Beacon Pines Game Review

I’m a total sucker for cool stories in video games, and Beacon Pines grabbed me because it looked like a choice-driven adventure. You explore this kinda run-down farming town and find “charms” — words you drop at certain points to change the story. The cool part is you can jump back and forth between these moments anytime to try different choices and see what happens.

But honestly, Beacon Pines isn’t really about choices like I thought. Instead, it’s this rare thing — a genuinely good story with solid writing and characters you actually care about. You play as Luka, a 12-year-old dealing with some tough stuff: his dad died mysteriously years ago, his mom’s missing now, and he lives with his distracted grandma. As you wander the town and chat with people, you learn the whole place has been struggling ever since a fertilizer company went bankrupt after “the Foul Harvest.” Now a new company, Perennial Harvest, run by the slick William Kerr, has moved in.

It hits all the classic small-town mystery vibes — a new kid Beck joins your group, jealousy happens, bullies show up, and things aren’t as innocent as they seem. It reminded me of Spielberg movies like ET or The Goonies, maybe Stranger Things too. Usually, that kind of familiar story would bore me (I dropped Stranger Things season two), but Beacon Pines pulls it off. The writing feels real — jokes land without being cheesy, and the characters’ feelings are believable. Luka, Rolo, and the others feel like real kids, which makes you care about them. Also, the story can get surprisingly intense but it’s never gross or super graphic. It’s got a cozy horror vibe — like a Disney XD show with animal kids, perfect for spooky fall nights.

The rewind feature lets you explore some wild and often sad story branches. When you hit a dead end, the sentient book narrating the story invites you to jump to another branch, so nothing’s lost. But here’s the thing — it’s you switching timelines, not Luka. So you know things he doesn’t, but the game doesn’t really use that for extra tension.

You pick charms to drop next, but you don’t have as much control as it seems. There aren’t many charms, each can only be used once, and you have no idea what effect they’ll have. Sometimes it’s a tiny choice like whether it rains or not, other times if Beck acts strange or tickles bullies. The results are unpredictable.

About three hours in, I realized — oh man, they got me playing a visual novel. But honestly, I’m glad they did. Even with the familiar tropes, the story, art, and music are great, and I actually miss the characters now that it’s over.

If you like this review and want to see more, you can click here.  My snapchat is Cara_lynn97. Twitter and Instagram are the same. I stream on twitch multiple days a week! Be sure to follow me to see the live playthroughs of games and anything else I might do and post online.