Beautiful Desolation Reviews

Beautiful Desolation is ranked in the 40th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
7.8 / 10.0
May 24, 2019

Beautiful Desolation is one of those games that has a lot of strong points, but has a few significant drawbacks that keep the experience in check, so to speak. Still, despite its few drawbacks, I found myself hooked on the game after the first half hour and I had to see it through, not unlike the captivating experience that a good page-turning book can do for you. Plus, at only $20, you really can’t go wrong here if you’re looking for a solid sci-fi adventure with gorgeous visuals.

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Feb 26, 2020

Considering its low price point, Beautiful Desolation delivers a big adventure with lots of depth to the wild story and fascinating world.

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ACG
Top Critic
Buy
Feb 26, 2020
BEAUTIFUL DESOLATION Review "Buy, Wait For Sale, Rent, Never Touch?" video thumbnail
Feb 26, 2020

BEAUTIFUL DESOLATION offers a weird, and wonderful future of Earth to explore where you can make your mark. The journey is just as exciting and fantastic as the destination. There’s a unique world and game here that’s never been seen before, and THE BROTHERHOOD made sure of that. There’s nothing quite like BEAUTIFUL DESOLATION; it’s an experience you won’t soon forget, and is one of the finest adventure games I’ve ever played.

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8 / 10.0
Feb 27, 2020

Beautiful Desolation is an old-school 2D isometric adventure, but like Stasis it's the story the true focus.

Review in Italian | Read full review

7 / 10.0
Mar 8, 2020

Beautiful Desolation is not a perfect game by all means. But damn, its atmospheric world and crazy, grotesque citizens are stealing the show, forcing you to beat the game just to see how many strange creatures you can meet along the way.

Review in Russian | Read full review

KeenGamer
Nima Dabirian
Top Critic
7 / 10.0
Mar 9, 2020

Beautiful Desolation is a 2D isometric point and click adventure set in a post-apocalyptic future. Developed and published by The Brotherhood games, Beautiful Desolation provides a unique story and world design for the fans of the genre. Follow the adventures of Mike Leslie and his companions, to figure out what's going on with the future they have found themselves in, and discover a way to go back.

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9.5 / 10.0
Mar 17, 2020

Beautiful Desolation is an essential entry in the Adventure Game genre and should not be missed. Gorgeous visuals, and evocative sound design compliment an exceptional sci-fi story filled with mystery, pathos, and good old-fashioned adventuring with some modern flair.

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70%
Mar 26, 2020

Beautiful Desolation is a good looking atmospheric game packed with ideas that sometimes suffers from almost trivial gameplay and sometimes from high level of challenge. It's evident a lot of work went into the title, but it required a firmer editorial hand that would smooth out the rough edges.

Review in Slovak | Read full review

5 / 10
May 28, 2021

Beautiful Desolation may have some gorgeous pre-rendered backgrounds, but its impenetrable plot, two-dimensional characters, maddening indirect quests, and cryptic puzzles make it very hard to recommend to anyone but diehard fans of obtuse point-and-click adventures.

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70 / 100
May 28, 2021

BEAUTIFUL DESOLATION brings us a new classic graphic adventure, but this time with a touch of another genre that will give us variety. With certain aspects that could have been better adjusted, it is, however, a good option for lovers of the genre who want to enjoy it in its version for Nintendo Switch.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

6 / 10.0
May 28, 2021

Regrettably, the Switch port just isn't up to par. Between long loading and controls that border on unusable, playing it is ultimately frustrating. While I appreciate the effort to adapt from PC to console, in this instance the change just doesn't work with the existing structure.

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7.5 / 10.0
May 28, 2021

Though a clunky UI and collection of surplus mini-games detract from Beautiful Desolation's evocative setting and characters, this is nonetheless one of the more interesting point and click adventures to come along for a good while. Not least thanks to its superbly imaginative take on a post apocalyptic future where the lines between humanity, evolution and immortality are deeply blurred. Even for the most stalwart adventurer, Beautiful Desolation's narrative and fresh premise will find a way to delight and surprise in equal measure.

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5 / 10
May 28, 2021

I'm fairly sure that Beautiful Desolation is a decent game. This is a vast world clearly built with passion and with a keen attention to detail. Unfortunately, this console conversion is no way at all to experience The Brotherhood's latest. Awful pathfinding, so many invisible walls that if they were visible they could be seen from space, and clunky, unresponsive controls turn the fetch quest-heavy gameplay into a meandering slog.

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7 / 10.0
May 28, 2021

So overall, while it does a great job at telling the story of two brothers and their relationship for better or for worse which adds replayability to see how different decisions will impact it, Beautiful Desolation will not be for everyone. With some complex and often convoluted puzzles offering zero hints of how to proceed and often seemingly empty environments with nothing to do, it’s hard to recommend it to everyone, BUT, if you are a fan of well written narratives, cryptic puzzles, and some very well designed anything but human creatures, I wholeheartedly suggest taking a few cracks at this adventure and what it offers.

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6.4 / 10.0
May 28, 2021

First glances at the pre-rendered backgrounds and plain look and feel of Beautiful Desolation brought a bit of a thrilling feeling to me as a classic PC gamer, making me hope for the likes of classic Fallout or Wasteland...

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3.5 / 5.0
May 29, 2021

Beautiful Desolation looks incredible and the world is unlike any other, but the gameplay and bugs can often spoil the fun.

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70 / 100
May 29, 2021

Even with the game environment being so desolate, there is still something rather beautiful – and this isn’t about the visuals, but the overall charm of the game and its characters. When I first heard of Beautiful Desolation I had expected a guns-blazing adrenaline-pumping RPG that would involve a high level of stress, but instead, I was given struggling human characters trying to find a way home with actual useful dialogue and choices that made a difference. Sure there is a lot of exploring, backtracking, and crying about finding items (eventually leading to searching online for hints and walkthroughs), but through it all, it was a journey that was worth experiencing – especially on a television screen.

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8 / 10.0
May 29, 2021

By recovering and expanding stasis's game formula, Beautiful Desolation confirms The Brotherhood's talent for making point-and-click adventures that are appealing both narratively and aesthetically.

Review in Italian | Read full review

7 / 10.0
May 30, 2021

Beautiful Desolation raises a lot of questions but leaves the answers open for most of the time. It is an experience that makes you wonder about humanity and what the future will bring. It is fun only for those who are looking for deep-reaching experiences, that will stick with you long after you finished the game.

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