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Through these choices, the player is learning not only how interactive narrative works, but also how to role-play Henry. We’ll come back to that.Īs the 3D Interludes teach movement and make us wonder where Julia is, Choices 6–8 become weighty, dealing with violence, major life decisions, and serious illness. One such initially innocent dilemma is Choice 5, in which Julia asks you to strike a pose for her to draw: flex like He-Man, or frolic like a Victoria’s Secret model.
![firewatch game journal firewatch game journal](https://guides.gamepressure.com/gfx/logos/980x360/980_596132657.jpg)
The branches are very short, rarely lasting longer than a passage before the narrative paths converge. Now they sometimes stick around (like choosing a dog) or are emotionally heavy (like choosing whether to yell at or ignore Julia). The next four decision points introduce slightly more consequential choices. This is interactive fiction reduced to its most simple. This teaches the player that a) you must choose, and b) your choices will alter Henry’s path. It’s a small choice, and each will give a slightly different passage of text on the next screen. They can either open with a compliment, or they can ask about her degree. For example, in Choice 1, the player must decide between two ways to break the ice with Julia, protagonist Henry’s future wife, in a bar. At first, you only have a single option, but soon you encounter choices between two possible actions which ‘branch’ down different pathways. Wyoming and its mysteries await.Firewatch opens with nothing more than text on the screen, which you advance through by selecting what Henry does next. Even if the journey is far more captivating than the eventual destination, Firewatch is more than worth the price of admission. We rather liked Firewatch, giving it 8.5/10 in our review: “A brilliant adventure packed with some of the best dialogue gaming has even been medium to, Firewatch manages to engross you from the moment it begins and throughout its fittingly brief tale. It quickly became an obvious match.”įor one thing, it’ll be nice to see Valve release games (that aren’t Mobas or card games based on those Mobas) again. In us, they found a group with unique experience and valuable, diverse perspectives. In Valve we found a group of folks who, to their core, feel the same way about the work that they do (this, you may be surprised to learn, doesn’t happen every day). From the day-to-day production of our last game, Firewatch, to the way we run the company, make merchandise, meet players at expos and shows, send out a quarterly literary journal, throw open-to-the-public game demos in the middle of an artificial forest-all of it is geared towards surprising, delighting, and entertaining the customers who have shared in our success. Furthermore, and perhaps more accurately, we really like making and producing entertainment. “First, we really like making video games. Kotaku reports that Valve intends to keep the team intact rather than absorb its members into Valve’s nebulous internal structure.Ĭampo Santo confirmed the news on its website and detailed why Valve was a good fit.
![firewatch game journal firewatch game journal](https://i.redd.it/tbo1w1j9msr41.jpg)
Valve seems heavily invested in the future of VR, so it may start making sense with that context.Ĭampo Santo’s next game is Valley of the Gods, and there’ll be no changes to that game (including its multi-platform release), or the team behind it. It’s an unlikely pairing, though I think Firewatch’s nature lends itself well to future VR experiences. Over the weekend, Kotaku revealed that Valve had picked up Campo Santo, the independent studio responsible for Firewatch. If their latest, odd acquisition means anything at all, that could be changing. It feels like it’s been a lifetime since the renowned studio released a mass-market video game. People tease that Valve, owner and operators of the ubiquitous PC-centric digital storefront Steam, no longer makes games.