Get Into Trouble With Rolo.
I played Beacon Pines! I doubt I'll get fannishly into it, but it's a cute game, and it's clear that a lot of love went into the visual and sound design.
'What's this furry game you're playing?' Ginger asked, glancing over and seeing animals on the screen. They were taken aback when Kerr appeared a moment later: 'Oh, wow, it actually is a furry game.'
The concept is that you're playing through a storybook, and at points in the story you can change what happens by changing certain words in the book. By going down different story paths, you can discover new words, and then you can jump back to previous points and try out those words there.
One thing that struck me is that Beacon Pines might be a good choice for someone just starting out with videogames. It's not too long, it doesn't demand quick reflexes or camera control, and items or people you can interact with are clearly indicated when you get close. I'm not necessarily the best person to judge, as I've played games for a very long time, but I think this one is probably very easy to grasp.
A few scattered thoughts:
- My favourite characters were probably Beck (enjoyably bold and smart and sarcastic), Augustus (incredibly minor and I can't explain why I liked him so much, but I found myself strangely fond of this miserable downtrodden mayor), and Iggy. Obviously I liked Terrible Kid Iggy. I loved the timeline where he and Luka ended up stuck together, huddling for warmth and reluctantly getting to know each other.
- I also enjoyed the scene where Beck and Luka were yelling their grievances into the storm. This was a part of the game where the sound design particularly struck me: the sound of the rain and thunder over the music after Luka opens the window, the way the music becomes more intense as the emotions of the scene do.
- I laughed aloud when I got the word 'shit' and realised I could slot it into the phrase 'be a little ____' to make Luka be a little shit.
- I'm really curious about what happens to the characters trapped in timelines the narrator abandoned. Without her narration, does it become impossible to perceive the world?
- If Beck spikes Solomon's potion with ash or whisky, Solomon dies in front of them. I'd have liked it if the kids had been a bit more horrified by this, rather than cracking jokes. Beck didn't know she was going to kill him; surely it's a little disconcerting to see him turn into ash or explode?
- I was expecting Rolo to get changed back into a kid, and I'm sort of impressed that the game actually stuck with the consequences! Poor Rolo just remains a twelve-year-old trapped in an adult's body. That's definitely got to mess with your psychological development.
Beacon Pines wasn't life-changing, but I enjoyed my time with it and, if the hinted-at sequel actually manifests, I'm planning to pick it up. It's worth checking out if you enjoy story-and-character-focused, light-on-gameplay mystery titles like Night in the Woods or Oxenfree.
'What's this furry game you're playing?' Ginger asked, glancing over and seeing animals on the screen. They were taken aback when Kerr appeared a moment later: 'Oh, wow, it actually is a furry game.'
The concept is that you're playing through a storybook, and at points in the story you can change what happens by changing certain words in the book. By going down different story paths, you can discover new words, and then you can jump back to previous points and try out those words there.
One thing that struck me is that Beacon Pines might be a good choice for someone just starting out with videogames. It's not too long, it doesn't demand quick reflexes or camera control, and items or people you can interact with are clearly indicated when you get close. I'm not necessarily the best person to judge, as I've played games for a very long time, but I think this one is probably very easy to grasp.
A few scattered thoughts:
- My favourite characters were probably Beck (enjoyably bold and smart and sarcastic), Augustus (incredibly minor and I can't explain why I liked him so much, but I found myself strangely fond of this miserable downtrodden mayor), and Iggy. Obviously I liked Terrible Kid Iggy. I loved the timeline where he and Luka ended up stuck together, huddling for warmth and reluctantly getting to know each other.
- I also enjoyed the scene where Beck and Luka were yelling their grievances into the storm. This was a part of the game where the sound design particularly struck me: the sound of the rain and thunder over the music after Luka opens the window, the way the music becomes more intense as the emotions of the scene do.
- I laughed aloud when I got the word 'shit' and realised I could slot it into the phrase 'be a little ____' to make Luka be a little shit.
- I'm really curious about what happens to the characters trapped in timelines the narrator abandoned. Without her narration, does it become impossible to perceive the world?
- If Beck spikes Solomon's potion with ash or whisky, Solomon dies in front of them. I'd have liked it if the kids had been a bit more horrified by this, rather than cracking jokes. Beck didn't know she was going to kill him; surely it's a little disconcerting to see him turn into ash or explode?
- I was expecting Rolo to get changed back into a kid, and I'm sort of impressed that the game actually stuck with the consequences! Poor Rolo just remains a twelve-year-old trapped in an adult's body. That's definitely got to mess with your psychological development.
Beacon Pines wasn't life-changing, but I enjoyed my time with it and, if the hinted-at sequel actually manifests, I'm planning to pick it up. It's worth checking out if you enjoy story-and-character-focused, light-on-gameplay mystery titles like Night in the Woods or Oxenfree.