Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration Game

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Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration Game

Post by Suitably Ironic Moniker »

So, I picked this puppy up as soon as I could. Without spoiling anything, I'll just say that you play as a guy named Henry who takes a job to oversee part of the Shoshone National Park for potential fires and hazards. His primary contact is a person at another tower. You find out Henry's reasons for being there, and it's pretty easy to relate to him. Usually, I tend to like the idea of a quasi-open world adventure game more than the actual execution, but I'm having no issues keeping engaged in this one. Besides being downright beautiful, the tasks I've accomplished have been very organic to my job there, and I'm enjoying the interaction between Henry and his counterpart. The writing is good, funny and natural sounding. I look forward to the journey towards the endgame. All in all, this could be a contender for GOTY for me.

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BTW, the less you know of the particulars of the plot, the more immersive it may be for you, so you may want to skip the reviews and homepage for now. The reviews have all been excellent so far, if you wanted to know ;).
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by Rip »

Ohhh, I think I might get this. Goes nicely with just finishing up watching Longmire.

Would be interesting to see this approach to a game warden game.
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by wonderpug »

Thanks for the recommendation! Just bought and I'll be going in blind.
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by tiny ogre »

Have played the prelude and the first day. I've been mostly off games with stories for a while. This game is mostly story so far. But I'm enjoying it, and I don't know if it's going to get more open ended as it progresses or stay pretty linear. The story elements feel very natural, and the voice acting is great.

I'm playing on a nearly 4 year old MacBook Pro and the framerate even on low settings is pretty shitty a lot of the time. Which is a shame because it's very pretty and ought to be played on high settings. I haven't set the PC up at the new house yet (office is waiting on some light remodeling, and I haven't felt the need to set it up in a temporary home yet). I think this game's going to be relegated to lunch time at work or until my gaming PC is hooked up again.
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by wonderpug »

Played it start to finish last night, what a fun ride. Can't wait to get into more spoilery end-game discussion.

I'm not averse to short games, but if buyer beware if you are. Steam has me clocked at just 3 hours, and I wasn't rushing.
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by wi111 »

it take me about 6 hours to finish by turn off show location on map, feel more like explore the real remote wilderness, it is really linear enough not easier get lost.

i think it is the best walking simulator i had play ( i only play few)

and it run well on my age old 5150 x2 :D
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by IceBear »

wonderpug wrote:Played it start to finish last night, what a fun ride. Can't wait to get into more spoilery end-game discussion.

I'm not averse to short games, but if buyer beware if you are. Steam has me clocked at just 3 hours, and I wasn't rushing.
Yeah, 3 hours here too. And yes, what a fun experience...if I knew about it before buying it I would have passed, but happy to have played it
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by Turtle »

Finished! Start the full discussion!
Spoiler:
So I think this is a very good step forward in terms of breadth of storytelling for games. It's a different kind of story, with a different arc.

I can already tell many gamers won't like it. In fact, I'm currently pretty angry at some people online for getting very self-entitled and having the game refunded on steam despite liking most of it.

It ends a bit like a Coen brothers movie, which is good, because few games arc or end like that. The big twist is that there was no twist, just someone messed up and is messing with you. In fact that character is an echo of your own main character. So while there was a lot of strange intensity, the purpose wasn't expose some silly (and probably cliched) mystery that we've seen in countless games, it was to further character development.

Likewise, a lot of what happens is solely in relation to who the characters are and how they react to what's happening. The player is able to interject a bit of themselves into this, although it's difficult with the pre-setup story for the main character. I think the best example is the camera you find in the game, and that the devs have said to use. The camera served no real gameplay purpose, it wasn't there to help solve some ancient riddle, you just took pictures with it.

The game it self was beautiful enough to warrant having pictures of too.

Of course my big problem with the game is the Dune movie level long text based intro exposition. There's better ways to handle that intro.
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by Daehawk »

Did you know that the little camera in game you use to take pics can then be virtually sent to a deveoper lab and they'll send you real photos of the pics you took in game?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmG3g3Ey_Es
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by Suitably Ironic Moniker »

I've been rationing out the game time with this one, no more than 20-30 minutes a day, just so I can relish the experience even more. I'm approaching what I believe is the final act. Will be sorry to say goodbye to this one.
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by Lordnine »

I just finished my play through. I was mostly satisfied with the ending and greatly enjoyed the game overall. I think part of why the ending seemed more fulfilling to me than most is I chose very open conversation options with Delilah. I remember reading from others that you never find out much about her, but in my play though I got a pretty clear picture of her backstory.

My one disappointment with the ending was
Spoiler:
When it’s showing the last photos of the father and son, I think the last photo on the reel should have been of Delilah since she was obviously the one who took the other photos. Would have given a nice note to end on and tied the whole thing together.

As for the other mysteries in the game, pretty-much everything is explained if you explore enough. I have to wonder if people didn't put it all together or just didn't bother to look?
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by Suitably Ironic Moniker »

So, I finished the game yesterday, and I'm just going to echo Turtle's thoughts along with a couple of my own
Spoiler:
I lurved this game. I progressed slowly so that I could savor the experience of playing through the first time, which I rarely do. I really felt that Henry and Delilah were well-thought out and well acted characters, with real chemistry, which I think is more difficult in videogames, due to voiceover work tending to be a solo affair. Anyway, I really enjoyed using the map and compass to navigate around the island, and all of the little touches, like the ongoing communication through cache box letters between Ron and Dave(?), and the mystery novel series (I would totally read that series, too). I could tell that it was from the devs of Gone Home, as that game was also chock full of little details that helped make the world more real. There was even a book from that game locked in one of the cache boxes.
All in all, the only reason that I'm not immediately replaying this one is that I picked up Oxenfree, which is awesome enough to warrant its own thread.
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by Defiant »

OK, so I played through the game. I enjoyed the game, but the ending and climax are weak and somewhat unfulfilling. There does seem to be a lot of details you can easily miss, although what choices you make seem somewhat cosmetic rather than affect the story. Although you can have multiple save games, there's only one for each playthrough, although since the choices are cosmetic, it's not a big deal.

Spoiler:
So at first, I thought the game was about finding a creepy serial killer in the forest. And that seemed cool if predictable. Then it seemed to turn into an X-Files style conspiracy with the fenced off area and the research. And then it turns out to be a crazy old guy who lost his son. OK, but....

I don't understand what his motivation was. At some points, it seemed like he was trying to interfere with them (cutting the wires, etc) and spy on them and at other points, it seems like he's helping them (eg, putting the pack with the cave keys in the alarmed pack, the final audio tape.). It also seems kind of crazy that one person alone could build that fenced off area (not to mention the expensive equipment). And it's more than a little odd that no one noticed it being built.

Also, at one point you can listen in to Delilah conversing with someone else, and she seems to be talking about you (and your not being aware of something, IIRC). What was that all about?

And the ending felt very abrupt. (although I did like the photos in the credits). Also, I wished the game took a slower pace at the start, with more general lookout tasks before going into the depth of the story.

Also, there seemed to be some sort of unrequited love thing between the two rangers sending notes to each other. Wished I'd kept the early ones I found so I could read them in order.
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by Lordnine »

Defiant wrote:OK, so I played through the game. I enjoyed the game, but the ending and climax are weak and somewhat unfulfilling. There does seem to be a lot of details you can easily miss
Spoilers!
Spoiler:
Most of your questions are actually explained in the game but you have to explore a bit to find them.

The research base was real. You can find a note explaining that the people that run it wouldn’t be returning for a couple weeks. The ex-ranger broke inside and planted the papers to freak out the protagonist.

After you get the tracking device, it’s possible to find a dead Elk that is wearing a tracking collar.

The ex-rangers motivation was basically that he got his son killed accidentally by pushing him too hard. However, he assumed that everyone would think he killed him on purpose, so didn’t dare return to civilization. Part of his reluctance also stems from the fact that he wasn’t supposed to have his son there in the first place. Delilah broke the rules by not ratting him out in the first place, so in a since, she is partially to blame. After you find his body he basically decides to come clean and tell you the whole story so at least someone will know the truth.

The person Delilah is talking to is most-likely just another ranger, but it is also alluded to the fact that it might be her longtime boyfriend that she frequently denies having.

The two rangers in love is another secret you can find after you get the ax. You can find a small clearing with some chairs at the top of one of the mountains. There you will find a mix tape with a song one made for the other and also includes a letter about how they ran off together.

I think satisfaction with the ending really comes down to how much you explored and how much you bought into the “mystery”. Ultimately, the game is about two people who were running away from their real life problems so invented a fantasy to escape. In the end, they both have to come back to reality and move on with their lives.
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by Defiant »

Spoiler:
]Most of your questions are actually explained in the game but you have to explore a bit to find them.
Yeah, I figured, but honestly, as much as I enjoyed the experience, I'm not all that interested in replaying it (at the moment anyway, maybe a few years down the line) to catch everything. But all the major points should have been resolved for a casual player, and they weren't.
The research base was real. You can find a note explaining that the people that run it wouldn’t be returning for a couple weeks.
Then why did Delilah know nothing about it? That seems implausible. (And the game takes place over a lot longer than two weeks)

The ex-rangers motivation was basically that he got his son killed accidentally by pushing him too hard. However, he assumed that everyone would think he killed him on purpose, so didn’t dare return to civilization. Part of his reluctance also stems from the fact that he wasn’t supposed to have his son there in the first place. Delilah broke the rules by not ratting him out in the first place, so in a since, she is partially to blame. After you find his body he basically decides to come clean and tell you the whole story so at least someone will know the truth.
I get that he wants to be a hermit. And that he comes clean at the end. That doesn't explain why he does things like cut the cables, vandalize the lookout tower, vandalize the girls camp, put fake things at the research station, spy on you and so on.
The person Delilah is talking to is most-likely just another ranger, but it is also alluded to the fact that it might be her longtime boyfriend that she frequently denies having.
It seemed pretty much clear to me it was intended to be a plot point (if it was a misunderstanding, you think it would have been cleared up) but it was never followed up.

(Also, I thought she ran away from her BF when she first joined the forest service over a decade previously)
The two rangers in love is another secret you can find after you get the ax. You can find a small clearing with some chairs at the top of one of the mountains. There you will find a mix tape with a song one made for the other and also includes a letter about how they ran off together.
I didn't find the clearing, but I got the impression that one was gay and had feelings for the other who was straight, so I wouldn't have expected them to end up together.
I think satisfaction with the ending really comes down to how much you explored and how much you bought into the “mystery”. Ultimately, the game is about two people who were running away from their real life problems so invented a fantasy to escape. In the end, they both have to come back to reality and move on with their lives.
I'm not sure Ned does - I think he just finds another part of the park to hide in. And while Henry and Delilah are pushed out of their hideaway, it's not clear to me that they're going back to reality and won't just find some other way of not dealing with whatever they want to avoid. Delilah also acts oddly at the end - not even going to stay by his car to meet with him in person?



Also, something else occurred to me - if Brian really hated climbing, why would he construct his fort where he would have to climb to to reach?
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by Lordnine »

Spoiler:
Delilah is setup as an unreliable narrator pretty early on. Depending on which dialogue choices you pick, you can discover that she has a bit of a drinking problem and a good number of the things she tells you are not necessarily true or induced by a drunken state. All that said, she does tell you that she can’t see the research base from her tower.

Ned does those things because he wants to scare you away. Early on in the game he sees you poking around and doesn’t want to get caught. In his shelter at the end you can actually find his recorded thoughts about everything that has happened. At first he thinks it’s funny that your character is falling for the deception so he continues to play it up.

The conversation is a red herring. It happens when the weirdness starts, so it is supposed to make you distrust Delilah, who is your one connection to the outside world.

I actually meant the main character and Delilah. Ned is there to illustrate what can happen if you don’t return to reality. Delilah tells the protagonist to go visit his wife. In my game at least, Delilah is going to have to face the authorities about Brian’s death and quit the forest service.
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by Defiant »

Spoiler:
Lordnine wrote:Delilah is setup as an unreliable narrator pretty early on. Depending on which dialogue choices you pick, you can discover that she has a bit of a drinking problem and a good number of the things she tells you are not necessarily true or induced by a drunken state. All that said, she does tell you that she can’t see the research base from her tower.
My impression was that she only starts to drink once things start to go south, though even aside from that she's shown that she is incompetent, given that she fails to report the teens even though I told her to.

It also Isn't really credible that she would have been unaware of this facility. She was working there for over a decade. She would have seen the people going in to build the research base or would have heard about it or gotten a memo about it (or would have walked by it, given that she's been in your area of the map at times, like to put the radio in, or to steal the sign from pond that was in her tower at the end of the game).
Ned does those things because he wants to scare you away. Early on in the game he sees you poking around and doesn’t want to get caught. In his shelter at the end you can actually find his recorded thoughts about everything that has happened. At first he thinks it’s funny that your character is falling for the deception so he continues to play it up.
Except that he vandalizes the office on day 1, The wire is cut and the teens campsite is messed up on Day 2. Those actions draw attention to him where there wasn't any before. (I suppose it's possible that the teens were actually responsible for the wire being cut, I guess that's not made completely clear).
Also, if he had been successful, scaring the player away would have just brought someone new, and potentially brought in the authorities (which he definitely wouldn't want)

But even if he was trying to do that, what was the point of giving him the key to the cave?
The conversation is a red herring. It happens when the weirdness starts, so it is supposed to make you distrust Delilah, who is your one connection to the outside world.
Sorry, but I'm not buying it. If it was a red herring, there should have been evidence of that later on in the game, and if it wasn't, it should have been followed up to. I suppose we might have both missed something, but if we didn't, that's just sloppy design.
I actually meant the main character and Delilah. Ned is there to illustrate what can happen if you don’t return to reality. Delilah tells the protagonist to go visit his wife. In my game at least, Delilah is going to have to face the authorities about Brian’s death and quit the forest service.
In mine, she decides to quit the forest service, but doesn't really explain why (though it's understandable). She doesn't have to face the authorities. She says she might visit the main character in Colorado, but she seems noncommittal about it and I got the impression that she wasn't going to.
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by Lordnine »

Spoiler:
The Base
I seem to recall Delilah mentioning that different organizations use helicopters in the area quite frequently. I assume she just didn’t pay it much attention when they brought in the supplies. Pretty sure the fire-wardens mention the base in one of their notes as well.

The Wire
I believe it is supposed to be the teens that do that. You find out later that they were arrested for causing problems elsewhere.

Ned
I don't really have an answer about the key unless his intention was to trap you in the mine. He may have thought it was the only way to get rid of you. With the fire spreading, it also means that a novice warden going missing wouldn't raise any big alarms. Ned IS supposed to be suffering from PTSD, which can cause violent outbursts and illogical behavior.
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by Defiant »

Spoiler:
While I don't quite agree with everything in it, this video makes a strong case that Delilah was lying, and was working with Ned. For one thing, the research station is in the line of sight from Delilah's tower (the video shows you at 4:25). Another example is that after she makes the suggestion that you wreck the Teen's campsite and you dismiss it, Ned wrecks their campsite. She also makes you travel clear across the map to get an axe, giving Ned enough time to set up the site. That could also explain the overheard conversation - she could be talking to Ned.

Of course, it still leaves open her motivation (as well as some of Ned's motivation - the video just says they're doing this cause they're weird and bored)

Edit: Possibly more evidence that Delilah is lying - you can apparently chop a tree to make a shortcut so you can get back to the Tower area when she says she sees someone else at the tower, but there's no one there at that point.
The Wire
I believe it is supposed to be the teens that do that. You find out later that they were arrested for causing problems elsewhere.
It is true it's credit that I (and probably most people) immediately thought it was Ned's fault but that it didn't have to be (just like we were led to believe that the girls were kidnapped and/or murdered). But it really needed to give a firm explanation, rather than just leave it open. The game is like a murder mystery where the finale detective does the big reveal as "It was the butler and he did it for the money" without any further explanation. (and sure, you could go back and read and maybe come up with a theory for what it was, but a good murder mystery wont require that).
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by Lordnine »

Spoiler:
Kind of amusing but I think that explanation would undermine the point of the game. The notes you find in Ned’s shelter at the end make it pretty clear that he hasn’t been in contact with Delilah.

It’s also interesting that people jumped to the conclusion that Ned was behind a lot of things. I never believed that the research station was anything other than natural science. You even have that as a dialogue option when Delilah is freaking out, when you use it; she starts to calm down almost immediately. This happens quite a bit where you have a freak-out dialogue option and a calm response option. I think the developers purposefully gave people the option to have their imagination run away with them.

As to the Tree thing, I think that is a pure coincidence/lack of foresight on the developers. I really doubt anyone would have gotten there in time to see nothing unless they rushed on a second play-through. As far as I can tell, there is only one detailed human model in the game and I doubt they would use resources to make a second that almost no one would ever see.

While poking around I found this explanation for Ned and the key which I like much better.
My theory is that Ned didn't want Henry to find that key at all. He didn't even want to follow them around, he was just basically planning to hide for the entirety of his life, waiting to die. He goes out hiking occasionally, but when he saw Henry near the cave he got scared shitless as to why he was in there in the first place. So after that encounter he got scared and started monitoring every conversation they ever had, and to see if they knew anything. That's when they found out they were being monitored and Ned started to panic. He then set up a series of placements, leading them to the Wapiti base enclosed by the fencing. He led Henry there, made them try and burn the place down or harm it, edited the conversation to make them look like they did it and scare them off, however that didn't work. Ned never knew that Henry had taken the sensor tracker and now could find signals. He thought it burned in the fire. Ned originally planted his bag their to hide, that's why it isn't somewhere oblivious like at the bottom of the watch tower. He planted the alarm there so whenever it went off he could run from where he was and make sure it was okay. He didn't plant it in his base because he didn't want anyone to accidentally find his base and stumble across the bag which held the key to the cave that his dead kid was lying in about 200 feet down. So when Ned was taping that tape recorder to his door, he had no idea that Henry had the signal detector with him before he burned the sight down. Thus leading him to believe that no one would find the bag using a detector. So, whilst he was taping the recording to his door, that alarm went off and he got scared and ran, explaining why Delilah said, "I swear he was there just a second ago," he ran off to retrieve his bag so quickly that Delilah couldn't keep up with watching him and talking to Henry. So the alarm goes off and Ned runs off to see if the key is still there, and when he finds that it is not, he panics. He keeps a close eye on Henry up until that point and when he finds that Henry enters the cave, he immediately traps him in their knowing he has no reception to call anyone. He doesn't know however, that their is an alternate exit to the cave allowing him to tell Delilah that he found this kids body down in the cave. When Henry and Delilah almost have all of the pieces together, he has already set up the trail to his base, and he's been gone for a while, afraid of being caught by them, and that sums up Ned. That's just a theory however, so don't accuse me of false advertising. Edit: We can disprove the fact that Ned wanted Henry to find the key because on the papers in his base you can see on his log it states:

-2F found supplies (How?) -Keys gone -Can't let 2F find B

Now, I'm assuming B stands for Brian, because 'base' would seem a bit out of place, there wasn't anything of super duper importance in that base except for the logs and photos. So since the keys were with the supplies, he obviously didn't want anyone finding them, that's why he says, "how?" He doesn't know Henry has the signal tracker. He also didn't want Henry to find Brian's dead body, or else he wouldn't of had the keys with the supplies he didn't want anyone to find.
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by Defiant »

Spoiler:
It’s also interesting that people jumped to the conclusion that Ned was behind a lot of things. I never believed that the research station was anything other than natural science. You even have that as a dialogue option when Delilah is freaking out, when you use it; she starts to calm down almost immediately. This happens quite a bit where you have a freak-out dialogue option and a calm response option. I think the developers purposefully gave people the option to have their imagination run away with them.
Most of the times it was Delilah putting ideas into our heads, I think - she specifically makes it clear that the research center isn't supposed to be there.(I didn't think it was a science station when we first see the fenced off area, but once we found the research station, I just let the story lead, because it was clear to me by that point that I should stop trying to predict where it would go, cause I would probably be wrong) Not so much with the cable cutting, and that may be jumping to conclusion (the trailer misled me into thinking that the story revolves around two people getting kidnapped, and that whoever was in the tower was the one that cut the wire), although absent any other evidence, it's not unreasonable to assume that all the weird stuff has one cause rather than two independent causes.
As to the Tree thing, I think that is a pure coincidence/lack of foresight on the developers. I really doubt anyone would have gotten there in time to see nothing unless they rushed on a second play-through. As far as I can tell, there is only one detailed human model in the game and I doubt they would use resources to make a second that almost no one would ever see.
They didn't need to put in a model. They could have not put in the shortcut, or make something slow you down at that one point or make sure that Delilah contacts you before you can get there (or just put in noise to make it sound as if someone is running away if you got close to the tower).


As to Ned, I don't buy that he was unaware that Henry had the wave detector - he would have heard them discuss it. And I don't buy that he felt his base was insecure.
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by Defiant »

Spoiler:
Something else that I think would have been an improvement, aside from the climax/resolution, is that almost everything in the game was focused on the story. It would have been nice if there had been some more mundane stuff (like spotting regular fires, shooing other people away... I'd like to say maybe fight the occasional fire - there *is* a fire extinguisher in your tower - but I imagine that's outside of your job description). Or maybe you need to locate some flowers for some botanist, or find fossils or something. Some sort of enjoyable gameplay that gives you some sense of time (though I wouldn't have wanted 60+ days worth of it) and that would allow the story to unfold more gradually.
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by MonkeyFinger »

Well, crap. Guess I need to get back to this and wrap it up so I can read something in this thread again. :P
-mf
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by Lordnine »

MonkeyFinger wrote:Well, crap. Guess I need to get back to this and wrap it up so I can read something in this thread again. :P
Get to it sir! The game is only 3-6 hours long! :wink:
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Defiant
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by Defiant »

MonkeyFinger wrote:Well, crap. Guess I need to get back to this and wrap it up so I can read something in this thread again. :P
:lol:
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by MonkeyFinger »

Lordnine wrote:
MonkeyFinger wrote:Well, crap. Guess I need to get back to this and wrap it up so I can read something in this thread again. :P
Get to it sir! The game is only 3-6 hours long! :wink:
I know, I know! That's the sad part. I don't get that much play time lately and I've gotten sucked away from this to FO4 when I do lately. Just need to knuckle down and do it! LOL I've enjoyed the interaction between the two characters so far.
-mf
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by MonkeyFinger »

So... got back to the game for a little bit last night and wrapped it up today. Just went back through all of the spoilers here, too. Did enjoy the game and spent a lot of time exploring and picking up pieces of the story that I could see some folks missing. Took the turtle and her tequila home. Thought it was cool how the credits showed all of the pictures on the camera after you had them developed. :wink:
-mf
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by Daehawk »

Thanks t oa fellow OOr I was gifted this for Christmas. I just now started...Im still in the elevator. Looking over the game online I get the feeling its not what I think it is. I mean I know its a graphical adventure game at its heart but the story of being a fire watcher and talking to another one over the radio is something I bet is totally in accurate. Wether its all a dream or theres some kinda evil spirit behind it all Ill find out. But Im betting its not what it appears to be.

And something is up with pine cones. They are all over and in places they seem they shouldn't be. So Im guessing they are some key to the game that will show itself later. I cant collect them though..just pick up and toss.
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by Daehawk »

The lighting in this game washes my whole view out at times. the sun is really bad. ive tried the brightness slider and it didn't help.

Enlarge Image
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Lordnine
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by Lordnine »

I’m not sure what you are seeing. I seem to remember there being sections of the game that looked like that. Check out the very first screenshot in this thread. A lot of the visuals in the game have a dreamlike quality to them, it doesn’t strive for realism.
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by Z-Corn »

I bought this during The Sale and spent the day playing it straight through. Loved it!

But I'm also loving the conspiracy theories that have been linked in the spoilers in this thread...hmmm...
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by MonkeyFinger »

Noticed that a PS4 friend had unlocked two "hidden" trophies on this game last night. Hidden? I completed it and have all of the trophies, how can that be? Turns out after I quit they added the "Audio Tour" mode and a handful of new trophies. And a free roam mode that you can do after you finish the base game... which was locked for me. :? Turns out my cloud save for the game was from Day TWO and I'm only at the "Find the Teens" objective! Farg.

Started the Audio Tour version which turns out to be a very cool implementation of a developer's commentary. Think I'll replay it using that version. Oh and they fixed "the turtle glitch" I'd read about because the related trophy popped right when I loaded the save.
-mf
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by MonkeyFinger »

Really enjoyed the implementation of the audio tour, well worth playing through the game again IMHO. Not only are there tour stations with cassettes scattered around but also they've dropped... other things... out there in the world to showcase some of the development. After that, did a quick Free Roam to get the last two trophies I'd missed.

Couple of cool things they mentioned which I'll spoiler if you haven't finished the game yet:
Spoiler:
If you have the Brian's toy dinosaur on you when you find his body, you can leave it there beside him. :(
If you "dilly dally" at the end in Delilah's tower, the helicopter will actually leave without you. :shock:
8-)
-mf
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by Smoove_B »

Picked this up during the summer sale and managed to avoid learning anything about the game (other than the recommendations) prior to playing (and finishing it) over the last few days. I really enjoyed the hell out of it - the opening sequence in particular hooked me in deep. I liked the ending; I think if you're angry about it it's likely you missed the point of the game. To me it actually felt more like I was playing a short movie - probably the most I've been invested in characters for this type of game. Kudos to the voice actors - without question the game wouldn't have been nearly as good (IMHO) if it wasn't for them. It is really short but I enjoyed it a great deal. I'll pick up the mantle of recommending it. As someone that played both To the Moon and Home (and felt they were overrated), I thought this game lived up to the hype. I wish I could easily identify people that will hate the ending and steer them away, but I guess I'll just have to take that chance.
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by GreenGoo »

It's been on my wishlist forever, feels like, and I too bought it just this past sale. Not sure when I'll get to it but it's kind of a mystery to me too, so I'm curious what I've bought.
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by Daehawk »

I think I was 1/4th done and stopped. I started thinking all kinds of stuff about it...am I dead...is the lady on the radio a ghost ...a killer? And all the possibilities got to me and I just walked away instead of finding out.
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by Suitably Ironic Moniker »

Daehawk wrote:I think I was 1/4th done and stopped. I started thinking all kinds of stuff about it...am I dead...is the lady on the radio a ghost ...a killer? And all the possibilities got to me and I just walked away instead of finding out.
:shock: :shock: :shock:

Perhaps you should start making your own game, Daehawk. It would definitely be interesting.
When I was a boy, I laid in my twin-sized bed and wondered where my brother was. - Mitch Hedberg
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Daehawk
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by Daehawk »

Oh I have lots of games in many genres in my head. I just dont have a dev house backing me like the big dev guys.
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by Smoove_B »

It takes about 4 hours to finish, and I don't think I rushed. It's like watching a director's cut of one of the Lord of the Rings movies; it's not a major commitment.
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Re: Firewatch - First Person Adventure/Puzzler/Exploration G

Post by MonkeyFinger »

And as noted above, it's the only game I recall as having played twice. IHMO, well worth going through a second (shorter) time to do the audio tour. 8-)
-mf
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