B&G came at the right time as I was looking for the next co-op game to play. It delivers most of what is expected from it with a bit of a twist. It’s a roguelite which comes with random generated levels, equipment and perks. There are 4 main dungeons with a shorter fifth dungeon focused on the last boss you will be fighting. There are also 4 classes to pick from (attacker, defender, mage and rogue) each with their own moves and specials. So far it sounds typical. What makes it stand out is the use of arcana, co-op and how stats create synergies. Arcana are unique modifiers that look like cards. They affect dungeons greatly with some big changes positively and negatively. You can turn what you don’t like off. You can basically mix and match. Co-op is very extensive and seamless. All the options you expect are there. However, what adds more to co-op is the synergies created from the gameplay. Each equipment comes with passive abilities and some come with active abilities. The game has 4 paths you have to pick from on top of it (an alliance that grants you different perks/passives throughout your run). With all of this combined, you can create some crazy builds. And with co-op, you can take specific roles that need to be kept to make it work on harder difficulties.

This creates fun situations. The snappy gameplay with all the progression around it makes it pretty engaging. I love that there is a full blown log book filled to the brim with different records. Think of all your equipment (wands, gauntlets, boots, necklaces) with all their stats, all the monsters, bosses, the arcana you have unlocked, the achievements and stats being tracked and all the followers you have unlocked. Followers are the NPC you free in dungeons, they help you out and show up more often when playing alone. The game has charming graphics that are pretty detailed and appealing. The music is average. It’s pretty good along with the sound effects. Everything works technically, there were no bugs I noticed. You can also save at any time and continue later (online too with a separate save). I think you can save and continue from the last room within a dungeon.

The negatives might be typical to the genre if you’re not a fan of certain roguelites and there are some balance issues. With the former, I mean not having permanent progression. You always unlock the chance to encounter things and never take anything with you on your next run. RNG can be heavily in your favour or against you. There is more to say about the later. It’s one of those games where the game becomes far more challenging when playing co-op. I played with one friend but it feels like it’s designed for more players as there are too many enemies sometimes and the bosses have far more health. It can feel chaotic and hard to keep up with. RNG and my friend carried me through the runs. It’s also thanks to this friend that I managed to get all the achievements (including the new game plus run which is no joke). It’s because of this that I find it hard to gauge whether all the achievements were fair to get or not. Most of them certainly are and they’re fun to get. Also, why is Yeti boss so difficult even when playing alone? He’s more difficult than the last boss! Lastly, this is something my friend noticed: there is anonymous data being tracked by default. You can turn it off in the options menu but it’s ethically bad to have this on by default. Shouldn’t it be the other way around?

This is a decent game that could have been better in certain aspects but I’m still pretty impressed with what we do have. It took me around 26 hours to get all the achievements. Right now it’s still offered as this month’s Humble Choice. I definitely recommend it when it can be gotten this cheap, especially when you want to play co-op.

CLEARLY MADE FOR MULTIPLAYER CAW CAW.

IT'S LIKE PLAYING CASTLE CRASHERS ALONE CAW CAW. ANOTHER TEAM 17 GAME IN A HUMBLE BUNDLE CAW CAW. HAVE YOU FOLKS FINALLY SEEN A TREND WITH TEAM 17 GAMES APPEARING IN HUMBLE CHOICE CAW CAW?

Lovely project well made for some hours of fun. It felt weird in the beginning (maybe because I played with my keyboard) but when you get the grip of it it's worthy your time