What Was Firewatch Actually About Anyways?

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Firewatch is a tricky game to talk about. It may seem like nothing happens over the course of the story, but that sense of being frozen in time is exactly what the game was going for.
The music in this video is from the Firewatch OST by Chris Remo

[@Leadhead]

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[@javiermario7072]

Great video btw

[@Noreallyimstarving]

wow... I put this game off because of a few bad reviews I had read and watched... But this video really opened my eyes to how brilliant this game actually was. Should've given it a chance. Definitely earned a sub

[@DWSP101]

I think you should have stayed by his wife even if she had onset dementia

[@Charok1]

Firewatch was the best adventure I've played since Curse of monkey island 3.

[@falcomaksim3320]

T E E N S They are drunk

[@impazie]

always

[@UnitSe7en]

40 Y E A R S O L D I am drunk. (But the reason is much different to when I was a T E E N)

[@isaacsrandomvideos667]

Soup dog lol

[@hurfmurf3288]

Agreed.

[@maximilianmander2471]

@@UnitSe7en Good, that it is to expensive to me to get drunk, smoking, or any of those things..

[@Moeturr]

Fun fact: the Firewatch team were hired to work on Half-Life: Alyx

[@toperjo7222]

They were developing another game but valve took them :(

[@mikev5900]

Now I'll have to buy a VR headset to play Half-life: Alyx because if that game is as good or better then Firewatch then Oh my God

[@Wolta]

@@mikev5900 Much like Half-Life games innovated on the physics engine in video games, Alyx innovates on VR features. That alone is worth enough to play it, although I haven't experienced the story fully yet. :)

[@_kev_]

You can clearly recognize their form of dialogue in HL:A. Alyx is on the radio with Russel all the time and the way they make conversation while educatoing the player on the world and characters without feeling unnatural was something that immediately reminded me of firewatch.

[@ColonelAftershock]

Less fun fact, their acquisition by Valve put their second game (In The Valley of The Gods) on indefinite hiatus

[@drchopstick9539]

“What I know about Henry” “White” Shorts” Yeah that bout sums it up right there

[@BreachingCharge]

"Meaty hands"

[@SirCheeseEater]

Beard

[@jackrutledgegoembel5896]

I always thought Delilah was black. Not sure why, but this might be it

[@drabnail777]

@@jackrutledgegoembel5896 hell, if the sjws want it, then she will be

[@LittleLion93]

@@drabnail777 It's not like every black character is becouse of SJW....

[@Gluzzer]

"She's sick, and I shouldn't be here but I am." "I'm sorry Henry what is is?" *"L U M B A G O"*

[@jd7634]

It's very serious.

[@payne267]

i-im real sick john i-it's the lumbago

[@teo.1483]

Uncle is that you?

[@kgkbuugj]

"It's a slow and painful death my brother"

[@tomtinley3262]

Your my second favourite parasite

[@sakeytoes]

This guy’s gonna go big

[@Ursache420]

yeaaaa

[@FuckSiliconValley]

Yep.

[@Kerm88]

Yeah. Videos like these are an untapped market.

[@sukecchizu]

yep true

[@kactusman6194]

im simply surprised hes not already.

[@TaishaunHimself]

I was obsessed with this game when it came out and dug myself deep into the community and the different theories that cropped up after its release. I was surprised to see this video from this channel after subscribing when I watched the TF2 video. This was a great deep dive into a game that I know left me and a lot of other people asking more questions than the amount of answers that we got. Great Analysis and I didn't lose interest at all during this video. Absolutely great.

[@buddyguy4723]

i just played it and forgot about it because im a basic bitch

[@zaidyousef4308]

@@buddyguy4723lmao

[@flaccidpete7701]

i never really asked too many questions about it. i kinda just enjoyed it and payed attention to the story the best i could and kept the good vibes from it. the more i thought into it the more it made me realize its just a game, when the writing is better that 98% of the movies ive seen recently.

[@JBF086]

Its true that the game builds up for some big revelation and then it's not that big. That might be frustrating. But when you think about it. It's more about the protagonist moving on and his relationship with the other firewatch. Or at least thats what I enjoyed. Their relationship and the walks in the forest.

[@ero7381]

Juan Basagoiti just finished the game.....I’m disappointed, but not in like a bad writing I didn’t like the game you know? I loved the ending, it felt too real

[@stewtm]

What I loved about Firewatch (aside from the great dialogues & voice actors and the stunning atmosphere in those woods) is how it messes with the player and the expactations everyone has in video games. There's all of this mysterious stuff happening, and you are like "There HAS to be some sort of conspiracy, a nerve-wrecking plot twist, it's a video game after all!". And even the game itself contributes to that by the comments Henry and Delilah make. But in the end, the great plot twist is - that there is none. It's just a normal, not-supernatural story about a normal guy to whom something bad happened. He was trying to make up this conspiracies in order to get answers to questions that will in fact remain unanswered for the rest of his life. To give a bigger meaning to everything, even though there wasn't one. To run away from the truth, which will eventually get back to a person, every damned time someone tries. And I could totally relate to this. Great video essay!

[@momockeryy]

well said.

[@kyletucker6508]

sort of depressing if you ask me. searching for finality in your own story but eventually concluding that there was never one. more so than the search for the finality is the acceptance of the mystery. the mystery to why bad things happen to you in your story. the mystery to everything. in this case the main character runs in search of finding that finality. yet in the end, comes to the realization that he must accept never knowing why things happen the way they do. in the mystery we find our finality

[@pliubumas]

In my opinion, that's not really a good ending or reveal. It's boring and it's an easy way out of writing yourself into a corner with your mysteries and plots. Life Is Strange (the original) did that too, all these clues about what happened to Rachel Amber and then a brutal, emotional, but ultimately just boring and completely unimaginative resolution. Let's take an analogy from TV shows. Compare, say, Lost with Twin Peaks (the full three seasons). Both have a huge lore and loads of mysteries, but in Lost no one ever bothers explaining many of the mysteries. In Twin Peaks, there is actually an answer to everything, you can decipher them, and people have definitely done this.

[@user-pn3mw7rx1s]

wtf why dont I have to click read more to see the full comment

[@Christopher-md7tf]

Yes, truly riveting to be let down like that and be smacked over the head with pseudo-deep meta-points like "escapism is inherently futile" by a VIDEO GAME. Yes, what an idiot I was for suspending my disbelief while engaged in a fictional piece of entertainment and thinking something exciting might actually happen in this boring-ass game, I shall never make that mistake again!

[@TycoonTitian01]

I like at the end of the game: its not “escape the fire” or “get rescued” its “go home” and that’s perfect

[@ohokcool]

I had a powerful experience playing this game, the discovery of the old man's cave was at first to me confusing, but the more time I spent there picking up objects, I slowly pieced it together; then Delilah rejecting the main character at the end really tied it all together - the stories our minds tell us are sometimes far from reality, but the underlying truth which prompts us to think of those stories is always close to home in the end. It's so easy to get wrapped up in an exciting fantasy, and ironically, that's usually what you do in games; but not this one, you learn all too quickly how plain and sad the real story always is. A story like this could really teach people to be more grounded and mature, as it did for me. Loved your analysis; really lined up with how I interpreted the events despite my eyes rolling at seeing the title - glad I gave it a watch. Thanks for rekindling my love for this story!

[@xmasinpacific]

You nailed it - if you play firewatch like a summer job - its a video game so you anticipate this super crazy event - but really your just manning a fire tower. The game literally toys with you as the player. If you play it twice be sure to take beautiful pictures with the camera

[@ohokcool]

@@xmasinpacific YESSS, that's what shocked me so much about it, I was sad almost because I felt like I was robbed of all this excitement for a boring truth but then I realized, that's the point! Sometimes, hell most times, life isn't going to bring what you expect.

[@leeroymlg4692]

i didn't play the game but that makes sense. good lesson to learn

[@ohokcool]

@AnTiDotE X Yeah, the ending had a similar effect on me, but it made me think about why we feel that way when something normal happens. Why do we want our lives to be like a movie when we know movies aren't real? Humans are pretty strange, I think this game captured that really well; but could definitely see it being disappointing if you didn't have the same realization experience I did.

[@do0mzday23-_-8]

This game has stuck with me in a far longer and more personal way than most games. It tell such a powerful story in such a short time that most triple A title's can't do with hours of a campaign. And I completely agree, I've thought alot about all the different possible meanings, or lack there of. I remember a lot of people hated the ending because they said it was underwhelming and anticlimactic. But that's the entire point. I remember watching some different theory videos, but I don't believe in any of them. This game teaches you that the fantasy isn't always real, and sometimes face value is the only value that makes sense. This game manipulates you. It makes you question everything, and make this crazy story in your head. it manipulates you to be one with Henry, he becomes an extension of you. And at least for me, it makes your connection and confusion with Delilah so much more powerful. I remember feeling shattered at the end that I couldn't see Delilah, I felt most likely what Henry felt. And at the end of the game, his escape ends. And so does yours. Truly, a bloody masterpiece. I wish more of my friends played this game, I would talk about it for HOURS!

[@Ser_Locke]

Throughout this game, you never see anyone, at all, you only talk to Delilah on your radio, with a charismatic personality which leads you to develop a sort of relationship, and once it finally leads up to seeing her at the end, she is gone. That was a hard punch

[@badbeardbill9956]

You do see the silhouette of Ned

[@jasonshaneyfelt1039]

@@badbeardbill9956 And the guy in the helicopter at the end lol

[@hotpockethayes]

@@jasonshaneyfelt1039 also Brian’s corpse

[@zhonglikun2924]

@@hotpockethayes Also the two naked girls

[@JewTube001]

you never get to see the bear either. that was the most disappointing part for me.

[@KalleVilenius]

I really wish this game was longer. There's so much more that could happen over the course of the summer.

[@LORDdrPepper]

Short and sweet, my man, short and sweet

[@db5094]

yeah we skip like 40 days but this game is really more of a point of something to think about rather than a bunch of content

[@MrPF]

@@LORDdrPepper Its not really about being short and sweet, its more about the huge gaps between parts that feel really weird

[@Kyle17206]

@@MrPF something tells me 40 days of standing in a tower doesn't make good gameplay

[@lukeprescott8471]

I wish they added Dlc, because if the main story was really Long, it probably would’ve gotten really repetitive

[@rifkyachong1375]

Dementia is really depressing. Almost feels like you losing a person you love, losing your own being. Stay healty guys, prevent it. Sleep well, eat well, exercise, learn. I hope when you getting older, we smile to our beautiful memories back in our early days, perfectly.

[@drowned309]

Everywhere at the end of time?

[@leadpiper]

@@drowned309 iS ThiS An EATEOT RefeRENce??2!#!!€!€?€?_?_?

[@dylanroemmele906]

@@leadpiper Bro they made Dementia from everywhere at the end of time into a real thing wtf!

[@leadpiper]

@@dylanroemmele906omg really????1?2?2??2???1?2?_(((€(3(__( yoyooyoOo

[@snarkycommenthere9027]

lmao healty

[@agnel47]

It was about having huge hands. Edit: i always thought the game was about the truth that you cannot ignore or shove aside your problems(he comes to firewatch to escape from his problematic and sad life) like an ignored fire in the wild, it'll always catch up with you, and by that time it'll be way more than what you can handle.

[@nathansuachang9614]

Thats a really good idea about the thematic use of fire itself!

[@agnel47]

@@nathansuachang9614 thanks, credits goes to original guy who cane up with it.

[@MSpencer1998]

That's definitely a better interpretation than his, where, "Julia was a lost cause."

[@bugjams]

@Slinger Tildor It makes sense for Firewatch, at least, which is a pretty cynical game when you think about it. Or maybe cynical isn't the right word... It's just, kinda depressing? And it's hard to put an optimistic spin on it. Henry is a guy who genuinely got dealt a shitty hand at life. And then he tries to run away from whatever responsibilities he had left, which only compounded his problems. Then finally, the last refuge he had, a steady job in a beautiful forest with a potential new love interest, are all lost in a fire. And that isn't even the end of it. The only remaining evidence of the case of a missing child, his fate, and what happened to his now mentally destabilized father, are all destroyed. The only remaining traces being Hank and Delilah's memories, which aren't good enough to be considered solid evidence. Everyone involved in the game's story ended up losing. There was no happy ending. Except maybe for Delilah, but she still lost her job, probably. The whole ordeal is just depressing.

[@keyman245]

Well, you can get out of the forest, so the fire will never reach you

[@PopeRecords]

Chris Remo the guy who did the soundtrack just helps the story with his music, change my mind.

[@aoitomato1638]

The story is really relaxing too.

[@bagged_milk67]

Had to look behind me everytime the music changes

[@jburgos961]

Never forget how important an OST is to these kinds of games.

[@Yetipfote]

what if I DON'T wanna change your mind?

[@benr5742]

I dont think I will.

[@DavidADII]

This analysis more than any of the others I've watched have actually made me want to play this game.

[@Jk-we2hv]

I actually downloaded it and just finished it, it’s really unnerving dude

[@terpdx]

It's what I'd call "beautifully depressing". Sad but very much worth a playthrough.

[@UKEDNHAT7]

@@terpdx yeah I felt a sense of dread and paranoia once I saw the hut with all the documents of Delilah and henry. Even before that it's kind of depressing

[@Firex64]

I remember how everybody was mad about the ending because they expected to get something supernatural, or conspiracy or something that wouldn't usually happen in real life which will shock the player. But that wasn't the point of the game. It was, as you already pointed out, paranoia. The game even makes you paranoiac which leads you to think there's just something abnormal is going on, while actually almost everything we encounter can be explained in a simpler way. At the end of the game, i was actually shocked in a way i almost never experienced before in an entertainment medium. I was shocked because i realized i was paraoinac. Everything suddenly made sense because, simply, there wasn't a conspiracy behind them. And that's something you usually don't get as an ending message in a video game or movie. Movies and games aim to pull you off from real life to drift you into a world of fantasy, where everything is exaggarated and beyond-real. Firewatch shocked me because while i was expecting (and lowcase wanted) an interesting conspiracy, it slapped me in the face that life is not full of interesting conspiracies. It was hard to swallow that seeing the bittersweet reality of life was more dissapointing than my worst conspiracy theory. That also, in a way, made me understand how people fall into weirdest conspiracy theories in real life. I just remembered how much i loved this game. The "realness" of everything, every dialogue, every choice etc. just gives me chills even after all these years. In my opinion, Firewatch is one of the few games to achieve arthouse movie level story-telling, maybe even surpassing it.

[@JesusChrist-rv4hs]

Well said👏👏

[@lukeprescott8471]

I heard people were disappointed But I didn’t know it was that bad. I just read the meta critic reviews and Godamn. People really didn’t understand

[@Lucax97]

I was mad because it just doesn't come together. It's so beyond hilarious to suggest this is "art house" level, whatever that means. Is it slice of life? Or is it a game where you're bashed over the head and have your conversations eavesdropping on for days on days. The story just doesn't reconcile between the mystery and personal drama, neither are given the time to be explored properly.

[@JewTube001]

It's not really paranoia. The other park ranger is real and he fux with you a many times. You just get a little over excited mid game about it but it's not all that unfounded. The guy literally assaults you in the woods for gods sake! Anyway I would actually write the game differently if I wanted to match your conclusion, probably by making the events more mundane and actually having the protag or supervisor actually be suffering from mental illness.

[@Sir_Crow]

​@@Lucax97 Except it does come together. The reconciliation is that there is no grand conspiracy, but a hope for one. You aren't playing as some special person who can blame some shadow government for all his problems. You're just playing a regular guy in a regular forest in a regular world. Sure, the events are irregular, but they are grounded. There is no mystery man trying to control you. You're being spied on by a sad, broken man who refuses to let go of the past and move on who is blaming everyone else for something that was nobody's fault. This is the man who Henry can become if he chooses to keep focusing on how Julia go Alzheimer's and what he could've done differently.

[@indigokid123]

I don’t know you tell me

[@atransarcticfox]

Lazy.

[@simonemancuso3576]

I think Night in the woods would be perfect for the type of content you produce. I'd be more than happy seeing it being analized on your channel!

[@jpeg.600x2]

ye

[@goldenfloof5469]

When I looked up the plot and read the brief summary, I was like: "Okay?... There's this guy who may or may not have killed his son living in the woods messing with them.... Why's there so much internet commotion around this?"

[@TheRedKing247]

It's about the experience of it. The game really makes you feel paranoid and invested in the fake narrative the guy created about Henry and Delilah being watched, and then hit's you a cold hard dose of Truth at the end. It's a wonderful game that really hits at the core of how games can be art, because the definition of art is anything made to give an experience, and Firewatch certainly does that. Sadly because you know the plot already it's going to be ruined for you.

[@SKyrim190]

IMO it is a totally overrated walking simulator. Yes, the plot may be interesting if you pay enough attention, but there is no core gameplay that ties it together with the narrative. You just walk around and talk to radio-lady.

[@SKyrim190]

@Toxic Potato if you are into this sort of game, great, but it is not really my style. It's like Stanley's Parable. Yes, sometimes it is funny, it certainly is original, but I would never feel like playing it a second time and I would be pissed if it was full retail price.

[@illicitlegacy3783]

Shouldve just played it. The game is amazing

[@XepptizZ]

It is the smallness of it all that actually made it gripping for me. Through games, I have uncovered dozens of secret conspiracies that had me saving the world countless of times. This was a story about a guy without an arsenal of guns that was alone in the woods getting creeped on. It's one of the most real feeling games I have ever played becasue of this. It played into the real fear of being in a forrest and having the feeling you're not alone. It also played right into my past as a gamer where I was expecting some big giant conspiracy, only to be subverted into a small emotional story. Games are generally made on the simple premise of rewarding us in a consistent way. Beating a puzzle/combat situation, getting more gear/loot/buildingblocks. Becoming powerful. This game doesn't od any of that. It's laser focused at being a story driven game. There aren't even moral choices with future implications. They change the story a little, but you're not gonna get better loot wether you say the one or the other, so you might aswell just choose what comes to mind. It's the closest thing to an interactive book to me. I'm just there for the ride, but I. Am. There. I wish I could smell and feel that forrest more than I have any other game envirenment.

[@btd5311]

you forgot to answer the most important question in this game: why does the sun rise in the west and set in the east. I have some art from this game as wallpaper and it drives me mad.

[@NarsBars]

can't you just mirror it?

[@momockeryy]

wallpaper engine?

[@btd5311]

Jacklyn: yes Chooxch: yes but if you mirror any art it just doesn't have the same vibe.

[@sarasthoughts]

umh. you know that you can just...face the other way, right? left = west is only true if you're facing north.

[@mr.platypus280]

0:33 i get what you were saying about change being good for kids but the way you phrased it made it sound as though you were saying that becoming a drug addict was good for the kid lmao

[@mikuhatsunegoshujin]

A reason not to listen to him.

[@warhammertrash1626]

@@mikuhatsunegoshujin Wow, that's certainly a strong statement.

[@Zhadow45]

@@warhammertrash1626 its a dumb statement lets be real. No need to hold back on idioticy.

[@MaskofPoesy]

>"idioticy."

[@berto4493]

@@Zhadow45 i think warhammer was being sarcastic

[@cryogeneric]

The game's strength is in it's interaction with Dalilah and the choices you make to build that relationship. It's definitely worth playing but, unfortunately, there are a lot of different opinions on the ending. To be fair, it would have been tough to come up with an ending that pleased everyone and adequately wrapped up the story.

[@Shaxuul]

This game was a fun experience when I played it a few years ago. I love how worked up the story would get with conspiracies, but turned out normal (for the most part) in the end.

[@RtB68]

“Moving on” and leaving Julia before she dies is not what “for better or worse” really means though. To do so is to sell out the promise we make to our marriage partner. For me, Henry taking the job was Henry running away from the pain. I totally understand why he did it of course, but that doesn’t change his betrayal of Julia into anything other than what it really was. A betrayal. Many a man has sat beside a dying partner, however long and painful the journey. THAT is why Delilah said he needed to see her again. Epic game.

[@oneringtorulethemagicarp7199]

again though, depending on her stage there is no julia. what vows can matter if she can't recognize you as someone she ever knew. the only thing seeing her would do is prove to him that she's gone. just because someone is breathing doesn't mean they are still... there

[@starrychan33]

@@oneringtorulethemagicarp7199 it doesn't matter if she doesn't fucking recognize you anymore you can't just dump the Complete Care of the person that you legally married on to her parents and then bounce. You're supposed to take care of your spouse even if they don't recognize you anymore plenty of women do it for their husbands with Alzheimer's and I imagine you would prefer your partner to do so to rather than dumping you on someone else or in a nursing home

[@oneringtorulethemagicarp7199]

@@starrychan33 frankly I wouldn't have a preference if I litterally couldn't remember what my face looked like as I looked at it. my preference would probably be death in all honesty.

[@annamidkiff2460]

"Running away from the pain" is, to me, the actual theme of the story. All three characters face an awful, unavoidable tragedy, and they have to choose whether they're going to step up and deal with the ugly, soul-sucking, nitty-gritty results, or if they're going to peace out. Delilah's boyfriend's brother dies, and Delilah chooses not to help him with the funeral arrangements. Ned's son dies, and Ned explicitly says that he doesn't see the "point" of getting him buried and answering the police's questions. And Henry's wife is dying (and in some ways, already dead) and when her care proves too much for him, he goes to Yellowstone rather than being with her. The difference between Henry and Ned and Delilah is that Henry can still make a difference in Julia's final days.

[@dylanroemmele906]

You think that's a betrayal? Try Silent Hill 2!

[@althenix5643]

I was so confused when I saw you only had around 3k subscribers. You never see this kind of effort and quality with a small channel. Nice.

[@johnrosim]

american version of ahoy

[@Carcosahead]

what is ahoy?

[@finmueller7827]

@@Carcosahead bruh

[@FrostBitttn]

@@Carcosahead A guy who makes amazing documentary-style videos kzbin.info One of my favorites from him is "A Brief History of Graphics"

[@sergarcarr]

@@finmueller7827 asshole

[@benarchyuk837]

Omg I've not heard of anyone talk about xboxahoy in years

[@oceandamage]

I wish I could experience this game for the first time again. I had chills playing this game from to start to finish. I will never forget the feeling, the ending gave me, it was something I never experienced in a Video Game before, and I have been playing games since I was 6. Alot of people said to me, that this was just a 20 dollar walking sim. I'm glad I didn't listen to them.

[@pointybits6496]

Funny how the older I get, the more I relate to these kind of stories.

[@oninworldstar]

"every bad thing we ever bear witness to sticks with us forever however big or small it is"

[@cjc0130]

My Grandpa’s best friend’s wife got Alzheimer’s 5 years ago. At first she forgot minor things, most commonly these three: Where her keys are, did she makeup her bed in the morning, and what she ate for her meals. Eventually she regressed into forgetting me and my father, we don’t live close to them so I expected that, but it was freaky. We showed up at his house and we entered through the door, Scotty started carrying on like he always does, but his wife just looked at us, puzzled, none of the classic gramma, “Look how tall you are,” nothing. Soon, 10 minutes into our visit, she finally said something, “Honey, why are they in my house?” Soon she forgot her friends, them her grandkids, then her children. She all but stopped eating, she’s talking to ghosts, wandering off all the time. Then, about 4 months back, she forgot her own husband. She would just sit quietly, never speaking, you would try to talk to her and one of three things would happen: She would ignore you, she would tell you she was talking to her brother, who’s been dead for 20 years, or she would attempt to “survive” the conversation, like when someone who you have no clue who they are walk up to you and start a conversation. At times though, she would seem to exit the haze and speak coherently with you. She would state, “I don’t know who you are but I like you.” And then get to blabbing about a dress she likes to wear, one she hasn’t been in possession of in years. When this happens, Scotty breaks down, he sees his wife again, but these only last for mere seconds now, and they seem to have stopped completely.

[@CamPopplestone]

I love this game. It made me so sad we didn't get to actually meet Delilah at the end, but it makes sense given her character and the story. Her voice acting was wonderful

[@joejane8963]

Absolutely crazy how underrated you are! Great work!

[@vaporeonjet1763]

After I watched your TF2 video, I saw you have potential. This was a good video you made, and I can’t wait to see you do in the future.

[@aniki6873]

honestly man, you deserve so many more views and followers.

[@TrentonDoesStuff.]

It's subscribers you backwards-ass cabbage brain dunce bucket

[@cybr69lol]

Legit one of the most underrated youtuber ive ever seen.

[@jNoSocks]

I loved this. Such a great game. Thanks for doing an in-depth analysis. It deserves it.

[@cardinal8200]

One thing interesting I have found from watching a few videos on firewatch is that your choices really do matter, as far as dialogue goes, one video I watched hinged on the fact how disappointing it was that D didn't wait for Henry at the ending were in my playthrough I told her to leave, and now in this video you talk about how paranoid Henry is of everything and while it was true to some degree in my play-through I didn't pick those options that led to Henry thinking it was all in his head, but rather trying to comfort D, telling her she would make it through everything. And another point, Whenever the option for Henry to say he should or shouldn't be out here I picked the option where he was glad he was out here, away from it all compared to you picking the choice about being with Julia. Choices that don't change the story but change the player's relationship with all the characters in Firewatch, honestly something incredible for the writers to pull off

[@Max-ts1jx]

This video was really well put together and the music was really fitting too. Keep up the good work!

[@MystikGaming20]

I love this channel and how this video is incredibly professional. I also love this game, it's art, it's mysterious plot, everything... I hope this channel gets more views, you're awesome, keep up the good work!

[@DjTommosimmo]

One of the best game "reviews" I've ever watched. You have a new subscriber.

[@theo_aetc]

i first watched a play through of firewatch on markiplier’s channel when it first came out. i remember being really into the game. present day, i didn’t really have a good memory of the game - just bits and pieces - but the storyline of julia and her dementia hit me in the face when i bought the game and played through it myself. my grandma had alzheimer’s, and the dread of going through their life as she got worse was real.

[@pathologicallydead7210]

I loved the game when it came out and I always wondered what it’s really about, I read some stuff online but I think you pretty much nailed it. Great video

[@Demigodish4o3]

beautiful analysis, man. I actually got choked up by rewatching these scenes. I'll sub

[@TheHippyProductions]

throughout the game I made sure to make every photo count towards something suspicious, and then during the ending I completely forgot about it while it engaged me in the true meaning of the story, only for the credits to roll and I instantly see brian's body and his missing shoe and all these paranoid photos with the upbeat music and laughed harder than I should have in the early morning. absolutely brilliant

[@warbearin]

This game is crazy good, brings forth so many emotions. Makes me wish for a happy seaquel with Dalilah. Very well done characters and convoursations etc.

[@shaysela6989]

I've seen a few videos about that game in the past, but this is the first one that made me actually understand the game. Thanks, man

[@tehgatling7478]

stumbling accross your channel is the best thing that happened to me in the last couple of months. thank you.

[@davethegraf]

You are all over my recommendations, and I am clicking on every video just finding me realizing, oh it's you again! Your content is great, go on! 🖤

[@AB-vn2jc]

This game is one of my favorites, this and presentable liberty.

[@alsage9992]

This game is phenomenal in the sense that the only thing you can do is walk. Yet still the experience it gives you... There were times were i was too afraid to move so i just basically moved by crouching the whole time. Such an unforgettable time playing this game. Especially when you start reading about aliens and stuff when in reality the plot is so grounded.

[@TheDuckumz]

Excellent look into the games depth, this game will always have a special spot in my heart just from the impact it had...

[@kilroy987]

I was intrigued about what Firewatch was building up to - and I was disappointed that it just ended up being the machinations of one man compensating for a personal tragedy. But it certainly had my attention for a little while. Being isolated in the wilderness with some conspiracy happening was kind of freaky. As for my parents, I HIGHLY doubt they put any real thought into how they raised me. I was third and youngest, and I was left with a greater sense of what my parents needed than how they were raising me in the least.

[@khosrow]

It clearly looks like they had intended it to be a game you can play several times. Each time getting a different story. One where there was a government conspiracy, a crime mystery, a romance, one where it was all a delusion etc. But at the end they lumped it all together causing the ending to be non coherent and lackluster.

[@khosrow]

@Mikhail G the core is ofc. But it comes with so many plot holes. Either they suck at writing or they intended different endings.

[@atransarcticfox]

@@khosrow Elaborate?

[@khosrow]

@@atransarcticfox like how did the antagonist get hold on all the high tech gear and named to build a huge fence around it if he was a mad man living in a hole in the forest??? There clearly used to be a story line with a government conspiracy behind everything and one about a crazy mad man terrorizing the player. Which were badly merged together.

[@atransarcticfox]

@@khosrow All of that is explained in the game - I've just finished it so I remember it very well. The antagonist, Ned, didn't get a hold of all the high tech nor did he build the fence - he just trespassed on what was built by a university. There are quite a few notes, even one when entering it, that indicate it is university property and that the staff was just not there for the time being, furthermore, the high tech equipment there was just geological and meteorological survey equipment (Henry even recognizes one of them as some atmospheric survey device, which you wouldn't need to spy on people!), you don't need any fancy stuff to tap into the conversations that Henry and Delilah had, Ned did it with a simple HAM radio which we can see in his hideout. The papers that you find inside, the files on Henry and Delilah - all made up by Ned and put inside, again, in his hideout we can see the drafts. Furthermore, Ned wrote the timeline and what he did, that being, cutting the power line, and making Delilah and Henry think that there is a conspiracy that surrounds them, furthermore an attempt to pit them against one another. So yeah, the gated off area is a university research outpost, probably for geological and meteorological purposes, which was unstaffed at the time of the game and made to look staffed by Ned, I even know how. In his hideout we see stolen propane tanks, off of which the generators are powered - so here is why the place is powered. The bedrolls and various thingies for sleep - stolen from the camp the two girls abandoned, we *know* he ransacked it because in his hideout are the two magazines the girls left behind. The provisions were stolen from supply caches, in his hideout there is plenty. Ned had the time and the resources to do so, we know he is smart, and we know he absolutely freaked out when he knew that Henry discovered his little hobby. A bigger question would be as to how Delilah doesn't know, but that can also be explained by her simply being absent at the time of the construction, I doubt the fire watchers stay in those towers for more than a year, and once she returned the fire service neglected to mention it because they believed it was of no importance to her task at hand, which I'd put down to incompetence, but we have plenty of that IRL.

[@ImNotFine44]

the fact that this only has 5k view beats me. well done analysis on an amazing game while making it engaging and very formal. you dont see that often being passed up. subbed.

[@OtepRalloma]

It's now 14K. Thanks KZbin feed

[@julesofduty]

Nice ! I remember that this game fascinated me when it was launched, nice to see theorys on it ! Cheers from France and joyeux noël !

[@leo-6312]

Firewatch is a game that made me tear up for no reason, its one of many games that has so much to tell without speaking everything, and maybe i love these games because it keeps pulling me in with questions ill never get the answers too

[@rhyboy1]

This game was so amazing. still one of my all time favorites. I actually got into a conversation with Delilah... or, her voice actor, about the game and was pointed into playing drift, where she also voice acts. It didnt have the same charm, but still a decent game.

[@UKEDNHAT7]

I loved this game, it will always be in my heart as one of the best games I have ever played.

[@Th3Nexus582]

i just stumbled upon this channel and i gotta say, both this video and your video on silent hill 2 are really really great

[@ticcingqueer6140]

I absolutely fell in love with this game the moment it came out.. Not only is it graphics-wise absolutely stunning, and I love the location, the story behind it is incredible. This game got everything I really dig in a video game, story, a lesson to learn in an interesting in thrilling way and stunning graphics (plus the Location being in the middle of nowhere helps). I love how it can be interpreted in different ways, how the game can make a player paranoid too, how it is with it rather realistic. Wonderful video! Really glad KZbin recommended it to me, even though I have no clue why it came back up with it after 4 years, but man am I glad.

[@DreamOf944]

My own paranoia held me back from playing this, or from even watching more than a couple minutes of gameplay. I'm too scared by the come-up of so many indie horror games in the last couple of years that I'm unwilling to try and play something that has the onset of nothing or something Creepy happening. And I think firewatch's story would have scared me away at some point if I had played it. Nevertheless, thank you for giving us this insight. I think it's one of the best videos about a video game.

[@goofygoober2382]

did you really had to hit me with reality at the beginning

[@gabrielko2147]

Wow such an interesting video. Really well done, never got boring at all. Keep up the good stuff

[@ToasterBath]

I saw this on sale on steam last week, and it brought back lots of nostalgia. I found this in my recommended and e enjoyed watching your take on it.

[@-eea32]

Got me binging, love the content brother keep it up

[@pigoloptis2803]

Very good and high-quality video from someone who only has 6k subs. Very impressed and I hope you blow up sometime soon because you very much deserve it!

[@DennerMulling]

This video was the main reason for me to play Firewatch, without even watching it. It popped into my recommended page and, I don't know, just by the title and the thumbnail I knew I would love it. Added this to watch later, and this week, 2 years later, I decided to play this game, and what an amazing experience I had. Now I finally watched the video and loved everything about it.

[@SentientTrafficConeMan]

From 3k to 47k, you're doing a great job, man. This video is incredibly well put together. Your tone reflects both confidence and experience. The pace and flow was perfect to let me form my own conclusions and theories without getting bored waiting for the next point. At this point I think I'm throwing coins into an overflowing fountain, but I still feel the points need addressed. You've grown *exponentially* , and that's something to be proud of.

[@boabuin1151]

I used to love this game but now everytime I hear about it I remember how "Bucket" was translated as "Pipo" on the Spanish version, and that became a huge meme because of one Spanish streamer.

[@Killtrobal]

When i played this game, I had a real deep connection with the story of the dead kid. It´s really "meta" about the idea of playing a vidogame....about playing going to the woods, instead of going to the woods. I remember the father was forcing the kid to be more active and outdoors, but the kid was more of a nerd, wandering in his imagination . At the end, the boy dies because of his fathers expectations wanting him to be more sporty. (Am I remembering it well?) At many points of the game, I had that feeling that running through a fake natural enviroment made no sense if i have the chance to going to a national park, the mountains or the woods. ¿Why I am sitting here playing instead of taking my backpack and doing it for real? The kid´s story made me feel better about this idea. That some people just don´t enjoy walking in the cold, sleeping in tents and climbing mountains. It was a big surprise to me, almost an epiphany... It´s like the developers made this beautyful game to make us feel and enjoy the outdoors as much as possible in case we are computer nerds...

[@sharrpshooter1]

Ive seen a couple of your other videos, but something about this video just hit, and I dont even mean me personally, but just the editing, the pauses in the correct places and letting the music do its job, its rare to see that on youtube

[@idlethoughts]

Hey LeadHead, thanks for making this. Firewatch has been one of my favorite games and I find myself coming back to it every once in a while. I hope you're doing good

[@sambazeley5366]

Dude this guy needs more pop he’s so underrated

[@fetusdeletus9266]

Paranoia is a double edged sword because on one hand it allows us to avoid potentially dangerous situations but on the other it is this feeling that eats you alive and makes you feel crazy

[@elenac1100]

Firewatch and What Remains of Edith Finch have been my favorite games and I had no idea why for the longest time. They both have a very similar feel with their story to me. I really love your analysis of Firewatch. Just subscribed and I am excited to see more of your videos!

[@KobeAndersonCactus]

What Remains of Edith Finch is a masterpiece

[@crozel7262]

man i miss this game so much. I used to watch like 20 videos a day of this and see everyones reactions to the big moments and the mysteries! Oh boy and when i finally played it.....

[@MonotoniTV]

"the older you get [...] the more paranoid you are" What?! It gets worse? I thought it would get better

[@alexmacdonald1589]

0:14 ears pierced one hits hard😞

[@NerdyN8te]

I'm in love with this game I never thought the end was so normal but I love this game and recommend it to everyone

[@diktaturetminecraft7670]

I swear you're climbing in subscribers insanely fast! I really think you're going to grow big.

[@zaxbit]

I really didn't agree with your thoughts on the ending, that something was inherently right about Henry's character detaching, running away from someone he loved even if she was sick. But I super appreciate this deep dive and the points you took away from the game. I think that's what makes this game astounding as a work of fiction, it a game that cuts to the core of your beliefs, you loves, your hates. Thanks for the reminder!

[@robertforster8984]

Alzheimers is a terminal disease. I would have stayed with my wife until she died. From her symptoms it sounded like her end was near.

[@shadowninja958]

@RoThotic Clearly he's not someone strong enough or self confident enough to have any idea what to do and just wanted to run away. The idea of grabbing the only life line you see in your time of greatest desperation and confusion is a pretty logical conclusion for someone who is clearly slipping toward the edge because of the stress of what's happening to him.

[@brwnipoints]

The common symptoms of Alzheimers can develop quickly, and still take decades for the patient to succumb to the disease. I know this from experience and have seen many people cling to the hope that somehow the person is getting better, or at least not getting worse. If Henry had dedicated all his time to her, there is no guarantee that his wife would pass soon. She could live well into her 70s with the disease. It's a sad situation and I can't pretend to have any proper answers for what the best thing to do is. What I can say is that usually the most recent memories fade away first, and the childhood one'sare the last to go. I think it was mentioned in the game that his wife doesn't even remember Henry, so tragically the woman he fell in love with does not exist anymore. It's an awful disease that not only consumes one's mind, but the lives of people around them. I hope through more research we can eradicate it in our lifetime

[@starrychan33]

I thought the take away is that he shouldn't run from his responsibility to his wife like forest dude was running from the responsibility of his son's death, so yes, Henry should have taken care of his wife, or at least fucking pitch in to help his poor in-laws who he just casually dropped full-time caregiving on and bounced

[@sarasthoughts]

@RoThotic honestly... I wouldn't want this. My BIGGEST fear is to become a burden to the ones I love. If I stop being me, I stop having enough of a memory to even be functional or have an identity, then I want to either just die or be forgotten by others too. I'd want my loved ones to move on with their lives, especially my partner.

[@dashiellgillingham4579]

As a man who lost a grandparent to alzheimers, there's no point. They don't know who you are, they don't know where they are, they don't know that things are happening around them, and there's nothing at all to do about it. They died for all intents and purposes years before you finally put in a call to a care center, and they can persist like that for decades afterword. There is no 'doing something meaningful for them.' That's the mistake people make. Past a point in the disease's progression, you're only hurting yourself doing nothing for them, because no matter how much you contribute, they can't recognize it. 'Holding her hand as she died' means nothing to them, and just hurts you more, because you are quite literally chucking your support into a cancerous black hole named 'alzhiemers,' and you can't pretend otherwise. You just have to move on. You're a stranger to them, completely, and utterly. The doctor could be there, a nurse could be there, a random sympathetic bus driver could be there, and it would be exactly the same for them as if it was you. There's nothing there, anymore. No connection except in your own head. If your past relationship had been imaginary, or a dream, it would be exactly the same situation. You just have to move on.

[@fidmid]

This channel deserved my subscription! Very high value of production quality.

[@caturiges]

Excellent video review, I was entertained the whole time!

[@gingersndragons]

when the undertale song started at the beginning i almost started crying i thought i got over undertale

[@ludi_danke7920]

same bro

[@EspressoStalinist]

I've never experienced such a "reverse conspiracy theory" as this game. My mind was going insane with all the possible theories to such an extent that when it was revealed that there was no government conspiracy, my mind rejected it and I spent hours into the night scouring reddit for fan theories about how the whole game had a hidden plot or something I'd missed. It was honestly more disturbing that there was no grand plot of revelation or even fan theories about one. It was simply the human survival instinct trying to piece together unrelated events after all. Man, what an experience.

[@omnisel]

I played this game probably 5 years ago. I don't really remember all that much, but I feel like any true deeper meaning sort of flew over my head. I was more focused on solving the mystery and finding out what really happened than thinking about what metaphorical or bigger picture meaning the game as a whole had. Makes me wonder if that's normal, and if that was the intention.

[@Aaron-mb9pi]

really liked the video essay. guess i gotta subscribe and binge them now

[@ikkiyuuji6076]

I never played firewatch but this was such a good analysis and explanation that i stayed and watched all of it

[@BingeNews]

I just played this game. It was amazing. Thanks for the content.

[@whwhwhhwhhhwhdldkjdsnsjsks6544]

Do you feel terrible?

[@sandwich5344]

Oh my, i completely forgot about all this back in the day i was simply too young and too naive to understand. Having had to coöpe with the rather "less beautiful gems of life" in forms of toughts that this game was made to sent the player i feel really really well done after this amazing explenation and throwback it had when i watched this right here and right now. Thank you so very much, leadhead

[@gtxhunter1720]

yeah four years sure does make you think that

[@lucasjordan8105]

Yeah, this game teaches that you shouldn't feel bad for moving on, and that sometimes it's the right decision. Damn, i feel like i needed this video.

[@TheMightyPika]

Wow, that's not where my playthrough went at all. I avoided all intimacy with Delilah, keeping her at a firm distance, and the whole thing wasn't anywhere near as paranoid/emotional and much more plot focused.

[@JewTube001]

If you don't panic too much then you're not paranoid. Especially since some of the stuff actually happens, so the game doesn't make you crazy unless you pick the most dramatic options.

[@caleblucio800]

*hears undertale music” Oh god, not again. *vietnam flashbacks*

[@tyteen4a03]

The description: Music from Firewatch OST *visible confusion*

[@niggacockball7995]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA STORY OF UDNERTALE

[@briannairb793]

Holy shit when the undertale music came in with the backdrop of firewatch I had so many memories rushing towards me that I shedded a tear. Thank you

[@YuniorGamboa]

The voice cast and dialogue was the highlight for me. Talking with Deliah felt so interesting and relatable. It reminded me of the movie "HER" Great game with a fantastic atmosphere

[@DLBBALL]

Haven't watched the video, but is it about all those backgrounds everyone seems to have on their PC? Haha Edit: Watched the whole video. Very good analysis.

[@user-bv9yt1sp9w]

It's all serious and dramatic until you see Henry's head get giant when he runs.

[@ariesnull9093]

This channel is super underrated this channel needs more reconission

[@drawnbydaniel]

really insightful! on my playthrough of this game I got so wrapped up in the (fake) mystery that the real explanation and ending was kind of a letdown. But now in hindsight, it makes a lot more sense.