Kotaku Game DiaryThe latest thoughts from a Kotaku staffer about a game we’re playing.The world is cold and unfeeling, so it’s a small comfort to know I’ll always have the Firewatch theme on my PlayStation 4.
I’m a pretty basic dude. I like my user interfaces clean and as free of clutter as possible. But when Campo Santo’s first-person adventure Firewatch arrived on PlayStation 4 a few years back, I was just as smitten with the accompanying main menu theme as I was with the game itself. Sure, it made some of the icons hard to see, but the beautiful landscape was worth a little obfuscation.
My favorite detail is probably how the time of day changes with your clock, slowly shifting from a misty sunrise to a calm evening as the hours pass by. The music is really nice too, a combination of chill acoustic guitars and ambient noises like chirping birds and gentle wind blowing through the trees. If I can’t decide what to play or get distracted by something, it provides the perfect atmosphere for winding down after a stressful day. It’s like having a perpetual window to a better world.
These days, it’s important to find small sources of joy wherever you can. I haven’t played Firewatch since it debuted in 2016, but I don’t ever see myself changing away from its dynamic PlayStation 4 theme. Maybe it’s because I liked the game so much, or perhaps it’s the sense of constancy it adds to a life that feels increasingly chaotic. I don’t know for sure; the human brain is weird! In any case, it makes me happy, and that’s good enough for me.
Have a good weekend.