Firewatch

This game is beautiful and really heartwarming. The plot is not something that is far-fetched it's just a dude whose wife is sick and currently living with her family and he's taking the summer off to work on a firewatch tower. The experience is not that long but it feels quite the opposite. I personally felt every emotion the man had and was really immersed into his story due to the minimalistic but well curated introduction. I finished the game in one sitting as it is just 4 hours long. If you're looking for something with complex gameplay then this is not it as it is just supposed to be relaxing and plot-oriented. It does get a bit boring and frustrating when I get lost in the woods as I'm someone who's terrible with directions irl and ingame. No other downsides though. Stunning visuals and voice acting. Maaaan the voice acting is just perfect and so real. Delilah's voice actor is gifted. Hats off to the developers. Definitely looking forward to their next project.

I picked the game up because of graphic designer Olly Moss, whom I knew for his awesome movie posters (seriously, check them out).

The premise: in 1989, Henry (Rich Sommer), a man escaping from serious family problems, accepts a job as a fire lookout in the Shoshone National Park, which means he will be alone for months doing menial tasks in the beautiful wilderness; his only contact is Delilah (Cissy Jones), his quirky supervisor, who lives in a relatively nearby tower and communicates with Henry via walkie-talkie. However, strange events begin to occur, park visitors disappear, someone stalks Henry and spies on him and Delilah.

This first-person adventure/mystery is the kind of game some players praise as an incredible experience while others contemptuously peg as a boring "walking simulator". Let's find some middle ground. Firewatch has several strong points. Visuals are luscious, no surprise here given Moss' talent. Acting and dialogue are top-notch: the interactions between Henry and Delilah, ranging from amusing to touching, are the core of the game. The story is compelling, sometimes emotional, often quite unnerving, with an atmosphere of rising paranoia as your main character explores the area, often at night, while he and Delilah realize mysterious enemies conspire against them.

Gameplay is scant. The player basically: 1) hikes through the wilderness checking map and compass to reach various destinations; 2) chooses dialogue options when discussing with Delilah; 3) interacts with items in a way that never goes beyond "pick up, open or activate". There really are no *puzzles* as in "use the thing with the thing to unlock the other thing" like in LucasArts, Sierra or even Wadjet Eye adventure games.

While the narrative kept my interest until the end, the last act feels anticlimactic, with some setups never paid off and some developments weakly set up.

Still, this can be a short but engrossing experience. For the record, I completed the game in seven and a half hours and I often got lost in the woods; I can't see anyone taking much longer unless his sense of direction is truly abysmal!

7/10

This game is a rare beauty. Although not offering much in terms of gameplay, the game completely makes up for it in graphics, characters, immersion and not to mention the amazing voice acting.

FIREWATCH (2016) was a really great game, although definitely not long enough. The setup is great, packs an emotional punch, gameplay is fun and captivating. Graphically, the game is on the minimalistic side, not overly detailed or hyper realistic, but eye catching and interesting. The main characters are really well written and immediately come to life, you can't help but care for them or relate to their situations. And once the ball starts rolling there's a good deal of mystery and suspense that really drive the story along.

Sadly, the ending was pretty anti-climactic and felt like a bit of a letdown to me, but the story, gameplay and characters still hold up in my memory many months later. I still really enjoyed the game but felt like it could have gone a better direction and really could've been a masterpiece, but the so-so ending kinda deflated a lot of its glory. Still, it's really worth a chance. It's great up until the end.

STORY: 8/10 GAMEPLAY: 9/10 GRAPHICS: 7/10 ART DESIGN: 8/10 MUSIC: 7/10 OVERALL RATING: 8.5.

Started good, interesting buildup and characters.

But in the last mission of the game, the writers rushed the ending and messed up everything in the story which leads to absolutely nothing.