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. 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

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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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