I just finished the game, googled "what the hell was the point of firewatch?", found this analysis article about escapism being the whole point and that theory speaks to my initial gut feeling: One big goddamn clickbait experience of a game. No choice I made had any significance, nothing I left unexplored is keeping an exciting secret in store for another playthrough, no investment I had in either Julia or Delilah gets paid off and all. that. walking. with. no. sprint. function. was a waste of time, beyond the appreciation for the enviroment and the scarse music tracks to build the clickbait mood. Maybe I'm biased from having just completed The Outer Worlds the other night, where you get so many multiple-choice payoffs on the various stories within the game. But this game could've been something I'd never forget, had me wanting to re-explore the story from another angle and been a unique and cool non-action game expetience, yet it was just a long cinematic about nothing with a bunch of slow walking in between the dialoge sections...
