RGN Feature Article: Homebrew Game Review
Pine Creek (Gameboy Color)
Unique Multi-Branching Story-Driven Adventure Game (spoilers warning)
Welcome to another RGN Feature Game Review for the Gameboy Color. The game we are looking at today was released in 2021 by the modern day Gameboy publisher – Incub8 Games and was made on GB Studio. Pine Creek is unique because there is absolutely no action sequences, it’s like an RPG but with no battle elements whatsoever. If you have played Ihatovo Monogotari for the Super Famicom then you have an example at how good games like this can be. Although there are no battles, the game is never really boring as the mystery of the storyline keeps revealing itself more and leaves the player intrigued, wanting to play just a little bit longer to find out what the strange note means. The author of this game is quite intelligent as the subject matter that is discussed in the game is quite mature. This is definitely a game for mature audiences, it’s not really a game that kids would fully understand or enjoy. This is more like an interactive narrative that you control, with the choices that you make affecting how the rest of the game plays out, giving the short game some much needed replay value.
The game takes place in a small rural town called Pine Creek, which the game is named after. It earns the name because there is literally a creek with pine trees running along the length of it. The game starts off showing a very graphic cutscene of a hand with a freshly severed finger and an occult ritual diagram drawn in blood immediately serving as a warning that this is a game for mature audiences. Do not buy this game for a 10 year old child, if it doesn’t traumatize them they just won’t understand or enjoy it. This was one of the first Gameboy Color games made on GB Studio just after it was made compatible with the GBC. However it’s been beautifully illustrated, with a bright and colorful palette and detailed sprites, world and other objects. You play as a 13 year old teenager on Summer vacation that lives with his mom and step father. The player character is called Adso (why are characters in RPG’s always given such odd names?) and he has grown up in Pine Creek and has his own group of friends. There is a nice introduction to the game which is a cutscene that sets the story context by explaining Adso’s life in Pine Creek. This introduction cut scene makes it feel like a very professionally made game and suits the atmosphere and set’s the stage for the story perfectly.
The Majority of the Game is Character Interaction
After the short introduction to Adso and his friends’ life in Pine Creek. In the beginning everything seems normal as nothing has happened yet, or rather hasn’t been discovered yet. The cutscene of the severed finger was something that happened to one of the town’s residents as you will soon discover. You wake up late, as it’s Summer break so you don’t have the inconvenience of school to get in the way of your adventure. The game takes place over about a week, with each day having certain events that occur which drive the narrative. You soon find out that your friend has disappeared with the blood pentagram and severed finger being found in her room by police. So the story has been set for the rest of the game, you are determined to find out what happened to your friend at any cost. You investigate her disappearance for yourself with the aid of your friend’s resources and knowledge to help you.
The game story flows quite smoothly as the events that occur always give you a lead on where you have to go or who you need to talk in order to progress. Once you have completed all the events needed to progress the story for the day you will be able to sleep in your bed as you cannot do anything more until the next day. If you haven’t done everything your character will tell you that it’s still too early to go sleep. You are given fairly simple tasks such as fetch quests or having to talk to specific people to progress the story. While it’s very simple it never feels boring as you want to find out what happens in the story next once you deliver the item to the NPC or whatever task is required. A lot of enjoyment is found by taking in the atmosphere of the game by talking to all the NPC’s and checking out the objects you can interact with. The world is so rich with content that it will keep you entertained while the story is unfolding. As I mentioned the author is quite intelligent so the subject matter discussed by the town’s resident’s is pretty interesting. The game world isn’t very large, it takes place in the small rural town of Pine Creek and a couple streets of a large city that is connected to the train station. You spend most of your time in Pine Creek, with several trips to Apricot Town by train being required. The NPC’s often have new things to say, very rarely did any NPC’s repeat the same thing which helps to keep the game immersive.
The way that people talk can be very crude as it’s very gritty and realistic in that aspect. The teenagers often give each other guff by calling each other names or saying silly things. There is an enemy that hates you and frequently threatens to shoot you and insults your mother. Because of it’s uncensored nature, it very much feels like this could be the re-telling of a real story or events that really happened. This game would have never got passed Nintendo’s standards as everyone knows how conservative Nintendo was for their early systems in the west. This game is definitely not a family friendly game, it’s more like a MA15+ rated movie. There seems to be multiple branching paths and several solutions to finish the game. The game hints at this with an NPC comment saying something like “adventure games with choices determining story driven narrative suck”. Additionally after finishing it there seems to be some story elements that weren’t fully explained or used which also hints at the fact that you can get a different ending to the story depending on what choices you make. This game gives you a ton of different choices usually in the form of answers to questions presented by the villagers.
Conclusion and Game Score
This is a good homebrew game. It’s not very long, the week in the game can be played through completely in about 3-4 hours. After you finish the game you are left wondering about the characters and other story elements that didn’t fit in the first playthrough. It’s interesting enough to want to play through again making different choices to try and unlock a different storyline and ending. For example there is a redneck dude who threatens to shoot you but leaves clues as to his involvement with the town’s sordid happenings. My initial playthrough did not explain his involvement at all, it only left me with more questions so I want to play through it again to find out what his story is. There is probably about 10 or so hours of gameplay here to explore every part of the game. So it’s kind of like a short interactive story for your Gameboy Color, it won’t keep you occupied for very long but the experience is enjoyable while it lasts. This is a very nice example of a high quality homebrew game and showcases what a one-man game development team can do on GB Studio in less then a year. If you can get your hands on a copy this would make a great start to a new homebrew game collection. The game is professionally published by Incub8 Games and developed by Mexican game developer Carmelo Electronics. The quality is sufficient to get the Retro Game News “Homebrew Seal of Approval” meaning you can buy this and be assured you are getting a quality product in a sea of many poor quality homebrew games.
Graphics: 4.0 out of 5.0
Gameplay: 4.0 out of 5.0
Replay: 3.5 out of 5.0
Sound: 3.0 out of 5.0
Total Score 72%
