Bear and Breakfast Review (PS5) – A title that’s absolutely full of detail and charm, Bear And Breakfast is a property management game that features more of a hands-on story than you might expect by the look of it.
The story and characters were funny enough to keep me entertained throughout the game, but some significant quality-of-life issues hurt my experience overall and could be ironed out with just a few small tweaks.
These small annoyances added up to make a final game that felt far more frustrating than fun when trying to design my dream bed and breakfast in the woods.
Bear And Breakfast Review (PS5) – Grin And Bear It
If You Go Down To The Woods Today
Over the course of the game, players take control of Hank. A hapless young bear looking to do something with himself. After a strange dream and a run-in with a robot shark, he starts running a bed and breakfast in the woods to bring humans back to the valley.
The setup here is simple and lends itself nicely to a pleasant romp with lots of memorable characters. Hank’s bumbling can-do attitude mixes well with the more cynical business-minded people around him and I found myself laughing at their interactions during many moments.
I didn’t expect to come across a possum mafia boss but surprises are all welcome in such a competitive industry.
This easily digestible plot kept me strung along but I couldn’t help but feel that my attention was being pulled in two directions throughout my time with the game, with my focus straining.
At times I genuinely forgot that I had a bed and breakfast to run as I was running errands for characters. I would have liked to see the plot weave these things together a bit more.
The story goes in some surprising directions that I’ve not seen a business simulator game go in before. The disconnect is there but I was interested until the very end, even if I did feel like there were a few too many questions left unanswered.
Home Decoration
Outside of exploration, a good portion of your time in Bear And Breakfast will be spent actually designing your housing for guests. And it’s this portion of the game where I most feel it creaking under the pressure of its own ideas.
While you’re given the freedom to make some really attractive hotels for your guests to come and stay in, the process of doing so was nothing short of clunky.
This is a game that was clearly built with a keyboard and mouse control scheme in mind and translating it to controller has been a bit of a rushed effort.
I found myself having to wrestle with inventory management screens that asked me to click several buttons to get to a place when only one or two probably would have done.
This is an issue that runs across the experience of the game and was a real dampener on my enjoyment.
I enjoyed the increased complexity that comes as you start developing more resorts but this complexity only draws attention to the clunky-ness that forms the foundation of the system.
With just a few more careful considerations, most of these problems could be totally removed for a far smoother experience.
Despite this, the process was still a rewarding one and seeing more options open up with more creative freedom being allowed was extremely gratifying.
Rough Edges
These issues are spread out enough that I struggled to push through at times, which was really unfortunate. I found myself wrestling with menus for minutes on end at times when I feel like I shouldn’t have been.
Unintuitive button choices are rampant and a fully customizable control scheme only does so much to remedy this.
Adjusting controls for preference and accessibility is one thing, but it’s another if the player needs to fix a game’s controls with their own solution.
The font of the game is also incredibly small in some places, with key information being pretty tough to spot – as someone who doesn’t naturally need glasses to read, I felt like I was having to seriously squint at points.
I also found myself hitting roadblocks of simply not having the means to progress, having to waste in-game days to wait for extra money to come in from my hotels. I wouldn’t have minded as much if the game was clearer in its communication about how exactly you can earn money.
Once you spend money on an item using either currency in game, you are completely unable to resell it for even a reduced sum.
This meant that I could accidentally stockpile items that would be useless until later on. Small quality-of-life issues like this are prominent enough to be distracting.
Full Of Charm
It’s a shame that so many awkward elements exist when Bear & Breakfast is so clearly lovingly crafted and designed. The art-style is pleasant to look at and very well-detailed.
Characters are all adorable to look at and each left a lasting impression on me; some of Hank’s expressions are golden as he fumbles through the world of hotel management.
The same could be said of the environments, ranging from dense forests to an abandoned desert highway, each area of the game was visually distinct and looked great.
My only issue is that elements of the environment that are vital to giving you materials for buildings are often not indicated to the player. I occasionally found myself wandering up to random parts of the environment to see if they were resource points.
The soundtrack and sound design also deserve a special mention – being full of tunes that are mellow enough to not getting irritating, yet fit the wilderness of Bear & Breakfast down to an art.
I enjoyed tweaking my hotel layouts for optimal guest satisfaction when I had the atmospheric music of Timber Crossing in my ears.
I wish this charm was enough to carry the entire game to being a great time but so many elements have been rushed or poorly thought out in this release that I found myself more frustrated than enjoying my time with this game. With some adjustments, this game could go far.
Bear And Breakfast is now available on PS5 and PS4.
Review code generously provided by publisher.