There’s something strange happening in Beacon Pines. Not in the town itself. No. Just past Ms. Novak’s Book Shop, which usually doesn’t open before lunch, Nuncreed’s Drugstore, and the Beacon Pines Reborn initiative’s latest addition to the town (a new phone booth) lies the Weep Wood. Normally, a fairly uneventful place, but lately a young boy has been sniffing around and has seen the old warehouse deep in the Weep Woods lighting up. That old warehouse has been empty for some time so this was unusual indeed. That young boy’s name is Rolo. Rolo is a bit of a troublemaker but more importantly, he’s best friends with a young boy with a special gift named Luka VanHorn. When curiosity gets the better of Luka and Rolo, the quiet town of Beacon Pines gets a little more interesting.
I love a good small-town mystery and Beacon Pines is a very small town. Most importantly, it has a mystery in the demo that’s not really explained and is quite intriguing. The rub here is that Luka and Rolo head up to the old warehouse and there’s someone in a hazmat suit glitching around and doing stuff inside. More importantly, though, Beacon Pines knows there’s more than one way to skin a cat. Possibly literally because all the characters are anthropomorphic animals. But also figuratively because as you play the game you’ll be collecting charms which will affect what the game calls Turning Points. Charms are nouns, verbs, and adjectives that you can collect (all looking like a charm ornament with a beautiful drawing inside) that you will choose during a Turning Point. Turning Points are points in the story where the game asks you how you want the story to proceed and you must use a charm to progress. Luckily, you’re not locked to a linear progression as you can collect new charms later in the story and use The Chronicle to go back to earlier Turning Points and change your answer. In doing so, things can play out similarly or differently depending on the charm.
In the demo, one decision that made a vast difference in how the game played out was simply dealing with Rolo’s sister who wanted Rolo to head back home to do chores. When first dealing with her I only had one charm to choose and that resulted in Rolo going back home. So I went to the old warehouse alone and hit an end-state with the charms I had. However, I collected a charm along the way that allowed me to change that decision to bring Rolo along. I was impressed. Up until that point, the language was just bluster and boastfulness about how great the system was without any real material. There are a few points I was able to change that didn’t get the immediate results I was looking for but paid off later down the line. In fact, that primary decision completely changes how the next chapter plays out. I’m impressed.
Beacon Pines’s narrative plays out well through the use of art and presentation. The worldbuilding accomplished by these small diorama-like set pieces. Artistically, Beacon Pines is stunning and I feel like this is one game I simply cannot do justice with words to describe how gorgeous each screen looks. Obviously, the screenshots will help but to see it in action, characters all look like they belong in the world so well if not paying attention you could simply lose the protagonist. Animations are fluid and equally gorgeous. Unfortunately, as a result, some things simply aren’t animated. When a character makes a complicated gesture or simply does something, some of the time the narrator of the story will simply tell you what happens rather than show you using the visual medium. While this is okay sparingly, I wonder what else will simply show up as text rather than shown to me as I take in this incredibly beautiful world.
I have very few complaints about Beacon Pines and am highly anticipating its release. The artistic display and skill shown throughout this demo fills me with intrigue. Not only am I anticipating a well-told story but also which of the paths I can unlock to see where Luka and Rolo take us.
Beacon Pines is part of our LudoNarraCon 2021 coverage and has no planned release date as of the posting of this article but plans on coming to Steam and Nintendo Switch.
