This anti-frustration nonsense is so juvenile. Firewatch isn't some super deep genre revolutionizing game but it had a good story, mostly delivered very well, and it had a perfectly fine anticlimax ending. There's nothing wrong with a piece of art leaving you out in the cold.
I loved Firewatch from start to finish, the setting and artstyle are gorgeous, I didn't spoil any of it for myself and I was super engaged with the characters; the dialogue between Henry and Delilah was great.
The part where you [sp]Go fishing, hear spooky noises in the bushes and then get knocked the fuck out[/sp] genuinely spooked me.
I can see where people are coming from when they say this isn't a game, as pretentious as it sounds it's more like an interactive movie than a game.
there are still arguments on whether a "game" must constitute reflex challenges and problem solving to deserve the label?
I don't see why we can call a play a play but we can't call this a game.
What is it with the labels anyway.
Where does this "it tortures the reader/player or makes them feel like shit so it's automatically a masterpiece" mindset come from? That's a rather abusive/masochistic point of view
Even then from what I understand of Firewatch and the video, it's frustrating because the game is a set-up to make you empathise with a cowardly, mediocre piece of shit and when the game/reality gives them the middle finger (because face it, the woman had her right to dump him and he's not entitled to anything) you feel that too. Is that it?
[QUOTE=Noob4life;53090828]there are still arguments on whether a "game" must constitute reflex challenges and problem solving to deserve the label?[/QUOTE]
No. Games are games.
About Firewatch, I was disappointed in the ending. Not because of the conspiracy stuff, that was well resolved. What disappointed me was [sp]all the build-up to meeting her and then she finally leaves before you can meet her for no good reason[/sp]. It didn't feel like an artistic choice to me, more like the devs didn't bother going the extra mile to have an actual NPC in the game.
[QUOTE=Jorori;53091005]Where does this "it tortures[/QUOTE]
In this thread?
From you.
This game was amazing. I loved it. It's just a shame that it didn't have any motive for playing through it again.
I liked the idea behind the ending but it just felt, unsatisfying in a way, I guess? I'm not sure if it was just to abrupt or what, but I can't even remember any of the lead up to the end even if I can remember the ending itself.
[QUOTE=Bertie;53090777]This anti-frustration nonsense is so juvenile. Firewatch isn't some super deep genre revolutionizing game but it had a good story, mostly delivered very well, and it had a perfectly fine anticlimax ending. There's nothing wrong with a piece of art leaving you out in the cold.[/QUOTE]
I'd like to think the medium is big enough that Dark Souls and Firewatch can coexist
No, we must [I]very [/I][I]narrowly [/I]define what a game is and punish anyone that dares strive beyond it.
I feel like what the game accomplishes could be better suited to a short story, the primary issue of it being that expectation of what the consumer was investing themselves and their time into deviated too much from the actual experience, which was a brief visual look at escapism. It accomplishes something unique, but the meta nature of it lets it slip through criticism. Players have every right to think it was boring or a let down.
[QUOTE=Skyward;53092550]No, we must [I]very [/I][I]narrowly [/I]define what a game is and punish anyone that dares strive beyond it.[/QUOTE]
Hey TotalBiscuit, I didn't know you browsed FP.
[QUOTE=Anderan;53091357]I liked the idea behind the ending but it just felt, unsatisfying in a way, I guess? I'm not sure if it was just to abrupt or what, but I can't even remember any of the lead up to the end even if I can remember the ending itself.[/QUOTE]
The reason the ending felt like such a cop-out was that the mystery was basically solved when you get to the father's bunker. You get a tape from the guy that basically says "stay gold, homo" and the character that spent the whole game harassing you just fucks off out of the story. The entire walking sequence to the helicopter just feels like a weak epilogue. If you're hoping for something interesting in the credits, tough shit. Here's a bunch of polaroids of a dead kid.
What they should have done was cut the tape from the game and capitalize on the fact that there's still an unstable and dangerous guy out in the burning wilderness. As you make your way to the pick up point, he knocks you out, and takes your forest service uniform, and leaves you for dead so he can pretend to be a ranger and take your place in the helicopter. From there, it's a much more climactic race to salvation before the fire completely surrounds you.
Isn't the point of the epilogue being Henry forced to return to his reality instead of dwindling in a dramatic narrative?
Now I've think of it, I wonder how much did Campo Santo learn from this, and what will be applied in their next game: In The Valley Of Gods. I sincerely hope they evaluate their feedback well.
[QUOTE=JCDentonUNATCO;53086772]I think people being extremely critical of the game for a supposed bait and switch ending is really unfair. There was never any super spooky or supernatural stuff going on, it was a game grounded in reality and it ended that way too.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, the entire game is meant to be one big subversion of expectation. A lesson in how humans can dream up complicated beliefs and conspiracies when in truth reality is often much more simple.
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