Synopsis:
A narrative puzzle game about two people trying to find their way back together in a city on fire.
Publisher: Way Down Deep
Reviewed on: PC
Also available for: Nintendo Switch
Developer: Reptoid Games
Executive Producer: Rajen Savjani
Game Director: Simon Paquette
Lead Developer: Ryan Miller
Music and Sound: Lex Metcalfe
When playing Fire Tonight, I began to wonder if the game would work for noughties kids. It’s a simple game with a very basic plot, even with some fantastical elements, but at the end of the day, it’s about two lovebirds who can’t contact each other because the power goes out. “What about mobile phones?” I hear them scream. They don’t exist yet, sorry, kids.
When I was in High School, kids were starting to get mobile phones. That’s my generation and age group. Slowly kids started getting them as handy-downs at first, which lead to the rest of us begging our parents to let us have a phone as well. Of course, the parents and my own included couldn’t understand why kids would need mobiles when they’d only just got mobile phones themselves.
Before all this, you had to ring your friends or crush on the home phone and what a pain. If the power went out as it does in Fire Tonight, you’d be out of luck. If your little brother decided he needed to go online to do homework, you’d have to hang up the phone so that he could use the dial-up.
Ah, what a time.
Fire Tonight is about all of those feelings and more. It’s the 90’s, and Maya and Devin are in love. They’re having a lovely phone call when the power goes out, and they’re separated. The cause of the power going out is a strange and strong fire that’s ripped through town. But unwilling to wait it out, Maya begins a journey across town to Devin’s apartment.
Traversing the city, Maya must find a handful of keys and dodge police and fire as she makes her way through three sections to read Devin’s apartment and reconnected.
Fire Tonight is a very short and sweet experience that takes about an hour to complete. The art style is vibrant, and the music is easy to sit back and vibe with as you play. A weird gameplay element thrown in about half seems odd and is never explained as Maya can use headphones to make fire disappear. She vibes with the music so much she can float through the fire, but whatever, it works.
Between each Maya chapter, you’ll take control of Devin in his apartment, where it becomes a point and click adventure. You select photos and music and learn more about Maya and Devin as a couple of singular people. These intermissions help the Maya sections feel nicely paced and help achieve a straightforward game to beat in one session.
Fire Tonight is a sweet romance between two characters and a show of love for the 90’s itself. I appreciated didn’t overstay its welcome or try and overstretch the gameplay simply because it’s a game. There’s nothing wrong with short games! But I do wonder if the core experience works if you’re a little bit younger than me.
(Fire Tonight code provided for review)
