Firewatch | Spoiler Discussion

Spring-Loaded said:
What was in Ned's makeshift bunker at the top of the hill?
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Tons of stuff that I saw. I probably missed something, but:

- mementos of/from Brian, including a D&D book, a photo of Brian, and a Father's Day card;
- notes about how to break into Wapiti Station and when the researchers would return (i.e. it wasn't an abandoned station, it was a seasonal research outpost);
- discarded copies of the fake reports Ned made for Delilah and Henry, riddled with mistakes;
- a list of supplies to collect for the winter;
- a bunch of tech Ned was messing around with, including a tracking device like the ones he leaves around for Henry, and the boombox the teenagers were listening to;
- a lookout with a radio base station and a view of both firewatch towers (nice touch);
- detailed notes on Henry and Delilah's conversations and movements throughout the game, as well as ideas on how to use events in the game to his advantage.

I'm actually curious to know if Ned's notes change at all based on the dialogue options you get at certain points. At least one person mentioned something about looking for bear tracks, which I never had to do; I wonder if that's because I never picked any bear-related dialogue options when discussing what the fuck was going on. Maybe the notes also change to reflect Ned trying to stoke different fears and worries.
 
I don't understand why Delilah needed to lie about the girls. Henry has a note from them clearly explaining their plan to frame Henry. That should be sufficient evidence to exonerate them.

I am also not sure about Ned locking the gate when Henry goes into the cave. How does that help? Henry also seems awfully sure that he can get out the second time even when dropping down unclimbable ledges.

I did overall like the ending in that not all games need to have aome mahor plot twist. It wasn't the strongest way to tie the threads together, but I think it worked. The game was about isolation and the ending reinforced that by not showing Delilah.
 
Spring-Loaded said:
What was in Ned's makeshift bunker at the top of the hill? I just left well enough alone since he said he didn't want to be found, and figured there was probably booby trap or something in it
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He said "don't come looking for me" because he went off to find another shitty hideout away from the fire, not because he didn't want you to checkout his hideout (and he assumes you will on the tape, not to mention the arrow and rope going up).

But yeah you missed something pretty significant. I'm surprised it wasn't mandatory to go up there and is actually missable.
 
For me, it's not so much as being disappointed that the twists led nowhere, it's that they introduced twists in the first place. In the end, all the conspiracy angle did was take away from the best part of the game, which was seeing the relationship between H and D develop. I wanted to see both characters grow, mature, realize you can't just keep running away or fall in love or whatever. I wanted that to be the entire game. Just going around the forest exploring and stopping kids from being stupid and having conversations with D. Instead, it just goes completely off the rails. The moment you find that notebook and walkie, the game completely changes for the worse to me. Hell, they could've ended the game the exact same way, just have the fire started because of a storm or something, but it would've had a lot more meaning because there would've been two to three more hours of character development.

Obviously, that's just what I was looking for. I'm sure there would be just as many people, if not more, disappointed in my ideal Firewatch.
 
Ok one thing that doesn't make sense.

Ned started going nuts because he thought Henry had gone into the cave and stumbled upon Brian's body. But wasn't Ned already listening to the conversation? In which case he'd know if Henry found something. On top of that Henry even mentions that the gate inside the cave is locked....and only Ned has the key to that lock.

This bit about Ned not knowing is even acknowledged in the game that Ned started to chill out which is why nothing happened for 2 months. Ned now probably knows that Henry never went past the gate in the cave and saw Brian's dead body, yet when he goes paranoid once again he pretty much hands over the key to the cave to Henry. And then he goes full conspiracy on them by building on whatever Henry and Delilah are thinking.
 
nOoblet16 said:
Ok one thing that doesn't make sense.

Ned started going nuts because he thought Henry had gone into the cave and stumbled upon Brian's body. But wasn't Ned already listening to the conversation? In which case he'd know if Henry found something. On top of that Henry even mentions that the gate inside the cave is locked....and only Ned has the key to that lock.

This bit about Ned not knowing is even acknowledged in the game that Ned started to chill out which is why nothing happened for 2 months. But then he goes full conspiracy on them by building on whatever Henry and Delilah are thinking.
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Ned's actions are largely nonsensical. I guess you can hand-waive it away by saying he was crazy, but that's not a particularly satisfactory answer. The game is just poorly plotted.
 
nOoblet16 said:
Ok one thing that doesn't make sense.

Ned started going nuts because he thought Henry had gone into the cave and stumbled upon Brian's body. But wasn't Ned already listening to the conversation? In which case he'd know if Henry found something. On top of that Henry even mentions that the gate inside the cave is locked....and only Ned has the key to that lock.

This bit about Ned not knowing is even acknowledged in the game that Ned started to chill out which is why nothing happened for 2 months. Ned now probably knows that Henry never went past the gate in the cave and saw Brian's dead body, yet when he goes paranoid once again he pretty much hands over the key to the cave to Henry. And then he goes full conspiracy on them by building on whatever Henry and Delilah are thinking.
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Henry found his clipboard and walkie talkie. That's why he framed the research group. It's very illogical and roundabout, but that's why.
 
TraBuch said:
For me, it's not so much as being disappointed that the twists led nowhere, it's that they introduced twists in the first place. In the end, all the conspiracy angle did was take away from the best part of the game, which was seeing the relationship between H and D develop. I wanted to see both characters grow, mature, realize you can't just keep running away or fall in love or whatever. I wanted that to be the entire game. Just going around the forest exploring and stopping kids from being stupid and having conversations with D. Instead, it just goes completely off the rails. The moment you find that notebook and walkie, the game completely changes for the worse to me. Hell, they could've ended the game the exact same way, just have the fire started because of a storm or something, but it would've had a lot more meaning because there would've been two to three more hours of character development.

Obviously, that's just what I was looking for. I'm sure there would be just as many people, if not more, disappointed in my ideal Firewatch.
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This is pretty much how I feel. The whole mystery wrapped up fine, but I never really cared much about Ned or any of that-- yet it's what the bulk of the game is spent on. The paranoia angle made sense, but some of the distrust that built up took away from the authenticity of the Henry/Delilah relationship for me. By the end of the game I didn't feel like I had a deeper understanding of Henry, and I think a more focused story would've allowed for better development.
 
Loved the game. I'm sitting here reading this thread judging people for rushing through and missing things that provide answers, yet I play for 7 hours and just discovered I didn't even find the final Ron and Dave note with the Shoshone cassette. Another thing I possibly missed is an explanation for the dilapidated cabin with the guitar.

I was satisfied with the ending. So Henry never sees Delilah, or has any chance at a continued relationship. Doesn't matter, because he still had Shelley Duvall.

Playing through the game I'm thinking I know Henry's VA, but just can't place it, only to discover it's Harry from Mad Men. Very cool.
 
nOoblet16 said:
Ok one thing that doesn't make sense.

Ned started going nuts because he thought Henry had gone into the cave and stumbled upon Brian's body. But wasn't Ned already listening to the conversation? In which case he'd know if Henry found something. On top of that Henry even mentions that the gate inside the cave is locked....and only Ned has the key to that lock.

This bit about Ned not knowing is even acknowledged in the game that Ned started to chill out which is why nothing happened for 2 months. But then he goes full conspiracy on them by building on whatever Henry and Delilah are thinking.
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Ned only went full nuclear on the two of them because Henry found Ned's walkie talkie and clipboard with his notes on the two of them. If you dig around Ned's hidden bunker, you'll find a few notes that refer to the fire watcher who came by before Henry that year. Ned's been out there for so long that he entertains himself by keeping tabs on the staff in the area. He only resorted to actively sabotaging them using their own fear against them after the encounter because Henry & Delilah had reason to suspect something was wrong. He feared this would lead to them tracking him down and finding him or his secret.

Henry wouldn't know who he was, but Delilah sure would. And if they found him, then the question of, 'Where's Brian?' would certainly come up. He wanted to avoid that, even if his plan was completely off the wall and ill-advised.
 
nOoblet16 said:
Ok one thing that doesn't make sense.

Ned started going nuts because he thought Henry had gone into the cave and stumbled upon Brian's body. But wasn't Ned already listening to the conversation? In which case he'd know if Henry found something. On top of that Henry even mentions that the gate inside the cave is locked....and only Ned has the key to that lock.

This bit about Ned not knowing is even acknowledged in the game that Ned started to chill out which is why nothing happened for 2 months. Ned now probably knows that Henry never went past the gate in the cave and saw Brian's dead body, yet when he goes paranoid once again he pretty much hands over the key to the cave to Henry. And then he goes full conspiracy on them by building on whatever Henry and Delilah are thinking.
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Nah, he started to try to scare Henry away because Henry saw him. He couldn't be sure that Henry just saw "a figure" and no details. He was afraid they would look into his "case". When nothing comes of it (due to him stalling the "list of hikers" by cutting the lines and D forgetting about it) he calms down.
Much later he makes that big mistake of leaving his notepad behind when Henry almost stumbles upon him at the lake. He knows he need to take it back because the info there will definitely make H and D call for help. Then he figures out that H and D doesn't know shit about him and think it's some bigger thing and uses that to try to make them leave. He then blackmails them to make them shut up about it.
The backpack and key I really can't explain. Or more specifically the alarm on it. That's my only "plot hole". My only explanation is the very boring "maybe he actually, deep inside, wanted Henry to know so he made him find it" but nah.
 
Just beat it, I have mixed feelings on it. I know I missed a lot of stuff though. I remember that demo the other day where he goes in some house and there's a raccoon or something...I never even saw that place at all. I liked the game, but I dont think its something I will go back to
 
uniform said:
Loved the game. I'm sitting here reading this thread judging people for rushing through and missing things that provide answers, yet I play for 7 hours and just discovered I didn't even find the final Ron and Dave note with the Shoshone cassette. Another thing I possibly missed is an explanation for the dilapidated cabin with the guitar.
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I really hated that the game never chilled out and gave you a chance to explore on your own. Delilah is constantly telling you to go do this or that, if you want to explore you have to internally say, "Nah fuck you" and ignore the plot and pacing that they put so very front and center.

They don't even let you walk back to your tower at night. Finish the story beats for the day? BLACK SCREEN, DAY 33! Just let me play the game at my own pace, jeeze.
 
CheesecakeRecipe said:
Ned only went full nuclear on the two of them because Henry found Ned's walkie talkie and clipboard with his notes on the two of them. If you dig around Ned's hidden bunker, you'll find a few notes that refer to the fire watcher who came by before Henry that year. Ned's been out there for so long that he entertains himself by keeping tabs on the staff in the area. He only resorted to actively sabotaging them using their own fear against them after the encounter because Henry & Delilah had reason to suspect something was wrong. He feared this would lead to them tracking him down and finding him or his secret.

Henry wouldn't know who he was, but Delilah sure would. And if they found him, then the question of, 'Where's Brian?' would certainly come up. He wanted to avoid that, even if his plan was completely off the wall and ill-advised.
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Yea I know he does it for entertainment, but if the fear of them finding his secret makes him paranoid then why does he give the key to Henry so that Henry can do that very thing that Ned didn't want ?
 
nOoblet16 said:
Yea I know he does it for entertainment, but if the fear of them finding his secret makes him paranoid then why does he give the key to Henry so that Henry can do that very thing that Ned didn't want ?
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It was his way of telling someone about it. Seems like he changes his tune by that point.
 
Oreoleo said:
They don't even let you walk back to your tower at night. Finish the story beats for the day? BLACK SCREEN, DAY 33! Just let me play the game at my own pace, jeeze.
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Yes, I thought some of the cuts were abrupt when I would have liked to continue exploring. I will also admit that I would occasionally worry whether or not the game would punish me for exploring away from objectives. I wanted to do more exploring at the end, but oh no Delilah and the helicopter is going to leave without you (sad ending).
 
chrominance said:
I'm actually curious to know if Ned's notes change at all based on the dialogue options you get at certain points. At least one person mentioned something about looking for bear tracks, which I never had to do; I wonder if that's because I never picked any bear-related dialogue options when discussing what the fuck was going on. Maybe the notes also change to reflect Ned trying to stoke different fears and worries.
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That would be weird, the moment you're looking for bear tracks is just before finding the radio and being knocked out by Ned. I thought it was a mandatory dialogue.
 
Just beat it.

Honestly I enjoyed it more before it got all conspiracy and it was two lonely people getting to know each other and a lot of one-sided flirting via the radio.

As to them not working, it's kind of a sting that Delilah makes it seem like she had never opened up to anybody, she gets really close emotionally with Henry, you invite her to come back with you and it's all "lol nope, I have I shit to do take care Henry"

I would rather after all they went through if she had at least told you "I don't think it's going to work out" to go further into her character of bailing out from a strong emotional relationship when shit gets stressful.

She then keeps pushing me to go see Julia in fucking Australia or whatever, when I was trying to make it clear that it was pointless, she didn't remember you and she was being taken care of. It'd only hurt Henry more to go down there and see her like that if she doesn't even recognize him as family.

It's not running away. It's moving the fuck on. I wish there would have been a dialogue option of "after all we went through it's just a 'k thx goodbye? All right. Argo fuck yourself have fun with whatever you do I'm going back home'"

So in all honesty, no it doesn't bother me they didn't hook up but at the very least give a better resolution than "we must go our separate ways" "ok cool"

Game made me go from really liking Delilah to now wishing Henry had never met her, poor guy poured his soul out to her for such a weak goodbye.

So yeah the game before the conspiracy shit was fantastic. Afterwards? Kind of fell flat.

And the immersion was really broken by like no wild life btw. I mean it was already broken by the occasional choppy framerate too though.
 
Just finished it, and while I most definitely enjoyed the game, I too am finding myself disappointed in the ending. The very foundation of the game is this relationship that develops between two people before our eyes. It felt so deeply and warmly human from the start, only to have it end abruptly in well, a very cold and unrealistic manner. There is nothing I experienced in the game that would explain why Delilah wouldn't wait a mere few minutes to meet Henry face-to-face, despite what she says at the end as being the reason. Would it have even been a big deal for her to wait? It's as if it was done just to make Henry's story all the more disheartening, or because the meeting would break the game's theme of isolation, not because it makes any sense.

It has nothing to do with romantic love either - it didn't need to manifest in that way given Henry's circumstances. But after what the pair had been through, as two people, over nearly 80 days of constant communication, there is no realism in there not being an overwhelming mutual desire to at least wish this person well and see them off face-to-face. To me, that's just simple human nature, and while that played such a prevalent role throughout the game, it seem it was abandoned there at the end.

I kind of feel there was a certain tentativeness involved in the choice of ending. More specifically, the approach of having Delilah and Henry meeting without some jarring character models, after we had seen nothing of the sort throughout. Campo Santo could have kept with the "facelessness" of the game's characters and had the game fade out on Delilah's shadowy figure on the helicopter as Henry boards...perhaps then fading out and returning to the introduction's choice of storytelling, with a few dialogue options. Their meeting could have been done without a character model ruining the game's feel, if that was a concern, so I guess I just don't get it.

Regardless, it was an enjoyable experience through and through.
 
cripterion said:
Liked the characters and the setting but this story made no goddamn sense whatsoever... That's it? Such a waste....
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Someone will tell you it's great that a story like this exists with no grand reveal and human characteristics, and how it is on you if you didn't like it. But that's now it, I am disappointed and I'd have liked it if the entire game was just about the relationship with these two people.
 
You can see a duck out on the pond at one point too. But it's really far away and isn't animated.

The map overall is really disappointing. Too much funneling down predetermined trails. Artificial boundaries galore.
 
This game was another one of those where whenever I found a pile of rocks or small obstacle a normal human being could hop over but Henry didn't because there's no jump button I wanted to throw the controller.
 
Oreoleo said:
You can see a duck out on the pond at one point too. But it's really far away and isn't animated.

The map overall is really disappointing. Too much funneling down predetermined trails. Artificial boundaries galore.
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It becomes amplified when Henry can't jump up or down and the game is full of invisible walls. You'd come across a small raised rock you go to the end of it but can't continue since the game won't let you step down from it due to an invisible wall, eventhough it's 2 feet from the ground, or when there is a knee high blockade you have to go around it rather than just clamber over it. You have to take the exact path as determined by the level designer, quite annoying in games.
 
I finished the game in one sitting last night. Thoroughly enjoyed my time with Firewatch, and boy was it gut wrenching how much it reminds me about some of my own relationships.

I do think them meeting could have been worked out as an ending while keeping the game consistent with Henry not being able to see any humans. The way the prologue was set up could have been played in the ending also, but with actual spoken VO. Basically like how the days skip, but this last skip it goes to a text only decision screen of their last conversation, and we get choices base on how we represented Henry to Delilah throughout our playthrough.
 
One thing I found funny was how much of a process Henry made getting over logs. Like he literately just had to step on it and walk over, but instead he clambered over it like it was shoulder height. It always made me laugh with how silly it looked.
 
DigtialT said:
One thing I found funny was how much of a process Henry made getting over logs. Like he literately just had to step on it and walk over, but instead he clambered over it like it was shoulder height. It always made me laugh with how silly it looked.
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And at the same time he's fucking rock climbing like a boss.
 
MastAndo said:
Just finished it, and while I most definitely enjoyed the game, I too am finding myself disappointed in the ending. The very foundation of the game is this relationship that develops between two people before our eyes. It felt so deeply and warmly human from the start, only to have it end abruptly in well, a very cold and unrealistic manner. There is nothing I experienced in the game that would explain why Delilah wouldn't wait a mere few minutes to meet Henry face-to-face, despite what she says at the end as being the reason. Would it have even been a big deal for her to wait? It's as if it was done just to make Henry's story all the more disheartening, or because the meeting would break the game's theme of isolation, not because it makes any sense.

It has nothing to do with romantic love either - it didn't need to manifest in that way given Henry's circumstances. But after what the pair had been through, as two people, over nearly 80 days of constant communication, there is no realism in there not being an overwhelming mutual desire to at least wish this person well and see them off face-to-face. To me, that's just simple human nature, and while that played such a prevalent role throughout the game, it seem it was abandoned there at the end.

I kind of feel there was a certain tentativeness involved in the choice of ending. More specifically, the approach of having Delilah and Henry meeting without some jarring character models, after we had seen nothing of the sort throughout. Campo Santo could have kept with the "facelessness" of the game's characters and had the game fade out on Delilah's shadowy figure on the helicopter as Henry boards...perhaps then fading out and returning to the introduction's choice of storytelling, with a few dialogue options. Their meeting could have been done without a character model ruining the game's feel, if that was a concern, so I guess I just don't get it.

Regardless, it was an enjoyable experience through and through.
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I'm still trying to put pieces together as to why Delilah decided not to meet Henry in person, but I also got the feeling throughout the story that Delilah was a bit insecure.

She's all alone in a fire tower every summer, has some drinking problems, won't really go into her personal history, and is sort of unintentionally selfish at times (even though she can still empathize with Henry, like her responses if you tell her the truth about Julie). I felt like Delilah is the kind of person who would flake out of a date she set with a dude online who she never met because she'd feel awkward meeting them in person even though she had a great time talking to them through more distant means.
 
It's ultimately quite sad that the majority of those that enjoyed the game AND the ones that were disappointed could still have used MORE of what Campo Santo advertised : Adults having adult conversations.

They could have cut the ultimately completely failed mystery and intrigue and made it 100% about loss and love and fires and I think more people would've been satisfied.
 
The Illiterati said:
It's ultimately quite sad that the majority of those that enjoyed the game AND the ones that were disappointed could still have used MORE of what Campo Santo advertised : Adults having adult conversations.

They could have cut the ultimately completely failed mystery and intrigue and made it 100% about loss and love and fires and I think more people would've been satisfied.
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That is literately what I wanted, and the whole reason I bought the game. I thought it was just gonna be Henry and Delilah, I didn't even know about the supposed "mystery".
 
I would genuinely pay for DLC set in between the time skips. Just the conversations, the random tasks and goings on like dealing with the two girls at the lake. I could live in that world forever.
 
I'm glad this game exists, but I'm also sad that this game doesn't exist in a way where you can experience it day by day or at least spend more time with the characters. Like, what if it had a huge open world where you can really do anything and have a "to-do list" of check boxes to complete daily, and along the way you have these same conversations with Delilah and also come across random ones depending on where you go and what you do. Kind of like the optional conversation between Joel and Ellie in The Last of Us. Totally optional, but really added to both characters and their relationship.

Edit: ^ ayy lmao beat me to it
 
BraXzy said:
I would genuinely pay for DLC set in between the time skips. Just the conversations, the random tasks and goings on like dealing with the two girls at the lake. I could live in that world forever.
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Knowing how it ends and where it will go though, I have no desire to connect with Delilah anymore. Kind of a waste of time at that point.
 
Just finished, had a good time, but overall I've got mixed feeling about it. Let's start with what I liked:

- The prologue was so amazing. Beautifully written and executed / presented, it really made Henry, Julia, and their relationship come to life in as few sentences as imaginable. Didn't know about the prologue before playing and was immediately, well, blown away.
- There is something about the atmosphere of the forest that got me. It's hard to point out what exactly worked so well there, maybe it's mostly the beautiful graphics and the fantastic music, but in the end it feels like much more than just the sum of those things.
- Navigating with the map and the compass was fun. So was using the disposable camera, having to choose what to take pictures of, that was a nice touch.

What I didn't like:
- I definitely expected to make more decisions. The thing with throwing the stereo into the lake was mentioned in pretty much every preview I can remember and I thought there would be dozens of little touches like this but, as far as I can tell, this really was the only one?
- I probably made a number of choices while talking to Delilah but that part didn't quite work for me because it never felt like that something was actually at stake, if that makes sense. In, say, The Walking Dead, I considered every response because I was afraid of the consequences of making a wrong choice, of trusting the wrong people, and so on. That's something I never experienced in Firewatch and it definitely made the dialogue less exciting for me.
- Also, I weirdly felt much closer to Henry during the prologue than over the whole course of the actual game. Again, I can't really put my finger on why that is yet. Maybe because I didn't quite buy his relationship to Delilah or maybe he felt a bit too passive most of the time.
- For me, the game definitely was lacking a stronger sense of exploration and, I guess, interaction. This probably mostly comes down to the points I've made before (the decisions and the dialogue) but also to the forest itself which had its incredibly beauty going for it but wasn't quite as, hm, mysterious as I had hoped. Instead, it felt almost lifeless at times.

As for the story itself and its ending... I'm not quite sure what to think about that yet. On the one hand, it's great that such a story can exist as a game today and that they avoided the most obvious tropes. After reading the prologue, I was afraid for a second that this might turn out to be Memento or something -- glad it didn't.

On the other hand, I can't help but wonder whether it was a story worth telling over the course of four hours or so. It doesn't have much of an arc, there isn't really a twist or even a lesson, the time jumps didn't work quite as well as in something like Thirty Flights of Loving where the whole game was built around that concept...

Maybe it would have been different if I had been more invested in the relationship between Henry and Delilah (and the characters themselves) but in the end I think Tom Chick's review is pretty spot on in that regard.

It's definitely a game I'd recommend playing to anyone else but I doubt it will stick with me like parts of The Walking Dead or Gone Home did.
 
Just finished the game, I liked it and liked the ending as well. After getting out of Ned's bunker I kept wondering if I had to try to find him (as he's saying he's going to need a new place to hide or something to that effect) or whether I was going to run into him on my way to D's.

So I guess the different options don't make any difference in terms of ending/branching storyline?
 
Sloane said:
On the other hand, I can't help but wonder whether it was a story worth telling over the course of four hours or so. It doesn't have much of an arc, there isn't really a twist or even a lesson, the time jumps didn't work quite as well as in something like Thirty Flights of Loving where the whole game was built around that concept...

Maybe it would have been different if I would have been more invested in the relationship between Henry and Delilah (and the characters themselves) but in the end I think Tom Chick's review is pretty spot on in that regard.
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I think the game would have benefited by a longer length. I don't regret spending $20 at all on it, but the story could have used more time to blossom in between some of the time jumps.

On an unrelated note, I wish this game would've had a platinum trophy. Still smh at just 5 trophies. Could've easily had some extra ones requiring you to open all the security drop boxes or something.
 
WanderingWind said:
I enjoyed Gone Home and I enjoyed this, to an extent. Folks talking about how they're glad it was a human story are on the right path, but I feel Campo lost their will to finish that story. The opening act and the setup with Henry and Delilah is fantastic. A simple setting, grounded in reality and introducing very human characters. I loved the little touches in the beginning that sort of fed into the feeling that you were playing the role of just some guy doing a menial job. They nailed the feeling of isolation.

What they utterly failed at was continuing any of those fantastic ideals. Before you even get a chance to explore the emotional setup they provided with the (as it turns out) entirely inconsequential beginning, they ask you to begin having feelings vicariously, about two characters you never met.

Instead of a nuanced, in-depth look at the nature of relationships - long-term and transient - isolation, dealing with life's major events or anything of the sort, we're given a succession of lame duck red herrings. The teens. The science equipment with the fence that couldn't have possibly been built without Delilah knowing about it. The "mystery" conversation.

None of these things are very interesting in and of themselves, they were worth paying attention to because they could've lead to interesting. Red herrings can be used to good effect, but not when they're used back-to-back-to-back and not when they're used as a substitute for actual progression. Between those and the time skips and uneven dialogue dispersion, there were just too many tricks obscuring the base ideals of the game.

I'm not disappointed that Firewatch didn't veer into sci-fi or horror territory. Quite the opposite. I'm disappointed because it had such an amazing premise, an absolutely riveting setting and style and an immediately likable dynamic between H&D and then it promptly squandered all of it. They didn't need to resort to using so many tricks. They needed to have way more confidence in their writing and the initial setup. There is an amazing, touching, human story somewhere in this game's past. It got lost somewhere along its development. Of all the things I'm most disappointed in with Firewatch, the fact that we'll never get to play that game is the biggest.
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I'm fine with what we got, but honestly it would've been even more fun if the game was basically about a vacationship/summer fling kind of thing with the same setup (Henry and Delilah mostly over the radio) except instead of starring a bunch of punch-drunk teens and their first taste of freedom it's instead about two 40-somethings who've lived lives, lost loves and just have a bunch of baggage and use this job to get away from it all, and what develops from that.

I think the Ned/conspiracy subplot thing was alright, it was rather sedate and I think it was mostly executed well because it did give off the feeling of making you paranoid and I think that was great, but would I have preferred the former which I described above? Probably a lot more so, but then again I ain't Campo Santo.
 
JTripper said:
I think the game would have benefited by a longer length. I don't regret spending $20 at all on it, but the story could have used more time to blossom in between some of the time jumps.
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Yeah... I guess, it depends on which story it would have told in between the time jumps because it definitely could have used a bit more focus and probably should have spent more time on the relationship and living in isolation.

Thinking about it, as well as the prologue was written, maybe that's part of why I didn't quite buy into the Henry / Delilah relationship -- the Henry that was forming in my mind during those first ten minutes or so wasn't quite the Henry I was getting in the actual game, and it immediately caused a bit of a disconnect.

#notmyhenry
 
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