Fire Tonight Review: A Quick Ember

Fire Tonight is a small narrative puzzle game by Reptoid Games that chronicles a couple’s journey to reconnect with each other while the city arounds them burns up. Though Devin and Maya’s story is simple, the gameplay and mechanics don’t rise above serviceable.

Story

Fire Tonight game opens up with the two young adult characters having a nice nostalgic chat over wired phones - since Fire Tonight takes place in the 1990’s, cell phones and everything associated with them are merely science fiction. So when their phone cuts off, they’re forced to find other ways to meet up at Devin’s apartment and make sure the other is ok… despite the raging fire around the city. Though the story doesn’t progress beyond this, I enjoyed the concept enough to see how it would all come together and see how young love would persevere.

Presentation

The presentation has some fun micro-cinematics, only lasting a few seconds, but allowed for some context on the upcoming puzzles for each of the eight-levels in the game. The cartoon-style was a nice difference to the 3D renders of the levels as well, allowing for more expression and non-verbal cues. Additionally, there’s a bunch of ‘only 90s kids will remember this’ moments with plenty of Easter Eggs to check out - some more in your face than others.

Gameplay

The gameplay is straightforward - solve various environmental puzzles to get from point A to point B. Though none of them were overtly interesting or problematic, they did allow for some chuckles with the characters’ comments throughout each level. However, nearly a third of the levels were contained within Devin’s single apartment. These levels focused more on nostalgia than actual puzzles, allowing players to delve deeper on the couple’s past. After a few moments of fumbling through the items, I quickly got bored and trudged through it to get back to the marginally more interesting puzzles.

Breakdown

Game: Fire Tonight

Developer: Reptoid Games

Availability: Nintendo Switch, PC, Mac

Reviewed on Nintendo Switch

Pros:

+ Charmingly simple story about two people finding each other

+ Colors and aesthetic is a fun visual style

Cons:

- Puzzles are straightforward, without too much thought required from the players

- Apartment levels are a drudge, despite the effort to foster environmental storytelling

Final Thoughts

Fire Tonight is an adequate game that seems to be a great start to something bigger. Though I had a nice evening with the game, the 45-minute experience felt more like an introduction instead of a full story. However, maybe that’s the focus - a single night to push through the hazards and find your love... I look forward to seeing what Reptoid Games has in store for the future.

Reviewed by Harry Loizides