Xbox Game Pass is gearing up to add the adventure game Beacon Pines at launch – read what we thought of the game in our review!
One way Beacon Pines stands out is through its combination of “cute and creepy” themes. We’ve had another game this year that brings together “cute and creepy” elements – Cult of the Lamb – and both are excellent games, approaching this contrast in different ways. With Cult of the Lamb, we’ve got a warning about the creepiness – it’s a cult after all, and we know our adorable cult leader wouldn’t hesitate to blink his big Disney cartoon eyes in feigned innocence as he gleefully murdered his minions and destroying his enemies. Beacon Pines’ version of “cute and creepy” takes a different approach, and the initial cuteness lulls you into such a false sense of security that you’re even more floored when it turns out to be as crazy as it is. The “cute” part is there from the start – Beacon Pines surrounds you with the colorful landscapes of a charming rural town, and the images of each animal character look like something out of a fairy tale. The main character, Luka, is about to start his summer vacation with his best friend Rolo, and the couple plans the best way to start the vacation. You begin to relax, enchanted by the nostalgia of Beacon Pine’s childhood adventure, when – bam. What? Guard, what?! What just happened? What is happening?! All you can do is try to keep up as the Beacon Pines plot travels away at breakneck speed, with twists, turns, and heart palpitations, all mixed with a healthy dose of unease. There are hints of Stranger Things in the way the town of Beacon Pines suffers from this unease, and the way the light-hearted kiddie fun takes an eerie, sinister turn. The stories in Beacon Pines are great, and this is where one of the most important aspects of the game comes in: we play as both the main character of the story, Luka, and the reader of the book in which the story of Luka is told. The other important part of the game comes from the ability this duality gives us: as Luka we can explore the city and talk to the inhabitants to get charms; specific words that we as reader of the book can then use to change Luka’s story. This is all tracked in something called The Chronicle – a sort of story tree in the book that charts key turning points in the story. For example, at a turning point in Luka’s story, you’re pulled back to read the text of the book, and you’re shown a sentence that lacks a key word. Each charm we find represents a particular word that can be used at such turning points to complete the sentence and change the story, after which we dive back into the action. If and when we discover new charms, we can return to The Chronicle and revisit key decisions we’ve made to see how each new word can affect the story. This decision making starts slow enough, giving you time to learn this mechanic — for example, you can choose between “hide,” “chill,” or “think” when you tell your grandma what you and Rolo are up to. That choice may not have a big impact, but the plot quickly gains momentum and the turning points begin to offer drastic choices.
Beacon Pines has kept the details of the story pretty close to his chest, and it’s hard to say too much without getting into spoiler territory, especially since the story can differ in so many ways. Our character, Luka, has had quite a tragic past and now lives with his grandmother, and his best friend Rolo sees it as his duty to distract Luka with a summer where he sneaks out, dodges chores and spends time in their house. Treehouse. The town of Beacon Pines has fallen into disrepair since an accident involving the fertilizer factory of the town’s main family, the Valentines. When Rolo notices strange happenings in what should have been a deserted part of the city, the two are quickly drawn into a bizarre series of events full of secrets from the past and conspiracies about the future that seem to threaten the whole of the city. Beacon pines. The game does a good job of establishing the city as a peaceful place full of charming characters, but once you realize that something is wrong with Beacon Pines, you start to mistrust all these apparently friendly faces and become fully invested in finding them. of the truth. You’ll also want to try out all of the game’s different routes. Sometimes you will find that you only need to use one word on an important point; a word that obviously doesn’t fit the situation and won’t steer things the way you want them to go, meaning once you find a more appropriate word, you’ll rush back to that decision to try again.
Beacon Pines doesn’t play around – Luka and Rolo may be school kids, but the game makes it clear that they are no safer than anyone else, and this greatly increases the stress involved in making certain decisions. But there’s also an obvious vein of humor that runs through the game, and that keeps Beacon Pines charming even when it ventures into foreign territory. You’d expect that repeatedly switching between playing as Luka and reading his story would make the game feel disjointed, but it works surprisingly well and keeps you racing to see what happens next. The story covers a lot of ground, and one minor downside to this is that it can be tricky, closer to the end when everything starts, to remember which version you’re playing. This probably won’t be too much of a problem if you’re playing large parts of the game at once, but if you come back to it after a while, it can be harder to remember which character knows what in each version of the story. I’m still thinking about the different paths I’ve explored – I think I’m mostly happy with the way things turned out, but there were parts that felt a little too over the top; the story doesn’t have to be complicated or far-fetched when the more down-to-earth themes work so well.
You come to care for Luka and his town – although Rolo may be my favorite character – and this is due in no small part to the expressive narrator of the book’s text, who deftly brings out the humor or heartache in each scene. finds. Beacon Pines’ music also works well to build tension to keep you on the edge of your seat, and Beacon Pines’ size as a city means running back and forth between targets doesn’t really have the same frustrations. which usually provides backtracking. The achievements were not live at the time of writing this, but the achievements I unlocked seemed to be quite scattered. Some were tethered to the side of Beacon Pines, which focuses on childhood mischief — a tantalizing sign next to a giant watermelon that reads “don’t touch” naturally got me banging and kicking it with such enthusiasm that I unlocked an achievement. Others were certainly connected to the more melancholy, sinister side of the game. After completing the game, I still had access to my Chronicle story tree so I could review and recreate the decisions I’d made – this will probably come in handy when cleaning up any final achievements after the story is done.
Overview
Overall, I enjoyed my time at Beacon Pines. The eye-catching art style of the storybook grabs your attention, which is then held by the game’s fast-paced and exciting plot. There were times when this story felt too complicated in some areas, while in others it was a bit lacking in explanation, but it’s still an easy recommendation. Just don’t rely too much on its cute looks – Beacon Pines may start at the beginning of summer, but those creepy undertones make it a great contender to play in the lead up to Halloween.
* Heidi has spent about nine or ten hours walking through Beacon Pines on Xbox Series X.
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