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Comment by wilg | Hacker News Reader

I love Panic. Playdate looks awesome, I am happy for their success, and I wish them the best.

That said, I think both the games they've produced (Firewatch and Untitled Goose Game) are duds. They're flashy, well marketed, and totally underbaked. I expected to love both of those games, being a fan of "walking simulators" and story focused games (which Firewatch fumbled), and Hitman and stealth games (which UGG fumbled).

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For me personally, Firewatch was the first "walking simulator" I was actually able to finish. I thought it was phenomenal.

I'm happy you liked it!

I personally loved Firewatch. What did you dislike about it? What are you comparing it to?

I thought the writing, characterization, and voice acting were surprisingly poor, it's a game that requires the chemistry between the two characters to really sing but it just falls flat. Some people complain about the plot itself not going "anywhere" but I think that would have worked if the fundamentals were stronger. (Far less important but I also really didn't like the animation and character feel.)

I vastly prefer Gone Home, which is a very similar type of game, with much less flashy visual style but the characters, voice acting, and storytelling are handled, imho, perfectly.

Interesting, I thought the writing and voice acting were its strongest elements (in addition to the beautiful scenery). The world would be boring if everyone had the same opinion though :)

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