Beanrise

Controls are unusable, keeps freezing.

I’ve just started playing BEANRISE, and I’m already hooked! The art style is super cute, and the world feels really immersive. The gameplay is mystic and interesting, and I’m excited to explore more. It’s refreshing to see such a unique and well-designed game. Can’t wait to see where this adventure goes! Great job to the developers – keep it up!

The game has some strangely interesting stuff going on, but the overall craftsmanship is incredibly poor. Crashes, poor performance, poor writing, NPCs standing in the way and preventing progress, inconsistent recycled TTS voice lines... If it weren't for these problems, I'd recommend the game at a price of around five bucks.

There is a lot in this game to dislike. There is no option to change the controls, unticking the subtitles box does not stop the subtitles being displayed, the voices are all computer-generated, and there was a bug where the options menu got stuck open and I had to restart the game in the intro (that goes on for way too long). On top of that, the cafe parts are pretty repetitive and dull (which is, of course, fairly accurate). I have finally got to the point where I have given up, at least for the moment, because I am in the mine section, it requires a lot of crouching, and using WASD with Ctrl as the crouch button is absolutely killing my little finger. On top of that, there is a section where you need to jump up into a little cave area and the physics of game make this incredibly frustrating - I'm just hurling myself at the wall over and over again despite using the little crate to stand on as is, almost certainly, the idea. I managed it once but died and I got bored and frustrated trying to do it over and over again. That finally killed it for me. On top of all that, it is very irritating having to re-hire employees every day and to return to your apartment to save the game at the end of each day. But... That said, it didn't stop me from playing the game fairly obsessively for the nearly 7 hours you can see above. I paid 74p for the game so it has definitely been value for money. The basic game loop is work in the cafe to make money, do a quest (that usually requires money, including, oddly enough clearing up rubbish in the town), repeat. As you go round and round you slowly advance the story. The game is set in the past by way of the main character's daughter looking through her dad's old VHS tapes. In her time a pandemic is raging and the VHS tapes show a time just after a previous pandemic has ended where people are trying to get back to normality. The whole thing is played as though looking through a camcorder which is a style you either like or you don't. I'm not that fussed either way. I have marked this as a recommendation because, for all that I am complaining about it, I did get drawn into it and it occupied a few mindless hours. If the controls could be altered this would go a long way to making this game more enjoyable to play. I am an ESDF guy, I want space to be action, I want Z to be crouch, and I would really like there to be a crouch toggle if I can't have that so that I don't exacerbate my RSI and arthritis. If I had bought this game at full price I think that there is a very good chance that I would have refunded it but on sale, at the moment, it's definitely worth the money even of only for an afternoon's entertainment.

Beanrise is a delightful and charming game that offers a refreshing take on the cozy platformer genre. The vibrant visuals and calming music create a soothing atmosphere, making it a perfect game to unwind with. The mechanics are simple yet engaging, with creative puzzles and platforming elements that keep you entertained throughout. Whether you're hopping across beautifully designed levels or exploring the peaceful world, Beanrise brings a sense of joy and accomplishment. A must-try for fans of relaxing yet challenging games!

Almost feels like an AI generated game. Feels unfinished with a severe lack of polish and bugs. Nothing was game breaking though. I did find the game play quite satisfying. You try to uncover the truth behind the prolonged lockdown of the town you inhabit. Along the way you try to make money to help the town grow, primarily through running a cafe and hiring day workers for various businesses. By the time it was over, the silly bugs and npc clones almost had a charm to them. You can continue playing after completing the story to build up the rest of the town, but for me the grind for the cash to do so with no more story to back it up became pointless. Definitely not worth its full price, but I constantly saw this at 90% and 95% sales, and decided to give it a try. Was worth the couple bucks for holding my attention for the 8 hrs it took to complete. Too bad the devs don't attempt to polish the rest of the game. It has a solid core.