Beautiful Desolation

 Switch
Metascore
66

Mixed or average reviews - based on 12 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 12
  3. Negative: 1 out of 12
  1. The Indie Game Website
    Jun 1, 2021
    80
    At its heart, Beautiful Desolation is also a thinly disguised series of fetch quests, where you’ll be asked to run errands in exchange for favours, usually by picking this piece of tech from far flung corners of the world. Invisible walls, too, add another layer of frustration to this janky experience. I am, however, willing to be hoodwinked into performing these busywork, if it means I can witness more of its broken, picturesque universe.
  2. Everyeye.it
    May 30, 2021
    80
    By recovering and expanding the game formula developed by Stasis, Beautiful Desolation confirms the talent of The Brotherhood in creating captivating point and click adventures both on the narrative front and on the aesthetic side.
  3. Cubed3
    Nov 29, 2021
    70
    This is not an RPG, but it is a highly creative and imaginative adventure game that has some spotty controls and overly cryptic puzzles.
  5. Universo Nintendo
    Aug 9, 2021
    70
    Beautiful Desolation is a fantastic journey to a post-apocalyptic South Africa where the amazing story and gorgeous atmosphere are hampered somewhat by performance and gameplay issues. Because of that, finishing the game will be a wonder and a relief at the same time.
  6. Vooks
    Jun 1, 2021
    70
    If you’re in the mood to hunker down with an interesting story, off-beat characters and a sci-fi adventure across time and space, Beautiful Desolation fits the bill nicely. Just be sure to have a second screen handy with an online guide to smooth out the journey.
  7. Impulsegamer
    Jun 1, 2021
    70
    Despite the pacing issues and various bugs, I still think Beautiful Desolation is worth your time. The world is impressively realised and absolutely stunning to behold. Whether you’re talking to the various faction leaders and engaging their twisted ideology or simply exploring the remnants of a bygone human age, immersing myself in the world of Beautiful Desolation was an absolute joy. With that being said, I highly recommend playing with a walkthrough at the ready. Nothing quite breaks the immersion like getting stuck on a frustrating quest.
  8. COGconnected
    Jun 1, 2021
    70
    Even with its environment being so desolate, there is still something rather beautiful – and this isn’t about the visuals, but the overall charm of the game and its characters. When I first heard of Beautiful Desolation I had expected a guns-blazing adrenaline-pumping RPG that would involve a high level of stress, but instead, I was given struggling human characters trying to find a way home with actual useful dialogue and choices that made a difference. Sure there is a lot of exploring, backtracking, and crying about finding items (eventually leading to searching online for hints and walkthroughs), but through it all, it was a journey that was worth experiencing – especially on a television screen.
  9. God is a Geek
    May 31, 2021
    70
    Beautiful Desolation is an enjoyable point and click adventure in a unique world, but the slow pace and obtusiveness may put some people off.
  10. Pure Nintendo
    Jun 28, 2021
    65
    Beautiful Desolation is a deep, intelligent, puzzle adventure presented with a unique isometric view. It’s an easy recommendation to sci-fi fans who prefer narrative over action, but the Switch is not the best way to explore this apocalyptic world.
  11. NintendoWorldReport
    May 28, 2021
    60
    Beautiful Desolation seems like the type of game that would play well on PC. The puzzles are well structured and the story engaging, barring some rough voice acting. Regrettably, the Switch port just isn’t up to par. Between long loading and controls that border on unusable, playing it is ultimately frustrating. While I appreciate the effort to adapt from PC to console, in this instance the change just doesn’t work with the existing structure.
  12. Finger Guns
    May 28, 2021
    50
    Beautiful Desolation may have some gorgeous pre-rendered backgrounds, but its impenetrable plot, two-dimensional characters, maddening indirect quests, and cryptic puzzles make it very hard to recommend to anyone but diehard fans of obtuse point-and-click adventures.
  13. Nintendo Life
    Jun 18, 2021
    40
    We were, as you can tell from the body of this review, consistently frustrated with Beautiful Desolation, another ambitious and lovely-looking game whose Switch incarnation just wasn't an acceptable way to experience it - shades of Genesis Noir's port (though that was better). It's especially unfortunate because this is exactly the sort of different that the Switch needs, but it needs to run better than what's on offer here. If you can muscle past the problematic controls, excessive loading and weak performance, you may be able to get into Beautiful Desolation. There is a lot to like in its worldbuilding, gorgeous backgrounds and interesting premise. But we felt like it just asked us to overlook way, way too many problems for the privilege.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
5.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 4 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 4
  3. Negative: 1 out of 4
  1. Metacrot
    Aug 31, 2022
    0
    Not my kind of game at all, the game feels like it’s played in slow motion. Almost comes off point and click game. Deleted it instantly.
  2. NindieSpotlight
    Dec 17, 2021
    6
    First glances at the pre-rendered backgrounds and plain look and feel of Beautiful Desolation brought a bit of a thrilling feeling to me as aFirst glances at the pre-rendered backgrounds and plain look and feel of Beautiful Desolation brought a bit of a thrilling feeling to me as a classic PC gamer, making me hope for the likes of classic Fallout or Wasteland… but in this case it happens to be a point-and-click adventure so hopes were dashed but that’s still cool. Unfortunately, right out of the gate there’s just something that feels unpolished and discouraging with very little ramping up to get you comfortable with the game’s style and mechanics flying straight into some purely trial and error puzzles before you’ve even got your legs under you. Sadly it really doesn’t break through to any sense of greatness from there, though I’ll admit the story itself has some promise, but the voice acting and troubles with finding where you can walk or exits in the environment can be an unnecessary annoyance. If you have some patience I’m sure you can enjoy the adventure, but overall it just feels like it struggles with too many issues to be recommended more than half-heartedly.

    https://www.nindiespotlight.com/2021/06/mini-reviews-june-1st-edition-nintendo.html    … Full Review »
  3. JAG7
    Oct 28, 2021
    8
    A very good game. It all depends on your taste of gaming. I like many styles including point and click and exploration. If you like intuitiveA very good game. It all depends on your taste of gaming. I like many styles including point and click and exploration. If you like intuitive and explorative games this one hits the mark in all the right places. I really liked and enjoyed this game. Devs put love on it. BUT, it’s not perfect. There’s some game design issues. First is the constant unnecessary backtracking and item organization. You need to go to A then B, then G to go back to A... and it goes on and on. I don’t mind the travel , I mind the way puzzles and items are organized. Second thing is the tedious and unnecessary conversations between brothers , I recognized they enrich the story but instead of 20-ish they all can be group in a couple. Third is in the places you go ,could have been more things to do. You travel to some of the locations just to find 1 item. And this makes a game an 8 instead of a 10.… Full Review »
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