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dkirschner's The First Tree (PC)
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| [September 7, 2022 03:53:21 PM]
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I watched my girlfriend play most of this. She’s not beaten it yet, probably won’t, and neither will I. The game is story-focused, layering a story about a fox’s dead cubs over the story of the narrator’s dead father. It’s kind of an interesting premise but falls flat. The gameplay is barely there, which would be acceptable (see walking simulators) if the story (or stories) were compelling and if the walking were serviceable.
So here, you play as the mother fox, and you follow pinpoints of light to reach beacons and advance the story. If you deviate from the path, you’ll hit invisible walls. There is no exploration. But even when following the light, navigation is a chore. You’ll lose your way, turn around, and inevitably be unable to scale rocks that are too high to jump over. There is a double-jump mechanic, which involves collecting butterflies or something. I never really worked out why this was the case, or why there existed large rocks that required double-jumping in the first place. This is more irritating because the fox controls like a tank. You’d think the fox would be agile, but it jumps about as well as I do.
Anyway, you’ll occasionally reach beacons and other locations where you dig up audio snippets of the narrator talking about his upbringing and relationship with his father. I hate to talk badly about the execution because this was probably an intensely personal project, but the narration is aimless. Someone might feel like I do when people hate on That Dragon, Cancer for being clunky. The narrator’s stories are utterly mundane and delivered to a woman interlocutor (his girlfriend?) who comforts him and agrees with his words and insights. The story seems like it’s presented out of order for the player to piece together. It could have actually been that, or it could be poorly assembled, or I could have been paying more attention.
There are a hundred better games in this genre. Play A Short Hike, Gone Home, Dear Esther, What Remains of Edith Finch, etc., etc.
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dkirschner's The First Tree (PC)
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Current Status: Stopped playing - Got Bored
GameLog started on: Sunday 10 July, 2022
GameLog closed on: Wednesday 7 September, 2022 |
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dkirschner's opinion and rating for this game |
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Not impressed yet. Annoying narrator, story isn't that cohesive, gameplay is messy ---------- Pass.
Rating (out of 5): |
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This is the only GameLog for The First Tree. |
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