The 1980s. The United States of America. Wyoming. Wild forests where even the devil would break a leg. One Henry, the main character of Firewatch, lives here. But it's his choice. He works here. As a ranger. Sitting in his fire lookout, Henry watches over the forest: in case a fire starts, or lost tourists send an SOS signal, or something else bad happens. It’s not an easy job for Henry. And he has no partner to share his impressions and worries with. The only person he can communicate with, albeit through a radio, is Delilah – his boss. Occasionally, she throws various tasks at him, and whether Henry wants to or not, he has to complete them. Of course, he could refuse, but then his relationship with his boss would suffer. And that could negatively impact the story’s progression.
At first glance, Firewatch seems like an ordinary indie project, a first-person ranger simulator. Henry protects the forest, guarding it against all sorts of troubles. He can walk in one direction to drive away those who love to light campfires in nature. Walk in another direction to scare off poachers. But the deeper into the woods he goes, the thicker the partisans become. With his actions, Henry is clearly getting in someone's way, and the fact that unknowns attack his tower is the best confirmation of that. Gradually, the story picks up pace, taking on a somewhat mystical hue.
The world in Firewatch is open; nothing restricts us in our movement. The only "but" concerns the plot – until all set conditions are met, the player cannot progress further along the narrative line. That is, you cannot simply reach the required place, talk to a certain character, and get story development. First, you need to gather all the necessary information, each fragment of it separately. In this regard, Firewatch resembles Murdered: Soul Suspect, and if not in investigative mechanics, then in its very idea.