Based on the few negative reviews of this game verses the positive ones, there seems to be one determining factor as to whether you like this Beacon Pines, so I'll just lay it out up front:

This is a visual novel that has one true ending. It is a "choose your own adventure" type story, but it is one that intentionally winds you through a bunch of bad endings on the way to the "correct" one. Your choices do not actually impact the ultimate conclusion of the game, but they will lead you through a variety of alternative universes where the fate of the characters was very different based on what decisions are made at key moments, but then it will rewind back to that determining moment, and have you choose again. So while your choices don't impact the conclusion of the game, they still impact your experience with it.

For me, the design of this was a massive positive and not a downside. Normally with "choose your own adventure" type stories, I feel compelled to play the game a bunch of times to see all possible endings. I loved the novel way that this game intentionally allows you to discover these organically along the way, so in a normal playthru you will see many or most of the possible endings. Additionally, makes it easy to change course when desired, whether because your choice was bad or just curiosity. If you do make a definite "wrong" choice, you find out almost immediately without wasting a lot of hours moving ahead in the story only to find out that a choice you made ages ago set the tale down the wrong path, and it puts you right back to that critical moment to choose again. I loved that by the time I finished the real story, I had only missed one single alternative outcome, and that in a few clicks and a few seconds, I was seeing what happened with that selection. Literally the only downside of this arrangement is that the game doesn't have any replayability unless you're going back for any missed achievements.

The characters are very endearing, the music is good, the art is beautiful, and I was surprised that what was supposed to be a casual mystery game had a lot of feels. The characters are not voice acted, but the narrator of the story is, and I thought it was very well done. Several parts of dialogue were laugh out loud funny, and I took a number of screenshots of things that amused or resonated with me. People have called the game juvenile, and it's true the characters are all kids and some of the jokes are a little silly, but I'm an old lady and I thought the story was cozy and sweet.

The only negative thing I can possibly say about this game is that there was a couple loose ends at final ending of the game that I expected to be wrapped up and addressed because the world had allowed the potential to do that. However, instead it choose not to, and to leave those things unresolved even though the story had implied a resolution was possible. I thought it was a little weird, but it did not change my overall feelings on the game at all. I enjoyed my time in Beacon Pines with Luka, Rolo, Beck, and the delightful cast of townies. (Shoutout to Dawn, the adorable bat who stole my heart, despite being a minor character).

This game is definitely worth the hours you'll spend in it -- I believe it took me just under nine -- so don't hesitate, especially if you can catch it on sale. If you like story games, visual novels, or walking simulators, definitely this is one to check out. It's the kind of game I played a little of each night before bed when most people would be watching tv shows or doomscrolling on their phones, and I feel it was infinitely better time spent for me.