[STEAM] The Pines could be the Alan Wake-type game we’ve been waiting for

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Every now and then, a game comes out of nowhere and surprises us all with its ambitions. And while they unfortunately often don't live up to expectations, there are always chances that they'll become the next best thing, and I have a strong feeling The Pines could just do that.

Announced seemingly at random, The Pines is a purported psychological horror RPG set in the eponymous town, where the protagonist is sent due to dealing with certain "issues" of his own. Over there, he meets various characters, from tinfoil hat-wearing conspiracy theorists to outright supernatural creatures, all the while uncovering and unraveling the mystery of The Pines, itself very reminiscent of Twin Peaks.

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The game promises strong RPG elements, from dialogue choices to strong consequences for every decision, all the while placing you in a world that is way darker and stranger than it seems. Sound familiar? Well, Alan Wake sorta kinda did a similar thing, but The Pines seems different enough that it could be classified as a "Wake-type game." I mean, you follow a dude in third person through dank forests while there is a mystery around him that "they" don't want to tell him of, forcing him to experience the strange on his own, for better or worse.

What I was particularly struck by were the graphics. Sure, in this day and age you can easily find a game that looks rather spectacular considering Unreal Engine 5 and its capabilities, but the cutscenes are just so high-quality that I feel a gripping story just has to follow suit. The gameplay and combat seem a bit stiffer than I would like, but I'm willing to overlook that for an in-development project that is this ambitious. So long as the mystery is intriguing enough, I'm good, and from what I could gather, it very well could be.

I also got reminded of an old, small game called The Vanishing of Ethan Carter that I played as a kid. I don't remember it too much, but the vibes of a forested area, a strong mystery where the protagonist has no idea what's going on, and an overall sense of a looming presence all scratch the same itch as that indie did way back when. There's potentially a huge game here, so long as the devs get it right.

And players over on social media are just as interested as I am, even if a bit skeptical of the ambition. Of course, comparisons to Alan Wake 2 dominate discussions, as that's simply unavoidable, but that is also not a bad thing per se.

"[This] game looks like it's heavily inspired by games I already love, so happy to check out more of this in the future," one user said in

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. "I love this vibe. I'm excited," said another.

It's being developed by Studio Abattoir, seemingly first-time developers, so it could end up being a Clair Obscur situation, though that one did have a lot of veterans working on it.

Either way, I'm excited, and I have a feeling many of you will be, too.

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