Firewatch

Firewatch is a game about people. Not exaggerated or broken characters just ordinary individuals dealing with the weight of their own lives. At its heart, the game is about escape the ways people run from responsibility, grief, or emotional strain, and how those attempts to disconnect can reveal more about them than the problems they’re avoiding. You play as someone who retreats into the quiet isolation of the Wyoming wilderness, and the game leans into that feeling of getting away from everything. The routine tasks, the long walks, the small disturbances in the forest they’re intentionally mundane, grounding you in a space that feels both peaceful and lonely. The real emotional pull comes from the relationship that develops over the radio. The conversations are thoughtful, vulnerable, often surprisingly honest, and they gradually reveal how both characters are using this distance to confront or avoid their own issues. The dialogue is the soul of the game, turning simple exchanges into meaningful moments.

One of Firewatch’s strengths is how it blends this personal connection with a sense of unease that slowly builds in the background. The game never relies on big twists or dramatic reveals instead, it focuses on the tension that comes from uncertainty, isolation, and not fully understanding what’s happening around you. It uses atmosphere, sound, and the environment to keep you on edge without ever breaking the grounded, human tone of the story. By the time the journey reaches its end, Firewatch doesn’t try to provide a clean moral or a neatly wrapped conclusion. Instead, it reflects the messy way life often unfolds where closure isn’t guaranteed, and where people sometimes leave things unresolved because they don’t know how to face them. Ultimately, Firewatch is less about mystery and more about the emotional landscapes people carry with them. It’s a quiet, immersive experience that sticks with you not because of what happens, but because of why people do the things they do.

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

Yes, it's a narrative-driven experience. Yes, it's a "walking simulator." Sometimes those games are good too. This is one.

Firewatch is one of those games that quietly wrecks you. You go in thinking it’s just a walking sim, trees, sunsets, and then suddenly you're knee-deep in your own feelings because a woman on the radio asked how you're holding up.
There’s no combat, no inventory. Just you, a damaged past, and Delilah’s voice in your ear. And somehow… that’s enough. More than enough.
It’s haunting, beautiful, funny, and incredibly human. By the end, I didn’t want to leave the tower. I didn’t want to lose that voice.
Short game. Long aftertaste.
See you, Delilah. Maybe in another life.

---{ 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
---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☐ 7
☑ 8
☐ 9
☐ 10

what. a. game.
and the end credit music. uff, perfection.
i hope i get a delilah...

Loneliness, Pine Trees, and the Woman in My Ear
Firewatch is the kind of game that sneaks up on you. One minute you’re hiking through the Wyoming wilderness in your ranger-issued shorts, trying to figure out how a couple of drunk teens managed to set half the forest on fire with fireworks, and the next you're emotionally spiraling because a woman with a devastatingly sexy voice on the radio asked how you're really doing.
This isn’t a shooty-bang-bang game. There are no dragons. No inventory management. No high-octane car chases. Just you, the wilderness, a walkie-talkie, and a job watching for fire. Sounds boring, right? It’s not. It’s haunting. It’s funny. It’s beautiful. And somehow, it becomes one of the most intimate games I’ve ever played.
You play as Henry, a man who took a job in the middle of nowhere to escape his own wreckage of a life. The setup is simple: you sit in a tower, spot fires, report back. But what makes this game burn is Delilah—your supervisor, your only friend, and the woman whose voice slowly becomes your entire emotional support system.
And that voice? Delilah’s voice is dangerous.
Sultry, sarcastic, warm, and wounded—every time she speaks, it’s like whiskey being poured over an old wound. I found myself hiking through brush, not to complete an objective, but just to get to the next conversation. She’s flirty. She’s funny. She’s human. And somehow, you fall in love—not with her face, not with her body (you never even see her), but with the idea of her. With the sound of her. With the company of her.
Firewatch is brilliant in that way. It lets you fall for someone using nothing but a voice and a radio signal. And when the world starts unraveling around you—mystery, paranoia, fire closing in—Delilah is your anchor… even when you’re not sure if you can trust her.
Gameplay-wise, it’s a walking sim, yes. You walk. You talk. You occasionally climb rocks and swat away branches like a sweaty philosopher. But the real journey is internal. It’s about grief, connection, and what it means to be seen by someone, even if they’re hundreds of miles away.
The art style? Gorgeous. Like an oil painting of the American West lit on fire at golden hour. The soundtrack? Sparse and perfect. The story? Quietly devastating. No big plot twists. No happy endings. Just real, raw emotion wrapped in pine needles and smoke.
Final verdict? Firewatch is a short game with long echoes. It’s about healing, about escape, about two broken people clinging to each other through static. I didn’t want to leave that tower. I didn’t want to lose that voice in my ear. And when the game ended, I sat in silence and wondered how a voice I never saw could feel more real than half the characters in my life.
So here’s to Delilah. Wherever you are, radio girl… I still think about you.