YMMV / Beacon Pines

• Demographically Inappropriate Humor: A case that actually might make one assume the game is a Subverted Kids' Show, but "Shit" ends up being both a line used by one character and a Charm you can use at Turning Points. The rest of the game is largely a family friendly adventure about as edgy as Gravity Falls, making it a bit jarring.
• Narm: The reveal that the Beacon Pines that most of the game takes place in is an exact replica after the real Beacon Pines was frozen by the Source raises far too many questions to be taken seriously and brings to mind the SpongeBob SquarePants meme of "We should take Bikini Bottom and push it somewhere else!"
• Nightmare Fuel:
  • The game's first bad ending, especially because of how it compares to everything that came before it. After spending the first few minutes exploring the charming and colorful storybook small town of Beacon Pines, Luka ends up at the warehouse alone and encounters a terrifying hazmat-suited figure who coldly drags him into the warehouse, and the closing narration practically says outright that Luka is going to be experimented on and transformed into something else. Yeek.
  • In the very next branch of the story, the version where Rolo tags along, the two kids end up hiding in a dumpster to get away from the hazmat suit, only to end up with a body bag thrown on top of them. As the two of them are trying not to freak out about it, Luka tells Rolo to stop grabbing his wrist so tightly, only to be told that Rolo isn't grabbing his wrist — Luka then realizes that it's the dead guy's hand holding onto him, and in his panic he ends up tearing it off and flinging it out of the dumpster.
  • When Iggy and Tish confront Luka and Beck at the toxic waste pond, one possible outcome sees Iggy get shoved into the pond, splashing his right half with the gunk, causing half of his body to bloat up and become deformed due to the waste's unusual properties. Even the lead-up to it is concerning: Before the change itself starts, Iggy is slurring and speaking slowly as if he's having a stroke. He might be a reprehensible bully, but he's still a little kid, making it all the more unnerving.
  • In one branch, Luka eats some of Gran's jam intended for Mr. Nuncreed, which causes him to succumb to whatever Gran put in it. The player, who likely already realizes that the jam is tampered with, gets to watch Luka try to go up to his bedroom, getting steadily more and more tired, until he collapses on the floor in the hallway and passes out, without knowing if the jam will just put him to sleep or if it poisoned him outright. Thankfully, it ends up being the former.
  • Luka's dreams that occur at various points are mildly terrifying at best. The first one involves Luka on an innocuous fishing trip with his father, only to discover that the bait box is swarming with live bees, and ends in Luka's father being frozen solid, and Luka's attempts to rescue him causing him to tip over and break apart. The rest get increasingly more unsettling, especially as they begin to hint at the true nature of what's going on in town.
• Tear Jerker:
  • Iggy sacrificing himself to let Luka escape, take down Mr. Kerr, and destroy the Source. Even if Iggy and Luka only recently had the chance to bond, it's still a gut-wrenching scene to go through, with Iggy desperately trying to convince Luka that this is the right thing to do even if it means his death.
  • Luka and Beck are stuck in Beck's home during a thunderstorm, talking about their respective troubles; Luka eventually has the idea to open the window and yell out their respective frustrations into the storm, because it's better than sitting around moping. This scene is the one where Luka is most candid about his problems that he's been trying to overcome, by far, and it ends up being a really powerful moment.
  • One of the branches where Rolo doesn't come to the warehouse: After an impromptu dinner with Beck and her family, plus a sudden thunderstorm, ends up making Luka late for his planned meeting with Rolo, the two have a huge fight where they each storm off angry at one another after some very caustic words are exchanged. Luka falls into an uncomfortably realistic depression (which is sad enough to see on its own), sleeps through the entire next day, and is only roused by his Gran encouraging him to make amends with Rolo and have fun at the festival the day after. It turns out, Rolo also wants to make amends, and the chapter centers around a long scavenger hunt riddle puzzle that Rolo arranged in order to make his apology. The two boys end up apologizing to one another, and decide to hang out in the treehouse together instead of going to the festival. All in all, it ends up being the most unambiguously happy ending so far, without anyone dead, missing, or traumatized. And then an explosion rings out and the town abruptly freezes over, trapping everyone under a layer of ice. Even the narrator is dismayed by the twist.
  • When Luka stumbles across Gran and Nuncreed arguing with one another, after all he's been through, one of the story options is to simply break down and cry. And this leads to a bad ending where Gran is steeled by the sight and ends up destroying the Source as intended. The other option is for Luka to fall to his knees and hum a lullaby his mother used to sing him, just to try and comfort himself.
  • Luka discovering that Gran is actually his mother, aged up by the Source chemicals. Doubles as a Heartwarming Moment.