THE FIRST TREE
PS4 XO PC
Platform: PS4, XBOX ONE, PC Genre: Adventure ESRB: Everyone Publisher: David Wehle Developer: David Wehle
A
Filled with bold and audacious gameplay design choices, The First Tree tells a wonderful story,
that could be a difficult reflection of truth for some...
s people we seem to
always be looking
ahead, in search of
our purpose and
along the way our lives tell
fascinating stories. Sometimes our
past is a reflection of the challenges
we had and or mistakes we have
made with loved ones, as we strive
to right our path ahead with a
promising new narrative.
These impressions of the past is
at the heart of The First Tree, and for
gamers willing to embrace this brief
journey and traverse beneath the
surface of the games candid
gameplay, may just find themselves
becoming a better person for it.
The First Tree is presented as
third-person exploration experience
centered around two coextending
stories. On one plain you have the
playable story of the fox who is
desperately looking for her lost cubs
across a dream-like wilderness, set
amidst a beautifully detailed colorful
canvas, visually presented like games
such as Journey and Firewatch. On
the other side of this parallel
narrative, players experience an
emotionally heart tugging story of a
young couple trying to cope with a
tragedy.
The coextensive journey of The
First Tree becomes more of an
interactive exercise in self reflection
than it is a video game, however the
straightforward approach to the
gameplay paired with the compelling
story makes it difficult to walk away
from and quite fun. In fact, once I
began playing, before I knew it I was
contemplating my own life’s
decisions and how those decisions
and or chooses may have affected
those in my circle of influence.
Ultimately, and after about three
hours The First Tree concluded
leaving me in state liberation with
echoes of sorrow from my own life.
How The First Tree culminates is
founded on pleasant gameplay
mechanics,which take a backseat to
the players encounters of artifacts
found throughout the maps,
supporting a cohesive tapestry of
storytelling. Desperately in search for
her cubs the fox searches high and
low and occasionally finds dig holes.
Upon digging them up you find relics
of the past which have a direct
relation to the young couples history.
While players are tasked with
playing the story of the fox, the tale
of the fox is nothing more than a
dream being re-told within the
dialogue of the loving couple.
As mentioned before, gameplay
here is presented in a simple form.
The fox can walk, run, double jump
and regardless of the height of a fall
the fox will never take damage, which
was very cool. Like the story, the
gameplay enviornments seem to take
on new personalities with each new
locale. While locations might at times
seem bare of organic wildlife, aside
from the cute rabbits who love to be
chased, the occasion of flying birds
overhead and the family of deer who
are unafraid of your presence, the
games musical score becomes a
welcoming character companion,
filling your senses with emotional
expression.
Breaking up the degree of
desperation for the fox, ever so
slightly, locations throughout the
game maintains attainable stars
which can be acquired. While the
retrieval of these stars do not
necessarily amount to any form of
gameplay enhancement, scouring the
well designed maps was quite
entertaining. There were however
areas with groups of butterflies that
allowed our fox to make great leaps
upon some of those hard to reach
areas. The more butterflies you
collected the greater the fox could
leap. My first playthrough only saw
me acquiring 130 stars, yet my
second playthrough was 146. (If there
are150 stars I really need those four
remaining stars.)
Interestingly, throughout each
location there are floating markers
which once touched would offer a
brief developer audio explanations
from David Wehle, the games creator,
along with his wife. These audio files
consisted of insight on gameplay
choice, reasoning behind the game
and the developers purpose, as well
as more game insight from
Mrs.Wehle herself. This intuitive
human touch of transparency to the
experience was a refreshing
compliment the games overall tone.
Filled with bold and audacious
gameplay design choices, The First
Tree tells a wonderful story, that
could be a difficult reflection of truth
for some, yet a healing and
therapeutic interactive journey for
others.
The First Tree is a game you will
not soon forget!
8.0