A walking simulator should have good visuals, an interesting story, and clear progression. Firewatch hits the visuals, stumbles on the story, and utterly fails on the progression. Visuals: fantastic. Firewatch’s aesthetic is consistent and very enjoyable to look at! Story: okay at best. There’s hints of some good stuff. But all the main character’s decisions relate to his girlfriend/wife and the new woman he meets over the radio. You also play a mopey weak man no matter what choices you make. For example: someone mugs you and your girlfriend. If you beat the mugger up, you _cry_ about it later. I almost left the game right there. Progression: horribly, horribly broken. Official routes are often hard to find, hidden, or blocked by brush. I’m repeatedly unable to make progress because the developers arbitrarily decided my character shouldn't go that way. There’s a path visible, in the direction I need to go, but my character won’t step over an ankle-high rock. Other times, my character can climb/drop like spider-man. This effectively leaves me stuck early in a book, unable to get to the next page. At least I got to see some pretty scenery for a few hours.
The 60 seconds to grab supplies is fun. I thought you would get to do this periodically to grab more supplies and save your family, but unfortunately that's not the case. The rest of the game is a slow slog watching family members go starve, dehydrate, go crazy, and die. There's no way to have enough resources to keep everyone alive, no matter what you grab in the first minute. This is played for laughs. There's an emotional problem here. The rush to grab supplies builds sympathy for the dad and family. Why would we then enjoy watching them suffer? Conversely, if we want them to suffer, why would we rush to grab resources? NOT FUN.
Avernum is a framework for casual RPG fun. You run a party of four. Want a muscular thief? A nature-loving priestess? A wimpy lizard-mage clad in steel armor? A brooding cat-sorceress who drinks wine and shoots lightning from her fingers? You can make anything you have skill points for. Every character has their place in this huge, living world. Locations, architecture, even the stuff scattered around serves to reinforce their stories. Every once in a while, you get a scene right out of pen-and-paper RPGs. There's [spoiler] where all the guests have been murdered and aren’t happy about that, written in chilling style. A vampire invites you to his lair; in you go, lured by the promise of XP and loot. There’s a lot of fun and adventure to be had here. Download the demo at Spiderweb Software if you’re unsure. Odds are, you’ll get hooked.
You can argue that a hint book/strategy guide should be an extra purchase, but charging extra for the manual seems . . . excessive.
