Developing a game isn’t easy work. It’s an industry where crunch is a norm, where something that’s supposed to be fun is a massive load of stress for the ones responsible for its creation. Passion projects are increasingly rare, but thankfully still exist. Luckily, they’re usually handled with love and care in the lapse of deadlines. So two developers by the name of Daylight Basement Studio, are looking to get into the Roguelike scene with Rightfully, Beary Arms, a title of the twin-stick/bullet hell variety like Enter the Gungeon or Binding of Isaac. How does their first project pan out as it heads into Early Access?

Rightfully, Beary Arms (evidenced by its play-on-words title) is going for a more whimsical, carefree approach to the tough-as-nails Roguelike genre. You play as a teddy bear and square off against other members of the animal kingdom, all presented in a pixel-y, cutesy aesthetic. I also particularly enjoyed the level layouts, one of them resembling a 90s arcade kind of style, and the background moving along with the foreground is a nice touch towards making the screen pop at any given moment.

There are more than a few frustration points to note with Rightfully, Beary Arms though. That is to be expected from a small team just now entering the Early Access phase. Even on one of the fastest SSDs on the market, load times are far from optimized. Attempting to play this on the Steam Deck is a no-go as, while this platform is custom-tailored for Roguelikes, I can’t manage to get past the first few boot screens. Other than that, I saw smooth framerates, and the games’ performance from that point on never detracted from the experience.

The most important part of a Roguelike is feeling like you can surpass remarkable odds thanks to your mechanics and mobility. Sadly, Rightfully, Beary Arms lacks this at this point in its development. You can use a dash to avoid danger, but if you get hit, you’ll have no indication of how long your invincibility window is. In tense situations, the one-second window is a challenge and encourages the dash, but hopefully the devs can make your bear blink upon taking damage.

Editor’s Note (Updated 8/9/2023): We previously (erroneously) reported that Rightfully, Beary Arms didn’t have Invincibility Frames. Upon review and contact with the Devs, we have realized that is incorrect. Thus, we have adjusted the above paragraph accordingly.

While it’s rough around the edges, it’s far from all bad in Rightfully, Beary Arms. Once you clear a stage, you get a choice as to where you want to navigate next and you can get a sneak peek of what rewards and obstacles to face as you plan out your route. You also have the influence of not only your own upgrades but the enemies’ upgrades as well. That means extra catering towards a wide array of playstyles to accommodate all players.

It’s going to be tough to recommend Rightfully, Beary Arms in its opening of Early Access when there are so many other competent, fully-released Roguelikes available to purchase cheaper. That being said, I wouldn’t count this game out just yet. Clearly, there’s a lot of love put into this game even at the starting line, and more and more games are retooling and refocusing. Many games come out of their initial release so much stronger in the coming months/years.

An Early Access code for Rightfully, Beary Arms was provided by Daylight Basement Studio for this Preview.

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