Pine

About

Pine is a single player open world role playing game. It was developed by Twirlbound and was released on October 10, 2019. It received neutral reviews from critics and mostly positive reviews from players.

"Pine is a single-player open world action-adventure simulation game with a vibrant world filled with intelligent creatures. As you help your tribe find a new home, you must engage with the game's ecology, exploring, bartering, crafting, and fighting in six distinct biomes. The game's large-scale ecology is dynamic, with creatures fighting for survival and changing the world around you even when you're not involved."

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

+14

Skip User Reviews

68%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,322 reviews

story222 positive mentions

optimization28 negative mentions

Beautiful graphics and art style that create an immersive world.
Engaging story with interesting mechanics involving faction relationships and resource management.
Fun exploration and puzzle-solving elements that keep the gameplay enjoyable.

Combat feels clunky and unresponsive, making battles frustrating.
Frequent bugs and glitches that can disrupt gameplay and progress.
The game can feel empty and lacks depth in certain areas, leading to a repetitive experience.

story
848 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
26%
69%
5%
The story of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it simplistic, linear, and at times unsatisfying, particularly regarding its pacing and conclusion. While some appreciated the engaging world and the potential for deeper interactions with factions, others criticized the reliance on fetch quests and the lack of meaningful choices that affect the narrative. Overall, the story is seen as a backdrop to gameplay rather than a compelling driving force, leaving many players wanting more depth and coherence.
- “Delving into the mysterious long locked dungeons looking for clues about the story and old lost technology made me feel a way I haven't really felt in another game.”
- “It has a beautiful world full of interesting creatures and a captivating story.”
- “The story is engaging and inspiring, and is definitely the strong point of this game.”
- “The story feels like more of an afterthought than anything meaningful or engaging for the player.”
- “The main story itself is quite short, with about a dozen or so main quests to complete.”
- “The story doesn't make sense at times and just isn't the best.”
gameplay
396 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
28%
63%
9%
The gameplay in Pine is a mixed experience, with some players appreciating its charming visuals and unique mechanics, particularly the faction system and crafting elements. However, many reviewers criticize the combat for being clunky and simplistic, the exploration as repetitive, and the overall depth of gameplay as lacking, leading to a sense of tedium after initial enjoyment. While the game offers interesting ideas and a beautiful world, it often feels unpolished and fails to deliver a compelling or engaging experience over time.
- “You can play out the whole faction wars mechanic however you want, including buffing and debuffing settlements, wiping out different types of NPC parties, helping a race invade and take over a settlement from another race.”
- “Puzzles in the game have a range of difficulty and employ the use of gameplay systems well, making them fun and mentally stimulating to solve.”
- “The gameplay is entertaining and fluid, and the systems are really fun to engage with.”
- “The exploration and gameplay felt quite boring, without any meaningful payoffs.”
- “Unfortunately, aside from the faction wars system, the crafting component, and some collectibles to find, the game doesn't have a huge amount of gameplay depth.”
- “A pretty game with great music but tedious gameplay, ridiculous combat system, frustrating/pointless puzzles and little replay value.”
graphics
266 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
49%
46%
5%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising the charming art style and beautiful visuals reminiscent of titles like "Breath of the Wild." However, players also report significant performance issues, including lag, graphical glitches, and optimization problems that detract from the overall experience. While some find the graphics appealing and engaging, others criticize them for being cartoonish and lacking polish, leading to a somewhat inconsistent reception.
- “The graphics are amazing, and the landscape looks fairly majestic for an indie open world title.”
- “I still recommend the game, however, because it's beautiful and engaging, with wonderful graphics, a vast world to explore, and gorgeous music.”
- “The graphics are beautifully styled and the music takes me back to the good old RPG days of Oblivion and the like.”
- “This game freezes so much; it's just constant, even with low graphics settings.”
- “Riddled with graphical bugs, awkward movements, poor combat, and just an overall feeling of a very low-effort attempt to make a game.”
- “Graphically the game looks nice, sadly, it's made with the Unity engine and it shows; the game will often drop frames even on good machines.”
music
158 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
62%
36%
2%
The music in the game is widely praised for its beauty and ability to enhance the overall experience, with many reviewers highlighting it as one of the best aspects of the game. The soundtrack is described as masterfully composed, immersive, and fitting for various scenarios, contributing significantly to the game's charm and atmosphere. However, some players noted that the limited variety in the soundtrack can lead to repetitiveness during gameplay.
- “The music is on a whole other level completely.”
- “The exploration and music alone have made this game well worth the purchase, to me anyways.”
- “The soundtrack is amazing and one of the best parts of the game, the music changes depending on your scenario.”
- “It doesn't help that there is a limited soundtrack, so you always hear the harmonious drop of a thousand instruments having a fit at once when you are just casually walking in between towns.”
- “I would never trust these developers because they prioritize making a cute world with a cutesy soundtrack but leave you with absolute mush for gameplay.”
- “Music is pretty neat, but overall forgettable.”
optimization
84 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
12%
55%
33%
The game's optimization has received widespread criticism, with many players reporting significant performance issues, including low and inconsistent frame rates, lag spikes, and frequent stuttering, even on high-end systems. While some users noted that lowering graphic settings can improve playability, the overall consensus is that the game requires substantial optimization and bug fixes to enhance the experience. Many players expressed hope for future patches to address these performance shortcomings.
- “The performance is a bit of a bummer but it is certainly playable with decent framerates.”
- “Could definitely use some optimization, which seems likely since they delayed the switch version for that reason, so whatever improvements they make should hopefully find their way to the PC version.”
- “Alas, I feel there could have been more to the game, and it needs to be polished and optimized quite a bit, but otherwise a good experience.”
- “Load times are atrocious, performance is atrocious, and the game keeps bugging out where I can't even swing my weapon.”
- “Oh and also the game performance is really bad, I'm playing this on a 9900k and 2080ti, a $3000 super computer, and I was seeing regular frame drops below 60fps and stuttering fairly frequently when turning around.”
- “The game suffers from optimization issues even on decent and high-end rigs.”
stability
80 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability has been widely criticized, with numerous reports of bugs, glitches, and performance issues that significantly detract from the overall experience. Players have experienced frequent freezing, camera malfunctions, and game-breaking glitches that require reloading saves to resolve. While some users noted that minor bugs were present, many expressed hope for future updates to address these stability concerns.
- “This game freezes so much; it's just constant, even with low graphics settings.”
- “Unfortunately the bugs and glitches are many and game breaking.”
- “In terms of stability, I only played for ~6 hours, part of which I wasn't actually playing while I was fixing and eating lunch, and I had to restart several times to fix heavy stuttering, game elements that wouldn't advance, and twice for ear-shredding audio glitches that started repeating every noise in the first vault rapidly.”
grinding
56 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
4%
96%
The grinding aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it tedious and repetitive, particularly during midgame where resource collection dominates gameplay. While some appreciate the crafting and gathering mechanics, noting that the environment can make farming enjoyable, others criticize the lack of meaningful rewards and the frustratingly slow pace of progression. Overall, the grinding experience is seen as a significant drawback, detracting from the game's potential.
- “Crafting and gathering items plays a large role but isn't too tedious because they did a great job on the environment.”
- “A game with an interesting premise and great potential, that soon became a boring, illogical, grinding experience.”
- “It was simply too repetitive, too frustrating and too grinding, with too little reward.”
- “The game is riddled with back-and-forth traveling, resource grinding and really bad story progression.”
atmosphere
36 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
72%
20%
8%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its charming visuals, beautiful ambient music, and immersive world design, reminiscent of classic RPGs like Zelda. Reviewers highlight the artistic quality and Ghibli-esque feel, creating a captivating environment that enhances gameplay. While some mention minor issues affecting immersion, the overall consensus is that the atmosphere is a significant strength of the game, making it enjoyable to explore.
- “Overall, it is a great game with an amazing atmosphere.”
- “Good indie game, great atmosphere and stunning visuals accompanied by beautiful audio.”
- “It hurts the atmosphere and immersion a bit.”
- “The game's biggest strength is its artistic design and Ghibli-esque atmosphere.”
- “So kudos to that, games with a genuine atmosphere are getting tougher to find.”
character development
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
78%
11%
11%
Character development in the game is highlighted by its charming and varied character designs, which are often praised for their cuteness and attention to detail. However, some critiques mention issues like clunky controls and occasional graphical glitches, such as clipping, that detract from the overall experience. Despite these flaws, the game's atmosphere and world-building contribute positively to the character development aspect.
- “Pine takes what similar games have to offer and brings its own mechanics to the table alongside cute character design and beautiful landscapes.”
- “Combat is solid, the world is beautiful, and I absolutely adore the character design.”
- “All aspects of it shine with tasteful polish and detail, but the character design is especially nice.”
- “Clunky controls, floaty movement, dull character design, long loading screens.”
- “The style of the starting village and the character design feels a bit like 'Horizon Zero Dawn' but with cute graphics.”
humor
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is characterized by unique NPCs and witty dialogue, providing a lighthearted experience suitable for all ages, as it avoids crude jokes. Players appreciate the cartoonish art style and find the interactions between factions to be amusing and engaging. Overall, the humor is described as refreshing and smart, contributing positively to the game's narrative and atmosphere.
- “I also really like that it doesn't contain crude humor, making it suitable to play around or with my kids.”
- “The older brother who had wanted to map out the entire island but died before he could, and his younger brother finishes the job; it’s a funny little subplot.”
- “Very original and creative approach to content and story; refreshing, smart, and funny.”
replayability
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
21%
58%
21%
Overall, the game is criticized for its lack of replayability, with many players noting that it feels forced and limited, particularly due to the absence of meaningful choices and the imposition of a genocide route. While the initial experience is enjoyable and visually appealing, the gameplay is described as tedious and the ending significantly diminishes any incentive to replay. Players generally agree that the game offers a one-time experience rather than a compelling reason to return.
- “I think this game just needs replay value.”
- “Not replayable but the ride was enjoyable, with exploration (albeit not at completionist level, just checking out all the locations, structures, and puzzles etc.) you are looking at 16ish hours of chilled out gameplay.”
- “Fun but quick with a damn good soundtrack.”
- “Zero replayability.”
- “I started out loving this game, but have since realized that the game forces the player into genocide and removes diplomatic actions for all factions in order to 'increase replay value'.”
- “A pretty game with great music but tedious gameplay, ridiculous combat system, frustrating/pointless puzzles and little replay value.”
emotional
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
Players express a mix of nostalgia and disappointment regarding the emotional aspect of the game. While the exploration of dungeons and the ambient music evoke a sense of immersion reminiscent of childhood gaming experiences, the overall lack of engaging characters and a compelling narrative leads to a repetitive and emotionally flat experience.
- “Delving into the mysterious long locked dungeons looking for clues about the story and old lost technology made me feel a way I haven't really felt in another game.”
- “I wanted to say it made me feel like I was 11 exploring Skyrim for the first time, but it's not quite that.”
- “The ambient music really made me feel like I was part of the game.”
- “The game very quickly becomes repetitive with a bleak and boring story.”
- “Boring story and lifeless world.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Many users express frustration with the current monetization trends in gaming, particularly criticizing the prevalence of "live service" models and microtransactions in AAA titles, which they feel detracts from the quality and authenticity of the games.
- “I've become jaded over the past decade from all of the AAA cash grabs. Every day, more and more developers focus on the 'live service' model, microtransactions, and pushing out games that completely lack any semblance of heart or soul.”