Firewatch Developer Offers Response To Steam Refund Request

In case you haven't heard, Firewatch has been in the news lately after getting rave reviews for being good.  Per the suggestion of a gamer friend I decided to purchase the game and give it a play.

What I determined is that while the reviews and teasers made the game sound amazing I was shocked to discover that the game was nothing more than a digital "choose your own adventure" story.  Thing was, the choices didn't change the adventure.  Don't get me wrong, the story is done extremely well and the dialog was amazing however the game is seriously kited and progresses in a very linear fashion. 

A mission comes up, you head into the wilderness and talk on a walkie talkie responding to dialog.  When that mission is done you start the next one. 

Heck it only has 5 Achievements!!

After playing the game for a couple hours it became clear that it didn't matter what response I choose as the only thing that changed was the dialog track and when it was over the story mode kicked back in with canned responses.  I was also surprised to never encounter anything that would endanger my persona in the game and aside from reading a map there were virtually no challenges.

Much like the person in this article I felt a little ripped off having paid real money to act out a story which could have been watched on YouTube.  What is interesting about this story is that while the person who bought the game is having buyers remorse one of the developers convinced him otherwise.

thought about not responding, because normally ppl who want to refund are rude and unpleasant and I choose to not engage and dwell on it.

You seem nice and I figured what the heck, why not have a conversation about this, now that I have read it and it’s right here in front of me.

So here is what I think. As the developer. Sorry if it’s a bit stream of consciousness because I want this to come from the heart.

Honestly I still feel a little misled with the game.  Sure it is a great way to waste four hours and maybe that is a good use of 18 bucks.  Thing is I can spent about that on some open world game with real challenges and puzzles and get months of enjoyment from it. 

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