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Overanalyzing Anime
Blog Owner & Lead Writer
Firewatch tells the story of Henry, a troubled man who – after a string of unfortunate events – decides to take a seemingly simple job as a fire lookout in the Shoshone National Forest. What he assumed would be a rather peaceful summer quickly becomes complicated as Henry is forced to deal with a number of unexpected issues that manifest within the forest. Luckily his new boss, Delilah, is there to support him every step of the way by way of their walkie-talkie system. However, even with Delilah by his side, neither will be prepared for the mystery that they inevitably find themselves a part of.
Firewatch has a lot going for it, but for the purpose of this review I'm going to focus on it's two strongest points, which are its story and its artwork. Let's start with the story. Firewatch is a game of choices, one wherein you take on the role of Henry and decide what type of individual he will become. Is he a bad man, or a good one; does he follow the rules or is he a rebel?
If you've ever played a Telltale game (The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us, etc.) then this is a game that I imagine you'll thoroughly enjoy playing. In fact, if you’re a person who enjoys the roaming aspect of those games, then you may find this even more enjoyable due to it being a free-reign, open-world styled game. Where Telltale games will often limit the main characters' range to a large number of small areas, this game allows you to freely roam the entire terrain, which is actually pretty expansive.
Perhaps the best part of the story is the dialogue between the two lead characters. As the story focuses heavily on their relationship, it’s their responsibility to make us truly care what happens to either of them. Luckily, actors Rich Sommer (Henry) and Cissy Jones (Delilah) do an excellent job keeping us interested in the ultimate fate of both of their characters. Their conversations feel so organic and true; and the way in which their relationship evolves from strangers to friends feels very authentic and natural. Serious kudos to them for pulling that off.
Now, let's talk about this artwork. I really fell in love with the world Campo Santo Studios created. While not photorealistic, there's something about the cartoonish nature of it all that makes the environment of Firewatch look incredibly lush and vibrant. It's easy to tell that the team really took their time on making sure the foliage, the lighting, - really just the world as a whole was absolutely superb. It’s one of the reasons it’s such a joy playing the game; whether it’s discovering new environments, or even retuning to places you’ve already visited at different times of the day, it's always an incredible sight to behold.
I feel that the choice of focusing on the environment was a smart move because, I'll be the first to admit that every time I got a glimpse of Henry's arm/leg hair, I would cringe at how bizzare it looked. Campo Santo might not be experts at illustrating the human body, but they sure know what they're doing in terms of creating breathtaking environments.
Now, as much as I love this game, I can't say that it's without it's flaws. For example, as with most games, the different choices Henry can decide from are often superficial. For example, deciding on the type of dog doesn’t have any real ramifications to the story other than it being a conversational piece later on in the game. Even if you do decide differently on some of the more important aspects of the story, the end won’t vary much aside from a few different lines of dialogue. I don’t knock the game for this – as trying to create genuinely different conclusions is no easy feat, especially for smaller companies that have less money to work with.
The only real technical fault I found with the game had less to do with its story and more to do with the actual gameplay. As the story continued on I noticed that every few minutes or so it would glitch as it tried to render more of the forest. While this wasn't a significant issue, I did find it bothersome as it become more and more frequent.
While not divulging any specific aspects of the story, I’m still going to consider this next section to delve into spoiler territory. One of the aspects of this game that I found somewhat tedious was that, during its three hour run, Henry never interacts with anyone face to face. Yes, there are human-esque husks that he’ll see from meters away, but the lack of face to face interactions added to the predictability of it. Moments that might have had more tension – such as coming upon (seemingly) abandoned campsites started to feel far less tense since I already knew that I wouldn’t actual stumble upon another person.
This isn’t necessarily a fault on the game – budgetary constraints being what they are, I can fully understand why this was the case. I even imagine that it was partly done in order to further establish the sense that Henry is on his own out in the wilderness and, at first, it did creep me out. But as the stakes continued to rise, and the threat of the seemingly omnipresent stalker continued to loom over their heads, it started to become less creepy and more disappointing. “Is the stories antagonist going to be waiting for me behind these bushes?” No, no he’s not.
All in all, Firewatch is a game that I didn’t expect much from, but still got a lot out of. With it being on sale for $6 at the time – now back to it’s normal price of $20 – I imagined something mildly entertaining, but this turned out to be a lot more. This was a game that felt a lot like a good movie, or an even better book. While I ultimately wasn't all that impressed with the climax, I still respect the journey leading up to it. At the end of the day, the conversations between Henry and Delilah - couple with the beauty of the world - make the game worthwhile. I defintiley say check it out, if you haven't already!
My rating: 8/10
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