Wanted to share my thoughts on the game. It's a little long-winded so I apologize for that.
It's been a little over a couple weeks since I've played Firewatch and I haven't shaken the experience. My mind has drifted back and forth on my feelings regarding the game. My initial experience was one of absolute bemusement; in the final moments of the story I couldn't help but feeling slighted in how the mystery and suspense, that just started to build, fizzled out in a handful of minutes.
The sensation was that of getting halfway into an incredible book and then having it snatched away from you. It felt like finishing up the first season of some show you found surfing Netflix and finding out it was canceled and you'll never know what happened after that captivating cliffhanger finale. It felt unfinished. It felt unfair.
We all know how the story goes. This is the spoiler thread, after all. By the end of things, I felt that the game didn't give me enough breathing room to process things. It never reaches the highs you're expecting and doesn't provide enough lull in between the few highs it has. You could make the argument that as an active participant, I have control over how soon the narrative moves along. That's a valid point. However, I felt that the game was always nudging me to move forward via dialog between the two principal characters, Henry and Delilah.
If it had a bigger sense of urgency behind it then you could possibly make a case for the rapid-moving and concise nature. Instead it's along the lines of 'Hey, what are you doing? Keep moving until something happens.'
Speaking of Henry and Delilah, I have to give a huge nod to the voice acting and writing for the banter between the two. It felt very real and because of that, I was able to attach to both characters immediately. Which is both welcomed and impressive, considering the pacing issues. There's also small narrative things to pick up in the environment too -but again, taking the time to seek them out seemed counter to what I felt like the game wanted from me.
I want to stress that these were my initial reactions to the game. I was far more nit-picky when discussing what had happened with friends that had finished the game, but these are my original thoughts at their most refined. The game has stuck with me since its release on February 9th. I could not stop thinking about the game. The experience has invaded my free thought and I haven't felt this way about a 'video game' story since I played Spec Ops: The Line from start to finish in one setting.
I've come to the personal conclusion that Firewatch works so well because it just sort-of ends. The ending and its abrupt nature feel completely intentional and not a misfire by the writers, whom I understand to have been heavily involved in Telltale's The Walking Dead, a personal highmark for video game narratives.
How you think the mystery is playing out isn't how it plays out at all. Its a lot more simple and feels like an eye-rolling "Oh, duh" moment. Yeah, sure, there is an outside influence playing on the mutual vulnerabilities of Henry and Delilah; but once the light is shone on that manipulation, it feels fairly obvious and sometimes there's nothing wrong with that.
The real life parallel I keep drawing to it is when I was home alone as a young teenager and I heard what sounded like a person breaking into my home. I got so wrapped up in the idea that I never considered the obvious: The neighbor's dog that always got into our yard had once again knocked over the trashcans. Which is exactly what had happened.
Not every story needs to have a grand ending. Every time we get paranoid about the car that's been driving behind us for a while is a stalker looking to carve the eyes out of your head, It's someone headed the same direction we are; or someone lost trying to follow you looking for familiarity so they can get to wherever they're headed. I think the story of Firewatch is a more complex version of that.
The narratives in a lot of games feel pretty disposable, so having one stick with me and trying to break it all down mentally to discern my feelings on it wasn't as tedious as it may sound. I actually found it pleasant. I went from repining about my experience, to feeling good about it, to discussing it at length with my friends.
No doubt that Firewatch will be a very polarizing game and many people will draw all sorts of conclusions and create theories on the game. I think that's awesome. Games like Firewatch, which have been called "walking simulators," act as coffee table games in my eyes. They can be quite polarizing yet inspire larger conversation and help push interactive narratives forward at the same time.
Oh and as a minor thing, I think having you see another person at the end of the game, in the form of the co-pilot on the helicopter was a mistake. The game makes it a point to keep you from really being near another living person. The feeling of isolation mirroring the isolation Henry felt from his wife. It's what made Delilah such a credible tether and effectively sold her as someone to grow attached to.
You never really see the two girls and you never really see Ned. Just silhouettes. I wish they had kept that theme up to the very end.
