He made a mistake (like two m where there should be one) and since you can't erase on a typewriter that means starting aaaall over again. He just typed out "FUCK" and such after it happened since he got frustrated.
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Firewatch | Spoiler Discussion
- Thread starter More_Badass
- Start date
The Jackdog
Member
that makes more sense
About that I disagree a lot. I never felt like my choices mattered in the end. at the beginning you felt the dialogues were leading up for different conversations, different attitude between the two of them, but in the end it didn't result in anything different than you would have anyway, you again have to option to choose from the dialogues but nothing that was happening there is going to change regardless of what you choose, just a different conversation.
Played the game last night, finished it. It was ok for what was my first experience into a game of this type.
I still feel the writing did not deliver. So many thing done, red herrings, for no reason. They should have stuck to telling just the story about taking responsibility for stuff which felt like the theme. I just think they went into the conspiracy thing too deep in the beginning for it not o pay off at all in any way. I feel like the part where they knock out Henry was too much for any conspiracy theme not to pan out because the game played to strongly to that. I know Henry practically fed that to Ned and he went with it, but still feel it detracted from the experience that nothing really panned out. No confrontation nothing.
Also the way Delilah just left because she did not want to be seen was weird. Like they spoke as if they were into each other or at least interested, but they never ever met even once? Come on. Even if the choices they made at the end stayed the same it felt weird that she was practically 'not there' at all.
I would myself give it like a 6.9 on the IMDB scale since this kinda played liek amovie.
I still feel the writing did not deliver. So many thing done, red herrings, for no reason. They should have stuck to telling just the story about taking responsibility for stuff which felt like the theme. I just think they went into the conspiracy thing too deep in the beginning for it not o pay off at all in any way. I feel like the part where they knock out Henry was too much for any conspiracy theme not to pan out because the game played to strongly to that. I know Henry practically fed that to Ned and he went with it, but still feel it detracted from the experience that nothing really panned out. No confrontation nothing.
Also the way Delilah just left because she did not want to be seen was weird. Like they spoke as if they were into each other or at least interested, but they never ever met even once? Come on. Even if the choices they made at the end stayed the same it felt weird that she was practically 'not there' at all.
I would myself give it like a 6.9 on the IMDB scale since this kinda played liek amovie.
Haunted
Member
The story ends up being fairly mundane which might annoy people that were hoping for something more grandiose, but I think the way everything comes together with Ned and Brian was cohesive and well written, believable.
I think how much you like the story of this game will ultimately come down to how much you can empathise with the characters, which, with how little you get to know about Delilah and the unique past and situation of Henry, might be hard for some people.
I appreciate the game and its clearly high level of craftsmanship in the writing, VO, environmental modelling, lighting, world design and sound design... Campo Santo did an outstanding job in pretty much every regard of production here - but honestly, it's still a pretty tough game to recommend. I know the comparison is the most obvious one to make, but in that way, I feel very similarly about this as I do about Gone Home.
Happy it exists, interested in the devs being able to express what they want, appreciative of the craftsmanship and effort put into it... but not really being able to connect to either.
I think how much you like the story of this game will ultimately come down to how much you can empathise with the characters, which, with how little you get to know about Delilah and the unique past and situation of Henry, might be hard for some people.
I appreciate the game and its clearly high level of craftsmanship in the writing, VO, environmental modelling, lighting, world design and sound design... Campo Santo did an outstanding job in pretty much every regard of production here - but honestly, it's still a pretty tough game to recommend. I know the comparison is the most obvious one to make, but in that way, I feel very similarly about this as I do about Gone Home.
Happy it exists, interested in the devs being able to express what they want, appreciative of the craftsmanship and effort put into it... but not really being able to connect to either.
I agree with more_badass in that regard. Anything you say and choose in this game reflects on your character and his personality, so even if the events that happen stay the same, what I think Henry is like and what you think Henry is like could be very different just because of the dialogue choices we made. I think that's a meaningful distinction in and of itself. Choices do not have to be event-altering to have meaning.
Apparently they do matter. Somebody stated that you can practically go through the whole game without telling Delilah about Julia.
I've got nothing for Henry, Brian, Ned, or Julia, but Delilah is an interesting biblical name.
Delilah (/dɪˈlaɪlə/; Hebrew: דלילה‎ Dəlilah, meaning "[She who] weakened")[1] is a character in the Hebrew bible Book of Judges, where she is the "woman in the valley of Sorek" whom Samson loved, and who was his downfall. Her figure, one of several dangerous temptresses in the Hebrew Bible, has become emblematic: "Samson loved Delilah, she betrayed him, and, what is worse, she did it for money," Madlyn Kahr begins her study of the Delilah motif in European painting.
The Midrash (Numbers Rabbah 9) states that the sorek is a "fruitless tree" (the word רק req means "empty" in Hebrew), implying a moral lesson and metaphor suggesting that Samson's involvement in his affair with Delilah was eventually "fruitless".
The part about betraying Samson for money doesn't seem to fit (and our character is Henry, not Sam or Samson, or something more on the nose), but I recall Delilah teasing Henry about needing a new barber, which seems like at least a sly wink at the biblical Delilah.
The Valley of Sorek part does seem spot on, although wikipedia says "sorek" may also mean vine.
Of course, names can just be names, but there are so few characters and it's generally better to consider artistic choices to be deliberate unless you have any information to the contrary (e.g. "I just dig the name Henry").
Puzzling over location names and character names some more, but so far Delilah is the only one that seems to stand out.
Delilah (/dɪˈlaɪlə/; Hebrew: דלילה‎ Dəlilah, meaning "[She who] weakened")[1] is a character in the Hebrew bible Book of Judges, where she is the "woman in the valley of Sorek" whom Samson loved, and who was his downfall. Her figure, one of several dangerous temptresses in the Hebrew Bible, has become emblematic: "Samson loved Delilah, she betrayed him, and, what is worse, she did it for money," Madlyn Kahr begins her study of the Delilah motif in European painting.
The Midrash (Numbers Rabbah 9) states that the sorek is a "fruitless tree" (the word רק req means "empty" in Hebrew), implying a moral lesson and metaphor suggesting that Samson's involvement in his affair with Delilah was eventually "fruitless".
The part about betraying Samson for money doesn't seem to fit (and our character is Henry, not Sam or Samson, or something more on the nose), but I recall Delilah teasing Henry about needing a new barber, which seems like at least a sly wink at the biblical Delilah.
The Valley of Sorek part does seem spot on, although wikipedia says "sorek" may also mean vine.
Of course, names can just be names, but there are so few characters and it's generally better to consider artistic choices to be deliberate unless you have any information to the contrary (e.g. "I just dig the name Henry").
Puzzling over location names and character names some more, but so far Delilah is the only one that seems to stand out.
AlphaDragoon
Member
From what I saw on a gaming website, there is one.
If you take too long to get to the helicopter (like 4+ minutes or so) it takes off because of the danger of the fire and Henry is presumed to die.
CrichtonKicks
Member
I love the game itself. However I have very serious concerns about the message the game is sending and the theme behind it.
Fundamentally I feel like Campo Santo are making a very black and white statement that Henry was wrong to take the job and morally he should have been with his wife the whole time. That seemed to be what the Ned/Brian stuff was all about- don't run away from your problems. Face up to them. But what can he do for a wife who doesn't even know who he is? It seems she is being well cared for by her family. He's not a deadbeat father. He's not someone with a failed marriage where the failure was partly his fault. Based on the opening segment he seemed to be, at worst, a decent husband with a huge burden placed on him to take care of his wife in an awful circumstance and he did it completely by himself for several years until it just become too much for him to handle.
The game literally takes this happy place that he spent his summer and burned it to the ground. I just find that horribly depressing. Is it wrong for Henry to want to get in a better head space? Is it wrong for him to to potentially pursue another relationship at this point? Maybe I'm a bad person for saying this but I feel like the answer is no. So I found the entire ending segment with the forest burning and Delilah emotionally cutting him off devastating and hopeless.
Fundamentally I feel like Campo Santo are making a very black and white statement that Henry was wrong to take the job and morally he should have been with his wife the whole time. That seemed to be what the Ned/Brian stuff was all about- don't run away from your problems. Face up to them. But what can he do for a wife who doesn't even know who he is? It seems she is being well cared for by her family. He's not a deadbeat father. He's not someone with a failed marriage where the failure was partly his fault. Based on the opening segment he seemed to be, at worst, a decent husband with a huge burden placed on him to take care of his wife in an awful circumstance and he did it completely by himself for several years until it just become too much for him to handle.
The game literally takes this happy place that he spent his summer and burned it to the ground. I just find that horribly depressing. Is it wrong for Henry to want to get in a better head space? Is it wrong for him to to potentially pursue another relationship at this point? Maybe I'm a bad person for saying this but I feel like the answer is no. So I found the entire ending segment with the forest burning and Delilah emotionally cutting him off devastating and hopeless.
I dunno if I think it was the devs making their moral decision but I did feel like Delilah's rebuking Henry at the end and telling him to go be with his wife didn't follow what I'd understood of the character up to that point. I suppose the idea is she realizes that she can't run from whatever her problems are and wants Henry to do the same, but in comparison to the other conversations it felt off.
I realize the choices have implications on a personal level throughout the story and also in the level of intimacy that you get with Delilah, But that's the thing, when you say they don't have to be event-altering in the end, that's where I disagree. I feel like if the choices of dialogues really alter how you feel about them, about their personality and their level of friendship/intimacy, I should feel its weight when the end comes, and unless i'm missing something, some different endings, you get that same dinamic regardless of your choices before. Some people have chosen not to talk much to Delilah, or to stay always faithful to Julia, or completely disregard the Julia situation and go on with the Delilah flirting, in the end, the result of that is the same. As basically everything, it comes down to personal preferences and what fulfills your expectations or not, but this aspect of the game didn't do it for me.
I know, I think I read somewhere that if you choose to you could only have 6 "forced" dialogues with Delilah. But if you choose to do that, how does it alter the end that I got in which I "invested" heavy on this relationship with Delilah and wanted to move on from Julia? Again, maybe there's more to what I have experienced or seen from other players, some different end result.
I know there's probably not much to back it up, but I seriously thought this was going the way of Shutter Island like someone else mentioned, in that Ned and Henry are the same person, and Delilah is Julia. I mean:
- What if Delilah knew about it, which would explain why she just goes radio silent when Henry finds and comments on all the bunker stuff. In the report, it suggests that she isn't an honest person (the whole relationship stuff), and has delusions about her past - maybe she made everything up to play along. Then there's that red herring where she's clearly talking about Henry in the background with someone else.
- Multiple days are skipped. We don't know what happens in between, but we are just to assume he sits around waiting for stuff to happen.
- The Julia call
- The game's ending song is "I'd rather go blind". Maybe Henry fabricated all this stuff to escape what really happened, and is actually the one with Alzheimer's, not the other way around, and this entire job post was just a way to get him to remember stuff
Anyway, I don't expect anyone to agree with any of these assumptions as it's way over the top, but I'd take that over just some random guy who lost his son and randomly terrorised people for the lols
- What if Delilah knew about it, which would explain why she just goes radio silent when Henry finds and comments on all the bunker stuff. In the report, it suggests that she isn't an honest person (the whole relationship stuff), and has delusions about her past - maybe she made everything up to play along. Then there's that red herring where she's clearly talking about Henry in the background with someone else.
- Multiple days are skipped. We don't know what happens in between, but we are just to assume he sits around waiting for stuff to happen.
- The Julia call
- The game's ending song is "I'd rather go blind". Maybe Henry fabricated all this stuff to escape what really happened, and is actually the one with Alzheimer's, not the other way around, and this entire job post was just a way to get him to remember stuff
Anyway, I don't expect anyone to agree with any of these assumptions as it's way over the top, but I'd take that over just some random guy who lost his son and randomly terrorised people for the lols
Thabass
Member
This is how I found it too. I completely missed it during the Phone line mission.
I would have loved for this to be true. What a mind fuck that could have been.
CrichtonKicks
Member
Delilah is an interesting character. She doesn't seem the type to have lasting relationships. She may have self esteem issues. She flirts a lot but seems to go out of her way to avoid meeting personally. Distances are fudged a bit but it's kind of ludicrous that she managed to get so close to Henry's tower to hide the new radio yet she didn't just come a little farther and talk face to face when there was no chance to be monitored?
Maybe she would have ultimately tried with Henry but I think the discovery of Brian put the kibosh on any chance of that. She took his death very personally and it seemed to have prompted a bit of self reflection and self loathing. So when Henry suggests she come with him she feels like she isn't worthy and the "right" thing to do is for Henry to go be with his wife.
That's what I find so sad- depending on character choices they seem kind of made for each other. Henry isn't perfect or a knight in shining armor either. He's just as damaged and may not be deserving of the pedestal she put him on.
Well, he did have PTSD, so for the lols isn''t exactly accurate here, he was problematic.
Probably not. But like more_badass, I think that people need to stop expecting these massive consequence trees out their every choice in every game that offers choices.
Though I do think the tone set by their relationship wouldn't work as well if you basically ignored a lot of the conversation.
Haunted
Member
I appreciate you taking the time to detail your feelings on the matter and I think we have a classic "agree to disagree" situation here.
I'm sorry, but i don't NEED to stop expecting anything, this is my experience with the game (that I really enjoyed, despite its flaws), and this is what I personally expect out of these kind of games, I understand where you guys are coming from though, I respect your opinion of it, respect mine.
I have to say, I'm quite relieved I'm not the only one, and am actually part of the majority here. When I finished, I thought for sure I just didn't "get it" that other players will probably find a lot of hidden meanings or a storyline that I didn't come across, and that it will probably be universally praised for those things.
Like most, the reveal ended up being so... detached from the whole experience. I didn't care about the kid or his dad, so finding out that he's the one causing all of this trouble for H and D didn't really emotionally impact me at all.
There were a lot of red herrings which felt somewhat cheap and unnecessary. I started to get really excited about the prospect of a more sci-fi twist with the whole HAM wave research that the kid was doing, as well as the research station that was monitoring us, but of course, those ended up being nothing really.
The weird thing is I didn't hate the game, I enjoyed my journey for sure, and the dialogue was great, but the payoff just soured it a bit. It's hard to recommend at a $20 price point.
Like most, the reveal ended up being so... detached from the whole experience. I didn't care about the kid or his dad, so finding out that he's the one causing all of this trouble for H and D didn't really emotionally impact me at all.
There were a lot of red herrings which felt somewhat cheap and unnecessary. I started to get really excited about the prospect of a more sci-fi twist with the whole HAM wave research that the kid was doing, as well as the research station that was monitoring us, but of course, those ended up being nothing really.
The weird thing is I didn't hate the game, I enjoyed my journey for sure, and the dialogue was great, but the payoff just soured it a bit. It's hard to recommend at a $20 price point.
I appreciate you taking the time to detail your feelings on the matter and I think we have a classic "agree to disagree" situation here.
Sure, and it's fine. I understand how that plethora of choices and it's consequences during the game dictate a different personality from the characters and can alter their "mood" to each other, but on my personal experience I always feel like I need to really feel the weight of theses choices when I finish the game, which is one of the things I love from Until Dawn for instance,
That's neat, I wonder if they recorded any dialogue for it. Since there's a checkpoint right before it shouldn't be hard to get.
80s Bad Guy
Banned
But it's kind of like saying, "Oh my mario is dyslexic because he likes to run left every time I start a level." The narrative choices have no weight without consequence, or at least acknowledgement. Like, Jake saying he put the ring in the drawer and shut it. Well, without at least a comment from Henry saying "There." it means very little because the game never notices it. You can imagine that was your characters choice, but without reinforcement, to me, it means nothing. Did you take the whiskey? Did you clean up the forest of beer cans? Were you honest with Delilah? These things should be noticed by the game at least.
The only other comment I'd like to make is to the people who want to reward campo santo for subverting the gamers expectations of meeting Delilah at the end and instead having a kind of grounded conclusion. That's fine, but I don't think you can reward them for that without condemning (at least a little) Ned being such a woodsman puppetmaster. Both things exist incongruously here, which is the main reason I think for the conflict in this thread. This is one game where "why not both" is proven wrong. I didn't want to meet Deliliah, I thought that was actually handled well, but I would to have like to seen Ned get arrested maybe. If it's the central conflict it needed more significance.
I'm playing through again with the goal of seeing how little I actually have to talk to Delilah. She's despicable.
More_Badass
Member
I think calling Ned a mastermind or puppetmaster is giving him too much credit. What exactly did he do?
- Hid out in the forest
- Broke into your tower and stole some stuff
- Planted the stolen items by the girls' tent
- Used a typewriter to plant fake reports and stole some gear from the station
- Started a fire
It's not really that complex of a plan.
- Hid out in the forest
- Broke into your tower and stole some stuff
- Planted the stolen items by the girls' tent
- Used a typewriter to plant fake reports and stole some gear from the station
- Started a fire
It's not really that complex of a plan.
80s Bad Guy
Banned
It kind of is. He had to be in the right place at the right time all the time, and spent so much of his time just listening in to the conversations to come up with it. He essentially made it his whole life for a couple months. Why? He concocted an elaborate ruse to have Henry and Delilah think they were being monitored by a researcher team, going so far as to type fake notes, plant evidence around the forest, keep leaving Henry things to find with the wave scanner, all while going through a grief-induced self-imposed exile in the forest. It's kind of silly.
The Jackdog
Member
which i wonder, how does that further his objective of keeping them away from secret/hidden areas? Makes no sense to me. like what was his goal? why did he think that would help? Scare them? Well besides the attack on henry he didnt scare them he encouraged them to explore more and ultimately bring a LOOTTTTTTT more attention to the area.
But Henry wanted to leave. If the fire hadn't blocked the hike out of there he would have hiked back to his car and left. If D would have called that helicopter, he would have left. The only reason the plan to scare them away didn't work was because Henry couldn't actually leave.
The Jackdog
Member
so he....sets another fire?
Yeah, the revelation is terrible.
What came before was barely engaging to me... the game is boring, and I put up with it because I assumed there'd be a payoff but there's not really a worthwhile payoff in the least.
I think Gone Home was an infinitely better, similar game, so I'd recommend that to anyone who liked the gist of this, if not the specifics.
KINGofCRA5H
Member
Still thinking about this game after finishing it last night
This post makes perfect sense to me. Thank you.
CrichtonKicks
Member
He didn't keep leaving things in the forest for Henry to find with the scanner. That was already there and wasn't a part of the plan and is the whole reason that Henry got the key which isn't what Ned wanted to happen. The only thing he planted for the wave scanner was the confession at the end and that was only after he found out that Henry had the scanner and understood what it did.
There wasn't much "right place, right time" either- really just Henry finding the clipboard and radio. The research company frame up came from Henry and Delilah. Ned was just scrambling to get some evidence planted before Henry found a way to break in.
He was trying to simultaneously discredit and scare them. Ned's big worry was that Delilah would call the authorities about the incidents and Ned would be found out. That's why he cut the phone line at the beginning- to distract her from calling in the break in and getting the hiker list. Later he uses H&D's own paranoia about their actions (oh we didn't call in the missing hikers, etc) to first try to discredit their stories if it came up later and then ultimately to scare them into being quiet with the blackmail.
80s Bad Guy
Banned
I feel like I'm attacking a game I love, when I'm merely prodding it with a stick a bit to see if it has any maggots (heh), but he had to have been waiting by the research tent in order to set it on fire after Henry left, he was waiting for Henry to leave the tower a few times to wreck it, then leave the tape, then a third visit? He was waiting for Henry in the cave to shut him in, there must be others. He didn't leave the backpack with the key? I mean we pass that point earlier and it wasn't there, right? Again, all while just trying to keep them from finding the body. Really, he would have just burned the body and moved on or something. He already took the time to dump it in the cave. I assume he did because of the shoe and because you can see where the kid died earlier from the broken ropes above his first backpack.
Likewise. I was baffled to be on the lower end. It's not a bad game, its ending is just...really empty.
I see a lot of people saying Ned destroyed the teens' camp. If you're looking in Ned's hideout, he talks about the same bear that Henry was supposed to be looking for the tracks of, and how that bear has been back. I thought it implied that the bear ransacked the camp, and perhaps that the girls blamed it on Henry. Wasn't sure.
Did anyone find out what Delilah's conversation about Henry not suspecting anything was?
Played through this last night on PS4, it was alright. It came and went, and won't stay with me for very long.
The middle section was incredible, the tension and paranoia rising really felt unnerving. There were a couple fleeting moments where I was genuinely scared while playing, just because I felt like I was bieng watched and had no idea what was going on.
The ending was respectable in its modesty (I enjoyed how it made me reflect on how paranoid you can get, and make things out to be a much bigger deal than they are), but it didn't really land for me. I wasn't nearly engrossed enough in the Goodwin mystery to even care what had happened, let alone fulfilled that the story basically revolved around it.
And I feel like the sections near the end with the research campsite with equipment, wave detector, etc, didn't really gel with what ended up being the core story. It wouldn't bother me so much if it was my own mind running wild with the possibilities, only to find out that it was something much smaller. But I feel like there were elements of the game that were building up a bigger mystery, and then the final resolution kind of undermined them and left me unsatisfied.
That being said, it was fun enough. Dialogue was great, storytelling was great, artistically it was gorgeous (technically it was a fucking shit show). It's probably half my fault, but I feel like the whole mystique of this game over the past year-plus just lead me to hope for more.
The middle section was incredible, the tension and paranoia rising really felt unnerving. There were a couple fleeting moments where I was genuinely scared while playing, just because I felt like I was bieng watched and had no idea what was going on.
The ending was respectable in its modesty (I enjoyed how it made me reflect on how paranoid you can get, and make things out to be a much bigger deal than they are), but it didn't really land for me. I wasn't nearly engrossed enough in the Goodwin mystery to even care what had happened, let alone fulfilled that the story basically revolved around it.
And I feel like the sections near the end with the research campsite with equipment, wave detector, etc, didn't really gel with what ended up being the core story. It wouldn't bother me so much if it was my own mind running wild with the possibilities, only to find out that it was something much smaller. But I feel like there were elements of the game that were building up a bigger mystery, and then the final resolution kind of undermined them and left me unsatisfied.
That being said, it was fun enough. Dialogue was great, storytelling was great, artistically it was gorgeous (technically it was a fucking shit show). It's probably half my fault, but I feel like the whole mystique of this game over the past year-plus just lead me to hope for more.
CrichtonKicks
Member
He was constantly tracking Henry. That's not right place, right time it's straight up stalker. Which Ned totally is. The close call at the research incident was just because it was a race against time- Ned was simultaneously working on the frame job at the site while Henry was seeking out a way into the facility. I think one of Ned's notes said he barely hid in time when Henry arrived or something.
The backpack is the one muddy piece I have with the story. It seems more likely it was left behind by Brian and Ned had a different way of getting into the cave with the climbing gear. Was it hidden in a spot that needed the axe to clear?
I agree with the second part of this post... Why even make this an interactive game and give you the illusion of choice if it's all so prescribed.
The game is not much of a game. Maybe "experiences" like this will be more compelling once we get VR, but most of the time playing this I was bored, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
By the standards of a movie or a TV show, this comes up way short. The dialogue, with its excessive swearing, is just short of juvenile and the use of emotional hooks like Alzheimer's is ultimately cheap and manipulative.
ReginaldXIV
Member
Assuming you didn't pick it up: Delilah was wasted on tequila every time she flirted with Henry. Brian dying snapped her back to reality.
Also did anyone notice that there were police sirens in the background at the end during the last call with Delilah?
I didn't find the broken ropes you talk about but if it was above the backpack I would have assumed that it's just failed attempts at retrieving it. The kid had made up plans and schematics (that you find in his camp) to retrieve the pack.
I think he died where the body is. I can't see Ned dumping the body :O
Neuromancer
Member
Overall I really liked the characters, the dialogue, the scenery and the exploration. If there was no crazy conspiracy stuff I would have been just as happy, maybe even happier. The ending came dangerously close to a disappointing "Gone Home" style anticlimax, but because I cared more about the characters this one worked a lot better for me.
80s Bad Guy
Banned
I think you're probably right. I think Ned's note said the kid didn't plant his foot properly, and the lost shoe in the cave would support that. I took a picture of the ropes though.
In this run I'm going to use the entire camera roll and get it developed. The pictures would look great near my signed Idle Thumbs postcard in my office.
KINGofCRA5H
Member
Yep, I've seen people talk about their dialogue choices and how they presented different options down the line compared to the ones than I got.
I noticed that. Maybe the guilt got to her and she was turning herself in?
D
Deleted member 59090
Unconfirmed Member
Just finished it about an hour ago. I really enjoyed the characters and dialogs. Not a huge fan of the twist as I feel it was too similar to The Walkind Dead. It was executed better this time because it's one location instead of a cross-country journey and everything Ned did seemed feasible but it still wasn't as great as I had hoped.
Yeah that detail was something I wasn't sure was supposed to suggest that he'd killed the kid or not. I figured it was dramatic license to keep you wondering and foreshadow Brian's death, because it doesn't make much sense for him to hide out in the forest guarding the body if he murdered him. Then again it doesn't make much sense for him to hide out if it was an accident either, and you just have to wave it away as "PTSD logic."
This is ultimately my problem. If he had done absolutely nothing, even with carelessly leaving around the clipboard, they'd never have found Brian at all. But because he attacked the girl's tents, stole crap from Henry, beat him over the head, planted evidence at the research site, set it ablaze, et al... he directly leads to them finding the kid, and there's still the issue of who would put the backpack with keys onto the alarm (or why there's an alarm at all, because that doesn't seem to make sense for the research team's mission. Then again the idea that the research team has left everything in situ and packed up is ridiculous as well.)
DietRob
i've been begging for over 5 years.
I did enjoy what I played and I am OK with the way the story wrapped up. I like the idea of the park being an 'escape' in different ways to different people.
I wish there were more interactions in the game like the one with the girls at the beginning. Having Henry deal with a variety of situations would have been interesting. The park seemed very lifeless I saw butterflies and a turtle and absolutely nothing else in terms of wildlife.
I wish there were more interactions in the game like the one with the girls at the beginning. Having Henry deal with a variety of situations would have been interesting. The park seemed very lifeless I saw butterflies and a turtle and absolutely nothing else in terms of wildlife.
CrichtonKicks
Member
Ned's not worried about just someone finding Brian, he's equally worried that they will find him. Because crazy dad holed up in the woods will immediately lead to "hey where's your son?" So his actions are all taken to essentially stop an investigation in the area. The clipboard by itself would probably have been more than enough to start a full scale investigation in the area. The only real reason it didn't was because (conveniently) H&D were paranoid that there would be a record of the what happened with the girls.
But, yeah, fundamentally the whole thing happened because Ned freaked when he was seen near the cave and got paranoid. If he had done nothing then he would have been golden.
I definitely agree that they executed on their intentions. And personally I loved the experience. I do feel very frustrated and dissatisfied with the closure (for reasons I outlined earlier) but those feelings seem to be coming from what the makers of the game intended and not a dissatisfaction with what actually happened. But that emptiness and devastation from the wrap up pretty much guarantees that I will never replay it. Knowing how the summer ultimately ends for Henry and Delilah just kills the thought of playing through the reasonably happy sections of the early game.
snoopeasystreet
Member
Spent the entire day thinking about this game. Still haven't fully come to terms with whether actually I like it or not. One thing I will say, from my experience, it achieves everything it set out to do. The whole experience feels very purposefully authored and complete in a way that a lot of games don't.
Ultimately I think a lot of discourse about Firewatch will be whether the player enjoyed the game for what it is rather than what it could have been.
Ultimately I think a lot of discourse about Firewatch will be whether the player enjoyed the game for what it is rather than what it could have been.
Neuromancer
Member
The problem is this game and Gone Home both purposefully try to trick the player into thinking there is really more going on than there really is. At the end if some players are disappointed by that then the developers have only themselves to blame. I'm cool with more human and grounded stories, but both of these games employ so much misdirection its like the developers are trying to have it both ways. And that comes off as a little cheap to me.
I loved it.
I'm so happy a game like this can exist. Just a story about two people going through difficult times in their lives. Two people immensely lonely despite the fact that they have each other for months.
So lonely that they'll imagine conspiracies where they are none. Conspiracies where they hope, maybe subconsciously, that there's something larger at work going on, just so they can feel like they're important and part of something bigger.
But they're not. And that's why Delilah feels so empty after discovering that it was just Ned all along. And when the girls are found safe and in jail, she can't even be a part of that story either.
And Henry too. He keeps running after every suspicious thing because he wants some sort of human contact. He doesn't care if it puts his life at risk, he just needs...something. Anything. Just so his life can have some sort of importance or meaning.
But he can't ever find anyone. The girls are too far away. His stalker is always just out of reach. His attacker ran away before he could see anything. The person who locked the door behind him got away quickly. The guy in his lookout tower was gone seconds before he got back there. Delilah gets away on a helicopter before he can see her.
He can't even prevent or create fires. He's just powerless. Powerless to help his wife. Powerless in his relationship with Delilah. Powerless in his ability to scare those girls since someone else scared them away for him.
In the end, it's just a story of two lonely people, connected by a simple radio, and even their most convincing conspiracies were built up out of nothing.
It was a beautiful story unlike anything I've ever seen in a game. I'm so happy for Campo Santo and what they created.
I'm so happy a game like this can exist. Just a story about two people going through difficult times in their lives. Two people immensely lonely despite the fact that they have each other for months.
So lonely that they'll imagine conspiracies where they are none. Conspiracies where they hope, maybe subconsciously, that there's something larger at work going on, just so they can feel like they're important and part of something bigger.
But they're not. And that's why Delilah feels so empty after discovering that it was just Ned all along. And when the girls are found safe and in jail, she can't even be a part of that story either.
And Henry too. He keeps running after every suspicious thing because he wants some sort of human contact. He doesn't care if it puts his life at risk, he just needs...something. Anything. Just so his life can have some sort of importance or meaning.
But he can't ever find anyone. The girls are too far away. His stalker is always just out of reach. His attacker ran away before he could see anything. The person who locked the door behind him got away quickly. The guy in his lookout tower was gone seconds before he got back there. Delilah gets away on a helicopter before he can see her.
He can't even prevent or create fires. He's just powerless. Powerless to help his wife. Powerless in his relationship with Delilah. Powerless in his ability to scare those girls since someone else scared them away for him.
In the end, it's just a story of two lonely people, connected by a simple radio, and even their most convincing conspiracies were built up out of nothing.
It was a beautiful story unlike anything I've ever seen in a game. I'm so happy for Campo Santo and what they created.