No Place for Bravery is an unrelenting saga of death and pain. It may prove strenuous on players who who do not wish to engage in this blood-soaked world, drenched in ferocious combat and stylized pixels that pull no punches.
“Sing, oh Muse, the folly of Thorn, son of Dewr, who lived by the blade.”
No Place for Bravery opens with this line, a throaty chant and booming drums accompany the text crawl. It instills an ancient sense of power into the player’s subconscious.
Our main character is named Thorn and this introduction heavily implies that all will not be right, his folly worthwhile enough to be at the forefront of this particular tale.
The text crawl continues.
Guardians, the protectors of Dewr, are gone from the world, destroyed apparently by their own pride. And, finally, “As the world withers a bit more every day, life marches on.” The music continues to thud, its crushing weight palpable.
Few things in No Place for Bravery are meant to feel safe and secure. The game has a lingering dread before an animated pixel is placed on the screen. Scant minutes in and Thorn’s daughter Leaf is kidnapped by an evil warlock. Years pass and Thorn has put down his sword, taken up a life as a bartender at a local tavern, and has fostered a disabled son named Phid. Rosa, Thorn’s wife, grows weary of his obsession with Leaf’s disappearance, eventually leaving.
The desolation a player may feel for Thorn is only amplified when he sights Leaf’s captor and ensues on a bloody quest for vengeance and potential answers.
No Place for Bravery cuts little corners in its portrayal of brutality in an ancient, bloody world. Oftentimes, Thorn is as ruthless as his foes, possibly leaving a sour taste in some. This is a land where the corpses of giants lay hollowed out, their bones being used as the base for villages and where innocents are slaughtered.
There is a point where to fully embrace what No Place for Bravery has to offer, one must bathe in transgression and suffering. Dewr feels like a haunted, malevolent place that is riddled with monsters and lost hope. Thorn infrequently feels like a salve to the tiresome decay and often a cause of it. Light can be found in this thick ichor and I can’t imagine a game that would succeed if it never relinquished from darkness.
Acting primarily as a fantastical journey from place to place, the narrative sees Thorn and Phid constantly at odds against the world. The bonds of father and son will be tested as Thorn’s humanity is constantly challenged when meeting fellow NPCs and making certain choices that can alter the game’s tone. At a point, players can even choose to abandon their quest and allow Thorn to live out the remainder of his days not living by the blade.
Notes of God of War and its Norse setting seep into the structure of No Place for Bravery‘s storytelling. It does not feel derivative, merely another expression of familial angst. Though the game features dialog and exceptional world building at times, a thick glossary of lore entries hope to flesh out Dewr’s personality and history. As much of a fan as I am of rich lore, I would have preferred less menu-heavy execution, preferring these nuggets of information to be weaved more naturally into the tapestry of the game.
I’m not sure how hard on the hopeful/hopeless scale developer Glitch Factory was hoping to tip the game toward but I respect the direction No Place for Bravery took throughout my time with it. Understanding that sometimes shit can be a little miserable and stay that way, players need something to fight for. Thorn may not be a standard hero but he is certainly a vessel for pain, intrigue, and satisfying combat.
No Place for Bravery is an inherently difficult game. Enemies may not have a bible of attack patterns but they are deadly and often swarm the player. The challenge here is presented as hordes of vile creatures that surround Thorn and must be taken down with thought and speed. A loose targeting system allows easy shift of focus so players can decide when to slash, dodge, block, and parry.
Parrying is a crucial element in No Place for Bravery and players will need to master the mechanic if they hope to survive. Similar to Sekiro, which is frequently mentioned in the marketing, Thorn and foes have a stamina/poise meter that can be whittled down to eventually stun. Parrying allows players to quickly dispatch enemies and not waste precious stamina.
After the initial stage of pulling teeth, I became more acclimated to the combat. If players wish to do so, they can enter a fray and, if things went south, run back to a checkpoint to recover health and healing items, resetting enemies in the process. Feeling determined not to let myself screw up too much, I abused this method for awhile until I become comfortable with the flow of combat, smoothing down the sharpness of difficulty.
Thorn is a heavy fighter who makes large moves. Sword swipes are fast while swings with the hammer deal slow, heavy blows. A crossbow and a range of traps and items round out combat but never make it overly complicated. It’s not a delicate system but a simple one that doesn’t task the player more than it should.
No Place for Bravery features a number of one-on-one battles with bosses and larger enemies that will suck the air out of your lungs by the time the final blow is traded. But what sets the game apart from obvious contemporaries is the large amount of enemies that populate a battle. Even during the prologue, there are moments where multiple enemies come from multiple angles to lay into Thorn. It’s sweaty but manageable. As the game continues, the pressure further mounts.
Annoyingly, several battles feature ranged enemies who are capable of completely ruining the flow of battles. Sometimes these enemies will be able to attack from off-screen. Other times they exacerbate platforming puzzles that can be clumsy because there is no jump button and instead require careful use of the dash. Some enemy combinations are less challenging and more infuriating, which honestly came as little surprise.
Difficulty in No Place for Bravery may seem like an issue but there is a surprisingly flexible difficulty system. Thorn’s damage, parry window, health, and other factors can be adjusted to make the game easier or more difficult. Considering I like a challenge and often play on harder difficulties, the system was welcome but not necessary for me. Though I suspect many will need it or desire it to triumph over harder spots.
Throughout my early review build of the game, I encountered a few issues that hampered progression. Often an enemy would disappear or I couldn’t figure out items that unlocked skills. Yet playing on PC, I never had an overly sour experience like some have had on Switch and I’m thankful for that.
Because ultimately, No Place for Bravery has a lot of captivating potential. The game’s pixel art is entirely gorgeous and evokes my fondest memories of games like Hyper Light Drifter and Children of Morta. There is a lot of style here, especially when combined with the music. Expressive art throughout the world does make it feel quite lived in, even when players revisit territory multiple times. Players even have the option to perfectly time a button press to execute an enemy, resulting in a grotesque death animation that feels like it serves no purpose except to look badass.
No Place for Bravery is endearing if not exhausting. This broken world harbors countless deadly foes that players will have to rip and tear through. At times it may feel needlessly dour but through the muck and the mire is a beautifully visualized title that pulls no punches at its hardest junctures. But inviting difficulty sliders ensure that no hurdle is too sharp and that every challenge can be conquered, driving Thorn and the player ever-closer to salvation.
