Okay... so I have an issue with gamers reaction to Firewatch's ending, and I find it really weird. This is a hard discussion to have without spoiling firewatch... but I'll try. There may be some minor ones but they will be vague as hell.
Basically, Firewatch is a game about grief, loss, and the paranoia that comes with being trapped alone with your own thoughts. A lot of people felt let down by the ending because it wasn't a typical ending - which is weird to me. Usually art critics love this kind of shit, but here they all said they were disappointed. I wasn't. I loved it.
The ending wraps up every little detail, you just have to actually be a bit more thorough with your exploration. It also hints heavily towards it's ending so it doesn't feel cheap. It's not a video game ending, it's a human ending. And it's a beautiful one.
But I feel the reason is that it makes the player feel empty. It concludes messily, but arfully so. It's a realistic ending to a realistic story. It's depressing, but not in the way gamers are used to. It's not the kind of ending that makes you cry. It's the kind that makes you question yourself and your values. It's the kind that just makes you want to go lay down for a bit.
And that's not a bad thing. I've heard so many critics say the game dropped the bundle, but honestly this is one of the very few games that knows how to fucking end. It's the perfect ending to the story it told, and everyone who thought the game squandered it's potential is either an idiot or just wasn't paying attention.
Everyone's so obsessed with endings. It's the journey that matters. Focusing on the ending is like the shallowest way to talk about a work of narrative art, I think.
amen to that!
I have gotten to a point where spoilers mean very little to me. Knowing the big SPOILERS for Arkham Knight and Bioshock Infinite did not diminish my enjoyment of those games, in fact I may have enjoyed them more. Plus, I have already heard bits and peices about Firewatch, and those 'spoilers' actually sold me on the game.
How much is this game on PSN?
$20
From what I heard about this game, I thought the ending was fitting. It seems like the people who complain about games want games to fit in a certain mold, and when they do they complain that they are not thinking out of the box.
pretty much this exactly, especially with some of the critics that had problems with it.
I didn't "enjoy" the ending, but I don't think it was a bad choice. As a story and an ending, I think it was a good move and a different twist -- which I appreciated. My main issue with Firewatch and other similar games is the illusion of choice. I feel like I'm thrust into some character's body and then told to somehow form his personality. Problem is, the character is too much of a character for me to make him into a representation of myself, or some other random personality I would like. So I am left just nudging some person I don't know in slight directions with conversational choices... It's just unsatisfying to me from both a narrative and interactive perspective.
The story in Firewatch has a lot of good elements, interesting characters, etc. I just don't care for this type of game, apparently.
Right. The game and genre as a whole has some issues, but i guess my major problem is that critics keep crying out for human drama or genres other than "murder sim" but when they get it theyre like "the story wasnt exciting enough" or "needs more cthulhu" and it just confuses the fuck out of me.
I agree 100%!
Okay. I just finished the game and thoroughly enjoyed it as an adventure type game. I'm not really sure what the problem with the ending was, as it seemed kind of obvious as the game progressed, to me anyway. Even the dark psychological elements make sense, considering the situation the characters are in. It's a solid experience.