I am a dinosaur. Games don't have to be dazzling; they don't have to confound; they don't have to impress me. What a game has to do is give me the feeling that what I am doing ~matters~. So trust me when I say that Firewatch is special. It's a simple story, told with intrigue, heartbreak and sweet melancholy. Short of feeling the fiery breath of a wildfire, the game touches you like a setting autumn sun. Have I layered on enough? If you liked Gone Home, this game is probably for you.
Let's forget about ToEE and PoE for a second. This game is the ending of a beautiful Infinity Engine series, and convinces with its creative storytelling, amazing sound and music design and game mechanics that are capable of reflecting the depth and the strategic components of a decent board-game adventure. It's a tribute to the RPG-masters at Black Isle and their style of storytelling. As a well-polished Infinity Engine game with its render-backgrounds, character menus apparently carved from stone and no cutscenes, it is a game to get used to. It's not like a tower-defense, or a latter day Might and Magic, it won't bore you with offensive tactics or long tutorials. You are thrown into battle, without so much as a warning. And that is what makes it special: You aren't well prepared, you aren't chosen by the gods to do their dirty work: You are a hired goon, and the game builds on that premiss. All other factors that make games good for me (sound design, music repertoire and mechanics) play into the story. Much like the simplistic menu design, the weather animation, sound design and music convey sorrow, everlasting winter and helplessly hopeless conditions all around. The atmosphere is unique and, as the game reaches the last chapters, unfolds its entire potential. The mechanics are similar: They work, you can see the cogs turning, and cannot blame broken game mechanics for your inevitable failure, and will try to keep you on your toes. If you are like me, a sucker for well arranged games, in which every major segment has its part and works with everything else, then this will be an experience, a true adventure, a holiday from Dragon Age or Bloodborne with their respectable, but not at all astonishing level design.
