I Awoke From a Stupor, Sat on my Sofa Playing Firewatch~

‘So… What’s wrong with you?’

You’re planning on playing a walking simulator, taking on the role of a lonely park ranger, patrolling an almost entirely empty national park. When you’re not talking to yourself, you’re either hiking to nowhere, or following the orders of a ranger you’ve never even seen, stationed several miles away at the next tower.

Are you sure everything’s alright?

It’s not like there aren’t other more ‘exciting’ games out there; games with extensively developed secondary characters, high-budget visuals, sizzling romances, worlds filled to the brim with activities…

Yet you’re still here, contemplating playing Firewatch.

It’s cool, I get it. Sometimes it’s the simple things that bring us comfort, the short-lived wonders, the little unsolved mysteries that leave us asking what could have been, wanting for more.

Firewatch may not offer a universe full of adventure, but at least it doesn’t make any promises it can’t keep.

Dispatched to your solitary outpost, you’ll find yourself simply walking around most of the time, surveying a land of seemingly little importance, killing time via walkie-talkie chatter with your faceless partner, acres away.

But the way she prods you with personal questions, along with a certain nostalgic quality that coats the otherwise insignificant items you encounter, increasingly eggs you on. Alone still, and loyal to your linear objectives, one by one you turn over the eventful stones of Shoshone National Forest’s conspicuously calm landscape.

Firewatch feels different. Firewatch feels free. But something about Firewatch feels off.

Conversations with your fellow ranger begin to take on a salacious tone, and a series of eerie events elicit a suspicion that the terrain may not be as benign as you were initially led to believe.

But alas, a short game warrants a short review. As much as I’d love to go on, I’d really be ruining it for you if I as much as hinted at anything else.

All I’ll say is that the sim left me melancholically satisfied.

I had spent several unsuccessful hours browsing my catalog before deciding to play this game — what was meant to be the straightforward option that turned out to be anything but.

Whatever you think you’re about to play — you’re not.

Honoring its streamlined design, Firewatch mercifully deprives us of distractions, masterfully keeping us on track; six hours later, having transcended both medium and genre.

But lacking distractions, doesn’t mean lacking in substance.

This chameleon of a title will undoubtedly summon some sentimentality. Allow the emotional moments to perform their healing, take in all the relaxation the scenery has to offer, and let the intrigue carry you through to the end. Shoot me a message once you’ve made it to the other side.

I’d love to hear how the forest looked from your tower.

Thanks for reading! If you’d like similar content for your publication or blog shoot me a message at smasponswrites@gmail.com