Hey everybody, my name is Dave Jackson, and this is Tales from the Backlog, a video games podcast where I will bring in guests to talk about games that I’ve played recently. 

This is an entry in the Lazy Sunday series, where I discuss smaller indie games that can be completed in five hours or less. 
 
My guest today is a friend of the show and climbing safety enthusiast Jake Anderson (Zulgeek?)

Today we’ll be talking about Firewatch, an adventure walking sim about a national park fire lookout, developed by Campo Santo and published by Campo Santo and Panic, first released in 2016 and available on most modern platforms.

Before we get into Firewatch, what have you been playing lately Jake? 

Ok, let’s get into today’s focus, Firewatch. Firewatch has an odd reputation, as a game with a generally positive reception, but with a few major points of contention with people. we will discuss the mechanics and very basic info about the story without spoilers, then we’ll have a spoiler section at the end where we get into the juicy details about the story.


Our histories with the game- 
What interested us in this game? This game came out during a period of time when I only played a few games over the course of a few years. When I first got my Switch, I remember looking at lists of like “best Switch games” and this game came up pretty often. I was always really intrigued by the setting, in a national park, as a fire lookout. I’d always had this halfhearted curiosity and “what-if” about taking a summer to go do that. 
When did we play, on what platform- First played in 2019 on Switch, revisited for the recording
Play time- about 3 hours

Basics of how the game works, key mechanics, what makes this game stand out?

Story- 
You play as Henry, a fire lookout in Shoshone National Forest in 1989
Before you are out in the wilderness, however, you get some backstory about Henry and why he is out there in the first place. This will be covered in the spoiler section
In radio contact with your supervisor Delilah, who is in the next watchtower. Story is often told through conversations between Henry and Delilah, and Henry’s internal dialogue.
Things at the job are good for a month, and then suddenly things start to get weird. 
Jake, without spoilers, what did you think of the story? 

Walking sim- 
As a walking sim, pretty light on mechanics, Jake are you a fan of the genre? What do you are the key parts of a good walking sim, and does Firewatch match it? 
For me walking sims scare me, no matter the game, and this was no different. Being alone in the national park with the limited ability set of a walking sim added to the defenseless feeling any normal person would feel out in nature like that. 
Most of the time is spent walking from point A to point B with your map as a guide, looking for key items in locations, talking on the radio with Delilah. Pretty immersive for me and I love the dynamic between Delilah and Henry.
You have dialogue choices in conversation, even though they don’t really affect the story much.  Jake how do you feel about the dialogue system?
Something that differentiates Firewatch from lots of other walking sims is that this is a semi open world. A kind of small one compared to bigger games, but still open. \
No real reason to explore off the beaten path, but still helps with immersion. You can get lost, etc


Final thoughts, Do we recommend? At what price point? 



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SPOILER WALL
Story 
Henry’s wife Julia is suffering from early onset dementia and has gone to live with her family. This is kind of a looming specter over Henry’s story out in the national forest. Jake how do you feel about this setup for the story?
The gut punch at the beginning really threw off any notions I had that this would be a happy relaxing time in the national park, and also kind of serves to set up one of the themes of the game, why these characters are out at such an isolated job.

Starts out fine, busting some teenagers, etc, then they disappear and you get more dread. Then on your way back to the tower you find the cave, and someone is watching you, then you get back and your tower has been ransacked. Another example of games making your safe place unsafe. And you never quite feel safe there again.

You go back to the teens campsite and it looks like something bad happened to them. You’re going to be blamed. Uh oh.

You find the backpack from a boy named Brian Goodwin, Delilah explains that it was the son of another lookout named Ned. I should have known this was a chekhov’s gun thing, but I kind of let this breeze past me.

Find out someone is listening to your communications? I had no idea who could have been listening. 

Ending- the controversy
You find the body of Brian Goodwin after the shadowy figure (Ned) locks you in the cave. He died in a climbing accident, and Ned was the one tracking you the whole time. It turns out that almost all of the bad things that have happened were caused by him after he went into hiding after his son’s death, in order to keep you from discovering him. Delilah blames herself for not reporting the kid being out there. 
What do you think about this reveal?
Shortly after discovering this, you have to evacuate the park due to a fire, and you never meet Delilah. A bit disappointing for me that it ended so hastily 
No closure for the story with Henry’s wife. No real progress. Henry tried to escape his problems by going out into the forest, but possibly ended up worse for it