The Bear describes itself as an interactive bedtime story, and I think it is the perfect description. Often bedtime stories have something quite wholesome or emotionally affecting at their core, and The Bear is no different. Focusing on friendship and being young at heart, the game tells a beautiful story with branching paths over 45 minutes. When it was over, I felt cosy yet melancholic, contemplating my life choices.
Our unnamed character is a tiny bear-like character and we discover The Bear in the first of five story chapters. The game then focuses on your friendship and lust for adventure to pull The Bear, quite literally, out of a shy, introspective, unadventurous hole. Once out of the hole in the ground, you will enthuse The Bear to stand, walk, climb, jump, and eventually fly in the sky among the stars. As you do, the game narrates with writing and tiny drawings to tell its story from the perspective of your character. You’ll meet other characters along the way who’ll share their stories, and the general theme of staying young at heart and adventurous is shown from different perspectives. What I love about the story is that you’ll see how finding love or your happy place might change your perspective on adventure. Do you settle down and make a happy home, or does the adventure continue as a duo? This plays out across different characters’ stories, leading to a final story choice for you to make to round off the story nicely.
Making the story all the more impactful are the graphics. The Bear contains hundreds of hand-drawn animations, and everything you see on the screen is beautifully drawn. It’s like watching a children’s storybook in motion. The music and sound are calm and twinkly, adding to the muted and dark colour palette designed to send you into a cosy slumber. The game also has multiple splits in the story. Each chapter offers a choice between which way you and The Bear want to go next. The player makes the decision, and whilst the overarching story doesn’t change, the bits of story you get to see will. There are a few fresh replays available, or you can dip into each chapter on its own once you’ve completed a playthrough.
My only mild critique of The Bear comes from the mouse controls. The Bear is designed for touchscreens first, and the mouse controls emulate a finger swipe. You’ll need to click on a character and drag in the direction you wish them to move. This takes a few minutes to get used to before becoming comfortable, and very occasionally, you’ll have a bit of confusion around what can and can’t be done. This is partly down to the control system, but also because when new things are introduced, the visual markers to tell you something is doable are subtle. Once you learn something, it’s very simple to do afterwards, but that initial “huh?” could be slightly smoother.
The World of Gra is a magical world to explore, and The Bear is a soul-enriching tale to be told. It juggles being cosy and relaxing for a child alongside more adult themes about finding your happy place with aplomb. I felt quite emotional after playing this, and the ending is chef’s kiss perfection. This is a lesson in not babying stories for children so that adults can enjoy them and explore the meaning behind them, too. Melancholic excellence.
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