Firewatch Review Thread

Happy to see all the positive reviews.

dark10x said:
It's a Unity game. It won't and cannot be fixed. I'm positive of that. Not a single console Unity game with launch performance issues has been fixed with a patch.
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That's a shame. I was hoping to buy this tomorrow but I'm in two minds now.
 
cabel said:
FWIW, we're currently talking to both Sony and Unity and we're all working hard to to optimize performance of Firewatch on PS4.

It's tricky, because it really requires all three partners working together to improve — it's not something we can tackle on our own, unlike a game bug — but we'll definitely continue to patch all platforms with every content and performance fix we can over time!

To summarize: we're on it. :)

(I've played through the game multiple times on a PlayStation 4 and enjoyed it thoroughly! But I'm not a PC gamer so…)
Click to expand...

Sounds good, hopefully you're able to improve it through patches in collaboration with Unity and Sony.
 
dark10x said:
It's a Unity game. It won't and cannot be fixed. I'm positive of that. Not a single console Unity game with launch performance issues has been fixed with a patch.
Click to expand...

How big is the download? Surely PS4 has some nuclear option that redownloads the entire distributable?
 
I can't read reviews right now. Is the score taking hits mainly for performance and everything else is fantastic?
 
dark10x said:
It's a Unity game. It won't and cannot be fixed. I'm positive of that. Not a single console Unity game with launch performance issues has been fixed with a patch.
Click to expand...
I kind of find it funny that the Unity games that target 60 could have managed a stable performance if they were just capped at 30 but because that didn't happen even those games ended up with unstable performance hah.

A relatively simple looking game with low geometric details like this is running at medium/high mixture on PS4 with unstable performance. I wonder if Unity Tech will ever fix their engine.
 
I'm looking forward to both this and The Witness but I just finished Everybody's Gone to the Rapture so my walk'em'up need is filled for now. Looks amazing. I need to play this.
 
cabel said:
FWIW, we're currently talking to both Sony and Unity and we're all working hard to to optimize performance of Firewatch on PS4.

It's tricky, because it really requires all three partners working together to improve — it's not something we can tackle on our own, unlike a game bug — but we'll definitely continue to patch all platforms with every content and performance fix we can over time!

To summarize: we're on it. :)

(I've played through the game multiple times on a PlayStation 4 and enjoyed it thoroughly! But I'm not a PC gamer so…)
Click to expand...

Glad to hear (read) that. Thank you and good luck.
 
Great reviews. Hopefully the PS4 issues get fixed. Sounds like an all around great job, Campo Santo guys. Can't wait to give it a run.
 
nOoblet16 said:
I kind of find it funny that the Unity games that target 60 could have managed a stable performance if they were just capped at 30 but because that didn't happen even those games ended up with unstable performance hah.

A relatively simple looking game with low geometric details like this is running at medium/high mixture on PS4 with unstable performance. I wonder if Unity Tech will ever fix their engine.
Click to expand...

I do think that developers are starting to get annoyed at Unity for things like this. I read something just the other day on Gamasutra.

Always-honest said:
But seriously, is this true?.,
Click to expand...
I couldn't say whether it will always be true, but there is a consistent pattern to it, especially in more technically advanced games. I remember the issues people were having with Dreamfall Chapters. The developer was working on it, but they did say that their hands were tied somewhat by Unity. This was back when it was still using Unity4, which prompted them to an expensive transition to Unity5. The performance is a lot better there, but still "not good" IMHO.

I don't know what version of Unity Firewatch is using. Maybe it is 5?
 
Definitely will pick it up when it is heavily discounted. The possible PS4 performance issues and what I heard from the spoilery reviews has me patiently waiting on the sidelines. I want to experience but not dying to do so.
 
dark10x said:
It's a Unity game. It won't and cannot be fixed. I'm positive of that. Not a single console Unity game with launch performance issues has been fixed with a patch.
Click to expand...

Whoa! Really? Something I should keep in mind going forward. Getting this on PC though
 
Unity seems to be such a shitty engine on consoles. Too bad, I'm not sure that I want to spend 20$ on a game with that many issues.

I was reaaally looking forward to it. =/
 
Fuck man. I really want to get this game, but I don't want to stop playing Digimon because usually with games I don't get back to it that soon lol
 
Glad to hear people are enjoying this. Preordered just to support the CS guys and it seems they've delivered.

There's no preload on steam right? Anyone know when it unlocks?
 
cabel said:
FWIW, we're currently talking to both Sony and Unity and we're all working hard to to optimize performance of Firewatch on PS4.

It's tricky, because it really requires all three partners working together to improve — it's not something we can tackle on our own, unlike a game bug — but we'll definitely continue to patch all platforms with every content and performance fix we can over time!

To summarize: we're on it. :)

(I've played through the game multiple times on a PlayStation 4 and enjoyed it thoroughly! But I'm not a PC gamer so…)
Click to expand...

Oh, thanks for posting this. Might go ahead and buy it then.
 
Still on for the PS4 version. Unless the general consensus is a game is broken/unplayable(which doesn't seem to be the case here) I've found it's usually best to see for myself. Tech issues bother and distract gamers to sometimes wildly varying degrees: Witcher, SOMA, and Fallout, for example, were deemed borderline unplayable by some while plenty of people were having a blast with them. Seems like a similar situation with FW.
 
cabel said:
FWIW, we're currently talking to both Sony and Unity and we're all working hard to to optimize performance of Firewatch on PS4.

It's tricky, because it really requires all three partners working together to improve — it's not something we can tackle on our own, unlike a game bug — but we'll definitely continue to patch all platforms with every content and performance fix we can over time!

To summarize: we're on it. :)

(I've played through the game multiple times on a PlayStation 4 and enjoyed it thoroughly! But I'm not a PC gamer so…)
Click to expand...
I guess this should be added to the OP.
 
Does it ever get worse on PS4 than that short Giant Bomb playthroughs? There were a couple noticeable hitches there but it never seemed more than what I would think of as annoying.
 
Great reviews, job very well done to Campo Santo.
This is my type of game with a good focus on exploration, unique visual palette and story

Now to go dark and play this for myself over the weekend.
 
BiggNife said:
Do you have examples? It sounds like you're painting a really wide brush.
Click to expand...

He already said not a single one of them, which means pretty much all those games...those would be your example hah.

But yes it's true Unity simply does not perform well on consoles.
 
I noticed the stuttering watching Access Playstation play it. They must be simply PR people because they have never said anything negative about any game I've seen them play, even if it's staring them in the face as they play it.

Really disappointing- I was looking forward to this. With the comments about the story feeling unfinished, and the performance issues, this is a pass for me- at least for now.
 
Nameless said:
Still on for the PS4 version. Unless the general consensus is a game is broken/unplayable(which doesn't seem to be the case here) I've found it's usually best to see for myself. Tech issues bother and distract gamers to sometimes wildly varying degrees: Witcher, SOMA, and Fallout, for example, were deemed borderline unplayable by some while plenty of people were having a blast with them. Seems like a similar situation with FW.
Click to expand...

Same here, and it doesn't seem to have affected the PS4 review scores unduly.
 
Performance issues bum me the fuck out. I figured as much when the GB video was on PC "on max!" which even being somewhat snarky about it, probably meant the PS4 version either didn't look nearly as good or ran crappy.
 
Nameless said:
Still on for the PS4 version. Unless the general consensus is a game is broken/unplayable(which doesn't seem to be the case here) I've found it's usually best to see for myself. Tech issues bother and distract gamers to sometimes wildly varying degrees: Witcher, SOMA, and Fallout, for example, were deemed borderline unplayable by some while plenty of people were having a blast with them. Seems like a similar situation with FW.
Click to expand...

Yeah, with Witcher...I never really understood the big hooplah. I've always found it very serviceable on PS4. So if that's anything to go by I should be fine with Firewatch. Now Bethesda games lol? Nah. Fool me once...
 
nOoblet16 said:
He already said not a single one of them, which means pretty much all those games...those would be your example hah.

But yes it's true Unity simply does not perform well on consoles.
Click to expand...

It doesn't perform particularly well on PC either but it is manageable.
 
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