I think it's quite possible to dislike this game without being a broken/naive person.
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Firewatch | Spoiler Discussion
- Thread starter More_Badass
- Start date
I think it's quite possible to dislike this game without being a broken/naive person.
Fachasaurus
Member
I wish I had a couple more days of exploring and doing tasks just for the sake of getting to know Delilah more and a chance to hear that dialogue between them.
After finishing the game, I felt a bit confused. I think internally, I was expecting some grand conspiracy or paranormal outcome. Throughout the game I was almost hoping for it. But since the big reveals and completing it I just kept thinking about each day and each task and each conversation. I actually felt connected to her. I kinda wish Henry wasn't a character, but instead the player actually was. Still making choices throughout the game, but for yourself and not specifically for/as Henry.
Either way it was a great game for me but its hard not to admit that it really isn't for everyone. It was quite similar to an indie movie or book that will stick with you for a while. Nothing more and nothing less.
After finishing the game, I felt a bit confused. I think internally, I was expecting some grand conspiracy or paranormal outcome. Throughout the game I was almost hoping for it. But since the big reveals and completing it I just kept thinking about each day and each task and each conversation. I actually felt connected to her. I kinda wish Henry wasn't a character, but instead the player actually was. Still making choices throughout the game, but for yourself and not specifically for/as Henry.
Either way it was a great game for me but its hard not to admit that it really isn't for everyone. It was quite similar to an indie movie or book that will stick with you for a while. Nothing more and nothing less.
GinoFelino
Member
Max Landis (writer of Chronicle) leaves his thoughts on Firewatch
brutal
What an intolerable fucking brat Max Landis turned out to be.
Imagine being such an unprofessional shitheel towards your creative peers.
Guy's so far up his own asshole, he acts as though his opinion is fact, going so far as to casually dismiss an entire industry of creatives.
Olly Moss is a saint for reacting with such grace.
I thought the game was tremendous, by the way. A lot to digest. I hope to see in-depth articles on it appearing soon.
So maybe I missed this but what was up with the two teenage girls? Were they just another ruse by Ned cause their stuff, magazines and radio (which I tossed in the lake) were in his hideout? So if so then they were real though so did he hire them? If they were real did he kill them? Cause why would he have their stuff?
Ned trashed their camp site after you see them, and steals some of their stuff to plant where he cuts the wire.
He didn't kill them, the whole storyline with them going missing was "resolved" when it turned out they'd been in jail for stealing a tractor.
Ohhh yeah duh now I remember that lol I just overlooked it thinking about other ending elements
BronsonLee
Member
What does Delilah say in the ending if you don't tell her about Julia?
It's ironic after his shitty response to the public/critic's opinions on American Ultra.
I thought the game was fantastic too, far better writing than Chronicle. Chronicle was a decent enough cable-TV watch, but utterly forgettable.
Landis is a fucking douchebag on Twitter. i hate when people i follow would RT his dumbass tweets.
CassidyIzABeast
Member
No he didn't.
Max Landis ‏@Uptomyknees 15h15 hours ago
Max Landis Retweeted Ankur Vincent Peter
Loved Oxenfree.
Max Landis ‏@Uptomyknees 15h15 hours ago
Max Landis Retweeted Pure LionHeart
Spec: Ops The Line is my favorite videogame of all time, along with Vice City, Dead Rising and Red Dead Redemption.
swearing-circle
Member
You learn very little. Hence, why the game doesn't work as a character piece.
KidGalactus
Member
Show me on this doll where the critic touched you.
I mostly agree with him, by the way. Great build-up. Flat payoff.
Dandy Lyin
Member
Having seen both American Ultra and Victor Frankenstein, I don't think Max Landis is in any position to judge the story of well... anything.
GinoFelino
Member
You guys learn how to be a condescending dick together or something?
I thought he was being a tool. You may disagree. I'm offended because I think it's a terrible thing to say, especially from his position. I'm not offended because I like the game and he does not.
I'm avoiding his timeline, if you don't mind. Don't blame me for not double checking whether he backtracked later, which apparently he did.
Based on the screenshot posted, he did exactly what I said: casually dismissing an industry's worth of creatives and their work.
"@Firewatchgame's ending is a hollow thud so loud that it reminded me unintentionally how pointless and distracting videogames are."
Maybe we can stop debating this fool, now?
JimmyJones
Banned
He's right though.
GinoFelino
Member
Great post, thanks man. That's some quality debating right there. You'll go far.
christ, the Firewatch defense force is on fire today
He never dismissed an entire industry of creatives, wtf are you talking about? His opinions are 100% valid and quite true imo. And it's not like Landis is the only person saying this - the consensus is that the game doesn't have a very good ending.
KidGalactus
Member
GinoFelino
Member
Way to miss the point. It's completely irrelevant to this discussion if his opinion is valid, or if it touches on the consensus.
Also, it helps to not open your argument with a generalized and dismissive insult.
Or should I start calling you a member of the Landis Defense Force, instead?
So... what's your actual point?
Blitzrules240
Banned
I still wonder how Delilah and Henry's conversation continued after he tells her he wishes she was with him watching "The Flapjack fire" because He's like "What would we do..." and she's like "I'll tell you what we'd do..."
and then the scene cuts.
They were totally into each other..well in my playthrough they were.
But then again, that was drunk Delilah.
and then the scene cuts.
They were totally into each other..well in my playthrough they were.
But then again, that was drunk Delilah.
GinoFelino
Member
You've raised no points that I haven't discussed on this page already, in like two posts only.
Scroll up a little if you're genuinely interested.
So... this?
Maybe if you were genuinely interested, you would have scrolled up to see that I have posted about this before too!
Langdon Alger
Banned
I liked the game overall, but how are you going to have in-depth articles about a short, shallow, borderline nonsensical story like the one in Firewatch? There just isn't much there to write about. A single episode of something like Mad Men, for example, has far more meat than Firewatch.
GinoFelino
Member
I wasn't interested, no; my post was a reaction to Landis' tweet, not your post.
But his backtracking to the point where apparently life itself is pointless, meh. Doesn't change much at all. His tone and generally being an absolute penis about the whole thing still stands.
That's your conclusion, based on your interpretation of the story. For example, I'd like to read an in-depth article on how you came to that conclusion
Ripped through it this afternoon. I don't know how I feel. It had a great sense of suspense built up, then for the payoff to be what it was... A few lines on a tape recorder? D going "he's a bad dad" and basically ignoring everything else. And their final conversation? "okay I guess I'll never see you again, maybe kinda?" I'm glad I played it but I really don't know how to feel.
Ninja Kn1ght
Member
Played through Firewatch this evening. Like many people, I was a little underwhelmed by the ending, but the quality of the dialog and voice acting throughout still made it a very memorable experience. Gorgeous visuals, too.
D
Deleted member 22576
Unconfirmed Member
Its a shame people always have to say "i wasted my money" at shit like that.
No you didn't.
I've only played the game once so far in a single sitting and I agree with his assessment of the story more than I disagree with it (internet-hyperbole level adjusted of course.) But I absolutely in no way feel like I wasted my money. It was an amazing day I spent inside that game. Hell, this household bought two copies.
No you didn't.
I've only played the game once so far in a single sitting and I agree with his assessment of the story more than I disagree with it (internet-hyperbole level adjusted of course.) But I absolutely in no way feel like I wasted my money. It was an amazing day I spent inside that game. Hell, this household bought two copies.
I agree. I loved Chronicle, but everything else he's been involved in since then shows he may be a one-hit wonder. American Ultra was crap, and his last movie was Victor Frankenstein, which I can't even bring myself to watch. I couldn't even sit through his Red Letter Media appearance, which is weird since I love the RLM guys.
If anything, his tweets are an endorsement for this this game.
While I don't think I wasted my money, the going back and forth across the forest near the end was tedious, and I got no payoff in the ending. I didn't want it to go into conspiracy or supernatural, but every plot point ends with 'your princess is another castle.' The teenager plot is resolved in an off hand mention, the fire is always distant and makes no real impact on the story, choices seem to do almost nothing, even the two implications of bears are wasted. But the real disappointment is not actually seeing Deliah at the end. After four hours, you go to give me something to anchor the experience in the end. A near empty room is bleh. I don't care about her drawing of Henry. It's nowhere near enough.
unpopularblargh
Member
Watching American Ultra made me realize how pointless and distracting films are.
Such a dumb thing of him to say.
its always the same. I didn't bring up Julia right away because I didn't want to be the sad sack that dumps their problems on others but Delilah bugs him enough that he gives in anyways.
uomoartificiale
Member
I love that Firewatch has been made, by those talented devs. But it's still the biggest wasted potential I've ever seen in a game, and it really saddens me.
Maybe this Landis guy is a jerk, I don't know, I know nothing about him, but the point remains that such good characterization has never been wasted on a lamey twisty story, and such incredible scope has never been wasted on such pointless gameplay mechanics (it initially felt like Miasmata, and then it was just a corridor).
Talk about biting more than you can chew.
Maybe this Landis guy is a jerk, I don't know, I know nothing about him, but the point remains that such good characterization has never been wasted on a lamey twisty story, and such incredible scope has never been wasted on such pointless gameplay mechanics (it initially felt like Miasmata, and then it was just a corridor).
Talk about biting more than you can chew.
I see your avatar and have the feeling that Campo Santo would be exactly the right team to tackle a new version of Last Express or their own take on Murder on the Orient Express. They enjoy peroid pieces, the scale is (i assume) manageable and its very dialoge heavy.
(This would be extra cool since i learned about "The Last Express" from old Idle Thumbs episodes
)Finished it yesterday and I'm still thinking about this game. I'm not sure what to think of it, but it sure left an impact.
I felt like the whole Ned thing was just so.. forced, some of his actions made no sense at all just for the sake of the story, and finding Brian's body had no emotional impact on me whatsoever, actually this game would've been better without Ned and Brian in it.
Funny enough, the ending didn't bother me at all, because right from the start I wanted Delilah to be my friend and nothing more. But when she first started kinda flirting with me, it made me sad because I knew where the game was going, I just wanted a story about friendship.
In the end I decided to make my own story. Delilah, Ned and Brian are not real. It was all just in Henry's mind. Or Julia is actually Delilah, and Henry is the one with dementia, and this was all just some kind of a weird experiment.
I felt like the whole Ned thing was just so.. forced, some of his actions made no sense at all just for the sake of the story, and finding Brian's body had no emotional impact on me whatsoever, actually this game would've been better without Ned and Brian in it.
Funny enough, the ending didn't bother me at all, because right from the start I wanted Delilah to be my friend and nothing more. But when she first started kinda flirting with me, it made me sad because I knew where the game was going, I just wanted a story about friendship.
In the end I decided to make my own story. Delilah, Ned and Brian are not real. It was all just in Henry's mind. Or Julia is actually Delilah, and Henry is the one with dementia, and this was all just some kind of a weird experiment.
Having also beaten it, this is much my same opinion. It almost feels like they had no faith that a relationship between Delilah and Henry would be enough to carry a story, so they just kept adding nonsense to drive the player to keep playing. Because the dialogue was so good, the player wouldn't expect it to be nonsense, but then they get slapped in the face on the very last day of the game in very minimal exposition dumps so the player realizes a lot of their former thoughts were wasted.
I had much the same problem with Lost as I did with this: Tons of ideas and thoughts that ultimately mean absolutely fuck-all.
On one hand, I don't think I necessarily wasted my money by buying it, and yet on the other if I knew what the story was getting to I wouldn't have bought it.
I didn't like Delilah so my initial playthrough of Firewatch consisted primarily of sitting in grim silence and never calling her and answering as rarely as the game allowed, and you can actually avoid mentioning Julia at all. I don't remember what Delilah says in that ending, but it certainly wasn't memorable. I think the best parts of that playthrough were her going "Are you having one of your silences again" and the bit where Whatshisface leaves the tape at your tower and Delilah calls you and if you keep not answering, she'll scream WHAT'S ON THE FUCKING TAPE like it's the climax of Sesevenen.
GinoFelino
Member
Haha, I love that.
Exactly. Whether his opinion regarding Firewatch has any merit is basically irrelevant after such blatant hyperbolic nonsense.
People that hated the 'dull'/'anticlimactic' ending: I'm guessing you never saw a movie like Before Sunrise? I'm sure you'll love it
hehehehe
Tatsumi Oga
Banned
We just finished it. Are there multiple endings or is it just one? I also recall something about a epilogue. Is there anything special?
Markitron
Is currently staging a hunger strike outside Gearbox HQ while trying to hate them to death
AFAIK the dialogue can be slightly different, but there is no version where Delilah waits for you.
BronsonLee
Member
I love how they use the radio mechanic in some scenarios. Telltale games always say that silence is a legitimate answer, but in Firewatch, holy shit
If you answer too quickly, you also miss a ton of dialogue from Delilah. I made that mistake the first playthrough cause I was rushing; won't do that again.
A good example: When Henry gets to the girls' tent and it's all messed up, Delilah asks him if he had done anything that could be considered an attack (I stole their stuff and chucked their stereo in the river). The first prompt goes by fast; then she very officially asks if he had done anything at all to cause trouble. After that, the whole thing just breaks down.
If you answer too quickly, you also miss a ton of dialogue from Delilah. I made that mistake the first playthrough cause I was rushing; won't do that again.
A good example: When Henry gets to the girls' tent and it's all messed up, Delilah asks him if he had done anything that could be considered an attack (I stole their stuff and chucked their stereo in the river). The first prompt goes by fast; then she very officially asks if he had done anything at all to cause trouble. After that, the whole thing just breaks down.
uomoartificiale
Member
I see your avatar and have the feeling that Campo Santo would be exactly the right team to tackle a new version of Last Express or their own take on Murder on the Orient Express. They enjoy peroid pieces, the scale is (i assume) manageable and its very dialoge heavy.
(This would be extra cool since i learned about "The Last Express" from old Idle Thumbs episodes
Where do I have to sign to give all my money for a Last Express remake by those guys? ;-)
I brought up Miasmata in my post and I know about that game because of their podcast. The first time Henry raised the map in front of his face, I was so pumped.
TheCanisDirus
Member
My thoughts exactly. One of the worst let-downs I've had in a story-driven game in the last 10 years.
I do wish Vanaman's explanation for the ending was better than "other endings didn't feel right."
diablos991
Can’t stump the diablos
My wife has recently enjoyed watching me stream narrative driven games through the Steam Link. She was very interested in this one from the trailer and aesthetics.
We finished it last night and at the ending she just got up and left the room. The letdown can't be understated. Feels like a budget ran out and the thing just shipped without any forethought of finalizing a story.
Hopefully this experience doesn't kill her interest in our new game night too much. :-/
We finished it last night and at the ending she just got up and left the room. The letdown can't be understated. Feels like a budget ran out and the thing just shipped without any forethought of finalizing a story.
Hopefully this experience doesn't kill her interest in our new game night too much. :-/