Beacon Pines
Beacon Pines
Sorti le 22 septembre 2022, Beacon Pines est une aventure narrative de type visual novel développée par le studio indépendant Hiding Spot Games et éditée par Fellow Traveller. Le titre est disponible sur PC (Microsoft Windows), Nintendo Switch, Xbox One et Xbox Series X|S, propulsé par le moteur Unity, et proposé au tarif de 19,50 euros.
Le jeu place le joueur dans la peau de Luka, un jeune garçon confronté à d'étranges événements dans la ville de Beacon Pines durant l'été. La particularité de l'expérience réside dans sa structure métafictionnelle : on incarne à la fois le lecteur d'un livre magique et son protagoniste principal. L'exploration de la ville permet de collecter des « amulettes » gravées de mots, qui s'utilisent à des moments charnières via la « Chronique », une arborescence interactive représentant les embranchements de l'intrigue. Remplacer un mot manquant modifie radicalement la suite du récit, obligeant à naviguer entre les différentes branches pour débloquer de nouveaux termes et percer les mystères de l'entrepôt abandonné.
L'ambiance oscille entre le mignon et l'angoissant, mêlant une esthétique soignée à des thématiques surprenamment sombres. La durée de vie pour l'histoire principale est estimée à environ cinq heures et demie, tandis qu'une complétion totale demande près de six heures et demie.
Côté réception, le titre bénéficie de notes agrégées solides, avec 83 sur Metacritic, 81 sur OpenCritic et une moyenne de 82,35. La presse a salué la profondeur de l'œuvre, GameCritics estimant que l'étiquette « aventure estivale mignonne et effrayante » ne rend pas justice à sa richesse, tandis que Screen Rant a loué des systèmes ingénieux qui enrichissent personnages, univers et narration, notant sa disponibilité day-one sur le Xbox Game Pass. Du côté des joueurs, les retours mettent en avant l'équilibre réussi entre charme et gravité, la qualité du doublage du narrateur, un scénario engageant aux accents anticapitalistes et un concept jugé très malin.
Médias
Avis des critiques et joueurs
Critiques de la Presse (Metacritic)
« While it might be listed as a cute and creepy summer adventure in a PR blast, that doesn’t begin to scratch the surface of what it truly offers. Rather, it’s wonderful coming-of-age story about a young boy still grieving, creating powerful friendships, and finding his “true” happy ending. »
« Beacon Pines is a fantastic game with clever systems that enrich its characters, world, and masterful storytelling. With a day-one release on Xbox Game Pass, this is a must-play for fans of narrative-focused games and leaves one excited about what Hiding Spot Games will make next. »
« As a straight story of Stranger Things meets Sylvanians, Beacon Pines is written beautifully, drawn evocatively, and compelling to play. But as a deconstruction of narrative that lets you rebuild your own story from the pieces, it’s stellar, captivating stuff. An unfettered joy from start to finish. »
« Beacon Pines is easily one of the top ten games I’ve played this year and one of the first recommendations I’d give to players looking for something quick but layered. With a lovely art style, cozy setting, exceptional character development, and an edge-of-your-seat story, Beacon Pines is a unique blend of sweet and sinister that proves difficult to put down — in fact, I couldn’t stop myself from playing it from start to finish in one go! If you’re looking for something charmingly cute yet deceptively dark with a clever mechanic and rich world, Beacon Pines invites you to solve its many mysteries and find the true end to this troubled tale. »
« If you like adventure games or just want to enjoy an interesting, well-written story with a pleasingly dark vibe, Beacon Pines will serve you well. It’s a thoroughly engrossing tale that pulls you in further the more you play it. Perhaps a little too substantial to explore in a single session, but you’ll likely find yourself wanting to see it all the way through in one go. Add in a superb presentation with gorgeous visuals and excellent narration, and you’ve got a winner. »
« Beacon Pines is a well-thought-out and adorable little mystery narrative game that is a perfect way to relax and unravel an ever-changing story that you control. »
« Beacon Pines is an incredibly neat narrative adventure game that feels unique in terms of its mechanics. The story and mystery presented in the game’s world feel fun to discover, and the drastic differences noticed while going back and forth between different branches will likely be enough to keep your attention for the game’s 6 to 7-hour runtime. I especially enjoyed the game’s narrator, as she gives a delightfully enthusiastic (if not cheesy) performance throughout. If you want a complicated story with a simple delivery method, and a fun way of branching around, Beacon Pines is definitely a game to give a try. »
« Beacon Pines is an adventure that takes shape before the player's eyes, but the gameplay feels so much limited because of the narrative. Despite that, it tries to tell a meaningful arc that overshadows its shortcomings by delivering a coming-of-age story in which it is worth diving. »
Avis des Joueurs (Metacritic)
« Beacon Pines does a great job of balancing a cute and charming atmosphere with surprisingly serious and even slightly dark moments. It manages to switch between wholesome, funny, and unsettling without ever feeling out of **** story kept me intrigued from beginning to end, and I really liked the lovely art style. My favorite mechanic was unlocking new words throughout the adventure and using them to rewrite the story and explore different outcomes. It's a clever idea that makes experimenting with different paths genuinely fun.A charming little narrative adventure that deserves far more attention than it gets. »
« Details were A1, story was really engaging, anti-capitalist narrative clever, characters endearing, concept really smart, we end up being a character since we have info that characters don't. »
« It is not for someone looking for adventure, but the style, story, and mechanics (in terms of the branching, choose-your-own-adventure) of the game are solid. Moving around is a bit tedious at times (having the option to run or sprint would've been great, though there's enough in each 'scene' to explore), there could've been more "cut scenes" wrt Luka's dreams (as one reviewer pointed out), and I thought there could've been more to click on rather than just (mostly) people, but overall it's a very fun, engaging little game that's executed exceptionally well. »
« Heartwarming graphic adventure with charming Art style and Relatable characters, a bit short and the third art feels a little rushed still a great game if you like this genre, totally recommended. »
« Decent short visual novel mystery. Had some strange unexplained plot holes that are glazed over a bit too casually for my liking. Was still cozy and cute enough game to finish in an afternoon. There initially is a expectation that this would be a game you would have some choices to make, you don't. It's very much a corridor and the 'choices' are few and forced to do in a very specific way making this more like a book then a game. Not a huge complaint but wish it played around with the concept a bit more as it's escalate this game from good to amazing. »
« A surprisingly charming game, i enjoyed the narrators voice acting and cute graphics. While the story is nothing mind blowing this is a nice game for a family with children and was perfect for the Gamepass. »
« Great artwork, music, and story. Nothing else to say other than to tell you to play it. »
« Easily one of my favorite games of all time. Everything about it is perfect to me. It has a fun structure with the storybook frame and the various words/charms to impact the story. These characters are fleshed out and nuanced – my opinions on several people changed completely as I played. The art style is literally my favorite I've ever seen. Definitely cried. I know I'm gushing, but this is honestly such a great game and worth a play! »
