![]() ![]() One reason Firewatch works so well is the astonishing naturalism of its dialogue, which powers the game as you wander through its beautifully designed world (created in part by the Internet-renowned Olly Moss). Such games would have been unimaginable even 10 years ago, when the quality of writing and voice acting in the medium was rudimentary at best. Firewatch is an intimate affair that succeeds first and foremost as an emotional experience. Unlike most such games, though, in walking simulators you don’t have to shoot any soldiers or fight any monsters along the way. Solitude is crucial to all of these games: Like most “first-person” games, you’re an unseen actor progressing through various environments to advance the story. ![]() ![]() In Gone Home, you are a young woman returning to her family home, only to find it empty, prompting you to piece together the past to understand the present. In Dear Esther, made by the same indie studio, you wander an uninhabited island in the Scottish Hebrides, slowly learning the story of a woman who has died in a car accident. In Everybody’s Gone to Rapture, you play as a person exploring a small English town where everyone has mysteriously disappeared. Such games rarely cost much money or require tons of processing power, partly because they’re driven entirely by story and mood. Minecraft, which initially prospered on the PC, was an early success story in the now-flourishing world of independent games-easily bought online and downloaded onto mass-market consoles like the Playstation 4 and Xbox One. Its closer cousins are indie games like Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture (released last year), Dear Esther (2012), and perhaps most famously, Gone Home (2013)-titles referred to as “walking simulators,” a classification that initially felt mildly pejorative but has managed to stick. Firewatch is a more intimate affair: a short story, playable over a few hours, that succeeds first and foremost as an emotional experience. #Firewatch game upgradeBut in Minecraft, you start armed only with your bare hands in a world of monsters, and can eventually upgrade into a city-builder armed with powerful tools. It’s tempting to trace this trend’s origins back to Minecraft, which launched in 2009 and became a worldwide phenomenon on the back of its extraordinary simplicity. It’s the latest in a quiet movement of video games, more psychological products that tap into the atmosphere and wonder of loneliness rather than looking for the simpler thrills the medium usually provides. 15 Books You Won’t Regret Re-reading Bethanne Patrick ![]()
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