameplay. The soundtrack underlines the emotions that the game tries to elicit, in a good way, and the combat sounds heavy and bloody, matching the presentation.
The Good
- Character-driven narrative
- Combat system
- Immersive soundtrack
The Bad
- Too many archers
- Difficulty spikes
- Some art style choices
Conclusion
Given the clear love that the team at Glitch Factory has for the souls-like genre, I wanted the game to innovate more, to find ways to make the 2D top-down perspective add something to it. But No Place for Bravery plays it too safe and misses a chance to deliver a truly innovative gameplay loop rather than stick close to the classics.
Review code provided by the publisher.
