No Place for Bravery is one of those rare games that comes along and defines a genre for years. It is a game that tells a profound story of loss and sacrifice within a fantasy setting through the eyes of Thorn. Thorn is an old warrior who continues to live despite significant loss. However, he is quickly given a chance at redemption when an opportunity comes around to find the daughter, Leaf,  that he thought had been lost years ago. Now Thorn has to traverse the world and face countless dangers that he had put behind him in order to reunite his family!

The art style that No Place for Bravery uses is not a type that is often appealing to me. Most developers seem to use it in ways that make it clear that either this is the first game of an indie studio or that the developers are trying to give the game an aged feel to it. However, this game manages to use the pixelated art style to their advantage. Somehow, the game seems grittier and darker with the art choices, to the point where I felt more on edge with every encounter then I would have with a more realistic art style. There are points where the art style does get in the way. During one boss fight where you have to keep your distance, I got stuck on a pillar that didn’t appear to be as large as the game was indicating. However, this has so far only been a one time fluke that hasn’t popped up for me throughout the rest of the game.

While No Place for Bravery certainly takes inspiration from Souls games, it is not nearly as punishing as those are. You can certainly crank up the difficulty to its highest setting and get much closer, if not spot on, with a true Souls experience, but that is not my cup of tea. I played almost entirely on the normal difficulty, and this allowed me to have a great challenge without making me rage. This perfect difficulty also allowed me to enjoy the amazing story that the developers have created within the mystical world of No Place for Bravery. I have seen quite a few people complain that the combat is a bit clunky at times, and while I have definitely experienced this every once in awhile, it never detracts from my overall experience of the game. If anything it just gives me a change of pace in the combat that causes me to switch up my play style. It is unclear if this is supposed to happen or just a glitch, but I imagine that the developers will get around to fixing it if it is an unintended part of the game.

I was fortunate enough to speak with the developers and play an early build of this game at PAX East 2022. While I was talking to them, it was clear that this story was very near and dear to them as they used many challenges that they have faced in life within this story. Most of the development team is from Brazil and have gone through the experience of their fathers leaving them at a young age. You can definitely feel the experiences that they had come through in the dialogue and the atmosphere of the game. It also seems to be quite brave for them to attempt to tell it from Thorn’s perspective, as I imagine that it would have probably been easier for the developers to write the story of the game from Leaf’s point of view. 

Overall, No Place for Bravery is a great game and one that I would recommend to those who play Souls-like games and those who don’t. It has definitely opened up my eyes to this genre and has given me a great experience with a Souls-like game that I thought that I would never have. I know that I have gushed about it already, but the story in No Place for Bravery is absolutely phenomenal, and the soundtrack that was created to coincide with it fits to make a great atmosphere!

A PC review copy of No Place for Bravery was provided by Ysbryd Games for this review.

No Place for Bravery

$19.99

9

Score

9.0/10

Pros

• Amazing Story
• Great Use of Art Style
• A Difficulty for Everyone

Cons

• Occasionally Clunky Combat