Beacon Pines Reviews
A cute adventure game with a great art style and intriguing story. Sadly, its gameplay is a little lacking.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Beacon Pines is an inspiring adventure that manages to show an emotional narrative and entice the player with its plot. With a charming 2D ambientation, the title offers a good experience of its genre, though it ends up not exploring its main mechanics as well as it could.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Sometimes less is most definitely more and Beacon Pines is a magnificent example of how much more. Keeping gameplay simple and letting the story lead the way, it has a way of thoroughly enveloping the player without even realising it. You’ll be compelled to find every little nuance, every aspect of what makes the leading trio who they are. Every facet of a great conspiracy. A glorious Gold Award for the not-so-sleepy town of Beacon Pines and its branching, all-encompassing tale!
Beacon Pines is an unexpected horror-filled romp – one that’ll keep you locked in suspense for as long as loveable protagonist Luka is in danger. Keep your mind on the branching paths, and eventually you’ll discover a way out of this strange, body horror-infused nightmare. But be wary – the paths off the beaten tracks will stay with you long after the game is over.
With strong presentation and art, for the most part, and an autumnal young adult mystery, Beacon Pines stands out, bringing new ideas to branching narrative gaming while not quite making the landing.
Beacon Pines offers a quirky gameplay hook, pleasing art style, and an unexpected mystery, but that might not win over more than a select group.
Beacon Pines effectively creates an uneasy atmosphere through contrast. The branching story helps build the exposition as you peer into the lives of the other townspeople. It's a simple game that is on the shorter side with a few seemingly unnecessary features, but all loose ends are wrapped up by the end, leaving an enjoyable story that doesn't overstay its welcome.
Beacon Pines is a cozy and fun game with perfect comic-style graphics and an addicting story. The perfect adventure for those who love dark atmospheres but don't like to get too scared.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Beacon Pines is an experience that will have its players cross a fairy tale and find words that will cause shifts to the events on the plot. With less emphasis on action and more on narrative discovery, Beacon Pines treats its players to a charming visual world and an exquisite soundtrack, while its environment flows between an adorable kid-friendly world to something more disturbing and menacing, and the game does all this naturally. One of the best indie gems to make its way to the Nintendo Switch catalogue.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Beacon Pines is a delightfully spooky, creepy game that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the credits roll. The artwork is gorgeous to look at and Luka is an adorable deer that I got pretty attached to by the end, as I’m sure you will.
In many ways Beacon Pines is a fairly standard adventure game but the great emotive writing and specifically the branching narratives exploration do make it feel quite different from other games of this style. Being able to go back and undo any decision and choose differently, and then play through that path before jumping back to the old one can lead to interesting developments, such as meeting certain characters earlier, or learning information which while you as a player know, Luka and his friends experiencing this linearly do not. There are minimal traditional puzzles and most of the game involves talking to the right characters, but there is certainly plenty of atmosphere and personality in every part of the game. Beacon Pines is a lovely way to spend some hours in the company of some charming characters and a nicely emotional sequence of branching narratives.
This is a splendid creation, superbly written, with spellbinding art, and a unique approach to telling a story. It’s also a fascinating exploration of grief, loss, and more than anything else, how we react to change. That and secret underground organizations and their evil plans to control towns through fertilizer production.
A cute and creepy adventure game about three young friends exploring a small town and uncovering the secrets that lie beneath its surface.