Walking Simulator: Firewatch
Firewatch is a single-player, first-person mystery game that takes place in the wilderness of Wyoming following the adventures of Henry, a man who decided to take up work as a fire lookout to escape his own messy life.
I recall playing this game a couple years back. Though it’s categorized as a mystery game, Firewatch is unlike other games of the genre. We, as the player, get to experience Henry’s routines and actions first-hand in real time, traversing the wilderness with the aid of our supervisor, Delilah. Though it may feel all tedious and slow to players who are more used to more action-packed adventures, the pacing and atmosphere of Firewatch immerses the player in every decision Henry makes.
Throughout Firewatch, Henry is given some choices of dialogue to respond towards some of Delilah’s questions. These responses, however, are often set on timers, either pressuring the player to come up with an appropriate response or simply walk in silence to move on. For every kind of response, Delilah has some form of reaction. It lets the player feel like they are a part of the conversation as themselves, not as Henry. We get to walk through the grass at our own pace, in our own world, making our own decisions.
