Firewatch review

[MarioMark]

I bought it today and only had time to scratch the surface but what I've played so far has sucked me in and I can't wait to play more when I have the chance.

It's a shame about the framerate issues, it doesn't spoil the game but it's a bit of a shame as the PS4 could easily run it, or even the PS3 which is what it feels like you're playing on. I like short games but I know I'll want more when I get to the end.

[BIG EDD]

Well just completed it in around 5 hours.Found in really atmospheric.Worth a play through if you enjoyed everyone's gone to the rapture

[MarioMark]

Just about to start my second play through. The PS4 patch has been released, it's locked at 30fps but much more stable now

[fishbowlhead]

Just about to start my second play through. The PS4 patch has been released, it's locked at 30fps but much more stable now

About time. The beginning of the game was atrocious frame rate wise, got better once you got to the tower, but sets a very bad first impression.

I'm about an hour in and so far I really like it.

[fuse]

I played this last weekend, didn't find the tech issues as frustrating as some folks, but that's not to say I didn't see them. I would say if you're ok with the concept (i.e. you're not spitting feathers at the idea of a 5 hour game with no shooting) then try and go in as blind as you can. I wish I'd not read the Edge review prior to playing, and the first post here says too much for my money also... so I hope you skipped it

I liked it - short and sweet, but stuck with me for a while afterwards. It's beautiful in places and very thoughtful. Thumbs up!

[MarioMark]

I loved it, a good start to 2016 for the PS4. I think the PS4 is gonna have a decent year for games.

[Dogg Thang]

I started playing this today. I'm totally with modern gaming. Only played for about an hour and a half but I totally love it. The Going For A Walk sim has been one of my favourite game genres and this delivers on that really well so far. It's like a short story where you get to walk around experiencing it. Lovely atmosphere, great voice work and really nice soundtrack too.

Unfortunately next week is going to be a crazy one for me but I'm looking forward to picking up the story again next weekend.

[Dogg Thang]

Finished this today and totally loved it. The atmosphere was gorgeous and, for me, it did such a fantastic job building the relationship between the main characters. Only two criticisms:

->Open Spoiler<-

1) The research station was too large a red herring. The ending was small and believable and I liked that. But it built far too big an expectation of some X-Files stuff going on with that research station.

2) They cut short my hike to Delilah's tower. I think it would have been way more satisfying to complete the whole journey in real time.

Otherwise, loved it. Didn't disappoint me at all.

[fishbowlhead]

Finished. Perfect length for me. Believable story with some nice twists and gorgeous visuals throughout that create a brilliant atmosphere. Special mention goes to the script and voice acting as well, it all adds up to make a very memorable experience.

[Dogg Thang]

I just finished playing through this on the Switch. I still love it. It’s a gentle story told well with wonderful voice acting and some lovely visuals. Not sure the story entirely delivers on the opening by the end but I feel the story they told works well. And it doesn’t outstay its welcome. It’s nice and neat.

I originally played through it on PC back in the day and it ran beautifully. On the Switch, my expectation is that it wouldn’t run well. I was kind of right. Generally it’s pretty smooth and looks lovely but there are these momentary pauses at a fairly regaular basis where it feels like the next part is being loaded in. But revisiting this thread, it seems this isn’t unique to the Switch and was present on the PS4 too. I’d be curious to know how it compares but it’s certainly not bad on the Switch at all and looks pretty good. But not as seamless as the PC version.

So it’s basically Firewatch on the Switch. It also has a free roam mode and devs commentary. Guessing the other versions have these now too. Free roam is kind of pretty but I can’t imagine I’d spend much time with it.

[Atticus]

I had a standard PS4 when I played it and it chugged at times. I wonder if it runs smoother on the Pro. I really fancy diving back in for another play but there are so many great games around at present I never get chance.

[Dogg Thang]

The Switch version has its own minigame!

[Dogg Thang]

I played through this again with the audio commentary and it’s really interesting. Very well paced and insightful. One of the things about Firewatch for me, not being a dev and not knowing what I’m talking about, is that it always seemed to run this fine line of being kind of an indie game and in some ways contained in scope while always giving the feeling that it probably had a very large budget and was more complicated than it seemed. And yeah, I still don’t know what the budget was but I’m guessing it was high for this type of game. And it allowed them to work out a lot of different solutions to things and rewrite the game as they went along which a lower budget game just couldn’t afford to do. It brings home just how many dialogue options there are too. For the most part, it’s seamless and always feels very real. They really succeeded at what they set out to do with the dialogue.

Anyway, an interesting feature having the audio commentary.

[wakka]

The relationship between the two characters in this is very well wrought. Like Gone Home, it

->Open Spoiler<-

sets up an expectation of something sinister and supernatural, but subverts it being a very human story, almost domestic. I really like that in both games. It annoys my girlfriend though, who wants to see more blood on the carpet

A while since I've played this now, but I wouldn't mind running through it again - although I feel my time might be better spent on one of the other narrative games that have appeared since.

[Dogg Thang]

It’s interesting going through subsequent playthroughs because it’s a game that, to me, feels entirely linear but there are a surprising amount of options and choices made along the way and most affect the dialogue. The game doesn’t ever branch or go in a different direction (although the dev commentary reveals it is possible to skip whole plot points and the dialogue adjusts, which is interesting) but the dialogue always feels personal and reflects what you do.

Except seemingly finding the shoe... Henry doesn’t seem to mention that and I’m not sure why.