A walking simulator - or more accurately a hiking simulator - in which players take on the role of Henry, a grieving chap who runs away from a turbulent family situation to take up a season as a firewatchman atop a tower in a national park in rural Wyoming. As you'd expect from the genre the big draw here is in the writing, which oscillates between heartbreaking tragedy and gut-wrenching melodrama before seguing into some surprisingly tense moments as the game reaches its climax.

In a lovely touch, players can opt for a less "gamey" experience by turning off standard open world fixtures like map markers and button prompts, relying instead on reading the landscape and their own map-and-compass skills to navigate the gorgeous wilderness of Shoshone. It's a brilliantly immersive way to play this particular type of game.

As far as walking sims go, Firewatch is one of the finer examples of just how far a smart developer can push an otherwise oft-maligned genre.

In a game committed to such realism in it's storytelling, to the point where firewatch manages to duplicate Henry's emotions within the player far better than many other games, firewatch succeeds in presenting a narrative that someone could truly have lived. That's what makes it beautiful. Firewatch challenges the typical structure of what defines a videogame story, and I'd say Henry's time in the woods feels like how it actually would - merely a brief, slightly delusional, escape from the world. Yet, firewatch withdraws itself to being a restrained and quietly introspective experience, where I feel it could have benefitted from, and I expected it to be, aiming a little higher.

The more I think about Firewatch, the more I appreciate the experience and its theme of escapism. Though the ending didn't quite hit at the time of playing, the game's deliberate way of disappointing both the main character and you as the player is admirably unique. I'm still unsure whether it was ultimately worth trying to tell this sort of story, but the experience was worth it nonetheless, especially because of the two main characters who are so well and believably written and voiced that it's just great to be a part of their lives and conversations.

So this is a game that I honestly had no intentions in playing. I'm not a giant pewdiepie fan by any means, but when you go with the gutless tact of copy right striking a youtuberr for no good reason, I do not want to support your game or studio. Eight years later however, with Studio Campos long gone, and this game on gamepass I decided to finally bite the bullet and give it a shot, since I've been told by a few people that this would be my kind of game.

And yeah it really was.

The game overall had a really intriguing narrative, with really two stories going on, the main character trying to escape his horribly depressing reality, and a mystery that's unfolding around you and getting lost in that, which I think kind of relates back to the first part. It's a fairly simple solution, something you should have seen all along, but you as the character really just wanted to dive head first, come up with giant conspiricies, and ignore the brutal reality of why you are there in the first place.

It's a somber ending too, one that's very thoughtful and I enjoyed. The gameplay isn't anything to write home about obviously as a "walking sim" but it keeps you engaged the entire time. I had a lot of little technical bugs and quirks, I'd get stuck often which broke the immersion for me, but nothing too awful overall.

Overall I really enjoyed this game. Thought it was great. I'll be deducting a half point for the developers being little babies, though.

So a 4/5, BUT 3.5/5 will be the final score. Be better folks.

Strong at what it sets out to do.

For a relaxing, character focused walking sim, it does a good job. The park is interesting to explore and the back and forth interactions between you and your companion is fun and feels realistic and genuine.

It can feel a bit hollow, though. It is a walking sim in every sense of the word, no trying to stay upright over rough terrain like Death Stranding or even the breathing rhythm in NaissanceE. It's just walking. And that's fine, but it can feel monotonous traversing the same few paths multiple times.

But, for what it's trying to accomplish, it does successfully. It just doesn't rock the boat in any other aspect. And, if you need some good gameplay to go along with your character and story, maybe give it a miss.

for all the walking simulator criticisms it has I think it does a really excellent job of A: creating an immersive atmosphere and very interesting location to explore and B: has GREAT voice acting; some of the best I've heard in the medium in making everything feel super believable. I understand why it's got a mixed response going into it and for some of the content within the game but I ultimately vibe with everything really well. gorgeous locations to explore and a very surprising story that ticks lots of my personal boxes, no way I wasn't gonna love this.

“ You came out to put your memories behind you and they're still right there in front of you.”

This is my second time playing Firewatch and I can without a doubt promise you it will not be my last.

The story of a man so wrought with grief and despair that he ventures out into the secluded wilderness so he can try and forget what he’s tried to leave behind. While there he meets another lookout on his radio named Delilah and they get wrapped up in a strange and twisty mystery.

The stunning visuals only compliment the already perfect story and create an environment that is just as serene as it is haunting.

The gameplay elements are surprisingly great for something so simple as a walking simulator. It’s very straightforward, but how it’s implemented is great imo.

Overall, Firewatch is simply fantastic in every way possible. A beautifully animated intimate and introspective game filled with just as much mystery as heart. Definitely a high recommendation from me.

Que experiência única.

Firewatch se tornou muito conhecido e admirado por seu visual, seu estilo de arte se tornou icônico e passou a ser muito usado como wallpaper nos mais diversos dispositivos. E eu sou apaixonado por este jogo desde seu lançamento quando eu assisti no YouTube, então apesar de ser minha primeira vez jogando, eu já sabia do final. Quer dizer, mais ou menos, lembrava da cena final, e que tinha algo entre um pai e filho, nada mais.

Porém, me surpreendo quando começo a jogar, porque, falando com sinceridade, meu pensamento inicial era apenas de terminar de uma vez pra dizer que joguei. E, em meio a essa expectativa, me vi imerso nessa floresta e totalmente conectado com os personagens, tanto o Henry (que eu controlo) quanto, ou mais, com a Delilah (que eu apenas ouço). Sim, o jogo é lindo, sim a direção de arte é maravilhosa, sim a trilha sonora é perfeita pra construção dessa atmosfera, mas o jogo é mais que isso, e eu só percebi jogando. Mesmo sabendo o final, não pude deixa de ficar tenso, nervoso, paranoico e até ansioso conforme a reta final ia acontecendo, aquele incêndio deixando tudo mais opaco e a sensação de perseguição cada vez mais presente.

Enfim, jogaço, uma pena não ter localização oficial (ainda que seja fácil de baixar e instalar uma paralela, muita bem feita inclusive). Assim como Life is Strange, este jogo só me prova mais uma vez que jogar e ver no YouTube são experiências complemente diferentes.

"She's sick and I shouldn't be here... but I am."

A very melodramatic, depressing experience filled with raw human emotion that moved be quite a bit through it's short runtime. Held back a little by weird stuttering on the PS4 port, but overall a great little experience and a very good looking indie game. The only thing I didn't like was that it ended, I wanted there to be so much more development between Henry and Delilah and I think there could have been a masterpiece of a game if this was that bit longer with more story padding, but it's great for what it is regardless in any case and I enjoyed my time with it.

One of the better walking sims I've played with a very immersive atmosphere and an ominus, eerie feeling that is nailed perfectly with the way it lingers throughout the story, despite how empty the world is, it was great at making you feel like you were always being watched and when Delilah signs off the radio for the first time, there's a sense of eerieness of being alone disconnected from someone you have shared so many conversations with up until that point, it's a type of feeling I can't really put into words but I really loved it.

Something about these very intimate and down to the earth stories I am really drawn to, in the same vain of stuff like Road 96, The Last of Us series and even Life is Strange... these characters are all pretty grounded and similar to each other in that way and I love that about whatever genre that would be classified is, I want more games like that.