Developer: Emergo Entertainment
Publisher: Nordcurrent Labs
Platform: PC, Switch,
Tested on: PC
Fireside – Review
Sometimes, games don’t need to have fancy fights and crazy spooks. Sometimes it’s enough to chill and relax, or even work on a Stardew-speckled farm instead of shooting monsters. We would say these games are becoming increasingly popular as people want to enjoy some bliss and relaxation instead of putting themselves in stressful situations. Fireside is one of those games, but this time, we actually wished there was something to shoot.
Story
In Fireside, the player is a merchant whose ship got crushed at sea after which they wash up on an island. With no wares left to sell but plenty of stuff to find, the island’s inhabitants are eager to trade with whatever is in your inventory. They also have many stories to share, and sometimes even quests! These can go in many weird directions, making Fireside quirky and somewhat unforgettable. It also makes the game move in all directions without a clear purpose, and that lack of clear direction is one of the frustrating sides of the game.
Graphics
While the graphics, and mainly the animations, are a bit too simple for our taste, we do see how it works well with the quirky adventure stories. The graphics look like you are playing a kids’ book, and we also feel that was the intention of the game to some extent: A children’s story with many side stories and world-building that can be enjoyed by everybody. This does, however, obviously rule out some target groups of players. We could have gotten past that point as older gamers as we appreciate all types of games directed towards all target audiences, but we mostly got some problems with the gameplay not offering that fun factor.
Sound
Again, the game felt a lot like it was made for children with the non-verbal noises that characters made, consisting of sad and happy sounds. The music was alright and calm, but not so memorable or good enough to keep listening to for hours on end. The sound design is decent as a whole but the music could have used a bit more effort.
Gameplay
What makes a good cozy game? A good cozy game sketches a place for you where you can escape real life for a bit. It’s also relaxing, so any cozy game where you throw your controller through the TV is not well made. It’s also not good if a cozy game has so much reading and so little gameplay that it breaks any immersion you feel. The latter is the case for us with Fireside. It feels more like a visual novel than anything else, and while quirky, it lacks a clear direction or gameplay that is fulfilling to the player. This sucks, because we wanted to like this one, but it just isn’t it.
The game plays like an automated board game. You get a set number of turns to walk from fire to fire, where you can find a single predetermined item on the ground on your way there and sometimes trigger an event that gives you choices to make. Once at the fireside, you get to talk to whoever is there and trade them for something you might want. If you have an item these people want, it gives you a big trading advantage. If not, you need to (almost) balance the literal trading scales that indicate how your items are worth to the person you’re trading with.
You can also cook stuff while around the campfire. Cooking is a way to mix and match multiple items in your inventory and create something worth more. However, when your turns are over, you will “transport” back to a base camp of sorts, and you can only bring one item with you at the start. This gives the player zero opportunity to hoard, but instead asks them to focus on what they need or how expensive they can make something before bringing it back. Once at the base camp, you can upgrade things around you with enough items to give you more inventory space, more storage space, etc. We do feel that this feedback loop in the game is demotivating and stretches out basic gameplay that’s already not very fulfilling. Also, the choices of items seem hollow and at the same time, guided by an invisible hand (you pick up a coconut, one of the people at the next fireside will need a coconut). This lack of randomness and freedom while at the same time not giving you a clear goal is annoying.
Conclusion
Look, Fireside isn’t all that bad and we are sure there is some audience for it. We also appreciate the effort that went into all the writing that the game has. For us, the main issue is how poorly engaging the gameplay is. That aspect just outweighs any good that the game has and drags down the simple, “cozy” style the game has. There is not enough here to keep us entertained and wanting to come back.
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