Sights & Sounds
- The quality of the art in this game is frankly amazing. Each screen of the town looks like a well-done oil painting. Although I'm not the biggest fan of the character designs (maybe just a tick too cutesy for me), I can recognize the amount of work and effort that went into them. They're so expressive and full of life
- The soundtrack is a nice mix of soulful pianos and acoustic guitars playing songs in minor keys for the sad or hopeful parts. The tracks for the tenser moments contain a lot of percussion and synth
- Most of the game features a narrator whose performance is good, but I think she sounds a little too cheerful in some moments that don't call for it. It was a little jarring to experience a riveting scene in which the inner workings of a conspiracy are being figured out when a perky Midwestern mom decides to chime it
Story & Vibes
- That last bullet point should clue you in that all is not as idyllic and serene as it initially seems in Beacon Pines
- You play as a 12 year old little deer named Luka, whose father has passed away and whose mother has been missing for six months. He's now living with his grandmother, who has come to care for him in his parents' absence. Luka's obviously going through a lot for such a young kid and just wants to enjoy a summer of getting up to mischief with his best friend, a bobcat named Rolo
- Things start going off the rails pretty quickly. Luka and Rolo go to investigate some strange lights at what is supposed to be an abandoned fertilizer factory at the end of town, but what they find there kicks off the discovery of a conspiracy full of intrigue, fraud, and murder
- However, it isn't all tense. Beacon Pines has some incredibly soulful moments that run the gamut from heartwarming to heartbreaking. It's just nice to play a game that makes you feel something, you know?
- The vibes are those of a YA novel. Beacon Pines feels like a book I would have read as a kid
Playability & Replayability
- The central conceit of Beacon Pines involves the narrator/author trying out different potential narrative arcs for the story of the town, focusing on Luka's perspective
- As you make your way through the story, you'll eventually come upon different "charms". Charms are key words that you can insert at pivotal points in the story to change the narrative path you're currently headed down. Sometimes, you'll have multiple charms to choose from. Other times, you may find yourself railroaded into a certain path since you only have one appropriate charm
- You can pause the game and return to a narrative choice at any point. This is important since you will sometimes have to follow a narrative path for several chapters before finding a charm necessary for making the correct choice in a decision that took place much earlier in the story
- The end result is a compelling mystery adventure game with an interesting set of narrative branches. If you want to understand the full plot and see some of the funnier and more absurd scenes, you'll need to head down every path and try out every charm you can
- Because I explored the whole game on my first playthrough, it'll be a while before I feel like a replay. It's a good story, so I may be back some years down the road
Overall Impressions & Performance
- I was a little unwilling to pull this off my backlog initially. I've been playing a lot of adventure games lately and I wasn't totally onboard with the character designs. But in the end, I was quite pleased and surprised by Beacon Pines
- The game ran perfectly on the Steam Deck
Final Verdict
- 8.5/10. Just an all-around good game with loads of polish. Great mystery, great characters, and great presentation all blend together to make Beacon Pines a game I'd be happy to recommend to anyone who loves short, story-first titles
- The quality of the art in this game is frankly amazing. Each screen of the town looks like a well-done oil painting. Although I'm not the biggest fan of the character designs (maybe just a tick too cutesy for me), I can recognize the amount of work and effort that went into them. They're so expressive and full of life
- The soundtrack is a nice mix of soulful pianos and acoustic guitars playing songs in minor keys for the sad or hopeful parts. The tracks for the tenser moments contain a lot of percussion and synth
- Most of the game features a narrator whose performance is good, but I think she sounds a little too cheerful in some moments that don't call for it. It was a little jarring to experience a riveting scene in which the inner workings of a conspiracy are being figured out when a perky Midwestern mom decides to chime it
Story & Vibes
- That last bullet point should clue you in that all is not as idyllic and serene as it initially seems in Beacon Pines
- You play as a 12 year old little deer named Luka, whose father has passed away and whose mother has been missing for six months. He's now living with his grandmother, who has come to care for him in his parents' absence. Luka's obviously going through a lot for such a young kid and just wants to enjoy a summer of getting up to mischief with his best friend, a bobcat named Rolo
- Things start going off the rails pretty quickly. Luka and Rolo go to investigate some strange lights at what is supposed to be an abandoned fertilizer factory at the end of town, but what they find there kicks off the discovery of a conspiracy full of intrigue, fraud, and murder
- However, it isn't all tense. Beacon Pines has some incredibly soulful moments that run the gamut from heartwarming to heartbreaking. It's just nice to play a game that makes you feel something, you know?
- The vibes are those of a YA novel. Beacon Pines feels like a book I would have read as a kid
Playability & Replayability
- The central conceit of Beacon Pines involves the narrator/author trying out different potential narrative arcs for the story of the town, focusing on Luka's perspective
- As you make your way through the story, you'll eventually come upon different "charms". Charms are key words that you can insert at pivotal points in the story to change the narrative path you're currently headed down. Sometimes, you'll have multiple charms to choose from. Other times, you may find yourself railroaded into a certain path since you only have one appropriate charm
- You can pause the game and return to a narrative choice at any point. This is important since you will sometimes have to follow a narrative path for several chapters before finding a charm necessary for making the correct choice in a decision that took place much earlier in the story
- The end result is a compelling mystery adventure game with an interesting set of narrative branches. If you want to understand the full plot and see some of the funnier and more absurd scenes, you'll need to head down every path and try out every charm you can
- Because I explored the whole game on my first playthrough, it'll be a while before I feel like a replay. It's a good story, so I may be back some years down the road
Overall Impressions & Performance
- I was a little unwilling to pull this off my backlog initially. I've been playing a lot of adventure games lately and I wasn't totally onboard with the character designs. But in the end, I was quite pleased and surprised by Beacon Pines
- The game ran perfectly on the Steam Deck
Final Verdict
- 8.5/10. Just an all-around good game with loads of polish. Great mystery, great characters, and great presentation all blend together to make Beacon Pines a game I'd be happy to recommend to anyone who loves short, story-first titles