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Firewatch |OT| With Me
- Thread starter Lunar FC
- Start date
hooijdonk17
Member
Ok, seeing as someone already posted on this thread in 2022 and didn't get banned for necroing I'm guessing it's still the relevant place to post some thoughts? Anyway, I just played through this game. And I must say it is the best of its kind I've played so far. The ending is.. I mean..
It's pretty damn great, and I think most people who consider it anything less probably did not get the twist.
You sit back, feeling warm and fuzzy; wondering whether Hank will go back to Julia and maybe one day be happy with Delilah, sipping your wine.. Call me crazy, but I never believed Delilah was in on it. You know, the science site really did not have much line of sight to her watchtower, she really seems mostly sincere and clueless, that conversation I overheard was probably some girltalk about me but nothing malicious.. Well, then the camera film rolls back, and back, and back.. And then there is that photo of Brian and Ned. My brain went into overdrive all of a sudden. Who could have taken that photo? Where was it taken? Oh.. Ohhh ffffuuuuu...
Then you lean back and put the whole story back together in your head in a dozen new ways, and none of them make you feel good anymore. You feel cheated, manipulated, angry. You realize the other party's conflict, guile and guilt. You know she ran away, for good, and for good reason.
That's when I knew Hank went back to Julia and died a broken man.
Then you lean back and put the whole story back together in your head in a dozen new ways, and none of them make you feel good anymore. You feel cheated, manipulated, angry. You realize the other party's conflict, guile and guilt. You know she ran away, for good, and for good reason.
That's when I knew Hank went back to Julia and died a broken man.
It's pretty damn great, and I think most people who consider it anything less probably did not get the twist.
Last edited:
Doom85
Member
If you’re suggesting Delilah was working with Ned, I haven’t checked out the commentary myself but people on Reddit have said that the developers in the developer commentary have stated this is not the case.
Which makes sense to me. One of the game‘s elements is the antagonist using people’s paranoia into believing something wild and hoping they miss the truth. If the game then revealed there actually was a conspiracy (albeit a much smaller one) that would run counter to that theme.
Henry being told to go back to Julia just told me that Delilah knew them going out wouldn’t work with Henry’s current emotional state, and he needs to face his demons and truly resolve his issues with Julia. How, I don’t know as that’s a shit hand he was dealt, but yeah by the end I could tell a potential relationship with Delilah would not have worked out.
I don’t think he necessarily died miserable. Early dementia can happen as early as in your 30’s-40’s. So Henry could also be roughly that age. He potentially has decades to figure out the course of the rest of his life.
Which makes sense to me. One of the game‘s elements is the antagonist using people’s paranoia into believing something wild and hoping they miss the truth. If the game then revealed there actually was a conspiracy (albeit a much smaller one) that would run counter to that theme.
Henry being told to go back to Julia just told me that Delilah knew them going out wouldn’t work with Henry’s current emotional state, and he needs to face his demons and truly resolve his issues with Julia. How, I don’t know as that’s a shit hand he was dealt, but yeah by the end I could tell a potential relationship with Delilah would not have worked out.
I don’t think he necessarily died miserable. Early dementia can happen as early as in your 30’s-40’s. So Henry could also be roughly that age. He potentially has decades to figure out the course of the rest of his life.
hooijdonk17
Member
While Delilah may not have been working with Ned to fuck with Henry, per se, there are some undeniable bits of evidence that make it look way worse than a simple judgement lapse on Delilah's behalf.I mean, the whole Ned/Brian photo at Delilah's watchtower really implies that she knew them way better than she let on.
The supplies in Ned's hideout pretty much prove that Delilah knew about Ned being there and actually supplied him. The list just goes on and on until you realize that Delilah probably turned a blind eye to Brian's disappearance and was involved with Ned to some extent, at least to the extent that she knew he was out there and possibly responsible for everything.
The supplies in Ned's hideout pretty much prove that Delilah knew about Ned being there and actually supplied him. The list just goes on and on until you realize that Delilah probably turned a blind eye to Brian's disappearance and was involved with Ned to some extent, at least to the extent that she knew he was out there and possibly responsible for everything.
LordOfChaos
Member
I was just thinking about this game a few days before the bump.
Imho - ultimately, I think reading too far into it is missing the point. Hank and Delilah were both troubled people who escaped to the woods, and the further escape was latching on to elaborate conspiracies for things that were ultimately mundane. Ned accidentally led to his son's death. Hank and Delilah were engaging in an escapist fantasy, albeit a dark one, when it was really people being ordinary people.
The logs Dave and Ron left seal the deal for me. The story is about Hank and Delilah escaping the woods (their own minds) and returning to face harsh reality like a wife losing her mind to Alzheimer's, while others stayed and were consumed by them.
I went back and forth on if I was disappointed by the ending, if they had simply never made a full model for Delilah and it was the lazy choice, but the game stayed in my heart, so that says something.
Imho - ultimately, I think reading too far into it is missing the point. Hank and Delilah were both troubled people who escaped to the woods, and the further escape was latching on to elaborate conspiracies for things that were ultimately mundane. Ned accidentally led to his son's death. Hank and Delilah were engaging in an escapist fantasy, albeit a dark one, when it was really people being ordinary people.
The logs Dave and Ron left seal the deal for me. The story is about Hank and Delilah escaping the woods (their own minds) and returning to face harsh reality like a wife losing her mind to Alzheimer's, while others stayed and were consumed by them.
I went back and forth on if I was disappointed by the ending, if they had simply never made a full model for Delilah and it was the lazy choice, but the game stayed in my heart, so that says something.
