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The First Friend

I quite enjoyed my peaceful afternoon with The First Friend, seeing life through someone else’s eyes and discovering meaning in both the traumatic and the mundane. The First Friend acts as a lovely palate cleanser in-between longer titles, a wonderful reset button to recharge the spirit. With gorgeous visuals and a calming soundtrack, The First Friend is a beautiful walking simulator that makes wandering around aimlessly an enjoyable experience. If you can relate to the powerful bond between a child and their first pet, be sure to check out The First Friend today.
The First Friend Game Cover
53%Game Brain Score
story, music
graphics, gameplay
65% User Score Based on 26 reviews
Critic Score 70%Based on 1 reviews

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The First Friend Game Cover

About

The First Friend is a single player open world simulation game. It was developed by Alexander Westwater and was released on December 10, 2020. It received mostly positive reviews from both critics and players.

A majestic, first person exploration game that delves you into the personal story of you and Zack as you traverse beautiful terrains and discover the forgotten truth that is buried away deep inside.

Genres & Tags
Play Modes
The First Friend screenshot
The First Friend screenshot
The First Friend screenshot
The First Friend screenshot
The First Friend screenshot
Skip User Reviews

65%
Audience ScoreBased on 26 reviews
story7 positive mentions
optimization3 negative mentions
  • Emotional and touching story about a man's memories and bond with his dog, accompanied by soothing piano music.
  • Beautiful landscapes and atmospheric color palettes that enhance the contemplative experience.
  • Good voice acting and narration that bring life to the memories and story.
  • Technical issues including frequent crashes, poor optimization, low and unstable FPS, and lack of save options causing progress loss.
  • Sparse and repetitive level design with large empty spaces, overused assets, and minimal interactivity that reduce immersion.
  • Numerous bugs such as floating objects, clipping problems, inconsistent movement speed, missing textures, and no options menu for settings or controls.
  • story
    49 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story is a short, voice-acted, and emotionally touching narrative about a man reminiscing his life and searching for his dog through fragmented memories collected in various landscapes. While some players appreciate its heartfelt and personal themes enhanced by good narration, others find the plot disjointed, poorly paced, and overshadowed by bugs and empty environments, leading to immersion-breaking moments and an unsatisfying ending. Overall, it is seen as a decent but flawed story best suited for fans of slow-paced, narrative walking simulators.

    • “It tells the story of a person's life through fragmented memories that you must seek out in various vast landscapes.”
    • “The story is a deep, personal story that deals with the joys and heartaches of life.”
    • “The story is endearing and heartfelt; you can tell it is important to the developer.”
    • “If you only find the memories that you are required to find to move to the next level the story becomes even worse than it already is and incredibly short.”
    • “It feels as if the developer had no real story made, no beginning or ending made, only all the memories, which is like 80-90% of the story, then one day decided to just quickly finish the entire game before sundown.”
    • “The main story is lightly talked about between levels, the ending is spoiled halfway through the game, and the ending literally doesn't make sense, the ending can't be, there are plot holes/things that just can't happen.”
  • music
    21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's music, primarily calming and atmospheric piano pieces, is widely praised for enhancing the emotional and relaxing experience of exploration. While some find it repetitive or monotonous, most reviewers highlight the beautiful soundtrack as a standout feature that complements the game's visuals and tone effectively.

    • “Piano music accompanies you on your travels, is quite relaxing, and adds to the emotion of the journey.”
    • “Beautiful piano music accompanied you and made the whole experience very relaxing.”
    • “With gorgeous visuals and a calming soundtrack, The First Friend is a beautiful walking simulator that makes wandering around aimlessly an enjoyable experience.”
    • “Mission impossible, too boring; you walk, walk, walk and walk and again walk in such an ugly dead environment, accompanied by monotonous piano music, and nothing meaningful happens, except few not well acted monologues.”
    • “There's no sound effects to speak of and the music is extremely repetitive.”
    • “Not really the greatest but it fits the game combined with the music.”
  • graphics
    17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's graphics are generally simple and basic, with some charming and aesthetically pleasing scenes, though there are no options to adjust graphics settings. While the visuals contribute to an emotional and immersive experience, occasional bugs and outdated textures slightly detract from the overall quality.

    • “No, it is not just a little game but an amazing experience filled with great emotions and beautiful graphics.”
    • “The game is aesthetically pleasing to the eye, the environment becomes more surreal as you progress further and it starts to make more sense.”
    • “With gorgeous visuals and a calming soundtrack, The First Friend is a beautiful walking simulator that makes wandering around aimlessly an enjoyable experience.”
    • “There are absolutely no options to adjust graphics, audio, controls, or anything.”
    • “You cannot do it in 2020 with ugly textures and graphics from the PS1 era.”
    • “Also from level 3, the game has many bugs and graphical problems.”
  • gameplay
    13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay is simple and slow-paced, typical of a walking simulator, focusing more on narrative and atmosphere than complex mechanics. While some find the mechanics limited and occasionally disruptive, others appreciate the relaxing experience and ease of achieving completion. Overall, gameplay serves as a backdrop to the story rather than offering thrilling or challenging interactions.

    • “Easy to get 100% achievements done in one gameplay, which is a bonus for players who enjoy completion.”
    • “I like the mechanic of finding items to recall memories.”
    • “The gameplay can be relaxing to go through, with slow-paced narration explaining the protagonist's life story and his relationship with his dog and parents.”
    • “This would have made a lot more sense if there was such a mechanic in each level, but including it randomly in only one level disrupts the flow of the game.”
    • “It is a typical walking simulator game as there is not much gameplay.”
    • “That's about the extent of the gameplay mechanics.”
  • emotional
    11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game offers a short, heartfelt narrative aiming to evoke emotional reflection, particularly resonating with older players or those with personal connections to its themes. While some find the story touching and peaceful, others feel a lack of emotional engagement due to slow pacing and uneven execution. Overall, it is a sincere indie effort with a mixed but genuine emotional impact.

    • “This game is a short (~2 hours) walking simulator with a touching story about a man searching for his friend.”
    • “Conceptually, this game takes you on a fun, emotional journey based on an emotional topic.”
    • “The story is endearing and heartfelt; you can tell it is important to the developer.”
  • atmosphere
    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's atmosphere is generally praised for its beautiful visuals and lovely, fitting music, creating an immersive mood. However, some users feel the environment design, such as high walls, detracts slightly from the intended atmosphere. Overall, the atmosphere is highly rated, with a score around 9/10.

    • “I was really looking forward to trying this game because it looked so atmospheric and beautiful, even if its gameplay was very simple.”
    • “The music used in the game is lovely and atmospheric.”
    • “Atmosphere 9/10”
    • “It would have been a lot more pleasant if these walls were lower and shaped more like mountains to suit the atmosphere that the developer is going for.”
    • “There is no mood, no atmosphere here.”
  • optimization
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game suffers from poor optimization, leading to performance issues and bugs that detract from the overall experience. Improved optimization could significantly enhance gameplay and enjoyment.

    • “Honestly, it seems like it could be an enjoyable game, if it were better made and optimized.”
    • “The game looked, felt and played with the same bugs and optimization issues as those games.”
    • “No optimization.”
    • “Honestly, it seems like it could be an enjoyable game if it were better made and optimized.”
    • “The game looked, felt, and played with the same bugs and optimization issues as those games.”
  • replayability
    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game offers limited replayability, with some players finding it occasionally boring and unnecessarily prolonged even during their initial playthrough.

    • “There isn't much replay value, and even in my first attempt it at times felt a bit boring and unnecessarily drawn out.”
  • stability
    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game exhibits some stability issues, with users reporting occasional glitches and bugs that affect the overall experience.

    • “I also found the game a bit glitchy and buggy.”
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70%Critics’ scoreBased on 1 critic reviews
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Frequently Asked Questions

The First Friend is a open world simulation game.

The First Friend is available on PC, Mac OS, Windows and Linux.

The First Friend was released on December 10, 2020.

The First Friend was developed by Alexander Westwater.

The First Friend has received mostly positive reviews from both players and critics. Most players liked The First Friend for its story but disliked it for its graphics.

The First Friend is a single player game.

Similar games include Oracle, The First Tree, Spirit of the North, Pluviophile, Bottle and others.