As I get older and finish more games from my backlog, more and more I appreciate a tidy handful of hours telling a streamlined story. It feels great to feasibly finish a game in one sitting and have a whole experience, and Firewatch provides exactly that. While you do have player choice that ultimately doesn't change the story, I like how the choices color your emotional experience with the main character without interfering with the A-plot. Having all of the interactivity of the game be completely diegetic was a fantastic design choice that helps you feel immersed in the world at all times. Pulling a map out in front of you and unfolding it while listening to the conversation on your walkie feels like you're really out there.

This is the greatest piece of media ever created, I adore it, both the first and second one, I honestly cannot pick between them, you cannot make me. 64 be damned, 3D Land/World be damned, Sunshine be FUCKING damned, Odyessy be mildly damned, THIS is both the pinnacle of Mario, the pinnacle of game design, the pinnacle of world-building/universe-building, the PEAK of any and all creativity in anything I've ever played, watched, or read. I can only give this 5 Stars (10/10) but actually... no, this is an 11/10 duology. An exception must be made for the truly exceptional.