É necessária uma delicadeza muito especial para fazer, de uma história de suspense, várias histórias de amor. Mas a resposta está na tragédia: o mal original está muito distante, e vivemos apenas suas consequências. Nesse contexto, os símbolos do horror têm uma dimensão de profunda, inescapável tristeza, e então faz perfeito sentido que o jogo te guie no cabresto: não há quebra-cabeças para resolver. Os fantasmas estão implorando para que você conheça a história deles. O que você tem que resolver é aquilo que eles também não entendem sobre suas próprias histórias. É também aí que a fronteira do psicológico e do sobrenatural precisa ser rompida. Inúmeras janelas irreais para uma realidade acontecem por mudanças de ponto de vista e técnica narrativa -- mas não é à toa que, o tempo todo, existem efeitos de tela e moldura. O efeito sobrenatural é psicológico, tanto sobre Lixuan quanto sobre você, na medida em que você só pode compreender aquilo que as entidades que te assustam compreendem.

Por isso, a relação com os vivos e com os mortos tem tanta força. A tragédia já aconteceu, mas continua a acontecer mesmo que você a desvende. O mundo de Firework é inteiro de papel, literalmente: e no papel que se escrevem as verdades a serem descobertas, é do papel que se tiram os simbolos para materializar os desejos dos personagens e é no papel que sai uma foto tirada sem querer numa cabine. E papel pega fogo.

i played this in chinese and my chinese level is intermediate, so i missed probably a lot of plot points. letting you know bc it colors my opinions.

this game is essentially a visual novel with a few puzzles. the setting is eerie and some of the puzzles are pretty clever. i think it's funny how the main cop plays it straight while he is constantly being teleported through space and time. also, it's interesting to see the events of the murder case play out from different perspectives along the course of the story.

During the funeral for a local shopkeeper, a firework goes off and burns up the corpse. A rookie investigator checks up on the scene and soon becomes interested in the death of a family living next to the shopkeep. Or maybe the dead family becomes interested in him.

As a puzzle game, Firework is pretty straightforward. There were maybe two puzzles that took me some thinking and one that I took wild guesses at. In the latter case, I think it must have been missing some key translation details. There's no real challenge or danger to the game and its easy to get used to ~spooky changes~ that happen to the haunted house in between different shots.

As a story however, I found this to be a phenomenal journey. Taking cues from Detention and Devotion, Firework focuses on the internal stress and strife of a the Tian family and how those problems spiraled out to numerous parties around them. While the game toys with ideas of supernatural revenge and curses, its ultimately more interested in the tragedy of Tians as people. Their addictions, their goals, and how all those factors conflict with each other in one house. This is combined with gorgeous presentation and game design that just washes you in the mentality and turmoil of the Tians.

The protagonist briefly runs the risk of becoming too hyped up by the narrative. "Oh man, here's the cool cop who can see ghosts and be the Justice that this world needs!" But when it does finally swerve over to his own inner mentality, it actually depicts an interesting character who's grappling with his own temptations and flaws. None of his own problems are truly solved by the end of the game and he can't reach real "justice" for the Tians. He can just remember what he's experienced and move forward with the knowledge that he has. Its a smart way to handle the needs of its protagonist gimmick.

The translation can be a bit flawed and sometimes it drops its clever, ambiguous presentation in favor of just characters explaining to the camera what the truth of the situation is. But when its in its groove, this game takes you on a great little 3-4 hour journey. Its well worth a nibble.

Firework is a Chinese supernatural mystery game where you play as Lixan, a rookie police detective that has the ability to communicate with the dead. On the case to find the source of a burning coffin, the mystery quickly spirals into a horrific tragedy of a family at the brink of ruin and what their spirits left behind. The core story is interesting, and feels well-paced for the 3 hour runtime. There are hints to other subplots and backstories which aren't as fleshed out as they could be, and end up muddying the tale in confusing ways. Firework is mainly a point and click adventure game, where you dart from a limited set of rooms and spaces picking up clues to progress. The game overall is extremely linear and there is no exploration or optional objectives. This is a core narrative experience, and that isn't a negative. I liked my time with this game and think it's worth a few dollars if you're a fan of mysteries and maybe a creepy moment or two.