God that song was horrible, but I carried that thing all the way home regardless. Henry can climb mountains while holding onto it, that man is skilled.
Firewatch | Spoiler Discussion
- Thread starter More_Badass
- Start date
God that song was horrible, but I carried that thing all the way home regardless. Henry can climb mountains while holding onto it, that man is skilled.
I know I'm missing the point, but I'd have kinda liked for D and H to actually get together at some point in the summer. At least meet at the end and kiss goodbye or something. The theme of the game is not being able to hide from life or hide from your problems, but the two characters just had such good chemistry together. It bums me out in a profound way that they'll just end up as two ships passing in the night, only able to remember a voice on a radio over a single magic summer. Hell, it seemed like on then night watching the June fire before the hard cut, they were about to have phone sex. Or at the very least an intimate conversation. It's a well done sad, not-meant-to-be sort of romance. Leaves me feeling longing, which I suppose is the point.
AegisScott
Neo Member
I feel like I've had friendships like that in my life- Very intense, very time and place. At 40, and with at least a couple of bad relationships in her past, I think Delilah understands that this was over. It felt pretty adult and real in that way.
It's like how as soon as the reveal happens, the romance is over for Delilah, both with Henry and with the area. It wasn't them against some massive conspiracy, no one was out to get them, there was nothing for them to overcome together. Just a dead boy and a guilty, paranoid father. And that's where she gets over the park and over whatever crush or feelings she had for Henry. It's a really nuanced portrayal of how these things can go. It's depressing and disheartening in a realistic way.
I'm SO HAPPY I wasn't the only one that noticed this! This made me filled with joy. Such a Gone Home fan.
This.
Not sure if I missed something huge but it's complete nonsense.
What's the point of the lab? What tests were they running? Why did the guy fake reports? What was that weird noise?
D
Deleted member 30609
Unconfirmed Member
yeah, Delilah's reaction to Henry right at the end was pretty much perfect
Even if H & D meeting at the end being realistic or not realistic is a topic of debate.
One thing that doesn't seem realistic for sure is how they spend 80 days but never once meet. Beside it seemed like it took Delilah only a few hours to go from her tower which is at the top of the map to the Cotton Creek which is at the bottom of the map to drop the radio. It'd take either of them only half of that time were they to go to each other's tower considering Henry's tower is in the middle of the map. Even less if they were to meet halfway.
The arguments people have made over why she never meets at the end:
1) She is anti social: She has to be absolutely terrible at that with actual psychological issues to go out of her way to avoid meeting face to face like some people here are claiming. But that makes no sense because she did meet people in person, and as such it didn't matter even if she had a "special" relationship with Henry. Because it didn't need to be romantic...just a few minutes of wait to say goodbye.
2) The guilt with Brian, which brings up the question what about the days before the reveal of his death ? They spend several weeks where she didn't have that guilt and yet they didn't meet.
One thing that doesn't seem realistic for sure is how they spend 80 days but never once meet. Beside it seemed like it took Delilah only a few hours to go from her tower which is at the top of the map to the Cotton Creek which is at the bottom of the map to drop the radio. It'd take either of them only half of that time were they to go to each other's tower considering Henry's tower is in the middle of the map. Even less if they were to meet halfway.
The arguments people have made over why she never meets at the end:
1) She is anti social: She has to be absolutely terrible at that with actual psychological issues to go out of her way to avoid meeting face to face like some people here are claiming. But that makes no sense because she did meet people in person, and as such it didn't matter even if she had a "special" relationship with Henry. Because it didn't need to be romantic...just a few minutes of wait to say goodbye.
2) The guilt with Brian, which brings up the question what about the days before the reveal of his death ? They spend several weeks where she didn't have that guilt and yet they didn't meet.
The lab was a soil testing camp of some sort. Ned didn't fake reports, he made real reports on observing the two and put them in the camp to make Henry think it was something bigger. He did this because he didn't want anyone finding his son's body, until he was eventually sure they were harmless and let him in on it at the end I suppose. The weird noise was Ned listening in on their conversations and coughing or dropping the walkie.
CheesecakeRecipe
Stormy Grey
There are hints that the lab may have been responsible for a behavioral study, just not one involving humans. Others have commented that a dead elk can be found with a tracking collar in the woods, which matches the same 'black box' found by the wave detector when you're first introduced to it, as well as the collar by Ned's confession tape at the end. There's also the soil-testing grid and some of the equipment hinting at what that may have been used for. It's really inconsequential to the plot as a whole, other than Ned using it as a front when he lost his cool.
Which is why those reports were planted in the camp. As the group doing the study wasn't there during those months, Ned knew that Henry was planning on trespassing into the campsite and hastily typed up reports based off of his observations of both tower operators. They were already fairly paranoid that they were being monitored, so he preyed on this by slipping those reports into an already incomprehensible scientific study site. The game even plays with this a bit by changing the text description of one of the pieces of equipment from 'earthquake monitor' to 'lie detector?' as Henry reports his findings back to Delilah. They have no idea what is going on, and Ned was trying his hardest to scare them off before they'd find something that would lead them directly to his son's body.
This doesn't really account for what would happen once Henry and Delilah returned to civilization, but, hey, who said Ned was being rational at any point?
Other posters have commented that the noise heard may have been an elk call.
Wok
Member
Couldn't it be the reverse? The hideout of Ned could be a set-up made by the government to make H think that there is no government conspiration. The big fire at the end would be a way to destroy the evidence after making H think there is no other mystery.
When you think about it, the skeleton is the skeleton of a grown-up, it could be Ned's skeleton.
When you think about it, the skeleton is the skeleton of a grown-up, it could be Ned's skeleton.
Death Metalist
Member
Just finished the game. It was pretty alright, the strongest things for me were learning more about Fire-watching and the how do's, the characters and the atmosphere. I wish it was a longer game to be honest because the characters were fun to be around with. The game starts stronger than it ended but I gotta give credit that it ended very much grounded in reality when the mind keeps thinking it'll be something over the top with all the build up.
Overall, it's good. I'm glad we're in a place that games like this can exist. Wish that we met Delilah though but that was the point is that she never was the type of person to get close with other fire-watchers, I'm sure they'll meet up at some point when she said that this thing(the fire) usually comes with alot of questions and all so, yeah. In the end though, fuck dementia.
Overall, it's good. I'm glad we're in a place that games like this can exist. Wish that we met Delilah though but that was the point is that she never was the type of person to get close with other fire-watchers, I'm sure they'll meet up at some point when she said that this thing(the fire) usually comes with alot of questions and all so, yeah. In the end though, fuck dementia.
cripterion
Member
The real good stuff in the game was the setting, the voice performance and the soundtrack. For this alone I feel I got something out of my money. But as a story based game it entirely fails to make any compelling impact, the plot is just nonsensical and you're left wondering why the hell you get knocked out cold near the lake, why someone leads you to a cave just to lock you up in it just so you can go back to it 5 minutes late... I mean this is just weak stuff when the setting could have been so much more even without taking a murder/fantastic/creepy direction.
Finished it. Enjoyed the mood a lot, the conspiracy part was a bit too much maybe and many things happened too suddenly. My favorite part was, by far, talking with Delilah via the walkie-talkie about random stuff while exploring the park.
If only there would have been more things to do and the end with Delilah were a bit less anticlimatic, it would have been perfect for me. Hell, probably an ending where it feels like her and Henry will at least be nice friends. I mean, sure, it was only a summer, but hell... they spent it all by themselves and with some horrible mysteries as background, you would expect them to have a better relationship.
However, even without all of this, I still liked the game quite a bit. Very nice characters and some of the lighting and colors during some scenes were great.
If only there would have been more things to do and the end with Delilah were a bit less anticlimatic, it would have been perfect for me. Hell, probably an ending where it feels like her and Henry will at least be nice friends. I mean, sure, it was only a summer, but hell... they spent it all by themselves and with some horrible mysteries as background, you would expect them to have a better relationship.
However, even without all of this, I still liked the game quite a bit. Very nice characters and some of the lighting and colors during some scenes were great.
Yeah, although that's probably a pretty difficult thing to do. It already felt like the game was lacking a bit of a goal, some proper motivation for Henry, more conflict, pressure, stakes -- anything really.
In TWD, TWAU, or even Oxenfree, most of the choices you're making in the dialogue are at least on some level connected to reaching your goal (surviving, finding the murderer, etc.) or to deal with conflict, lowering the pressure that is being put on you.
Here, there's very little of that and there probably would be even less if it was entirely about the relationship between Henry and Delilah.
Sir Blaming
Member
I think I can finally say this is what i think about the game. Thanks brain, you finally made up your mind!
Just beat the game and wanted to share a few thoughts about it. I enjoyed it quite a bit. The art style and music were great. The interactions, writing and voice acting were all really well done. It was too short but I knew it would be very short when I bought it so I don't really regret it. Gameplay wise, I was kind of reaching the point where I didn't mind it wrapping it because I was getting a little tired of running back and forth to these same areas. Story wise, I wanted it to keep going.
I will say that I really feel like it sets up some kind of sequel if they ever feel like doing that. I guess that all depends on the sales of the game, though. But I feel like they can make a story of Henry and Delilah finally meeting, agreeing to go back and find Ned because she needs closure or whatever. It would be pretty easy for them to do.
Them never meeting is probably the main thing that sticks out to me as a wtf moment. Even at the end, why wouldn't you wait a few more minutes for him to get there? Before that, they had all kinds of time to meet, even if it was halfway. She went across the map to plant a radio but couldn't ever leave to meet him somewhere? She can bend or break all kinds of rules while working but that's the one thing she won't ever do? Seems silly. But them not meeting feels like a cop out just so they didn't have to design what Delilah looks like. They obviously want her to be whoever you want her to be, looks wise. But if that's the case, why do we know what Henry looks like? Part of me does wonder if they didn't meet because she really is still dating that guy and feels bad about it? In that report on them in the tent, it said she's still with Javier but she denies it. I don't know if Ned was going off of old information or if he knew the real deal based on listening to other conversations she was having. But that could explain why she didn't want to meet. But maybe I interpreted that part wrong. I am pretty curious about this so if there was something in the game that explains it fully other than her quick denial, I missed it.
But I feel like they could meet some time after the ending of the game. I'm assuming Henry does go to see Julia but one way or another, his relationship with her is basically over, unfortunately. He's not moving to Australia, they aren't letting her move back with him and either way, she might not even recognize him soon enough. On Delilah's end, she's 43, single and now she'll have to be dealing with things emotionally and psychologically. I doubt she's finding anyone else while in that state of mind but she basically pushed away the one person who was making her happy. I don't think it would be that unnatural if one of them tries to contact the other.
I will say that I really feel like it sets up some kind of sequel if they ever feel like doing that. I guess that all depends on the sales of the game, though. But I feel like they can make a story of Henry and Delilah finally meeting, agreeing to go back and find Ned because she needs closure or whatever. It would be pretty easy for them to do.
Them never meeting is probably the main thing that sticks out to me as a wtf moment. Even at the end, why wouldn't you wait a few more minutes for him to get there? Before that, they had all kinds of time to meet, even if it was halfway. She went across the map to plant a radio but couldn't ever leave to meet him somewhere? She can bend or break all kinds of rules while working but that's the one thing she won't ever do? Seems silly. But them not meeting feels like a cop out just so they didn't have to design what Delilah looks like. They obviously want her to be whoever you want her to be, looks wise. But if that's the case, why do we know what Henry looks like? Part of me does wonder if they didn't meet because she really is still dating that guy and feels bad about it? In that report on them in the tent, it said she's still with Javier but she denies it. I don't know if Ned was going off of old information or if he knew the real deal based on listening to other conversations she was having. But that could explain why she didn't want to meet. But maybe I interpreted that part wrong. I am pretty curious about this so if there was something in the game that explains it fully other than her quick denial, I missed it.
But I feel like they could meet some time after the ending of the game. I'm assuming Henry does go to see Julia but one way or another, his relationship with her is basically over, unfortunately. He's not moving to Australia, they aren't letting her move back with him and either way, she might not even recognize him soon enough. On Delilah's end, she's 43, single and now she'll have to be dealing with things emotionally and psychologically. I doubt she's finding anyone else while in that state of mind but she basically pushed away the one person who was making her happy. I don't think it would be that unnatural if one of them tries to contact the other.
80s Bad Guy
Banned
We really need the Idle Thumbs guys to do a post-mortem at some point. I think listening to the show for so many years, these are smart, sharp guys who I love listening break down narratives and narrative structure, (including the two guys who won awards for Walking Dead Season 1), so I'm sure lots of these decisions were made after painful deliberation. Things off the top of my head I'd like to know, 1. Was the decision not to show Delilah a technical one? 2. Did they feel pressure to move the player along faster, (like why weren't we allowed a few days of work/getting to know Delilah/maybe be exposed to Ned and his son before the time skip?) 3. Did they feel pressure to work in the research angle (which seems to be universally meh) or was it an allegory for something else? 4. Was there ever an ending planned where Henry commits to his next life choice based on player decisions, or is that supposed to be up to us?
Thinking about the game more I would summarize it as, "Three people go into the forest to escape grief in different ways, you won't believe what happens next!" Maybe looking at the game from the perspective of how each of the three leads essentially manage loss is what we're supposed to take away, but I feel like there was no closure for Ned, Delilah or even Henry. Maybe the closure wasn't shown to leave it ambiguous for the player, maybe technical reasons, but ultimately I think it's the thing people are most disappointed by. But if that sense of uncertainty about the future or about what these relationships ultimately mean was intentional then they succeeded. Like, maybe it's less of a thesis and more of an open-ended question posed to us, the player? Long ramble before coffee over.
Did anyone listen to Sean Vanaman on that podcast? Did that happen yet?
Thinking about the game more I would summarize it as, "Three people go into the forest to escape grief in different ways, you won't believe what happens next!" Maybe looking at the game from the perspective of how each of the three leads essentially manage loss is what we're supposed to take away, but I feel like there was no closure for Ned, Delilah or even Henry. Maybe the closure wasn't shown to leave it ambiguous for the player, maybe technical reasons, but ultimately I think it's the thing people are most disappointed by. But if that sense of uncertainty about the future or about what these relationships ultimately mean was intentional then they succeeded. Like, maybe it's less of a thesis and more of an open-ended question posed to us, the player? Long ramble before coffee over.
Did anyone listen to Sean Vanaman on that podcast? Did that happen yet?
semiconscious
Member
the guy's fundamentally a 2-legged deus ex machina: he exists to explain everything that needs explaining
...the game looks even worse to me the day after playing it than it already did. the new walkie-talkie that delilah somehow gets to the supply box? followed by the weird, carefully coded call the next morning? smh...
Wok
Member
During the whole game, I was thinking how the bugs in walkable surfaces were immersion breaking. I have found the blog post regarding this aspect in The Witness, and I now realize how important this is:
http://the-witness.net/news/2012/12/mapping-the-islands-walkable-surfaces/
http://the-witness.net/news/2012/12/mapping-the-islands-walkable-surfaces/
What I'm kind of curious about -- probably a little off-topic -- is that in the early days of Idle Thumbs (the podcast) I always got the impression that the guys, as players, were mostly interested in open, simulation-driven games like Deus Ex, Thief, or Dishonored (Chris, Steve, and Nick in particular, I think) or in very, uh, mechanics-driven games (probably not the right term) like Mario, Donkey Kong, or Pikmin. Yet, as developers, they have (co-)created The Walking Dead S1, Gone Home, The Walking Dead S2, Firewatch, and Tacoma -- games driven mostly by narrative with little interaction outside of dialogue.
Maybe I've read too much into some of the discussions early but I've been wondering if their interests just shifted or if it's not feasible for an indie studio to develop games that are a bit more open, or if I plainly remember stuff from 2008 wrong.
File this under stupid reader mail or something.
At the very end, when all you have left to do is make your way north towards the helicopter, there was a moment in which I thought the game was hinting that I should make a detour first. Maybe it was entirely in my head, or maybe there was a line about making sure you had everything, but I got the idea that there would be an optional scene or some new dialogue (at least), or something added to the ending, if I went out of my way before going to the helicopter.
The first thing I did was go back into the cave, all the way back to Brian's corpse. I thought maybe it would be gone (as in Ned finally burying it properly, or something), possibly with a note, or maybe Ned would just be there. There was nothing new down there, so I took a picture of the corpse (thinking that the photos might still affect something down the line) and left.
Next, I went back up to the Two Forks tower. I grabbed the turtle* - which did prompt Henry to say something like "we gotta get outta here" - and the photo of Henry and his wife and made my way towards the ending of the game. There was no acknowledgement of Henry having either of those things. Oh well.
*It's a very minor thing, but even after you discover and adopt the turtle, if you pick it up from its box, the button prompt still says "adopt" as it did the first time you find it in the wild.
The first thing I did was go back into the cave, all the way back to Brian's corpse. I thought maybe it would be gone (as in Ned finally burying it properly, or something), possibly with a note, or maybe Ned would just be there. There was nothing new down there, so I took a picture of the corpse (thinking that the photos might still affect something down the line) and left.
Next, I went back up to the Two Forks tower. I grabbed the turtle* - which did prompt Henry to say something like "we gotta get outta here" - and the photo of Henry and his wife and made my way towards the ending of the game. There was no acknowledgement of Henry having either of those things. Oh well.
*It's a very minor thing, but even after you discover and adopt the turtle, if you pick it up from its box, the button prompt still says "adopt" as it did the first time you find it in the wild.
I think that's an area where the lack of traditional "depth" to its gameplay ends up hurting. Whatever you have in your inventory doesn't matter at all, and what you do with it doesn't either. There's no puzzle you can solve or solve early, no earlier access or sequence breaks, no real extending sequences.
InaudibleWhispa
Member
The end reminds me of Before Sunset. Maybe he'll write about his time there and she'll turn up at his book signing in 9 years time.
CrichtonKicks
Member
I've only listened to Idle Thumbs a few times several years ago. Can someone break down some of the lineage here? For the longest time I thought that Firewatch was being made by the same people who made Gone Home but I guess that's not the case? But some did work at Telltale? And am I imagining it or did someone in that group do Minerva's Den too?
80s Bad Guy
Banned
That's a valid point, based on their game tastes you'd expect some kind of rube goldberg/garry's mod thing. They all seem to enjoy games that have "systems" to play with more than stuff with narrative hooks. Probably just based on their main individual strengths (music, writing, design) this kind of game is "easier" for them to build over something that would take a lot of programming.
That reminds me: I'm surprised there was no extra dialogue, at least, for cleaning up all the beer cans during the first two days. Just something to acknowledge the choices you're making, whether important to the overall narrative or not.
Steve Gaynor did BS2, Minerva's Den and Gone Home, but he's only written for Idle Thumbs (he's still at Fulbright presumably working on Tacoma.)
I think the focus of these indie games is partially that it's cheaper and more cost-effective to make a story-focused, shorter game experience than some open-world title.
Yeah that too. It doesn't do anything besides I guess inform your interpretation of Henry, but that's pretty useless when it comes to the rest of the plot and the ending.
SuperSonic1305
Member
I didn't find this one but I did find the Christmas duck in the lake behind where the girls were.
Anyway, this game was a disappointment. It started off great. I almost wish the game was just doing random firewatch work while having conversations with Delilah instead of turning into this wild goose chase.
Jest Chillin
Member
None of these things are mysteries nor are they hard to figure out if you pay attention to the details of the game.
--Ned knocks you out so he can recover the clipboard and walkie talkie.
--Nobody led you to the cave. You find the key to the cave by coincedence (there's notes in Ned's cave where he expresses that he didn't know how you found access to that part of the cave).
--Ned also doesn't know about the exit leading to the area where Brian's hideout was. It was blocked off by fallen stone and the player had to use his axe to leverage away the stones to gain access to the path.
The context for most the things that people are complaining about are actually in the game but people are missing it because they don't want to pay attention to the details. And whether it's that they wanted a horror/supernatural angle to play out or they wanted Relationship Simulator 2.0 Wilderness Edition... it's a case of wanting to force a game to be what you want it to be rather than trying to understand what it actually is.
Ned has to be the one who lead you to the cave. The place where you find the backpack with the keys can be accessed before that moment, and nothing is there. Afterwards, the wavefinder leads you to it, so Ned had to have placed a tracker in the backpack (or in the alarm behind the backpack) to lead you to it. He didn't have access to a tracker before Brian's death, and neither did Brian.
80s Bad Guy
Banned
Unless Delilah did it. duh dun duuuuuuh.
She sounded bitter Ned didn't talk to her much, she seems so damn needy and creepy sometimes.
And that's a shame because 'what it is' is not as good as either of those two options had they chose to focus on one or the other.
Triple edit post:
I don't expect that from them though, that's just bad design.
Wok
Member
It was mentioned before, the game is inconsistent regarding the sequence of events, so the fact that the backpack is not there at the beginning of the game is not a fact that can be trusted to sort out the story.
Just try to get to the cache (the one with the new talkie-walkie put by D) in the cotton prairie without zooming on the flora poster.
Twist: Ned is D. The photo of a man in D's lookout is a selfie.
Well, regarding Steve and Gone Home. He did talk about how he would love a game to be all about exploring a big house / mansion thoroughly, and that would be all the game was about. This was way back in early idle thumbs, not sure which ep. but I'll report back if I find it since I listen to old episodes every now and then.
*edit* Found it for those interested:
Idle Thumbs episode 11 form December 23, 2008
OT: I'm in the camp(o) of "No story-climax is a fitting end". When I finished the game I felt, empty? I guess. But thinking back and reading some comments here made me appreciate how the game ended. It's true that we're used to getting a good send-off, climax or what have you. But in life that's fairly rare. Most of the time things just whimper off, though they may start of exciting and promising. So why shouldn't a game be allowed to portay that feeling? Pretty cool and daring in my opinion.
Still, I get the feeling that we might be missing something. I'd defo enjoy a post-mortem by the podcast crew, at some point.
80s Bad Guy
Banned
SoldierIce64
Member
Finished the game yesterday, I enjoyed it a lot. The only negative I can think of is the sluggish performance on PS4, but other than that I'm really excited to see what Campo Santo does next.
Makoto-Yuki
Banned
Just finished it (3.7 hour playtime).
I have to say that the ending didn't really amaze me or anything. I'm not saying it was bad. I didn't expect much going in and enjoyed the game. I think I just wanted a bit more. Maybe something bigger in terms of story and gameplay. The setting and dialogue exchange between Henry/Delilah was great. Kinda disappointed we didn't get to meet her in person.
Don't think I'll ever replay it but I would really like more games like this.
I have to say that the ending didn't really amaze me or anything. I'm not saying it was bad. I didn't expect much going in and enjoyed the game. I think I just wanted a bit more. Maybe something bigger in terms of story and gameplay. The setting and dialogue exchange between Henry/Delilah was great. Kinda disappointed we didn't get to meet her in person.
Don't think I'll ever replay it but I would really like more games like this.
Surprised by some of the details people missed and are asking questions about it.
I loved the game. I agree with the criticism of a lackluster ending but I was still fully content with what transpired. The slice of life comparison is really on point. Even though my imagination was running wild at points and me kind of hoping something truly insane was going to happen never came to fruition, I was still completely satisfied as a whole experience. I think the wilderness really get your mind racing especially when something weird happens. Just because the ending was Ned doesn't mean the journey there wasn't exhilerating.
I loved the game. I agree with the criticism of a lackluster ending but I was still fully content with what transpired. The slice of life comparison is really on point. Even though my imagination was running wild at points and me kind of hoping something truly insane was going to happen never came to fruition, I was still completely satisfied as a whole experience. I think the wilderness really get your mind racing especially when something weird happens. Just because the ending was Ned doesn't mean the journey there wasn't exhilerating.
I wish the game was about twice as long.
I know there's a balance between keeping it short enough for people to finish and talk about and long enough to seem worth $20, but more time in the establishing days and maybe a few more in the days of rising tension would've been great. Why jump from Day 2 to Day 60-something in the span of 15 minutes? I'd have loved a few more days of Henry and Delilah getting to know each other, a few more days after they seemingly cross the threshold into intimacy, etc. More chances to build the characters, set up the twists, prolong the sense of dread and all that.
I really loved the experience of this game, and it definitely helped to wash the taste of The Witness out of my mouth, but it could have been so much more. It's a pretty good 4 hour game that could have been an incredible 10-12 hour game.
I know there's a balance between keeping it short enough for people to finish and talk about and long enough to seem worth $20, but more time in the establishing days and maybe a few more in the days of rising tension would've been great. Why jump from Day 2 to Day 60-something in the span of 15 minutes? I'd have loved a few more days of Henry and Delilah getting to know each other, a few more days after they seemingly cross the threshold into intimacy, etc. More chances to build the characters, set up the twists, prolong the sense of dread and all that.
I really loved the experience of this game, and it definitely helped to wash the taste of The Witness out of my mouth, but it could have been so much more. It's a pretty good 4 hour game that could have been an incredible 10-12 hour game.
the guy's fundamentally a 2-legged deus ex machina: he exists to explain everything that needs explaining
the game looks even worse to me the day after playing it than it already did. the new walkie-talkie that delilah somehow gets to the supply box? followed by the weird, carefully coded call the next morning? smh...
Ya the whole "find the place named after this specific tree" seemed like something Ned could of easily looked at a map and noticed the only place named after a tree. Especially considering he's been there, and knows the area really well.
Neuromancer
Member
I don't know why Ned wouldn't have hid his son's body and then not engaged with Henry, Delilah and the girls causing huge issues that only increased his chances of getting discovered. It doesn't really make much sense.
I liked the game overall but the more I think about the story and the gotcha/anticlimax ending I do get a little disappointed. After Gone Home I hope these developers try another angle.
I liked the game overall but the more I think about the story and the gotcha/anticlimax ending I do get a little disappointed. After Gone Home I hope these developers try another angle.
Guess you understand why I said I simultaneously really liked it and was massively disappointed in the GB thread.
The idea that she was so paranoid she dropped off a new walkie talkie with code instead of, you know, just going to Henry's and giving it to him/talking in person was one of those places where the "we don't want to fully animate people" killed my suspension of disbelief.
Yep. I'm not massively disappointed exactly, the last hour feeling so rushed and looking back on how quick the first act went by just leaves me wishing the game was more than it was. I think a longer running time and the opportunities afforded by one could have served to both make the reveal feel more earned and believable as well as make the gut punch of the characters never meeting more impactful.
You are of course entitled to your own opinion, but not to recommend the game even though you say it's great in so many ways, simply because the ending wasn't some emotional meeting between Henry and Delilah or something other then the ending you get.. That seems very harsh and it's kind of a contradiction. I mean, if the ride to the end is so great, wouldn't that be more then enough to give the game a recommendation and let others decide if the ending is bad or not? Since it can be interpreted in different ways.
The game clearly give room for the players own interpretation, or at least lots of food for thought. That alone makes it well worth a playthrough imo, since it asks you to question things and draw your own conclusion of what it all really means. Then add the great art, music, dialog, voice action and how the story evolves from minute one.. Can you really say you wouldn't recommend it? I'm not trying to discredit you or anything, just want to hear what you think of the game's story as a summer fling: You escape reality over a few months to get a break from a tough period of your life. Exciting stuff happens, such as you get in contact with a girl/woman that seems intelligent, funny and easy going. But in the end, it's time to face the facts and take responsibility of the life you live instead of running away. That's a good story imo! (even if it is the "intended" story or not)
semiconscious
Member
this part seriously reminded me of something my seven-year-old self & best friend would've done: 'whatever you do, don't just give it to me! instead, bury it near a tree, draw a map to the tree, & then wrap the map around a rock & throw the rock through my open bedroom window...'
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