Firewatch:
I started playing Firewatch during that magical period of my life between “It’s complicated” and “It’s over.” You know the one. That beautiful emotional wasteland where you're technically single, technically not single, and somehow still losing arguments with someone who isn't even there. So naturally, I decided to escape into the wilderness.
You play Henry, a likeable but somewhat stoic man who runs away from his problems and takes a job as a fire lookout, spending his days doing manual labour, wandering through the woods and staring dramatically into the middle distance. And before you judge the man too harshly: his wife died, you heartless bastards. Have some empathy.
Then, somewhere between the trees and the static, comes a voice over the radio. A beautiful voice. The kind you could listen to for hours. Suddenly, being alone in the woods doesn't seem like such a bad idea anymore.
Days 1–2: “I've come here to disappear.”
Days 3–77: “So anyway, there's this woman I've been talking to…”
You spend the game exploring the wilderness, solving a mystery, uncovering increasingly strange things and developing a relationship with someone you've never physically met. Basically, Tinder for emotionally damaged people with walkie-talkies.
Then the final stretch arrives. The mystery unfolds, the wilderness starts feeling very different, and an emergency evacuation is called. Suddenly, it's time to leave.
I went in expecting a walking simulator with pretty scenery and some decent dialogue. Instead, I got emotionally mugged by a woman with a radio, and underneath all the mystery and humour, Firewatch understands something rather uncomfortable: sometimes you don't go somewhere to find yourself. Sometimes you go somewhere because you don't know what else to do.
I recommended if you're going through some ♥♥♥♥. You might come out with a little perspective, and possibly an unhealthy attachment to a woman you've only ever spoken to through a radio.
🖖
Brom
