More than I could bear
I really appreciate when games don’t hold your hand.
They don’t waste time insulting your intelligence, they just set you loose in their playground.
Bear And Breakfastdoesn’t hold your hand.
It’s a hard truth to admit, because the game holds such a wealth of untapped potential.
It was broken down and dishevelled, and waiting for me to fix it up.
I came to loathe the dialogue portions of Bear And Breakfast with a fiery passion.
Not that I found much joy there, either.
The building system is unwieldy and needlessly regimented.
Nope, said the game.
I needed to place a bed in the room before I could confirm the changes to the building.
Oh, and once you’ve placed a room, it’s there forever.
So if you make a mistake with room placement, you just gotta live with it.
Things didn’t improve when it came to placing decorative objects.
It’s presumably important for getting good reviews from your guests.
Though I don’t actually know for sure, because I got five stars from everyone without trying.
I’m not even sure the reviews matter anyway.
But these decorations are little more than sprites with attractiveness values tacked on.
The guests don’t interact with them, and neither do you.
I mean, I get it.
I lumbered north of my starting motel and found a sign directing me to a place called Highlake.
The way was barred by a road sign, which as we all know is a bear’s kryptonite.
I ventured south instead, and found a similar sign pointing to the A24.
Nope, that area is barred as well, until I complete a certain quest.
They all just seemed to give me varying amounts of differently coloured wood or tiles.
There didn’t seem to be any limit to how much stuff I could carry in my inventory.
Speaking of quests: Bear And Breakfast is a very linear game.
I returned to the supplier of that quest.
A pair of pants.
And exactly the same quest to complete again.
The most fun I had playing the game was laughing at some of the bugs and glitches that arose.
But what about the whole premise of the game?
You’re a bear.A bear.
Surely that means something!
Well, after several hours of play, I can answer with a definitive “meh”.
Almost everything else could stay the same.
), and all the NPCs are rude, mistrustful, and frequently demeaning to you.
It’s not easy being ursine.
To its credit, the art style never lost its charm.
I still love the look of the game, the world, and its characters.
The regions were all vibrant and looked full of interesting experiences.
They weren’t, of course, but that’s not the art’s fault.
It was pretty good stuff.
Eventually, things did get alittlebit better.
Sadly though, I couldn’t find any satisfaction in either the building or the exploring.
Everything is just so on the rails.
Want to go off and do your own thing?
No, silly bear.
You’re not clever enough to do that.
First you better prove yourself by fetching 10 sprigs of sage.
There was none of that satisfying management game feeling where everything was slowly expanding and working and coming together.
There was no breaking free from the well-intentioned but suffocating bear hug.
