Game: Beacon Pines
Genre: Adventure, Indie
System: Steam (also available on Nintendo Switch & Xbox)
Developers | Publishers: Fellow Traveller | Hiding Spot Games
Controller Support: Full
Price: US $TBC | UK £TBC | EU € TBC
Release Date: September 22nd, 2022
Review code used, with many thanks to Hiding Spot Games.
If you are a frequent visitor to LadiesGamers, you may remember we previewed the demo of Beacon Pines last year. Now it’s time for a review of the game for its release.
Welcome to Beacon Pines
Beacon Pines is a creepy, mystery adventure with cute animal characters. You play as Luka, a deer whose father died when he was young, and his mother recently went missing (some have presumed her dead).
His strict grandma moves in and slightly impacts Luka’s misadventures with his best friend, Rolo, during the school summer holidays. But grandma’s rules and curfews don’t entirely stop Luka from venturing out and getting up to mischief.
Something Weird is Afoot
Not all is well in Beacon Pines; something weird is happening at the old warehouse. But, being curious boys, Luka and his best friend seems to be the only ones taking notice. So they decide to sneak out late at night and investigate.
The storyline is initially told from the narrator’s perspective, and then it is intertwined with Luka’s when you take control of him.
Collect Charms
Instead of collecting items in traditional adventure game fashion, you’ll collect unique golden Charms (words) by exploring the town and having conversations. Charms are often a verb with an associated image. For example, words like chill, hide, ponder and more. The charms you have collected are stored in The Chronicle, which you can check at any time.
When prompted during a turning point in the storyline, you must select from the available charms, thus deciding the path Luka should take. Using the charms and adding them to the storyline works pretty well. I liked that I could direct the storyline most time.
Change the Story
However, inserting a charm into the story can also have a slight drawback. For example, if you haven’t found a particular charm on your progress in the game, you are sometimes only given one charm to choose from at a crucial point.
This means you will have to backtrack in the story to find the missing charm and re-watch the same cutscenes again, maybe even more than once, which I didn’t enjoy much.
The story itself is exciting and kept me gripped until the end; it is an enjoyable adventure, though it did take a while to grow on me. The interaction between Luka and the rest of the cast is fun with, at times, some humour.
Though the game is peppered with the odd swear word, and like the darker storyline, which can get tense and spooky, the game would not be suitable for the very young.
Visuals and Controls
Visually the stunning storybook dioramas look as if they have been popped out of a best-selling picture book. The game has some beautiful scenes, especially when changing to the storybook. The music and sound effects fit perfectly with the subject of the game.
I’m happy to tell you that controlling the game all performs as it should for those who like to use a controller on a PC. Of course, you also have the option of keyboard and mouse controls if that’s what you prefer.
Conclusion
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.
Final Verdict: I Like it a Lot 