Beacon Pines
by Aethyna
Sep 22, 2022 |
1
Votes |
80
Played |
0
Reviews
10
rate
Genres:
AdventureGraphics:
2DLabels:
Adventure , Animals , Kid Safe , StorytellingPlatforms:
Publishers:
Fellow Traveller Featuring a cool storybook design, Beacon Pines is a narrative adventure game where you play as a young deer, Luka VanHorn, as he embarks on his greatest adventure yet with his friend, Rolo, as their investigation of a supposedly-closed factory turned into a race to save their town and its people from certain doom. Play Now Similar Games Played
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Summary
Featuring a cool storybook design, Beacon Pines is a narrative adventure game where you play as a young deer, Luka VanHorn, as he embarks on his greatest adventure yet with his friend, Rolo, as their investigation of a supposedly-closed fertilizer factory turned into a race to save kidnapped friends as well as their town and its people from certain doom. Discover Charms by exploring and interacting with characters and items, and then use them at the Chronicle to divert the storyline to a new branch all in the name of finding the best ending.
Plotline
In this game, you play as Luka VanHorn, a young deer who lives in a small town called Beacon Pines. His best friend is Rolo and they often be up to no good, though not in a malicious way but rather more inquisitive and adventure-seeking, whenever summer comes around. However, this summer is somewhat more... momentous.
You see, Beacon Pines was previously a thriving, farming-based town where one of the best fertilizers, Valentine’s Fertilizers, were produced. Well, it’s actually the other around – the town grew around the fertilizer company. The fertilizers were somehow be able to drastically shorten the growing times of crops, essentially giving them a growth spurt, which meant faster crop growing and higher harvest yields every year.
For a farming community, this meant assured prosperity year after year, and naturally, the town began to really grow.
However, it does seem like things that are too good to be true are indeed too good to be true. During one harvest season, the crops started dying, resulting in the “Foul Harvest”, and the fertilizers and the factory that produces them were to blame. The factory was shut down and the entire Valentine family was shunned, despite them still retaining some amount of influence.
The Founder of Beacon Pines, Sharper Valentine, mysterious died as well, leaving his two children to pick up the pieces. This is also the time where Luka’s dad died.
The people of Beacon Pines haven’t been able to really recover from the Foul Harvest since. However, one day, another fertilizer company rolled into town, the Perennial Harvest, led by the charismatic William Kerr.
Not everyone is taken to Mr. Kerr and his promises, however, and Luka’s mum is one of them. Unfortunately, due to unknown reasons, she seems to have vanished one day, leaving Luka all alone. Thankfully, a few days after, Luka’s estranged grandmother moved in to help take care of him.
Now, during this summer, Rolo noticed strange happenings at the supposedly-closed Valentine’s Fertilizer factory and wanted to investigate. Being his best friend, he naturally invited you along. Without spoiling too much of the story here, needless to say, they are about to embark on their greatest and most epic of adventures yet where the very fate of Beacon Pines and its residents lies in your hands!
Gameplay
Beacon Pines is, as evident right from the start, a story in a storybook that you’ll be reading, but this storybook is quite unique. For starters, it’s narrated by a narrator with a soothing voice, who has plenty of quips to add either to the story or to the dialogues and observations of the characters.
Instead of having a fixed ending like most storybooks do, it also allows you to alter the storyline by unlocking new story branches – literal branches on the “tree” known as the Chronicle – with the use of special Charms. Charms are words that can change the path of a story, and you can find them either by exploring or by interacting with the people there.
Interestingly, not all Charms are used on the Chronicle. You see, in this game, Luka will have a flashback whenever he touches the fishing chair that his dad left by the lake. Every time he’s free, he will bring Luka to the lake to fish. However, what you get depends on the bait you use. Some of the Charms you find will end up here as bait for you to use to fish out various items – not fish! – with Luka’s dad explaining what each item signifies.
Fishing here is made into a fairly entertaining, albeit simplistic, mini-game. After choosing a bait, you’ll hurl it into the lake and wait for something to bite. Once you see splashes, start reeling in the line as soon as possible, but be careful! You’ll need to ease off if the line starts to glow red because it’ll snap if you continue to pull.
For achievement hunters, you’ll be delighted to know that there are several achievements that you can find off the beaten road and if you are inquisitive enough, getting all of them isn’t all that hard, especially if you’ve found every Charm and used all of them.
Graphics/ Sound
Beacon Pines features gorgeous visuals that are a blend of watercolor art and stylized style that is catching on as a popular style to use in games. The game also comes with some truly fantastic soundtracks that really immerse you into each scene as you experience it. However, the trophy has to go to the superb narration done by a real professional. She’s just perfect for the role and manages to add some humor and emotion into the words that appear on-screen.
Conclusion
Beacon Pines is, without a doubt, one of the best story-driven adventure games that we’ve had the honor of reviewing this year. The quality of writing and of the narration is nothing short of impressive, being able to completely draw the player into the world of Luka, Rolo, their many other friends, as well as the good people of Beacon Pines. Both the Chronicle and the Charms gave players a new and frankly, more convenient way of exploring story branches, to find the one true ending that the narrator (and you) is looking for.
So, if you love following the heartwarming adventures of inquisitive kids who ended up saving their town (or not, depending on which ending you decide to go with) from a devious villain and his evil corporation, Beacon Pines THE game to play! We can’t recommend this game enough!
Beacon Pines Blog
Beacon Pines is out today!
by Aethyna
Sep 23, 2022
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New Game Added: Beacon Pines
by Aethyna
Sep 22, 2022
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