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.
Why Are Gamers Idiots? (Vague Firewatch spoilers)
|
 On 02/21/2016 at 10:52 PM by Blake Turner See More From This User » |
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.
Comments