Firewatch

 I played Firewatch couple of weeks ago, but I know already it will take a very special place in my heart. It is far from being either first or most exciting game I’ve played, but it is first game I -looked- into. I chose it from proposed list of games with strong narrative, and it first it didnt strike me a game I would even enjoy. Beginning with text choices and very limited graphics, a lot of talking and walking.. I ended up so involved! it cause strong emotional response in me. The best in the game is even having absolutely no time pressure, it succeeded in creating tension! Action! I couldnt imagine the game that doesnt involve any weapon, fight or in fact any real human interaction, can in same time have jump scares! I was achieved through environment graphics, light and sound flawlessly, and it was a perfect case of how narrative works in a scene.

I loved so many details in that game - the backstory with main hero’s wife, the unfolding in-game story itself, the way it unfolds by radio talks (though that is the pitch of Firewatch and probably only the lazy didnt mention the radio dialogue), I loved how relationship of Henry and Delihah evolves, love the perfect logic of environmental limits to narrate progression, implemented by some climbs that could be reached only with help of rope, or bushes cut with axe you wouldnt have till point N. I absolutely loved how creators made world ALIVE with no single character present. The music and atmosphere made me very emotional in the end of game, even though at that moment i already knew from point of game mechanics i dont need to hurry to proceed. Yet I had internal NEED to.

But I didnt like every piece of the game. The opening dialogues feld unnecesary and boring, and some choices in it were not very relevant to a story. I didnt like the sudden jumps in days - first day numbers felt important but then the ‘fast-forward’ was annoying. The main theme of story also felt like it was changed to make it more sophisticated - first it made impression like its about the lost girls, then like its about the secret lab behind the fence, and then it turned out to be about previous worker. Because initially the worker story felt like filling in the dialogue, I didnt even pay full attention to it, and it took a bit of immersion for me when the main plot was discovered. Also, who were those highly secretive measuring lab people? Why they were there?

And in the end, not as critique but as exercise, following advice of someone with narrative experience, what i would do better in this game: I guess it comes up from my min points - I would cut off the introduction and turn it into flashbacks or even dialogue options - Henry tells details by radio anyway. I would ditch the day numbers, and accentize the main story. How I would make it? For example, by having some abandoned child stuff in Fire tower from the start, that raises Henry’s questions..

In the end, Firewatch taught me that emotional urgency can be more powerful than mechanical timers. It showed me that a world can feel 'alive' through pure atmosphere and dialogue, even in total isolation. But it also warned me about the dangers of shifting the 'main' plot too late; if the player hasn't been weaving the right threads from the start, the final reveal loses its weight. In case of Firewatch, just a tiny bit.