Firewatch. (Gaming)
by cheapLEY 
, Thursday, February 11, 2016, 20:46 (3212 days ago)
Anyone here playing it? I saw at least one other person mention it in Cody's Destiny Detox thread.
I really, really enjoyed it. Keep in mind that I'm a huge fan of the "walking simulator" genre (Gone Home is next on my list). I loved LiS and Oxenfree. Firewatch is pretty similar to Oxenfree, I feel like. It largely just revolves around you walking around in a national park, talking to someone over a handheld radio. I wouldn't say that it's particularly deep, but the story is interesting, and I really liked Delilah (the person you're talking to). I really like that the game just gives you a traditional map and compass to get around. You're position is always marked on the map by default, but the first thing I did was turn that off in the options menu. I wish it would have gone farther with that. As it is, it's neat, and the area feels larger than it actually is, but you can definitely see the boundaries of the area pretty clearly.
Overall, it was a fun little experience. It took me a bit over four hours. I did a moderate amount of exploring, but I didn't roam all over the place either, so your time will vary.
I've recorded the entire game. 7/10
by Funkmon , Thursday, February 11, 2016, 20:55 (3212 days ago) @ cheapLEY
edited by Funkmon, Thursday, February 11, 2016, 20:59
It's on the funkmon YouTube channel.
Only took me 4 hours as well. I liked the ending, and was irritated by the map, which was annoyingly vague and designed to look like it gives more information than it does. Also irritated by the stars being made up and not being able to reliably use the sun for navigation. I used the map as you did.
Unlike the other games you mentioned, this is the same story every single time. Nobody will have anything different except a couple names. If you've watched a Let's Play, you've played the game.
I went through the game worried whatserface would be like Durandal and go nuts and kill me. She didn't. Some plot threads are still loose, but I appreciated it being largely wrapped up with no bad guys. I will never replay this game. It has literally zero repeatability IMO.
It's good, but only good if you are all right with spending $20 for 4 hours of one off game. 7/10.
I'd just watch a Let's Play. Probably not mine.
EDIT: narc said some smart stuff in an email about it this morning. Maybe he'll pop in and say that stuff here. Narc, you should probably leave that stuff out about being "on the fence about Hitler being an actual positive change."
Dat #nocontext
by ZackDark , Not behind you. NO! Don't look., Thursday, February 11, 2016, 21:55 (3212 days ago) @ Funkmon
- No text -
I've recorded the entire game. 7/10
by cheapLEY , Thursday, February 11, 2016, 22:05 (3212 days ago) @ Funkmon
It's good, but only good if you are all right with spending $20 for 4 hours of one off game. 7/10.
I cannot disagree with that at all. I feel like maybe I liked it a bit more than you, but it's definitely not a must play.
For $10, I'd recommend it. Agree?
by Funkmon , Friday, February 12, 2016, 10:38 (3211 days ago) @ cheapLEY
- No text -
I think attaching a dollar value to games is a difficult thing to do. I didn't mind paying full price at $20 for it; I feel like I got $20 of fun out of it, but that's a hard thing to really judge. I feel like a lot of people expect to much for too little sometimes, and they way they value games doesn't match up at all with the way they value anything else in life, or even anything else in entertainment. I guess that's a long, difficult discussion that's probably been had here before, so we don't have to get into it.
I think $20 is a fair price; it'd be a steal at $10, so if anyone doesn't have to play it immediately, I'm sure it'll drop in a Steam sale at some point.
Just thought I'd point out it's $18 for PS+
by Vortech , A Fourth Wheel, Friday, February 12, 2016, 19:54 (3211 days ago) @ cheapLEY
- No text -
I just didn't mention it because $20 is its regular price, and I didn't see $2 being the breaking point of someone's decision to buy it.
Even if just to subsidize fireworks reviews.
by Vortech , A Fourth Wheel, Monday, February 15, 2016, 00:31 (3209 days ago) @ cheapLEY
I didn't know about Steam, but i wanted to mention it because
A) even at $2, that's 10% off. Some sort of transitive property might kick in with either side of that argument
B) Maybe it does make the difference for someone, and if so I want this game to succeed.
I've recorded the entire game. 7/10
by narcogen 
, Andover, Massachusetts, Thursday, February 11, 2016, 22:35 (3212 days ago) @ Funkmon
EDIT: narc said some smart stuff in an email about it this morning. Maybe he'll pop in and say that stuff here. Narc, you should probably leave that stuff out about being "on the fence about Hitler being an actual positive change."
I have not played it, but I was considering it. Finally ended up caving and watched a few different let's plays of it; the variations truly do seem to be minor... but context counts for a lot. The story will end up going mostly the same place, but how you feel about that will probably be different depending on what you choose to say and when, especially if you carefully consider those choices. Even then, at times you won't like any of the options, but part of that is the point.
The price did seem high to me, given how short and small the game is, and how much of the experience seems to be duplicated by watching it instead of just playing it.
I've recorded the entire game. 7/10
by Cody Miller , Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Thursday, February 11, 2016, 23:01 (3212 days ago) @ narcogen
The price did seem high to me, given how short and small the game is, and how much of the experience seems to be duplicated by watching it instead of just playing it.
Eek. The hallmark of a bad video game.
Firewatch.
by Cody Miller , Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Thursday, February 11, 2016, 20:56 (3212 days ago) @ cheapLEY
Anyone here playing it? I saw at least one other person mention it in Cody's Destiny Detox thread.
No, but I will try it once I find the time. If it's just four hours maybe I can do it over the weekend.
Firewatch.
by Vortech , A Fourth Wheel, Thursday, February 11, 2016, 22:31 (3212 days ago) @ cheapLEY
I bought it (on sale for PS+ right now) but I'll probably wait for the first patch to get pushed out because of some bugs I saw mentioned and because I have a trip coming up.
I bought it (on sale for PS+ right now) but I'll probably wait for the first patch to get pushed out because of some bugs I saw mentioned and because I have a trip coming up.
Yeah, I have heard it isn't performing well on the PS4 at the moment.
Just finished it a few hours ago. Really enjoyed it.
by Speedracer513 , Dallas, Texas, Friday, February 12, 2016, 03:05 (3211 days ago) @ cheapLEY
- No text -