Review: Firewatch

[@LocalContentShow]

*Controversial here:* I thought the ending hit exactly what it was trying to do. Both characters are audibly underwhelmed by the conclusion to its mystery, realising that their experience has been un-supernatural with most of it being created in their minds, and the ending reflects that onto the player. Now both of them abruptly have to stop hiding out in the woods and return to the *real* problems in their life that they'd been trying to avoid just like the player is now pushed out of the game. I do agree it could have done with longer, I would've really liked more mundane worldbuilding like chasing off the girls in the lakes and I would have personally loved a huge conspiracy ending but it wouldn't have been what the game's themes are about.

[@iixrev]

+Local Content That's really good point, I didn't think of that. But all the plot holes? What happened to the girls? Who was Delilah talking too about "him not knowing", What was that giant beast sound? how did the boy die after he hid his climbing gear?

[@LocalContentShow]

+iixrev I can answer all of those if you like: *big spoilers for everything of course* The girls were chased off by the hermit (you find their sleeping bag in his bunker) and D tells you they were found safe and sound after continuing being drunk shits for a while somewhere else I think it's only implied but D was probably talking to her boyfriend, who she never broke up with (stated in the radio transcripts) and saying Henry didn't know they were still together The beast sound was a dying elk, you can find it shortly after the kid's little hideout by following the tracker. It's also implied that that was what all the high tech monitoring equipment was for as the elk has a tracking monitor. Open ended, either the hermit killed him directly or his equipment did really just come loose from the mounting point like the hermit's tape suggests. One thing lots of people forgot, me included, is that the story is set well in the past (before mobile phones) so that explains a few more minor points like why the girls weren't reported safe immediately and it took a fortnight or so.

[@sheep3370]

+Local Content You're right about the point of the ending. Frankly the resolution with the supposed 'mystery' made sense to me and I thought it paralleled Henry and Delilah's inability to face up to their problems. But did you not feel the ending itself was a little too abrupt and lacking closure? Too much about what will happen next is left to the imagination

[@zBlacksad]

+Local Content Firewatch presents itself as an "edge-of-your-seat mystery" (direct quote from Steam product description), when in fact it's more akin to Gone Home, a game with low-key, realistic story and ambiance; in other words, the mystery element of Firewatch is merely a MacGuffin. People just weren't expecting a mundane ending that tells us something about human relationships. Now, I'm not saying that there should be aliens involved in the plot or anything like that, but I what I was expecting was an ending worthy of an extremely tense build-up.

[@12SundayAfternoon]

+Local Content Wasn't it revealed in the end that was a fabrication? I don't really know for sure.

[@popcioslav]

You are on fire today, aren't you?

[@Nison545]

+Popcioslav - It's why I'm watching tbh.

[@Bluehawk2008]

+Jonathan Belmont Oy...

[@jalec-5343]

+Popcioslav - Wow everyone seems to be on a hot streak

[@OxbowisaMstie]

+Popcioslav - Hey, how's it going Is that your car they're towing? I'm pretty sure that's your car No, you can't park there Whoa, your head's on fire Oh damn, you must've got one of them Combustible heads I read an article all about them ~You're On Fire - They Might Be Giants

[@OrangeVision]

One thing that kept me from sinking in the atmosphere was that after the few shadowy encounters I knew not to expect any human contact up close. These kinds of games always rely on the environment and since making believable character models is hard, it's easier just to not do them. Walking alone in the woods isn't really scary since you know nothing's really going to be there.

[@swanijam]

The ending was supposed to be a comment on the nature of fear and confronting scary ideas. It was meant to suggest that things are often totally okay even when they seem impossibly terrifying. Henry went to Two Forks to escape what he thought was an insurmountably scary situation in his life. He wanted to avoid dealing with disaster (by becoming a firewatch looking for forest disasters to deal with) and finds that even in the quietest of placest, trouble can find you and running isn't always an option. And after he digs into the problem he finds in the forest, the problem turns out to not be as scary as he thought. Hopefully that could give him a little bit of optimism to go back and take care of julia with. It's definitely a weird way to end the story, but viewed from that perspective it seems to really effectively deliver its lesson. I hope (and I do believe) that that was the intention of the story.

[@CitizenKanevideos]

I was going to like your video until you broke out those puns at the end. It really just burnt your entire review up.

[@knightlunaaire1087]

ayy

[@daevious_]

+Citizen Kane He scorched the earth with his puns.

[@yiprajosie085]

+Citizen Kane it was just a prank bro!!

[@jacket2038]

+Citizen Kane Yeah but I disliked the whole video. Transitioning to those puns was coming out of the frying pan and into the fire.

[@kabliekke]

+Knight Lunaaire macarena

[@AngraMainiiu]

>Music all from Firewatch >But who was X-file?

[@Nipah.Auauau]

+Joshua Graham (queue X-Files theme)

[@berthold64]

>le maymay arrow xD

[@JRyan56]

+null Thinking that's a maymay XDDDDDDDDDDD

[@TheImortalCJ]

Looks like I caught this review, HOT off the press! erhh.

[@OverlordZephyros]

+Butterfist careful !... dont get burned out! .... screw it im going to sleep lol

[@LuckyHazama]

Shirorororororo

[@Gulyus]

+Lord Zephyros You should really not add fuel to this...

[@secrets7301]

Booo! You're fired.

[@TheGamerUnknown]

Just played it and I agree. Some people make the argument that the ending is just like real life, often times spooky strange situations resolve themselves into really boring solutions. I'm not sure that's worth it, however.

[@IMatchoNation]

Those puns were fire! .... Watch!

[@nazauwu6431]

the puns here burn like a thousand suns

[@WhatsUpFella]

I can't believe the amount of people who just didn't get that they were supposed to feel empty by the ending. The lack of resolution is the resolution. Its about paranoia and letting expectations get in the way of what really matters. Yes there's some pacing issues overall, but the ending is probably the best thing about it. Life has no resolution, indie films have been doing this sort of things for years but this is the first time I've ever felt it connected through gameplay. Its a look into human loneliness and connection, the subplot is the driving force for that. Its resolution doesn't need to be realistic or crazy, it just needs to happen.

[@bakerdoze]

The game successfully set out to do what it planned to do, but does that still make it a good game to play? It met its goals, but when the "player" meets those same goals, do they get the same reaction of success that the game had? Apparently, George didn't. And if I played the game, I'm not sure I would, either, based on what I've seen in the review.

[@WhatsUpFella]

I don't know it worked for me.

[@CynicalBastard]

art-house game. people shit on art-house or "art games", whatever you wanna call it. writing for a game is one thing = "art" in a game, is another. people HATE it. i like it. people want games to be solely a business. i don't. i want games to be expression also, as much as it has to be, just like with anything else; just as with business, for example, like SuperBunnyHop.

[@CynicalBastard]

people are complaining about two things that relevant: price point and length. also the ending. people are also being critical about. i listened. i just said "people caring about the price and length of time is just thinking about games as a business; and that's sad.".

[@CynicalBastard]

"Hell, if it's all about the art, maybe the game should be cheaper, or even free so it could be accessible to as many people as possible. Surely if us uneducated folk shouldn't care about games as business, neither should the developers, right?" it's the price of making a game. there are plenty of free games. 20 dollars is not alot of money, SPORT. so save up 20$ and buy ANOTHER game, for 20$, or find a less expensive one...or a more expensive one. i don't care. but money is required to make ANYTHING. DUH. if you don't want to spend the money, then DON'T. the criticism on price point and length are valid, but here's what you can do about it: Nothing. the game wouldn't function better as a shorter game NOR would it being a LONGER game -- unless of course, you wanted the game to redesigned from the ground up, and projected into future $$$ limits, which ONLY costs THEM more money; all to give you a greater length for your $, but the fact is, the game functions better the length it's at; so then we get to the $, well...if twenty dollar's is too much you A: don't buy it, and B: vote with your wallet; they will either have to make a longer game next time, or make a smaller game with less ambitious design -- either way, something, whatever the complaints, to please the fans. what are the other complaints? are they relevant? walking sim? ok, so then get another game that involves, i don't know, puzzles, or shooting; this is a story game. Steam has a refund system now. you know, where the gameplay footage is, and description to help you figure out it's a first-person mystery (oh my -- is that a genre? stop the presses). what is it? the ending? the ending was conceived the way it was MEANT to be, in accordance to the elements (near spoiled for sure) in the video, the elements in the game signified within the video, i mean; they recalled a set-piece that did what, frankly, alot of mystery stories do. was it completely original, not entirely, no, but it's execution WAS done great; so the criticism here is either that it wasn't executed well, to get the desired effect at the ending, whether from the ending itself or the mystery elements; OR it was that it wasn't original enough to be good enough of a mystery or ending, to make it worth the game in terms of price point and length -- simply the TYPE of game IT IS, invokes the notion, somehow, that "this game sucks", based on the story not being perfected somehow? well, look, the critique is really quite arguably unfounded. the game DID EXACTLY WHAT it set out to do; so then the critiques are MAINLY about people's expectations being blown away, and then THEM BEING MAD about the price of the game and the length of the game. well...if you are SO concerned with those elements before you buy a game, and the game's trailer, gameplay footage on the website you purchase it from, or any of the description on any place where it's given -- on the box, or on the site -- if none of that is signal enough of what to expect of the purchase of a CREATIVE WORK, then this is why you go to SuperBunnyHop, isn't it!? ;D oh and the PS4 version was obviously shit out of a can -- they literally botched it -- that's also a criticism of the PRODUCTION, RELEASE & DISTRIBUTION of the shoddy PS4 port, that sadly is a detriment to anyone wishing to purchase on that platform, or whom already have; and THAT IS a valid complaint; but does that mean the games bad? no. it doesn't. it means that the port of the game is bad. that's a different matter altogether. it's a matter of manufacture, and business, and production -- sure, i grant that -- but that doesn't really define how the game itself is designed poorly. give me some examples.

[@thrillhouse_vanhouten]

Don't regret picking this one up at all. Great experience, if a little flawed in the ending's execution. Midway into my second playthrough and there are some interesting things and dialogue options to find if you break sequence. But seriously, we've gotten very precious when something as likeable and beautiful as Firewatch comes out for $20, play it, and ask for a steam refund.

[@marlonyo]

+THRILLHO depents on your economic situation i for once try to spend $20 tops on games per month having that total being over in 3-5 hours would get me mad

[@thrillhouse_vanhouten]

This is a true point. I apologize if that statement was too harshly worded. What Firewatch does and how it does it, I think is definitely worth $20 to experience. But if you're aiming for as much gameplay bang for the buck as possible, you wouldn't be wrong to wait for a sale.

[@tmsphere]

Only you can't actually complete it in less 2 hours.

[@graysonroyal]

Firewatch isn't about some forest mystery, it isn't about some oddball romance, it's about processing grief and moving on. The main character literally runs away from his problems. From there, it's our job to take him on his path. Does he become angry? Does he drink? (Every time before leaving the cabin, I noticed the player had the option to take the whiskey (if he stole it from the girls) with him. I never did, although I wonder what would have happened if I had.) Does he pursue an impossible relationship? Does he face his problems? These are all questions that we the players answer, and in our answers we can find a lot about ourselves. I can't say Firewatch is perfect; it's not. But I do think you got it wrong this time.

[@pincopallo6458]

As someone that had to take care of his mother that started having alzheimer's disease when i was going trough the 16-20 years of my life it's incredible how they managed to replicate how does it feel being someone that had to care of someone 24/7. I read about a lot of people complaining about the protagonist for being jerk for being reluctant of meeting his wife again, but taking care of someone day for day for years is very stressing. I too had a period that i just wanted to get out of everything and find my "outpost" and forget about anything and find my interior peace.

[@AloofObserver]

The ending was perfect if the game was going for the theme of escapism. You get enthralled in an adventure, and forget all about your RL troubles, only to have a bucket of ice water dumped on your head at the end... you have to return, you can't escape life's difficulties. All the characters fit this model, in some manner are trying to avoid reality.

[@CynicalBastard]

you got it. games are escapism. i thought the game artfully analysed that aspect of gameplay. *ding ding ding ding ding* but it was 20 BUCKS...that's 5 more than 15 & and 10 less than i wanna spend! what's this game worth! [/sarcasm]

[@mallslim2234]

Agreed.

[@danielhale1]

+Super Bunnyhop: You should play Miasmata, if you haven't already. It handles the "lost exploring a forest" idea quite well, and is a fun game to explore at your own pace. You're not given navigation beacons or waypoints, just a map and a compass, and the map only fills out from triangulating your position from known landmarks. I also really like how they integrated the creature: it's just rare enough to not wear out its welcome or show its zippers, but just enough of a threat to have you feeling very nervous while stumbling around in the forest, in the dark, unsure of where you are...

[@Nison545]

I really hoped from the end of the reveal trailer that the game would get super dark in tone, and throw a ton of twists... Oh well...

[@SuperCrabbycrab]

I kind of disagree a bit (which is rare with your reviews!).There are NO exploration challenges tho. There are NO chance of getting lost in it. The paths are so obvious and clear and the place is littered with signs, so half way through I didn't even use the map or compas -_- I'm not sure if it's just because I'm good at finding my way. I can get lost in "the long dark" but in this game, not a chance. It's super linear, with a day-night cycle fixed with the story.. It feels like it's on rails and stopped half way through my 2nd playthrough as nothing had consequences, except for the dialogue...: I hope the Long Dark has as a good story as this and I think it will be what Firewatch should've been. (edit: and I DID disable Map Location, before I even start the game - and I didn't see this review until after I played it)

[@brainwarts]

Orienteering in the wilderness is a really cool idea for a gameplay mechanic. I actually did play one game that did it interestingly. It was called Miasmata and you unlocked the map by orienting your compass to a landmark or point of reference and then moving and orienting towards the same landmark from a different angle, triangulating precise locations from the distance traveled and angles involved. The whole game was a fairly underwhelming exploration / horror game, but it did have a few neat mechanics like that. It also had a good feeling of "momentum" as you moved; sprinting down a hill would make it very difficult to turn or stop yourself until you lost some speed, leading to some pretty awkward dangerous situations as a result of not paying attention. It was a game that, despite not being very good overall, strongly encouraged a great sense of environmental awareness and a sort of realism we don't see very often.

[@marcusrakentine]

"Comp-us"

[@RexVergstrong]

+Marcus Rakentine Not as bad as "Nucular".

[@ichbinein123]

Gersh darn 'muricans an 'er diddly dang accents.

[@FreedFenrir]

That isn't an accent thing. It's just saying it wrong.

[@mooganify]

Cum-pass Comparishun Nucular

[@quixotic7460]

The ending was a bit short, but it did well to subvert Henry & D's (and implicitly, the player's) expectations of a supernatural mystery / government conspiracy.

[@TehFlasher]

Last week a review of barely a game-game, this week of a non-game-game, I hope we get reviews of actual games soon. Though I still appreciate this video, of course!

[@cheesepizza6339]

I noticed from watching this video, and a couple of others, that you like the concept of exploring a world with minimal interface telling you what to do. To that end, I think you might like Miasmata. The game is built around getting yourself lost, and the map you do have has to be filled out manually, through cartography and the various landmarks.

[@WritingOnGames]

Incredible review as always George - absolutely nailed my conflicting thoughts on the game. Initially enjoyed how the mystery just kind of fell apart to reveal that the main focus was of course the characters like you'd expected the whole time, but there were just too many narrative beats bungled by the game to make it feel like a truly cohesive story (in your terms, neither the hook nor the moral really added up as a result). I'll still be writing about this game but it won't be a typical review I guess, because you've pretty much stated my entire thought process regarding the game here. GODDAMNIT GEORGE YOU WONDERFUL BASTARD

[@ChillyPeppers]

You say the ending is unbelievable and cut short, but honestly I think the abruptness of the ending and how not supernatural it is exactly on point. It's just like how conspiracy theory stuff in real life usually works. Not everything is NSA Snowden tier stuff. Sometimes the answer is a lot simpler. Sometimes it's just the 1980s equivalent of "your Facebook passwords were way too easy to guess".

[@CptNameless]

I really think the choose your own adventure style opening needed something more than just looking like they added it onto the game as an afterthought.

[@chicoathalla]

Your puns are awful good sir, it burns me

[@GrayderFox]

Interesting. Hope they can give it another shot, sounds like the kind of thing you have to try a few times to really get a good feel for it.

[@RedFiction12]

Really nice review! Always pleasure to watch!

[@michaelcrowe6796]

I feel like the ending was suppose to how us that life is bland, that not all mysteries have crazy explanations, and that there isn't really a "happily ever after".

[@EckoExploresGaming]

Now X-Files references and bad (amazing) fire puns? I think his friendship with Matt McMuscles and the rest is really getting to him.

[@Trillykins]

I know this is an old review, but I don't watch reviews of games I haven't finished and, well, I just finished Firewatch. Except for the critiques of the performance of the game, most of the criticism here really feels like Gamers™ missing the point? I'm reminded of Gone Home again. And maybe it's because I'm just getting older, but I honestly appreciate that the game didn't feel the need to pad out its runtime. Even playing this during the afternoon the mood and atmosphere of the game still worked perfectly on me. It got me paranoid about what was going to happen and who were after me. What was going to happen. And the conclusion made sense. A lot of it is about the narrative, the experience of a long life, the choices you make and the consequences you have to live with, you know? The relationship between them both felt incredibly relatable and authentic.

[@ohweezuschrist]

i agree. gamers just don’t have great media literacy. not that this game is a masterpiece, but the ending felt real. nothing about the game is fantastical or blown-up to unrealistic proportions. it’s a dude in a tough situation that ran away at the beginning and will now come back home with new knowledge and a glimpse of what he could turn into if he doesn’t learn from his and the other mistakes in the game.

[@TheDeliciousMystery]

I've yet to try it myself but in the space of like 10-15 minute i had 3 separate friends who didnt know each other send me a near identical message saying "Beat Firewatch, holy shit it feels like the budget was cut near the end and they completely messed up the end". Small, anecdotal sample size i know, but the damn near same playtime to the minute followed by almost identical negative reaction is something so uncommon in my experience it makes me approach a game i was pretty excited for with some major "maybe ill wait till a sale" vibes.

[@VAB419]

I didn't mind paying 20 dollars for a 3.5 hour experience because for MOST of the experience, I had a great time. I thought Delilah and Henry's friendship was great, exploring the woods was great,a nd the mounting suspense was GREAT. My only real regret is I don't know any games that give you a similar feeling of being stalked by someone dangerous, and being afraid of unknown and predatory danger that keeps you on your toes. If anyone knows a game like THAT please let me know! :)

[@morganlak4337]

4 hours is twice as long as movies that are sold for fifteen dollars or so on DVD, saying that that's too short to properly tell a story or be worth the price is super disproportionate to other media on the market right now. Price is kind of subjective, you could still feel like its too much, but you really can't say that it's too short to properly build a good story, movies have been doing that for a long time on less screentime. Obviously movies and games are very different but the problem isnt solved just by making the game longer, its solved by writing more efficiently for games

[@zimmerman1031]

+Seth Johnson Movies have a focused narrative. Games don't if you let the player do as they please. Even in adventure games, point and click, or otherwise, gamers want to explore the world. Get familiar with things. They don't want to be pushed along in one direction. Movies don't have that luxury. They can't go off and do as they please, like a gamer will.

[@heinblod3485]

Good point!

[@morganlak4337]

Yeah, I know. That doesn't mean a story can't be told in twice the length of the average movie though.

[@Pauly421]

+Seth Johnson Well it's not really a fair comparison. Movies are generally always between 1&1/2 to 3 hours long, whereas games can give thousands of hours of entertainment if theres something to keep players interested. I think the issue here is people dont think the price was worth the payoff both story and gameplay wise.

[@tmsphere]

This game has raked up its share of rewards and sold buckloads, check out a positive review of the game and the like/dislike ratio, most ppl who bought it loved it or at least liked that they did.

[@massivepileup]

How's the environment for looking around and enjoying nature? I liked that part of The Witness a lot, almost every place had unique details to look at even when they were not relevant to the game at all, replicating some of the wonder of looking around while hiking through the woods.

[@grumpyman2]

All music from Firewatch? I didn't realize Firewatch had the X-Files theme in it...

[@brentclouse7791]

Started my second playthrough last night. Really didn't get (or like?) the last quarter of the story as much as I was expecting to. I'm wondering if what Henry tells - and doesn't tell - Delilah affects anything in the end. For instance, on this playthrough I chose *not* to report the figure Henry sees.

[@ashwalk85]

2 cents: the ending is realistic. It's all about how those once-in-a-lifetime bittersweet moments are always over before you realize.

[@Slasha00]

You ever play a game called Miasmata? Completely based around navigation with a compass and map, using real wayfaring techniques. It's a survival horror game as well, but incredibly subtle. You should check it out if you like navigating dense forests in video games.

[@GiggaGMikeE]

Keep up the great work. It rare to see people take the classical approach to reviewing. Critiques and reviews are meant to not only tell you how good or bad something is, but to interpret the deeper meaning of what the creator is trying to convey with thier work, and your videos have excelled in showing that. Even when I don't agree with your opinion I'm still entertained by the video and you do a good job of at least explaining why you feel the way you do. Also, thank you for not including score numbers. I think they tend to detract from the review itself.

[@dxcSOUL]

Good points. But I think you might have missed the "point" the game was trying to make: "The Futility of Firewatch is What Makes it Special: As the credits roll, and the player’s photographs descend down the screen (which of course can be printed off in real life), one thing becomes apparent: there are no faces to put to names, and no real relationships made. All Henry has of his summer away is a mystery uncovered, and perhaps the solace that the remains of a missing person will be returned to someone who loved them. This grim finality, and the sense of realism that comes with it, is what makes Firewatch such a powerful narrative to experience."

[@OxbowisaMstie]

I was curious about this one. probably still play it when it goes on sale for like 10 bucks.

[@sharkhunter21]

Glad you felt the same about the game. I had just bought Gone Home a few weeks prior and thought it was pretty crappy and I believed Firewatch was going to do it right. Nope. That ending was terrible and the lengths we're expected to believe one character went to and even what he did were so poorly done. I got had again, that's for sure.

[@heinblod3485]

It could have been longer but I ended up loving the game and the anticlimactic ending. That last conversation was so beautiful. I'll definitely play it again with the mappoint turned off, sounds like a big improvement to the exploration part.

[@DovaChika]

I had trouble with this game. It had great build up, but fell flat at the end. Like, really fell flat. And I don't mean because of the 'reason', more how it doesn't make sense. And just... ugh, it was unsatisfying. I felt bad, because the beginning and even the middle was fun. Also, I'm not a fan of walking simulators. At all. I'm either bored or feel I did nothing. So I just watched someone play through it. Good thing.

[@foghornleghorn7758]

Please do an episode on the closing of GameTrailers and the overall change from professional editorial work towards mostly one on one video streams as the main source of both knowledge and reviews in our amazing videogame culture. This kind of research driven thing seems right up your alley.

[@bazzy5644]

+aaron duerksen I excpect the next tovg podcast to spend a good amount of time on that, so i don't know if he will be doing a video afterwards.

[@MangoTangoFox]

Well said, it very clearly felt unfinished both technically and in the story. It skipped over what should have been the best parts of the game, and the ending was so lame and unsatisfying from multiple angles. I do disagree about the music though. The music coming from inside your brain in the middle of the woods really broke immersion, it would have been better silent. It was a cheap and artificial way to tell you how to feel, rather than causing the emotions naturally with relationships and environmental effects. The only music I liked came from the boom box you can steal at the lake. That was genuinely one of the best moments of the game because of the goofy feeling you get when you take it all the way back to your tower. But it loops the same song over and over, it could have been better with 3-4 tracks. And it didn't let me keep it! It should have stayed in the tower for me to do what I want with. That was the one time breaking the linear game by being clever actually rewarded me, where two other instances ruined the whole story for me even before the bad ending hit.

[@mallslim2234]

Liked the ending quite a bit, from all its angles.

[@lucaswvargas3826]

I like the compass and map part of the game. Sure to try it out.

[@roondar6141]

Of all the story heavy games I have to say I like the walking sims with basically no gameplay the least. If you’re going to go through the trouble of programming and modeling a whole game and only put the barest amounts of interactivity into it all I’ll be thinking of while going through it is “why didn’t you just write a book?”

[@nofxd52]

Just so you know, the thumbnail on this video showed it as if it had gotten deleted/DMCA'd. But I went into the video. and it's working.

[@videos4candy]

You should do a video on the Smash Bros community and the split between Melee and Smash 4. It would be interesting to hear you analyze the two games and their communities.

[@Zenju__]

I think you'd enjoy Innuendo Studios' "Things of Beauty", if you haven't watched it already.

[@videos4candy]

Sounds familiar. I haven't watched it but I've seen it in the suggested videos before. I'll give it a watch.

[@masteroflag]

Thanks for the heads up George. I'll pick up fire watch when it's on sale for like 10 bucks since I can only play the ps4 version

[@goobydntfear]

i didnt hate it, i paid 17€, was it overpriced? yes did i regret my purchase? yes would i recommend it to a friend? no play it again? no were the graphics nice? yes! was the story good? hell no also most people take around 3 hours to complete it

[@nathaneskin3572]

Wow you are forgiving if you still didn't hate it after all that

[@MustafaSahinz]

+ascendence 17€?! where the fuck do you live? it's 8,50€ here.

[@NateBuckelew]

I feel the same way, except I would recommend it to a friend. It was good enough for that. Only if that friend could play it for free though. I wouldn't recommend a buy. So I guess that mean I wouldn't recommend it. I'm going in circles.

[@massivepileup]

+Mustafa Şahin Probably western Europe, it's 17€ here.

[@MrCactuar13]

+ascendence Didn't hate, but not worth. That's the worst kind of feeling

[@chase_h.01]

First 2/3s were pretty engaging if u don't mind enjoying it slowly. Ending will not be what you think it should be.

[@iliketorock21]

it's true, you should turn off the location on map thing. it'll ramp up the tension.

[@zoricgames]

George, thank you for this review. I finished Firewatch last night and I agree with everything you've said. The game had me enthralled for almost its entirety, right up until what I expected to be a climax. I'll spare the comments section spoilers, but I agree that it felt like roughly two additional hours of game were missing and they opted for convenient explanations in place of substantial payoffs to the story branches. If they had such a limited scope, they probably should have cut one or the other plotlines in favor of focusing on either of its branches. I'd have been satisfied with a game about exploring a beautiful forest, doing some odd jobs here and there, and just working through your issues with the disembodied voice on the radio. I hope we can see better things from these writers in the future, I loved what they did with The Walking Dead.

[@Corvaillian]

Isn't it incredible how a bad ending can ruin an otherwise great experience so much? See also: MGSV I also have to question their decision to make the map's paths so linear. I understand that they wanted to direct the player's movement for certain scenes, but surely they could have made only those areas closed off, and not the entirety of the game's paths. What ended up happening was navigating became much less of a challenge and getting lost was completely impossible. By the end of the game I could already navigate the entire area without looking at the map.

[@MRwho35]

Thank you lord for not letting the bad puns last more then a fe seconds...but seriously now thats exactly how i felt when I reached the ending it defnetly had more room for a bigger plot but it turned into a rushed and confusing experience.

[@lady_deaths_head]

The ending left me with a phantom pain.

[@TheKillerPotato1]

Nice ending Mr. Punnyhop

[@vvolfflovv]

The joke at the end was priceless. Great review.

[@ZexySwami]

I rly think the game was good and also i like the ending ... i like that it was nothing more then a normal ending

[@QuintusCunctator]

As an owner of this game, while I overall liked it, I still suggest to wait for the price to drop. Just like in the case of Gone Home, 20 dollars / euros feel disproportionate for its length.

[@warmleatherette]

The possibility of an M Night Shymalan ending douses my enthusiasm.

[@djaevlenselv]

I have a question I want to ask you, and I'm afraid it might come off a bit like a snide comment, but I assure you I'm asking out of genuine curiosity. A while ago, I don't remember exactly when, you made a video regarding the conversation about game length. IIRC you seemed very critical of the idea that a game's price should equate to content of a particular minimum length, and seemed to conclude that it was more important that a game of any price point felt like a complete experience in and of itself, than that be of a particular arbitrarily chosen minimun length for its price. At around the 7:00 mark of the video you talk about the price of Firewatch compared to what you get for your money expressed as a number of hours, and I'm wondering how to take that in the context of your previously stated opinions about game length vis-a-vis game price. If I had to guess at what you meant, I'd say it was probably intended in the vein of a game that doesn't make good use of it's content is going to feel "too short" or otherwise unsatisfactory, regardless of its actual length, like I think you said in the other video, but if that was the intent it came across a bit odd here when you compared the length of Firewatch to the price point so explicitly.

[@Heatranoveryou]

I'm glad those puns were at the end. They were terrible. You didn't even try to sell them.

[@DetectivePoofPoof]

SIZZLING hot review, Bunny! Good job! Too bad they didn't finish it properly but endings are really hard to get right.

[@vanitymirrorss]

Hey do you think you could maybe do a review on Kentucky Route Zero? I'd love to hear your opinions on that.

[@Muzzle1300]

We're in an alternate universe, George making puns?! I've never been more terrified of an unpredictable man before!

[@Steadysphere]

Your puns at the end were scorching, gonna need some aftersun to heal those burns

[@BaneDane_JB]

Honestly despite all the negative notes people keep telling me about this game, after watching 40 minutes of a lets play (a 4th of the game) It still seems charming enough for me to want to buy it on a sale. (like 5-10$ which I have no problem paying for a 4 hour game)

[@gast128]

I enjoyed the 4 hour gameplay due to the atmospheric graphics and price drop. The story and setting is casual which is not negative since I don't like jump scares or unbeatable monsters. Despite the tick markers I still had some trouble to find my way, since the world is not completely open.

[@billyjohn17]

Do narrative arcs needs to be resolve though ? I tend to beleive that the important part of a story lies in the character(s) being subject to conflict(s) and narrative arcs are just a plus. Imo, the problem of the ending is more that (spoiler !) it reach a peak with the discovery of Ryan's body and then it can only go down in the last half hour.

[@NAGA_99]

You were like a machine gun at the end with all those puns just firing one after the other.

[@itsallenwow]

Those puns at the end were fire.

[@lerigan]

Those puns at the end... Perfect.

[@ashei]

I got the true ending where I got locked in a cave and couldn't trigger the next scene

[@ARandomDizzy]

I was really interested in Firewatch. The entire premise is neat from the outside. Exploring the nature wilds of Colorado, a non typical job, and an air of the spooky unexplained things that happens when you are alone. I suppose it needs more aliens. Then again, we have XCOM 2, so maybe bigfoot.

[@Veto2090]

Turning off the map was a bad idea. I kept getting lost and after turning it on halfway though I had a much better experience.

[@PirateArr]

Spot on. Although, ending aside,I'm really loved the camera function because this game was insanely good looking imo. I felt so tense for 75% of the game that it felt somewhat Blair Witch-y and I started checking behind me regularly

[@DougieJR]

God these stacking negatives fucked me up; "Enable this 'disable map' option" Option reads 'Show location on map' and it's ticked on.

[@R0MMAH]

I enjoyed the time with this game quite a bit actually.. They did a good job at keeping the game mature and believable. Particularly how well they did at placing you into Henrys shoes. But just as BunnyHop said, in the end it leaves you with the feeling of "What? this cant be the end already?" It offers no closure or climax. No exploration on what happens to the characters afterwards whatsoever.. Firewatch needs to be twice as long and a better conclusion before I would recommend it. Plot twist: You survive the fire.

[@TheRyoux]

+R0MMAH I was scared of bears all the time, they should've added a bear and it would've be memorable

[@TheImperfectGuy]

Stop it, dad! Your puns actively aggrevate me!

[@infantryhelm5643]

Do they do IT through walkie talkie?

[@agentspartan1195]

7:48 You're doing this, you are actually doing this right now.

[@linkenski]

I think you wanted to say something with that ending of your review

[@cgm1]

Had overlooked this game completely (been very unenthusiastic on indie gamee lately after a few burns), looks great and definitely gonna play it at some point. Thanks for teh review.

[@manadrivexl]

Comparison time. Undertale, a $10 title without a very high budget for graphical fidelity or much beyond whatever Toby wanted to make, lasts 6 hours on the 1st playthrough, with numerous internal variances depending on your choices, offering much replay value. Firewatch, a $20 dollar title with a pretty nice budget in graphics, voice acting, scripting, etc., lasts 3 hours and you've seen pretty much everything it has to offer. Logically speaking, you're getting half the game time for twice the cost and almost no replay value. Get it on sale. Soundtrack is nice, though.

[@manadrivexl]

***** Yes, depending on your pace and how you play, you can spend between three to six hours of time in the game. However many sources state the developers intended to garner approximately six. Many people are claiming they recorded under that length, particularly on the sub-Reddit. Regardless of the actual play-through time though, the game doesn't have much replay-ability beyond choosing Henry's backstory and conversation options with Delilah. Unless one wants to see everything the game has to offer, one play-through would be more than enough. Comparatively, Undertale has the same story through-out but with many variations dependent on your choices (there are more than ten neutral endings iirc) so its replay-ability is through the roof, not to mention how well the game did at its meta-narrative. On the whole, Firewatch is disappointing to me. I enjoy it for what it is, especially its art direction, but beyond that I don't think it can justify a twenty dollar purchase.

[@Yes-mx4dv]

+Box of Cox People are still non-stop shoving down my throat their opinions about Undertale... Everywhere. Just lay off, man.

[@manadrivexl]

Sarcastic Bro I didn't say anything about whether or not I liked Undertale. I used it as a comparison for this game. If you're gonna post, at least have some reading comprehension.

[@Yes-mx4dv]

***** Any game. You could of chosen any game. Your original statement is clearly biased.

[@manadrivexl]

Sarcastic Bro Well then, what else would you like me to compare it to? I used Undertale because it was popular. Want me to compare it to Gone Home? Edit: And cheaper. Popular and cheaper than Firewatch at the moment.

[@jordankloosterman2966]

2:40 I just realized he played a different thing than me.

[@MegaSparkster]

I was really looking forward this game,I loved the graphics and mystery of it.It's a shame it isn't as great as I had hoped

[@A_Red_Pyramid]

People who dig first-person navigation-based exploration games should check out Miasmata. It's about a man washed up on a remote island who has to find the cure to a disease he's afflicted with. You use triangulation to map out the island,, all the while stalked by a monster... This game looks kinda neat though. Might pick it up on sale.

[@Fly_Ry]

So eeeearly to post a review! It's like they mis-slotted my favourite saturday morning cartoon! Good way to start the day :D

[@lady_deaths_head]

I respect what the ending was trying to do, and i feel like all that happened was intended by the creator. But i still don't like it, i don't think it would hurt the plot or message to have a more satisfying end.

[@emorymyparentsnevergavemea5882]

This game is a really good start to the year. I thoroughly enjoyed it, I just wish that it could have lasted a little bit longer. The price was also a problem, but in the end, I'm glad I had the experience of playing the game. I can't wait to see what campo santo makes next.

[@ghalleonorez]

Sounds like you sizzled out there at the end =p

[@shaunydarko7816]

You are my favorite game reviewer on youtube.

[@Jagerbomber]

Spoilers - This might not've changed your opinion on the ending, but did you look around through all the stuff in the father's cave? I think it worked nicely as an ending. And you couldn't bypass the kid's thoughts on climbing that was in his cave, right? I think my only real complaint was that the music, for the moments that it gave you some, sounded just a tone lighter than what the actual mood of what was going on was. But I thought the ending wrapped up pretty nicely, at least if you chose the backstory/type of character that I did, and of course also if kept up with the urgency that it wanted you to have at the end (while also taking time to explore the 2 hideouts.) But it sucks about the crashes you had. Must've really taken you out of such a short story. No issues here on the PC side.

[@Nixitur]

Didn't play it myself, only watched TieTuesday play it and I had pretty much the same reaction. The game is very slow and thoughtful at the beginning, but towards the ends, it just _rushes_ to a conclusion. The last 30 minutes of the game is just all major plot threads being wrapped up in a few sentences in a thoroughly unsatisfying manner. When I watched it on stream, lots of people in the chat were rather interested in the story, but when it looked like it was going to end soon, basically _everybody_ just went "Please don't let this game end now. If this is the end, it'll be _so stupid_." And so it was.

[@GlennGJ100]

I hated this game. Waste of time and money. They didn't even bother to make the FPS stable at least on the PS4 version. Fuck this game.

[@feladirr]

+Vegetable Madness Ⓥ That's what you get for being a peasant hahaaah

[@PTDeimos]

+Pink NECROmorph Aw, look, the dirty peasant is mad.

[@GlennGJ100]

I read that the game was 60 fps, and as long as it's 60 I prefer to play on console, at least for this type of game. Bought it, started playing and the first thing I notice is its 60 fps looking down at the ground and 20-30 fps looking forward, and this was inside the elevator at the beginning. That shit just ruined the whole thing for me, why the fuck do they even bother to release the game when it's clearly not finished!?

[@Method2k5]

+Pink NECROmorph Its a joke m8. Usually PC is on the receiving end of terrible multiplats.

[@feladirr]

+Pink NECROmorph Stay poor and ignorant, console peasant lmfao

[@jadevenator5659]

Hi George, you probably won't read this, but I like what you do. Please keep doing it.