The First Tree (PS4)

Game creation tools have now reached the point that David Wehle, the creator of The First Tree, managed to build the entire game without any knowledge on how to code. While it does show in some small parts and there have been older tools where you could make a very simple or rigidly defined game type, after playing The First Tree it is still impressive that not only did he make a game with a distinct look to it, but it never felt like it was limited by the creator’s lack of technical know-how.

 

Part of why The First Tree came together as well as it did no doubt comes from the aims of the project. The First Tree is a two hour art game focused more on evoking emotion and presenting lovely sights than providing a riveting gameplay experience. In The First Tree, a man recounts to his wife a dream he’s been having about a mother fox searching for her missing kits. While you take control of this fox as she explores a natural world, the life of the narrator leaves its mark on the landscape. Certain areas you dig up an object like an old toy or paperwork and then hear the man tell his wife about their significance, his coming of age and complicated relationship with his father being a big point of focus for the unraveling tale tied to these objects. Not every item in the world is fully explained though, the player able to find many things laying out in the open that they’re allowed to piece together the importance of. Because of this, the narration doesn’t wear out its welcome and allows for the game to maintain a sense of exploration instead of always needing to guide you to its areas of importance like it does with the bright pillars of light it uses to indicate a digging site.

The areas you explore in The First Tree are incredibly open, and while there are natural barriers to split apart some of the exploration hubs, the environment maintains an organic feel. These large areas always make sure the objects of importance can be found thanks to the light pillars so there won’t be any bumbling about, but if you choose to explore on your own there are sparks to collect that pay off in an interesting manner near the end of the game. These sparks are pretty easily spotted as well so you don’t exactly have to scour around for them, but they do sometimes ask you to scale rocks, execute careful double jumps, or find the right path to an area. Sometimes the openness to explore can be a bit too liberating though, not in a way that damages the gameplay but one that allows you to see the seams in David Wehle’s design. So long as your fox can find its footing on a ledge it can potentially climb up to places you are not meant to be. For example, a sawmill on a mountainside could look decent from afar, but it’s not too difficult to find a place where you can make your way up there and see how it is an incomplete building, huge chunks missing from it since you were only supposed to see it from a certain angle.

 

However, while you can expose such design shortcuts if you really push for it, most of the game is rather gorgeous. Some areas embrace the nature of the dream for marvelous sites or moody lighting where it could not naturally appear, but other locations feel like they could exist somewhere in the real world, just not rendered with such vivid colors. Some areas can be vast but filled with lovely plant life while others will have your fox run among the rabbits and deer. Areas covered in snow, bathed in sunlight, and surrounded by stone exist beneath the ethereal green sky, the fox’s quest to find The First Tree focusing on pleasant environments more than asking much out of the player when it comes to gameplay. Besides a few moments where you need to jump properly or find the right paths or digging spots to progress, The First Tree doesn’t focus much on gameplay goals. You can skip right past many of the narrative spots if you had a mind to, but since the emotional crux of the tale is heightened so much by having the human tale run parallel with the fox’s you’d be missing out.

In fact, without the story elements the game would definitely be lacking. Finding the sparks with the promise of a reward is a mild motivation but progression isn’t hard to achieve, and the platforming challenges that do crop up never really aim to test you much besides your ability to manage your jumps. You do briefly interact with some butterflies that enhance your jump abilities, but this game will not entertain people looking for action, challenges, or even a fox simulation. It’s a narrative game with beautiful environments you pass through and it’s banking mostly on the efficacy of its artistic vision.

 

The narrator’s old life in Alaska and his father’s impact on it are the core narrative focus and it is possible that this particular tale could resonate heavily with a specific type of player. There is a female voice present in the wife who is listening to the recollection of the dream and she does chime in with her perspective and her own experiences at key parts, but most of the game is going to keep exploring how the dad and son got along and it does a decent job in doing so. It adds something more complex to the simpler tale of the fox finding its lost pups but it doesn’t seem to benefit too much from the juxtaposition. There are clear similarities since both are about families who have come apart in some manner, and the game does have some interesting moments of narrative intersection. The voice acting, musical score, and art design all give it the tools it needs to be touching, but the big standout moment that concludes the plot feels like it benefits more from its technical concept than the way it relates to the narrative. The climax is charming, clever, and potentially the biggest emotional beat of the plot but it is partially independent from it, an interesting idea that could be appended to any emotional narrative rather than feeling distinctly part of The First Tree. It does ensure the player walks away with a positive impression even if they may be brought to tears if that climax hits the mark perfectly, but the build up to it could have done more to ensure it would have more takeaway moments of emotion as well.

THE VERDICT: The First Tree’s ending is a standout moment with a high chance of tugging the player’s heartstrings, but the path there, while pretty and featuring some interesting exploration, could have used more depth both in the gameplay and narrative being told. Its status as an art game does make it understandable that most navigation as the fox is easy and more focused on taking the sights as you listen to the narration, but because the plot takes its time in telling its story, The First Tree ends up being a decent deviation whose quality can vary wildly based on how strong its emotional tale resonates with the player.

 

And so, I give The First Tree for PlayStation 4…

An OKAY rating. I am definitely impressed by David Wehle’s work here, especially because The First Tree is available on disc and isn’t just a typical solo indie project thrown up on a digital storefront. However, it really does feel like the efficacy of this art game is going to swing based on its audience. In the immediate glow of the game’s clever climax I could certainly say I had a positive experience with the game, but the adventure getting there does feel like you’re not really being pulled along by anything all too compelling. The narrative is a personal one and getting the full body of it makes for an interesting realistic examination of a strained father-son relationship, the world brings plenty of beautiful sights to feed your eyes as you listen to it, and the game keeps itself short so you aren’t in one location for too long usually, but it feels like it takes a while for things to click together into something meaningful and impactful and even then it might not land even with a player who is receptive to the narrative.

 

The middle of the rating system feels appropriate for The First Tree because of the broad subjectivity of its art. It is where I feel my heart landed in the end but the intent of many an art game is to impact certain players differently, the climax even playing into the idea of making this a bit more personal for each player. On writing alone it could have been explored more and the fox’s side of the adventure could have been strengthened even without necessarily making the gameplay more involved, but David Wehle did still put something interesting together here that still leaves me thinking about it even if it could have been done better.