At the time in the game, it helps solidify a paranoid view of the events happening, as the player can imagine any number of uses for such equipment. During one segment, Henry discovers a fully fenced-in area with loads of expensive equipment, its sinister purpose never fully explained. One aspect of this approach is that well, it’s just not a narratively cohesive explanation. But why exactly does this ending seem so unsatisfying? Let’s investigate. Many outlets have dinged the story for falling apart at the end, and I place myself firmly in that camp (pun not intended). The real culprit of all of the weird goings on is, I shit you not, a dad whose son died accidentally in the forest and now lives in said forest to evade prosecution. The game sets up a potential scenario with Henry and Delilah being surveilled by shadowy operatives (government, alien, or whatever), but in the end we discover that all of this is misdirection. That last sentence will be clear hyperbole to anyone who has already finished Firewatch. Meanwhile, the mystery of what exactly is going on looms on and Henry and Delilah may not make it out alive. Henry’s communications with Delilah are what truly make the game shine, as their interactions are equal turns funny, poignant, and frustrating. The whole time you keep in touch with your boss Delilah via walkie talkie. A game of the oft-maligned “walking simulator” variety, you control Henry as he confronts unruly teenagers, hikes around the forest, and uncovers a mystery that may or may not have far-reaching implications outside of his little corner of the forest.

Firewatch, the debut game from developer Campo Santo (made up of people whose credits include the Telltale Walking Dead games), is the story of Henry, a man trying to escape his terrible present by taking a job tending a forest shortly after the Yellowstone fires in 1988.

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