Fire Tonight (Switch eShop) Review

Well there’s a hot wind blowing in the east tonight
And I heard the park is full of cops tonight
On the radio there’s nothing but a man saying stay inside

Well I remember what you said on the phone
That you didn’t feel it was safe to be alone
And would you come close to me if you could find a way across the line

The lines above are the first lyrics of the song “Fire Tonight”, by the Information Society, a synth-pop band from the 80s, which inspired the plot of the game Fire Tonight. You may know the Information Society for its simple “What do you have in mind“Which is one of those late ’80s bops that makes you want to wear giant shoulder pads, drown in hairspray, and invest in Apple.

But you may not know Fire Tonight, the game that grew out of the song more than thirty years after its release. It’s a short but sweet indie puzzle from Reptoid Games, the people behind Fossil Hunters, and it’s about a young couple, Maya and Devin, who are separated by a city and enough fire in 1990.

For those of you who weren’t in the ’90s, it was a lawless time, before the advent of smartphones, Ubers, and contactless credit cards; As a result, Maya is out of luck when the power goes out in her apartment. That means he can’t access his landline, which means he can’t call Devin to let him know he’s okay, and not a bunch of charred bones. After calling him on a public phone outside, he makes the executive decision to rush across town to his apartment, avoiding firefighters and police (just like in the song!) On the way.

Devin, meanwhile, is stuck waiting in his tiny apartment, reliving moments of their relationship by interacting with objects, photos, and cassette tapes scattered around the place (boy needs to tidy up). Maya’s side of the story is far more exciting, of course, since she’s the one doing all the puzzle adventures; Devin’s sections mainly consist of you clicking things and he talks about them.

So, let’s talk about Maya. Its sections take place in small vignettes around the city and can be rotated to find hidden alleys, stairs, and objects to interact with. She will have to find a way to get around, as the titular fire blocks her progress (but never spreads) and the torch-wielding cops threaten to send her home with a warning if they see her. There is even a Temple run-Skating style roller skating section that breaks the puzzle pieces quite well.

At first, Maya also unlocks a special, albeit inexplicable power: when she listens to music on her Walkman, certain parts of the fire disappear, giving her access to new areas. The Walkman has batteries that drain quickly (very quickly), but luckily Maya can find batteries in nearby containers to recharge it.

It’s the Walkman that really highlights Fire Tonight’s main problem – it has some great ideas, but it never has the space to do much with them. The mechanics of the Walkman are exciting visual and auditory, but the ability to remove sections of fire seems like an added hindrance rather than a fun power; more containers forever They have endless batteries so again it’s just another hurdle that is put there to give you something to do.

Likewise, the puzzles fall a bit short at times, and Maya often finds floating keys in the world that open doors or gates, which is oddly a video game for an otherwise relatively grounded game. Well, except for the magical Walkman, of course, but that didn’t bother us as much as it was related to the themes and aesthetics of the game. The keys seemed a bit more incongruous.

There is also a problem with the screen size: Fire Tonight shows Maya as a very little character in a detailed but tiny world. Sometimes it is a bit difficult to see exactly what is happening, especially in portable mode, and the design of the level leaves a little to be desired; it is quite difficult to know where to go most of the time. We managed fine, but there was squinting involved.

But for the most part, the way Fire Tonight never developed its ideas actually left us wanting to more. It’s a fancy game with a lot of promise, and the puzzles are interesting, if occasionally a bit exhausting with the amount of backtracking you need to do. Above all, though, it was the setting that wowed us, maybe it’s because we’re kids from the ’90s, but we really enjoyed seeing the decade being approached well.

After all, the ’90s weren’t all Nirvana, Fresh Prince, and Spice Girls; For a lot of people, it was Depeche Mode cassette tapes, learning to play the synthesizer, and horrible, horrible haircuts. It is refreshing to see a different side of the late 20th century, especially when it is such a demanding tone poem for the time. It’s a shame Fire Tonight is ending so soon, but for the price, it’s a lovely trip down Nostalgia Lane for anyone with more than Windows 95.

Conclution

It might be short, and it might not meet your riddles, but Fire Tonight is quite a charming ode to the ’90s that achieves a lyrics-inspired narrative with style. Maya and Devin’s retro-style love story is something we’d like to see more of in the future, and if you’re looking for a game, you can bookmark the list in one night, and if you have a fondness for time. was it represents, you would do well to spend some time in your world.