Silver Pines, the primary sport from developer Wych Elm, has drawn a combined early verdict. On Wednesday, Rock Paper Shotgun deputy editor James Archer revealed a hands-on function based mostly on roughly three hours of play. He discovered the style mix promising however grew annoyed with the quantity of retracing it calls for.
The sport is a neo-noir detective story that overtly borrows from Twin Peaks. It quickly shifts into survival horror. Gamers management a non-public investigator looking out a decaying rural city for a lacking musician, whereas a storm described because the worst in generations closes in.
Structurally, Silver Pines combines three distinct approaches. It makes use of 2D Metroidvania-style exploration, horror encounters and point-and-click puzzle fixing. That blend ought to curiosity journey followers who like their mysteries with a darker edge, although it additionally brings the gating and merchandise assortment typical of exploration-led video games.
Archer was constructive about a number of parts. He wrote that the expressive, gloomy artwork path and the missing-person plot maintain the completely different components collectively. He additionally singled out the city itself as unsettling effectively earlier than any monsters arrive, citing flickering, half-broken neon indicators hanging over dusty, deserted companies.
His objections centered on pacing. Archer reported repeatedly sending his detective again via areas blocked by locked doorways and assortment puzzles. He stated this sample dulled his enthusiasm for a sport he in any other case needed to love, and he referred to as the general package deal endearingly uncommon regardless of these complaints.
These impressions cowl solely the opening hours. Archer’s piece doesn’t ship a ultimate verdict on the total sport. Backtracking in hybrid adventures typically eases or intensifies as extra of the map opens, so how Silver Pines handles its later stretches will resolve how a lot the criticism sticks.
Neither the function nor different materials out there to Journey Players to this point confirms platforms or a selected launch date past what Rock Paper Shotgun lined. Archer’s function went reside on October 7, 2026.
