Firewatch

Got it. Opened it. Played it. Finished it.
In one breath, without breaks. That was a wonderful experience. I got so close to the main characters that I started forgetting who I am.
Breathtaking.

best story game ive ever played. paced very well but wished it was a little longer. delilah def a baddie too

Firewatch is a unique & interesting game. The game is so unique that it’s unlike anything I’ve played & the game does not fit neatly into any one genre. I would describe Firewatch as an interactive movie, walking simulator, suspense game. One playthrough of Firewatch took me roughly 9 hrs. But I play games slowly, so a typical gamer could finish the game in perhaps 4-5 hours.
Firewatch is polished & high quality. The game has a good frame rate & quality, smooth gameplay. Moreover, the game offers intuitive & responsive controls. Also, the game is easy yet not boring or shallow. And, the game’s art design is stylized. It’s eye-catching & interesting, looking like a realistic painting.
Firewatch boasts some of the best voice acting I’ve heard in a game. The performances are believable & compelling. The stellar voice acting carries the game; the phenomenal voice acting makes the game stand out, given that a major part of the game are the conversations by radio the MC has with Delilah. Since you never see Delilah, the voice acting does the heavy lifting.
Let’s discuss the game’s ending without spoilers. Many people don’t like the ending. To be fair, the ending is straightforward & anticlimactic. But the ending is also surprising, shocking & profound. To me this shows the genius of the developers. I ended up liking the ending once I understood it (I had to Google it as the ending’s meaning is profound & hard to see). I loved that I came away from the game with such thought-provoking & deep commentary on the human condition.
Firewatch does have some flaws. The biggest flaw is the mediocre & disappointing free roam mode. After you beat the game, you can free roam the beautiful game world. But you don’t keep the tools you gained from beating the game. Hence, large parts of the game world are unavailable for free roam. This was a huge disappointment for me.
Another flaw, although minor, is that the game does not have auto-walk or auto-run. So you have to manually walk & run. Thankfully, the game map is not huge. Even still, it was annoying & rather tedious to have to constantly hold the movement buttons.
Another minor flaw is that in one aspect, the game suffers from a lack of realism. The game takes place in a forest, yet there are almost no animals. This is unrealistic. Just realize that Firewatch is not an animal-watching game.
Finally, despite the game's name, you never actually do any fire watching. Instead, you do a lot of hiking. Personally, this flaw did not bother me because I wanted a hiking simulator game. But I could easily see this flaw bothering some players, maybe many.
In conclusion, Firewatch is a prime example of video games as art. It’s amazing to see what the video game medium can produce. I highly recommend Firewatch, especially if you’re looking for something unique & want a memorable experience. I know I’ll be thinking about this game for a long time.

So it‘s a walking simulator but without the cool jumpscares.
Basically, The Witness without the puzzles, with dialogues instead.
It's actually a walking simulator, that works really well being a walking simulator, because you're basically hiking and trying to find trails. It's more fun than the other games of its kind. Sure you could watch a Let's Play of it on YouTube to get the gist of it, but it’s your interaction with a game that makes it a game. Some games have many mechanics, some fewer - and the volume of mechanics does not dictate how enjoyable a game is.
Firewatch is the type of game that I wish carried on and never ended just because of the emotional attachment this game gives you. There is a special place in my heart for this game. And they said games will never be art.. Hah! Firewatch is a game about people. Not broken people, just people in general and their problems. It shows how people can sometimes try and escape the world they're in, going as far as to leave civilization and live in the woods with the only human contact being over a radio. When you are in that state, you are willing to completely absorb yourself into some grand adventure. To add to this, I'd like to point out that these games really require you to immerse yourself into their world. If you don't give it that, they won't catch you.
Firewatch is a game about real life, real emotions, and real relationships. Your character begins the game quite literally as a way to escape his current situation and that's made even more clear later on in the game. The plot is driven by the suspense. It's all very eerie and it appears there's really some strange things going on. They very much set up a mystery that you want to keep playing to solve. I was also someone who, like others have posted in other reviews, wanted more from the story at the beginning. But when the "reveal" is made, it brings the player (and the character) back to reality. It's not what you thought at first , and that feels a bit like something was taken away from you, but I think that's exactly how you're supposed to feel.
I see the ending as very artful and daring in a world where the general public WANTS things to be wrapped up with a pretty bow. There aren't many stories or mainstream movies that make you think about perspective or give you clarity on how real life just IS sometimes. We all have responsibilities beyond just survival and how we deal with (or NOT deal with) them throughout our lives. In the end I was very satisfied with the ending, and I totally understand why many people wouldn't enjoy it, and I understand also that the story just might not resonate with someone at certain points in their life.
I do find though some who dislike the ending are people who like things to be predictable and don't like it when their viewpoints are being challenged. The climax when the truth was revealed is anything but anti-climatic. The reason why these people feel disappointed is that the ending happened outside of their expectations, their previous prediction that they made up in their heads are proven to be absurd and false, and they don't like it when they're wrong, the story of the game doesn't make them feel smart, and these people sure as hell love to feel smart, even without being smart at all most of the time.
For me, it helped me contemplate facing the realities of real life struggles. It helped me confront ideas about meeting that cool awesome person but the timing is just poor and it doesn't work out. It helped me think about how I would deal with being with a partner that might end up suffering from mental degradation. These are big real issues that exist in the world. I really appreciated the mental journey the game pushed me to spend time thinking about. Maybe I missed a bit, but I didn't feel like the game was saying anything in particular one way or the other about what the right things are. I REALLY enjoy that kind of media...the grey areas. The nuance.
Something else this game highlighted really well is mental disease. I find People overvalue the human body when it's the mind that is most important really. I think diseases like alzheimer's and dementia in general are the scariest thing ever because at that point you lose who the person was. You are left with a living creature sure, but it is not the person you knew anymore and as far as current science can help, never will be again. It is tantalizingly cruel to be able to see their image and talk to their voice but never be able to reach them again. Stories about losing people like that hit me the hardest, and the Firewatch intro absolutely left me in shambles.
This game immersed me very deeply into the psyche of the main character. Ultimately leaving me relieved that I didn’t make the same mistakes in my own life. Hopeful, that I have time to deal with the present and make the right choices in my future. Happy, that I am not living the same tragedy. It's honestly my favorite "walking simulator" game. Liking a game is always gonna be subjective but this one wouldn't leave my head after beating it. The ending is actually my favorite part. It really grounded the game for me in a way that I reflect back on my experience with it regularly.
It's not for everyone, and the timing of a player experiencing the game relative to where they are in their own life is important as well. For me, it was the right game at the right time and I'll always cherish it. I believe the devs preferred to get their message across rather than to please us. I think it's very brave, to the contrary. To create something that works so well and to throw it to the ground because what you're really talking about is more important in your eyes, that's pretty courageous I think. It's a true piece of art in the way it exists and not just an entertainment product.
In the end I loved this game for a new perspective on escapism through games and media. I identified deeply with this theme as somebody who has used games to escape real life problems many times. It’s about escapism and that sometimes an adventure or an experience can distract you for some time, but it can’t last forever. Just like the game itself is rather short. Most of us fell madly in love with the game and for a few short hours we forgot about our lives to come along on the journey Henry goes on. When the game is over most of us have this feeling of dread and sadness that the game was so short. We wanted it to go on longer, we wanted the escape to continue. That’s why we often go on to forums about the game to discuss it and the lasting impression it’s etched into our minds. But that’s simply it…. It’s over. Back to the grind and back to what you were escaping from. Onto the never ending search for our next escape.
10/10

Firewatch gave me something to think about as the credits rolled, so that's enough of a success for me. Great voice acting. I took a stupid amount of screenshots for a game I only played for four hours... so if you like game landscapes and horizons this is the one for you. Without getting into spoilers, Firewatch managed a cool experience I wasn't expecting from it at all. A great short game to get through.

Firewatch is more than just a game — it’s an emotional journey. At first glance, a game where you simply walk through a national park and chat over the radio might not seem all that compelling. Yet beneath this simplicity lies a profound story about a man seeking solace from life’s tragedies, choosing to distance himself from the chaos of the world. The game’s stunning atmosphere, heartfelt narrative, unique blend of walking simulator and engaging dialogue create an experience unlike any other. Firewatch is a short but incredibly captivating adventure that leaves a lasting impression.

---{ Graphics }---
☐ You forget what reality is
☑ Beautiful
☐ Good
☐ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS
---{ Gameplay }---
☐ Very good
☐ Good
☑ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't
---{ Audio }---
☐ Eargasm
☑ Very good
☐ Good
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf
---{ Audience }---
☐ Kids
☑ Teens
☐ Adults
☐ Grandma
---{ PC Requirements }---
☐ Check if you can run paint
☐ Potato
☑ Decent
☐ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer
---{ Game Size }---
☐ Floppy Disk
☐ Old Fashioned
☑ Workable
☐ Big
☐ Will eat 15% of your 1TB hard drive
☐ You will want an entire hard drive to hold it
☐ You will need to invest in a black hole to hold all the data
---{ Difficulty }---
☐ Just press 'W'
☑ Easy
☐ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☐ Significant brain usage
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls
---{ Story }---
☐ No Story
☐ Some lore
☐ Average
☐ Good
☑ Lovely
☐ It'll replace your life
---{ Game Time }---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☑ Short
☐ Average
☐ Long
☐ To infinity and beyond
---{ Price }---
☐ It's free!
☑ Worth the price
☐ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money
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