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(06/03/16 9:11am)
Rating 5/7
Firewatch is a first person adventure game released in 2016 by Campo Santo. The game follows the story of Henry, a fire lookout, trying to find something to do with his life. The player is introduced to Henry through a string of text options and descriptions. This explains all the events in his life important to the lead up of the game. We are given flashes of his old life, while walking to where the game will start, and then we begin. Without giving any spoilers I’d like to launch into what I like and did not like about the game.
When Firewatch does something well, it does it amazingly. Two examples of this are the environment and the characters. The forest that the game takes place in is beautiful. Light glitters overhead as a brook babbles nearby. We get to see much of this map throughout our adventure and explore our way through the national park. The environment doesn’t hold the player’s hand either. Often times trails that appear to go the correct way drop us into a valley we have to forge through to make it back. The only way we can travel is with features we can mark on our map, and a compass. We have to actually find our way through the game and because of that, the player becomes attached to the area, further immersing them in the game.
Next, the characters have realistic flaws and emotions. I know it might sound weird to say that good characters are just real people, but it’s true. We only really interact with Henry and Delilah, his boss. However, through their conversations and interactions we learn a lot about the two: their morals, their history, and generally who they are. The player gets to learn the story of these two people without the game coming out and specifically saying anything. Oh, and you never see Delilah. You get to know her very closely, but only over the radio. Even with this setback, the characters and story they told were one of the best parts of this game.
However, I'm conflicted on the overall storyline. On the one hand, the first two-thirds of the story are very intriguing. The player has to try to figure out how and why strange things are happening and every twist and turn at the beginning pulled me closer to the computer. Unfortunately, even though this game has great aspects, it also has elements that fall short. The last part of the story fell flat for me. It has a very good buildup, and the first part of it had me pulled in, however, the conclusion wasn’t nearly as big as the rest of the story had made it seem. Not to say that the ending was bad--it was natural and made sense--but the early story had built it up to be much more.
Additionally, the map could have been used better. There’s a whole forest section that is open to the player but it feels like there were only four or five important areas where all of the action happened and the rest of the game was walking between all of them. The map can be explored anyway, but for the missions only a few areas seem to be relevant. The game is a walking simulator. Meaning that next to nothing gets done except walking around doing quicktime events. This is a small genre that has become larger in the last year or two, and it isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I just want to warn everyone playing the game that most of it is story-based and not action-centered.
My last thoughts on this game are positive. I really enjoyed playing it, but I feel that had the ending been a little tighter and the map been used more fully, it would have been one of the best narrative games I’ve played in a while. However, even with its few shortcomings, I found the game very enjoyable and objectively good. I rank it 5/7 and consider the way it handles characters with the tools it has to be one of the more creative design choices I’ve seen in recent years.
(04/07/16 3:45am)
Released: 9/15/15
Rating: 6/7
Undertale is an independently made role playing game (RPG), created, designed, and composed by Toby Fox in 2015. The game itself is two-dimensional and has an aesthetic that is similar to old RPGs like the original Final Fantasies. Undertale is a game based around a completely blank slate character. The only thing known about the player is their name, which you assign them at the beginning. Beyond that nothing is known, not the gender, place of origin, or even how they got there.
The player gets to fill in the pages of this book through his/her actions. Through non-player character (NPC) interactions the player has a chance to leave his/her mark on the fictional world, and the choices they make influences how other characters interact with them. One of the main ways that Undertale does this is through its combat system.
The combat system of Undertale is both innovative and refreshing. It starts off like any other RPG does, the character randomly runs into enemies which starts the combat...think Pokemon. Combat itself is broken into three main parts. The first is combat, which involves a large bar and a slider. Where the player stops the slider on the bar determines the damage the attack did.
After the player gets to attack the monster attacks back. Players gain control of a heart which is locked into a small box. Enemies then send white sprites of all kinds to the player. Whenever the heart comes in contact with an enemy the player will take damage. What makes this system even more unique is that each enemy has their own specific attacks. Some use a sword to sweep across the box, others light it up with tiny bullets to pierce the heart; no two fights are the same.
The final aspect of combat is talking. Talking is a pacifist option to combat in Undertale that opens up many other dialogue options with non-player characters, and in some cases is more effective than combat.
Undertale is by all means a fantastic, fun game. It has an innovative combat system that makes each play through unique, and a wealth of NPC interactions that allow the character to be emotionally attached to each and every character. Along with that, every person playing can impose their own play style, choices, and future for the character.
However, like all things, there are some shortcomings. First, Toby Fox doesn’t always know when to drop a joke. For example, in one part of the game a character keeps updating their social media page and it stops the player every few steps to tell them the update. This joke, which slows down gameplay, lasts for about 20 minutes and there is no way to skip it.
Other enemies may have a shortcoming that is overplayed to the point where the enemy no longer seems menacing, but instead like an oaf that stumbled into this dark world. Next, the game seems to pace out its difficulty poorly. The tutorial is incredibly easy, and so is the next level, but then immediately it jumps to upper levels of difficulty with no middle ground. However, upper difficulty in Undertale isn’t impossible, it just requires more than one attempt at any boss.
Finally, the game is definitely made for those who can sit down and really power through a game. Undertale is the kind of game that is enjoyed most with many play throughs of different styles, exploring all corridors, talking to every NPC as much as possible. This isn’t really a bad thing, more like a guideline, advising players to take the game.
Undertale is a fantastic game. It employs one of the most basic storytelling elements that video games can: the power of choice. The player gets to make their own mark on the world, and with a completely unique combat system, nothing ever feels like a chore. The cons are nowhere near a reason not to play the game.
I would rank this game a 6/7 as it is one of the best indie games of 2015.