Bear's Restaurant

Bear's Restaurant offers a unique experience in that it is both more and less than what it appears to be. Its narrative delivers some poignant emotional moments, but it's also interspersed with oddly dark or fantastical elements that undermine its genuine heart. As a prequel to Fishing Paradiso, which Neal reviewed here, it does at least introduce characters that carry over to that follow up, but those looking for something more well rounded and with more pronounced gameplay elements may want to skip the restaurant and go straight to paradise. If you're up for a story about the afterlife, how people get there, and the desire to hold on to those we've lost, pull up a chair at Bear's Restaurant.

Bear's Restaurant appears cute on the surface, but tries to tell a dark yet heartwarming story. Unfortunately, inconsistent presentation and a bad translation fail to capture what they were going for.

Bear’s Restaurant is a game about loss, regrets, redemption and death. But it’s also about the power of love that will conquer it all. This is no relaxing and laid back story, but one that will make you sad. It will stay with you for a long time, particularly because of the beautiful ending. If you like story-driven games and aren’t afraid to explore deeper feelings, then give Bear’s Restaurant a try. It’s available on mobile where you can try the first part for free, unlocking the rest and the sequel story, The Nihility, being a paywall. The Nintendo Switch version has everything included! It feels strange to measure how much you like such a sad story, but the way the developer manages to bring such a deep story in a relatively simple way is pretty amazing.

Bear's Restaurant is a short, simple but meaningful game about life and death. In the Nintendo Switch version, An impressive epilogue was added and completed the story. Except for some sudden and short pauses, It's a wonderful, touching masterpiece.

This is a game all about the varied and unusual stories it has to tell about the demise of various characters you encounter

After playing Bear’s Restaurant, you’ll see yourself thinking about ‘the meaning of living a good life’. The mobile version was littered with mid-roll ads which could deteriorate your gameplay experience but the Switch version feels more complete with additional post gameplay content which reveals the real story behind the game.