Bem Feito Review

Developed by oiCabie and Published by QUByte Interactive, Bem Feito is a horror and gory title that masks itself as a cutesy life sim but eventually takes an insidious turn. Initially, when I first read about the game, it made me a bit nervous because these sorts of titles are usually vague and difficult to keep up with, but the idea of playing a distorted life sim was quite appealing, especially with the neat graphic style.

Throughout the playtime, you spend your time either on the desktop or inside the Bem Feito ROM, as the game's setting is all about exploring an old title through emulation that everyone eerily seems to have forgotten about.. except for one girl. Throughout the story, you'll unravel more details about why she remembers and why it's scary others don't. This premise was very interesting to me, especially the more I uncovered about MEGASOFT’s past (the publisher behind this forgotten title), but more on that later.

While I thought the game would make more use of messing with my files or making me play on the fake PC, I actually spent a much more significant portion of my experience in the fake life simulator, so let's start with that first.

I wasn't wrong — the graphics and genre make a great mix, especially if you know there's going to be a macabre underlying tone. Reginaldo is very cute, and the sound design and art style really does fit the games from back then, but unfortunately, so do the long and tedious animations; whilst the gameplay itself is pretty repetitive, it wouldn't have been much of an issue had I not had to painstakingly endure the unskippable (and constant) animations. That being said, Bem Feito didn't waste a second, as you're immediately presented with unsettling situations, even during the first in-game day, which helped kickstart my interest. 

The main premise of the world is that Reginaldo has tasks pinned to his fridge every morning that you have to complete; these checklists consist of a variety of chores, such as mowing the lawn and washing the dishes. Additionally, a new character visits him every day, and these peculiar NPCs are looking for his friendship. This is where the freedom of choice happens — you either let him do his normal chores and end with a handful of new besties, or you listen to the few tasks that urge you to murder and hurt. 

When I’ve played similar titles that mask something gory with something cute, I’ve found myself bored by the gameplay loop; this usually happens because the “there’s nothing ominous here” sections feel dragged out, and oftentimes, the developer throws too much at us players in an attempt to scare or disturb us once the facade is broken. Bem Feito doesn’t do any of that, as the unsettling bits happen during the first day and when the murder bits are short and sweet. Perhaps the gore and Reginaldo’s insanity didn’t disturb me as much as the developer might have wanted, but it definitely felt more fun than other titles I’ve played. I enjoyed finding the next way I would have to kill his friends, especially when their personality was annoying.

As much as I liked the gory bits, however, the real MVP for me were the achievements. Being a newcomer, I'm not sure if this is commonplace, but every time that you kill someone, you unlock an achievement within the desktop that gives you the passwords necessary to learn more about the mystery surrounding Bem Feito. I really liked the idea of the game loop of having to poke around for achievements in order to unlock more passwords and unravel the story. Unfortunately, the game is straightforward, short, and repetitive, so it became a bit tedious after a while; the story was also disappointing, as I thought the premise was interesting, but it feels like it didn't lead to much — neither the in-game one with Reginaldo nor the desktop one with MEGASOFT’s mystery.

Regretfully, both concepts — the emulator and the ROM — felt unfinished, especially when considered separately, which was a bummer because they were pretty cool ideas. It was a shocker when I realised there was nothing else to explore, and I was done, with only two achievements away from 100% on Steam in just three hours. I was dissatisfied and left wanting, as it didn’t feel like I got a conclusion from anything I had done, and only had more questions.

Bem Feito has an interesting concept, and the gameplay is pretty cool (especially if you don't mind long and repetitive animations). Unfortunately, it feels a bit short and unsatisfying, as neither the desktop nor the ROM gameplay felt polished enough at the end; perhaps if there was more to do, more to uncover, or even less vagueness, it wouldn't have needed more than three hours.