A Puntastic Descent Into Bullet-Hell Dreams
Rightfully, Beary Arms is a game that, if nothing else, at least knows how to enjoy some good word play. This roguelite game places the player in the plushied place of a small bear who must fight through multiple levels of enemies, defeating a boss at the end of each stage.
Each room has a chance to spawn several waves of enemies, each of which will indiscriminately target Beary by shooting and charging at him. Beary does have a handy dash that will allow him to quickly dart away from enemies every few seconds, but the preferred way to handle enemies is by fighting back with his own arsenal of weapons.
Beary’s Arsenal
Each run begins with the choice between one of three weapons: an alien blaster, cap gun, or a handgun. These have their own stats, including one for sex appeal, which seems out of place in a game about a cute bear. But I suppose giving a teddy bear a Mosin Nagant is also an odd juxtaposition, and that was the first gun I found outside the starter weapons the game gives the player. So the idea of sex appeal isn’t too outrageous.
This sense of humor is prevalent throughout other areas of the game, and it does lend a certain sense of charm to the experience.
Navigating the Dreamscape
Returning to the actual gameplay, each level is segmented into individual rooms that will often spawn enemies. Defeating them grants a currency called Plu, which can be used at the in-game stores to purchase weapons, health, and so on to improve Beary’s chances for survival. Different rooms will also sometimes spawn chests which drop rewards as wells. The odds of these chests spawning is determined when moving between levels. Each cleared level will give the choice of several paths.
Each path gives the percent chance of different drops happening. There may be a nailed-on chance of a weapon spawn, but only a 40% chance that health will spawn. Or there may be an 80% chance to get a weapon augment, 70% for health, and 20% for a power weapon.
Weapon Augmentation: Turning Basic Tools into Damage Dealers
Weapon drops are self-explanatory, and so are the health drops. The augment system is something more unique to Rightfully, Beary Arms though. Augments can be applied to any weapon, each coming with a specific number of augment slots. These can do things such as increase a weapon’s fire rate or build on the damage of each projectile.
Sometimes these augments result in a trade-off, where they may fire faster but the accuracy decreases. Multiple augments can be combined, and depending on the combination, they can turn even the most basic of weapons into decent damage dealers late in the game.
Balancing Boons with Brutal Penalties
Beyond the weapon augments, there are also pickups called runtimes which will provide some kind of boon for Beary. These may give additional augment slots for some weapons, or perhaps an increase to his movement speed, or even the chance to debuff all enemies to make the game easier. On the flip side though, after each boss fight there are also calamities which make things harder for the little bear; a decrease to drop rates of Plu, an increase to enemy health, or any other number of things that will make getting to the end more challenging.
For the most part, Rightfully, Beary Arms hits the notes required of a decent experience. It’s by no means a bad game, but the roguelite genre is incredibly saturated and every new game added to the genre needs to do more and more to stand out from the sea of similar games.
The graphics are simple, but well done. And the music is actually pretty good for a small indie game. What I really liked about the audio is that it is both dynamic and progressive in how it plays. There are variations for non-hostile environments, compared to combat zones. It also changes as fights stretch on, so if multiple waves of enemies spawn, the music gets a bit more complex. It’s a small detail, but it keeps the music exciting and makes it one of the most memorable bits of the experience for me.
The Roguelite Slog
Unfortunately, the gameplay itself does begin to feel tedious after just a few runs. The levels are randomly generated, but the rooms themselves don’t feature a ton of variety. The bosses also spawn predictably, whilst many of the weapons feel a bit lackluster as well.
A Sprinter in a Marathon Genre
However, Rightfully, Beary Arms is a sprinter, not a marathon runner. In short bursts, it can be fun, but playing for longer sessions starts to reveal its shortcomings, especially when compared to other games within the genre.
It doesn’t grab like a good roguelite should. The content also gets to be redundant faster than one would want in a game that belongs to a genre that has become popular for replayability. That said, the price point isn’t bad for what the game offers and any fans of roguelite games will more than likely get a few hours of fun out of the experience, if nothing else.
Important Links
Looks Adorable, Plays Ruthless – Rightfully, Beary Arms Finally Launches On Xbox & PC – https://www.thexboxhub.com/looks-adorable-plays-ruthless-rightfully-beary-arms-finally-launches-on-xbox-pc/
Rightfully, Beary Arms Pounces onto Xbox & PC with Full 1.0 Launch in January 2026 – https://www.thexboxhub.com/rightfully-beary-arms-pounces-onto-xbox-pc-with-full-1-0-launch-in-january-2026/
Rightfully, Beary Arms confirmed for a 2024 Xbox release – https://www.thexboxhub.com/rightfully-beary-arms-confirmed-for-a-2024-xbox-release/
Buy from the Xbox Store – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/rightfully-beary-arms/9pd98sxj63k0
