Charles the Bee

Osu player come there. xD

A serviceable rhythm game with some negative buzz to it. As a rhythm game one of the most important aspects is of course the music, which didn’t disappoint me at all. There are some familiar melodies inspired by well-know classics such as the Flight of the Bumblebee. Additionally there are some really fun electronic pieces that I can believe might play in an actual club. Although I’m by no means a music expert, what I can say as a casual enjoyer of the art form is that the soundtrack of this game is a vibe and quite enjoyable. The graphics are simple and cute with some with some really fun designs for the different bees. There are some accessibility options in the options menu that are very nice to see as well, though I didn’t use any of them myself. With two different types of gameplay there is some variety to be found here as during the day you gather pollen with a side of exploration for a hidden Bee Token in each area while at night you engage in the rhythm portion and story of the game. Both types of gameplay are very basic, but functional. Still I don’t quite understand the use of the speed pads while gathering pollen since while they have a direction on them and are lined up in a specific path they don’t lead anywhere. This is not necessarily a negative, they neither add nor detract from the actual gameplay, it’s just a little confusing why they are there. What I will criticize however is the DLC being needed to experience the full story while the free part is still advertised as a complete game. To start DLCs aren’t really meant to work like this, usually they are extra content or side stories, but don’t have a significant portion of the main story locked behind a paywall. It simply makes what is advertised as a full game not a full game. An easy solution would have been to make Flutter Fields a Demo, then the full game could have had the price put on it and nobody would have paid it any mind. But how it is at the moment, leaving the story on a major cliffhanger and only then asking for money is just a little scummy. Personally I haven’t encountered any problems in terms of bugs besides the characters at least. Still I enjoyed the free part of the game and for a little drop of gameplay inbetween activities like how you would add a drop of honey to a cup of tea it suffices perfectly well. Consider this a middling review though Steam lacks the option for one.