Video Gamers Podcast - Gaming Quick Takes - Firewatch

Episode Date: March 11, 2023

From gaming hosts Paul, Michael and Josh, we're bringing you even more gaming content each week.  Gaming Quick Takes are a short series of game recommendations, funny moments, off-topic chat and more. A small dose of gaming to brighten your Saturdays! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey guys, welcome to this Quick Take episode. We're so excited to have you here with us. In the past, these Quick Take episodes actually were only available to those who financially supported the show through Apple subscriptions and Patreon. But due to popular demand, we have decided to shake up the perks for our supporters and we'll be releasing these Quick Takes on Saturdays to everyone, giving you all some extra free content that was previously unavailable to the public. And these Quick Takes are a little more laid back, and they're hosted by just one of us. So sit back, relax, and enjoy this Quick Take episode.

Shazam! Boom! Hey everybody, it's Josh. I am here with another Gaming Quick Takes episode. Today, I'm going to talk about a game that you all have heard me mention on the show from time to time, but have never really gotten a good opportunity to tell you why I talk about it, or why I think this is a game that you absolutely should pick up and play. And that is a game called Firewatch. Now, you have probably heard of Firewatch at some point. People generally do tend to talk about it. It's a well-known game. It comes up in conversation and gaming websites and some of those best of games, game of the year conversation and stuff

like that. So Firewatch is a game that sticks with you when you are done playing it. It is a gaming experience that is not like a lot of other ones out there. It is a story based game. There is little in the way of gameplay in itself. Some people call these walking simulators. You know I, you know, I, I don't mean that necessarily in a negative way, but what it means is that the game play options are very limited. You don't do a whole lot of interaction and stuff like that. I mean, you do interact with things, but there's no combat. There's no, uh, you know, excitement in that regard. You're not mashing buttons and shooting things and

that kind of stuff. These are much more chill, laid back experiences. And I have found that, honestly, I really enjoy that. I used to think these weren't my type of games because they're so slow paced that it was like, well, I'm going to get bored really easy if all I'm doing is walking around, you know, and looking at trees and stuff. But I'll tell you, that is very far from the truth. These games absolutely excel at storytelling and the characters that are involved in these games. And so that's what really sets them apart. And Firewatch is one of those ones that is known for being memorable and for being very well done. Now, this game came out in 2016, so it's a few years old,

but it sticks with you and it holds up to this day. I played it maybe two years ago, and I had an absolute blast with it. So this game follows Henry, who is the main character. He takes a job as a fire lookout way the heck out in some national forest out in Wyoming. Henry has led a rough life. His things have not gone so great for him. And so he's looking to kind of just get away from the world. And he takes this job as a fire lookout way out in the wilderness. It's so far out that it takes him like three days to hike out to his tower that he's going to live in. And you do, you live in this little tower out in the middle of nowhere with nobody around. You have a supervisor that is Delilah. She's kind of like the person that you make contact with and say, Hey, I'm here. I'm on the job, whatever. But that's really the only other person that is even remotely nearby.

You do communicate with Delilah a lot through the use of a walkie-talkie. And the conversations between you as Henry and Delilah are some of the best conversations and most memorable dialogue in a video game. I don't want to spoil anything, but you wind up building a certain type of relationship with Delilah and you really get invested in both your character, Henry, and Delilah and the relationship that they have as you play this game. So what is the gameplay like? Well, you walk around, there are things that happen. And so you need to go investigate or explore or things like that. The game definitely points you in the right direction. This is not just aimlessly wandering through the woods and as you do those things you will discover things maybe there is a scenario that happens

maybe you find something out in the wilderness that you know shouldn't be there at one point you come back to your your little fire watch tower and somebody has messed with some of your stuff so there's this little bit of mystery going on is like wait there's not supposed to be anybody out here why have things moved and stuff like that so there is a good portion of this game where you are actively investigating or looking for stuff it is not ever really boring there's multiple different areas in the forest that you can explore there's lots of neat things to find. Again, the dialogue, and this is all voiced over very, very well, but the dialogue between you and Delilah plays a huge part in this game. At some point, you do come across the overarching mystery of this game, and you do a lot of exploring and stuff like that to kind of figure out what's going on.

There's kind of a neat reveal and that sort of stuff in this game as well. So there's a lot to kind of pull you in and make you care about these characters and what is happening. So don't let the lack of super exciting gameplay fool you. Because this is really more of an experience than an action type game. But it's an experience that honestly, I think everybody should go through. I remember thinking this wasn't my type of game. I mentioned that earlier. But here I am four years later still talking about Firewatch. And there's a good reason for that because it does so much so well that it helps to kind of

define this genre of game. And technically, I guess it's considered an adventure game. But I don't really know what it is. It follows some other games like this, kind of like The Walking Dead, maybe, in that dialogue and narrative-driven game. There's another game that's called What Remains of Edith Finch that's very similar to that, where it's a lot of walking around and just looking at stuff. Martha is Dead is a recent game that we talked about that kind of feels very similar in this regard as well. But if you've never played Firewatch, then this is a game that you can pick up for very,

very cheap. I've seen it on sale many, many times for as little as $5. I think it's been given away for free in some of the Humble Bundle things that they have. You should be able to find this for dirt cheap. It is worth every penny of that experience. It's one of those games that when you play it and you beat it, I remember instantly Googling on the internet more about the game because I wanted to know more about the characters and what did people think about the ending? And what does this mean? And did I miss this? And what happened with this thing? And so you kind of want to dive in even further,

even when the game's over. And that's a very telling sign that a game has gripped you and kind of sucked you in and you want to know more about it as well. So this is one that if you have not played, it is, in my opinion, a must play, especially for the low price point and the experience that's involved in it. Highly, highly recommend this one to all of you. Make sure you go check it out. Avoid spoilers on this one as well. You can probably watch a little bit of gameplay to see what it's about if you want to.

It's a beautiful game. It's very well animated and designed and stuff like that as well. It's very easy to play. I find this one to be very relaxing, which is a nice thing to have with a game and have this in your gaming repertoire library as well. So all right, that's it for me on this one. Firewatch, check it out. If you do play it, come chat with me on Discord about it. This is one of those ones that's always fun to talk to other people about. But I hope you enjoyed this Gaming Quick Takes episode. Thank you from Paul and myself. Really and truly, we could not do this podcast without you.

If you're listening to this, it means that you're supporting the show. And that support means the world to us. So thank you very, very much for that. That's it for this episode. I will see you on the next one. Thank you and goodbye.