This game was a missed opportunity in my opinion. It’s such a cool setting and I can’t believe something like Far Cry with it’s infinite radio towers and forests hasn’t even managed to sell a forest area this well as Firewatch does in only a few hours. The map is small so you get quickly familiar with the few choice routes you like to take and the in-game map which is a real map that the character holds instead of a HUD element feels really intimate and useful.

But that’s where the gameplay mechanics peak, most of the game is your average walking simulator’s “I hate it when you go off path” type of deal which normally annoys me but in this game it felt especially frustrating. To see Henry do the same animation multiple times to get from one area to the next (chopping a tree to make a bridge, jumping over, jumping down, climbing down) doesn’t get more immersive than it was the first time around, it actually makes the game feel monotonous in a way. Also the whole traversal thing is pretty uninspired: all of the actions that your character takes are automated and you just have to click a button for him to do it. That basically means if the game gives you an axe, sorry a PULASKI, it just stays there unable to be used by the player unless you click the button to chop a tree or clear a path and Henry automatically does it. It all kind of turns into a Spider-Man 2 on PC situation and if you have ever played that game then u know how boring it is.

The problems even seep into the storytelling department. Because Henry carries a walkie talkie to communicate to Delilah, the other main character of the game, everytime you pick up a note in the game to read these guys have a conversation. Almost everytime this pattern repeats and establishes itself and I don’t know if that bothers anyone else but to my brain it tells me that the notes I’m picking up aren’t worth reading because the characters are already summarizing their emotions and thoughts on it before I have even read it. Now other games do have commentary like this when you pick up an item but it’s always short, not like Firewatch. This and the fact that the game keeps building up mysteries without resolving any of them and the infrequent abrupt time jumps without any clear character dynamic developing between the characters made me care even less about what was going on.

The game gives you dialogue choices, to flavour the text and I never really told Delilah in the game about what was going on with my character so maybe that lack of character development was my bad.

I’ll also say that the opening of this game is the most emotionally powerful and engaging part of this game. It reminded me of old text adventure games I used to play with no voice acting and a simple wall of text where you have to pick options to basically tell Henry’s backstory your way and it’s done really well. I wish more games used this simple narrative device instead of making long introductory cutscenes

Overall: 6.5/10 Maybe it’s my expectation that was too high or maybe I wasn’t just in the mood but I’m so bored with it that even finishing this short game again with the audio commentary on feels too much. On that note, how the fuck do you make a painless and simple audio commentary experience in a game where the vast majority of storytelling drama comes from audio dialogues in your head. To have to differentiate between them is just too much; it’s not like an action game where the audio talks about the game as you fight the bad guys.

Review by @Legendsofanus@lemmy.ml