Firewatch

FIREWATCH (2016) was a really great game, although definitely not long enough. The setup is great, packs an emotional punch, gameplay is fun and captivating. Graphically, the game is on the minimalistic side, not overly detailed or hyper realistic, but eye catching and interesting. The main characters are really well written and immediately come to life, you can't help but care for them or relate to their situations. And once the ball starts rolling there's a good deal of mystery and suspense that really drive the story along.

Sadly, the ending was pretty anti-climactic and felt like a bit of a letdown to me, but the story, gameplay and characters still hold up in my memory many months later. I still really enjoyed the game but felt like it could have gone a better direction and really could've been a masterpiece, but the so-so ending kinda deflated a lot of its glory. Still, it's really worth a chance. It's great up until the end.

STORY: 8/10 GAMEPLAY: 9/10 GRAPHICS: 7/10 ART DESIGN: 8/10 MUSIC: 7/10 OVERALL RATING: 8.5.

It's one of the most beautiful and aesthetically pleasing video games I've ever played! The storyline is pretty good as well.

This game is beautiful and really heartwarming. The plot is not something that is far-fetched it's just a dude whose wife is sick and currently living with her family and he's taking the summer off to work on a firewatch tower. The experience is not that long but it feels quite the opposite. I personally felt every emotion the man had and was really immersed into his story due to the minimalistic but well curated introduction. I finished the game in one sitting as it is just 4 hours long. If you're looking for something with complex gameplay then this is not it as it is just supposed to be relaxing and plot-oriented. It does get a bit boring and frustrating when I get lost in the woods as I'm someone who's terrible with directions irl and ingame. No other downsides though. Stunning visuals and voice acting. Maaaan the voice acting is just perfect and so real. Delilah's voice actor is gifted. Hats off to the developers. Definitely looking forward to their next project.

This game is a rare beauty. Although not offering much in terms of gameplay, the game completely makes up for it in graphics, characters, immersion and not to mention the amazing voice acting.

Firewatch is the first independent game by the writer of TT's Walking Dead S01 and part of the ever growing "walking simulator" genre. The sub-genre name feels very fitting as first person adventures from the 90s actually bothered to feature real puzzles... Nah, i'm kidding. I kinda like these gameplay free new adventures and Firewatch is one of the better so far. The developers squeezed a mighty fine looking and beautifully over-saturated forest out of the Unity engine and my personal highlight is the clever VN section that forms the prologue. It's a bit like the flashback novels from the highly overlooked Lost Odyssey. The game may lack a certain appeal to younger gamers due to the themes and the rushed ending is frankly a head scratcher but the journey is still worth it even if i don´t think that the game´s female lead is all that great due to the very forced romance. The actual controls are fairly flawed too. The soundtrack and sound design can lastly put most industry leaders to shame. 6,5/10