Beacon Pines Reviews
Beacon Pines is easily one of the top ten games I’ve played this year and one of the first recommendations I’d give to players looking for something quick but layered. With a lovely art style, cozy setting, exceptional character development, and an edge-of-your-seat story, Beacon Pines is a unique blend of sweet and sinister that proves difficult to put down — in fact, I couldn’t stop myself from playing it from start to finish in one go! If you’re looking for something charmingly cute yet deceptively dark with a clever mechanic and rich world, Beacon Pines invites you to solve its many mysteries and find the true end to this troubled tale.
As a straight story of Stranger Things meets Sylvanians, Beacon Pines is written beautifully, drawn evocatively, and compelling to play. But as a deconstruction of narrative that lets you rebuild your own story from the pieces, it’s stellar, captivating stuff. An unfettered joy from start to finish.
Beacon Pines is a game worth recommending to anyone who enjoys narrative games, especially ones that aren’t too long, as this one is about 5-6 hours. Do not expect to be challenged in any real way because this game isn’t about that, but instead explore a town filled with charming anthropomorphic animal characters while relishing in the dramatic irony inherent in altering time and trying out new paths. It's a narrative, time-bending adventure with the cutest little characters ever.
Beacon Pines is a title that I will find myself recommending to people with as little context as possible – a gorgeous and charming example of unique storytelling that simply must be experienced blindly to fully appreciate its cute and quirky tale of curious conspiracy.
Readers may notice the lack of story details in this review, and it's for good reason. The risk of spoiling parts of the story is high because it takes twists and turns the moment it begins, and the best to experience this story is going in completely blind. Overall, Beacon Pines is a fantastic game with clever systems that enrich its characters, world, and masterful storytelling. With a day-one release on Xbox Game Pass, this is a must-play for fans of narrative-focused games and leaves one excited about what Hiding Spot Games will make next.
I’ll admit, I’m a bit of a softy when it comes to good stories, but I’ve still played quite a few games and seen enough narratives of all kinds to think it’s hard to floor me these days. Or so I thought, anyway. I’m not sure if I was caught off guard or if Beacon Pines really is just that good. It’s pretty easy to see that its art and music are both top notch. Ultimately, this is also a story good enough that I’d love more people to see it so I can talk to them about it. It might not be the longest game, and the thrill of the exploration may bottleneck a bit at the end, but the changing course, different routes, and ultimate ending of Beacon Pines are still more than worth exploring for any fan of narrative adventure.
I completely enjoyed Beacon Pines: It's one of those games I cannot get enough of. Its fascinating story and narration make it one of my favourites 2022.
Review in German | Read full review
It’s a feeling that can only come from this particular idea playing out as a video game, to be something that combines the best elements of a choose-your-own-adventure book, a 1980s coming of age movie and the moment-to-moment tension of Oxenfree. I cannot and will not stop praising this game, and I earnestly believe this is one of my favorite gaming moments in the past decade. Thank you.
Beacon Pines is a memorable narrative adventure game, with beautiful artworks, an excellent narration, and innovative narrative and gameplay designs that pushes the genre forward.
A cute and creepy adventure game about three young friends exploring a small town and uncovering the secrets that lie beneath its surface.
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.
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.
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.