WHERE THE BEES MAKE HONEY Review for PlayStation 4

This review is going to be a little bit different. Indie developer, Wakefield Interactive’s, WHERE THE BEES MAKE HONEY for PS4, is not like many other games and quite honestly, I struggle as to whether or not this actually qualifies as a video game or rather, more of an interactive children’s book. Neither answer is wrong, but what you are hoping to gain from this experience will determine your opinion.

Being an adult sure can suck—and this is very poignantly illustrated in the opening scene. Trapped inside a lonely cubicle in a corporate prison (aka a telemarketing company), Sunny laments the endless monotony of her beige reality. She longs for the simpler days of her youth, where the world was as big as her dreams—sound relatable, anyone?

This dreamy return to innocence is unique in the sense that it is experienced from an adult perspective—allotting for intellectual pause and reflection upon one’s own childhood. If you enjoyed your early years then this will be a treat for you. If you are glad those days of booger-eating and bedtime-protesting are long behind you, then you’re not going to gain much from this narrative, but you don’t need a therapist to tell you that.

The slightly muted, blurred cinemascope colors make WHERE THE BEES MAKE HONEY an artistic masterpiece, oozing with nostalgia of the Toy Story generation. The animation is both elegant and cartoony, perfect for a game that meshes adult cognition with childhood imagination. The puzzles are not terribly challenging; on par with what one would expect for a child, and the alterations in the storyline are reflective of how our life decisions shape who we become—this poeticism is easily appreciated.

If WHERE THE BEES MAKE HONEY was not in a first person adult perspective, I think it would completely lose its appeal to millennials and dare I say, the younger kids too, because the eighties and nineties themes lack any experiential meaning for them. Am I saying you have to have lived through a certain period for something to maintain your interest? No, (hello, Game of Thrones), but the story in this game does not have enough going for it to find it riveting outside of a walk down memory lane.

Mechanically, WHERE THE BEES MAKE HONEY is a very buggy experience. A high-octane adventure this certainly is not, but trying to solve puzzles with laggy controls and occasional glitches adds a sprinkle of frustration that is clearly not part of the intentional design.

The concept is extraordinarily creative and does have great potential. If it were more challenging and the story had any semblance of conflict we might have a winner on our hands. This does not have to be the case for a game to meet the ‘thumbs up’ criteria, but I fail to see a lasting interest in this game devoid of said qualities. If a relaxing, airy, occasional heartstring-pulling experience is what you seek, then by all means, enjoy this storybook adventure.

Rating: 5/10

Check Out the Where The Bees Make Honey Trailer:

To learn more about Where The Bees Make Honey visit here: https://whitethorndigital.com/wtbmh/