Today, we’ve got some impressions for Berserk B.I.T.S., an upcoming indie game which has been making the rounds recently. Developer Berserk Boy Games has previously published another 2D Mega Man-inspired game, the titular Berserk Boy, on Steam and Nintendo Switch. This follow-up instead takes inspiration from the Mega Man Battle Network series by taking the digital warrior aspect and bringing it directly to your desktop.
Berserk B.I.T.S is an idle-RPG auto-battler where you collect battle chips and fight viruses, all while you do something else! Manage programs that produce chips while your B.I.T battles viruses and completes missions. It’s honestly quite an addicting gameplay loop as you clear a level, collect items, buy upgrades, accept missions, and repeat.
Intro to the Game
The game begins with a little PET-like device appearing in the corner of your screen where you select a save file. After the brief introduction explaining the various game windows, you’ll be dropped into the main game.
You can also choose to play the game in full screen so it doesn’t show your desktop, as well as set various scaling options that resize the game quite nicely.
The Home Menu, as seen as the blue tiles below, is a customizable space where your B.I.T runs around in when not in a Net area. You can personalize your Home space by replacing tiles and buying accessories. This is also where the various programs you obtain will appear.
The Explorer window, seen in pink, is how you access the Net. Simply drag and drop your B.I.T into one of the areas and the level will begin. During battles, your B.I.T will automatically attack using the regular shot or chips when available, and even dodge attacks. It’s a lot like MMBN 4.5’s Navi controls, but more automated, and faster battles. In fullscreen mode, this blocks background covers up the unused space of the game, but otherwise, this is where your desktop would show through and you can seamlessly interact between the two.
The Gameplay
As you progress, you’ll obtain eggs that can be hatched by placing them on the Home Menu. Cyber Eggs will hatch into programs which produce battle chips for you on a fixed interval. Once a chip is completed, they are sent to the deck, seen in the yellow window, where they can automatically be used during battle. You’ll see many familiar attacks like shockwaves, water waves, swords, and more.
Programs need food. After a while, they’ll stop producing chips and will need to be fed a particular food. As you feed them, they’ll level up and produce chips faster. This space will keep you busy as your B.I.T is off battling. Another program will generate money for you. When it turns gold, you click and shake it to release all the money it produced. Similarly, there is a heart program that will recover you when you shake it. You even need to clean up program poop!
Finally, what keeps the gameplay loop going is the missions. Nearly every time you finish a level, you’ll get an email in the game asking you to accept a mission. Typically, these involve completing the level with no chips, no recovery, or some other gimmick. These will reward useful parts for building more items you may need. These can be seen on the map as icons above the areas.
It can be challenging to manage your resources to keep your B.I.T alive on harder levels. I found myself having to check and feed all the various programs often and make sure my B.I.T had enough health to survive the battle. Some of the more interesting tools to automate the busy work were locked away behind more resources than I could possibly get, but that seems to be the long-term goal in achieving true auto-battling.
Conclusion
Overall, it’s a very chill game with charming visuals and familiar concepts that will keep you coming back for more. Berserk B.I.T.S will be featured as part of Steam Idler Fest, beginning on February 3, 2025. You can download the public demo today. Release date is TBD.
