The Bounty Huntress from IC Games and Ratalaika Games is a fantasy-themed 2D Metroidvania on PS5. Learn more in our The Bounty Huntress review!

 

The Bounty Huntress from IC Games and Ratalaika Games is a fantasy-themed 2D Metroidvania on PlayStation 5. You’ll be taking on the role of Rhea, the titular huntress that is tasked with locating the people of the City of Vaunard that have been kidnapped. She’ll have to explore the land and search through Aresdale Castle as she takes on a ton of enemies of all shapes and sizes that have gotten a bit too comfortable with attacking anyone that so much as looks at them in a funny way.

You’ll control your character with the left analog stick as she jumps with the X button and attacks with the Square button with her sword. The Square button will also be used for progressing through each dialogue box. You can also use a throw attack by pressing up on the left analog stick and the D-Pad. This will consume some of your Mana – more on Mana in a bit. You start out with a nimble dagger, but you can find other throwing weapons, such as a mighty axe. If you input a quarter-circle motion – down, down-right, right – and press the attack button, you’ll use a special attack with your current weapon. Press the R1 button, and Rhea will dash, which can also be done by holding the down direction on the left analog stick and pressing the X button. Press the Touchpad, and you’ll be able to check out the map.

 

As you defeat enemies, you’ll gain souls. Destroy lamps and other stuff, and you’ll gain gold coins. You will also receive experience points. As expected, once you’ve gained enough points, you’ll be able to level up, which will increase Rhea’s attack and defense stats, as well as her overall HP and Mana. As an added bonus, leveling up will recover all of Rhea’s HP and Mana! HP dictates how much damage she can receive before being defeated. Mana will be used for special attacks with the Triangle button after you collect a spell book or two. You can change between spell books by pressing up or down on the D-Pad. If you press left or right on the D-Pad, you’ll be able to use a heal potion or a Mana potion.

The coins that you collect can be spent with Janus, the blacksmith in the castle. You could buy an amulet of attack that can boost your attack power by 5 points, a mighty defense armor that can boost your defense by 80 points, or a powerful spear that increases not only Rhea’s attack and strength but also provides a boost to her fire resistance. You could also decide to spend some coins to add extra potions to recover your HP or Mana as needed. As for the souls? They’re needed to pay a floating monster thing so that it can free each of the three prisoners as you find them. Do know that if you die, you’ll lose all of your souls and will need to return to the spot where you died in order to collect them before they’re gone for good.

 

You should make sure that you explore every section in each area you visit since you never know where you’ll be able to find some new equipment to boost your odds of survival. You could locate a piece of armor, a new weapon, a pair of boots, an amulet, or some rings. You can equip two rings at once. Equipment will increase your strength, vitality, intelligence, attack, and defense stats. If you’re lucky, some of the enemies that you defeat might also drop some equipment when defeated.

Trophy-wise, The Bounty Huntress has a full trophy list with a Platinum trophy for you to add to your collection. And since the game is Cross-Buy, and with the PlayStation 4 and the PlayStation 5 versions of the game featuring separate trophy lists, if you own a PlayStation 5 console, you could play both versions and get two Platinum trophies. The list includes 11 Gold trophies, and they will pop as you defeat the bosses in the game, find a secret passage by destroying a wall, obtain some of the spell books, obtain a spear, and collect enough experience to get Rhea to level 5. If you need some extra help, you can check out this The Bounty Huntress Trophy Guide. Do know that after the latest patch, the last trophy shown in the video before the Platinum will not pop there because the spell book’s location has been moved.

The Bounty Huntress is a fantasy-themed 2D Metroidvania that sticks to the usual elements you’d expect from a Metroidvania in 2022. It doesn’t set the genre on fire, but that’s also not what it’s trying to do. You can get this Cross-Buy title for a budget price of only $4.99, and your purchase will give you access to both the PlayStation 4 and the PlayStation 5 versions of the game, and each one has its own trophy list, so you can work on adding two Platinum trophies to your collection.

Disclaimer
This The Bounty Huntress review is based on a PlayStation 5 copy provided by Ratalaika Games.