The First Tree: Console Edition

 Switch
User Score
5.7

Mixed or average reviews- based on 23 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 23
  3. Negative: 7 out of 23

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  1. khejit
    Dec 1, 2019
    2
    It's really bad. I appreciate the effort, but storytelling was boring, mechanics cheap and crappy. You have to travel big distances in environments that are so ugly that my first thought was that something is broken. I honestly remember this game as one the worst experiences on Nintendo switch.
  2. Cathartic
    Sep 18, 2020
    0
    I rely on metacritic reviews before buying a game. This one helped me to decide.

    Buy this game for the ending scene. See how everything connects! Other players shape your ending and you shape theirs! Your level of exploration determines how much you shape their ending! Superb music, with some tracks needing to be a bit longer to avoid repetition. There's an oboe melody that is so    I rely on metacritic reviews before buying a game. This one helped me to decide.

    Buy this game for the ending scene. See how everything connects! Other players shape your ending and you shape theirs! Your level of exploration determines how much you shape their ending!

    Superb music, with some tracks needing to be a bit longer to avoid repetition. There's an oboe melody that is so reminiscent of Tomb Raider (PS1) it brought back that nostalgic feeling of exploration.

    I have no problem with the controls but could have used a controls reminder screen in a couple of places. The run/walk function could have been placed somewhere else but there is a problem with the movement of the fox: completely rigid, like it was stuffed. A few more frames of animation, perhaps turning its head when you move the camera...anything extra would have helped here. Jumping isn't well animated either. There's a waggle in walking mode, but I cannot (unless I'm forced to later on) walk for long in this game. Even the run is slower than I would like.

    The open world feel of Breath of the Wild is present in this game - but with loading screens between areas (so, more like Ocarina of Time?) I would happily keep exploring were it not for the invisible walls about 7/8 of the way up a rocky hill. This immediately suppresses the open world feel and the desire to explore! Where there is no indication where the next pick-up is or where to explore next or where you have explored on a HUD map, this is where the area becomes a chance to memorise landmarks.

    The fox starts with double jump ability - something I discovered half way through the game. The dig function happens for about 1 second, before hidden items are dug up. Plenty of these items could have used a better look - maybe to show detail in the photos or the blueprints? Each time I had to zoom in and even then, I wasn't sure what I was looking at. Weren't these clearer in the trailer?!

    There are three areas with so little illumination it's hard to see where to go and if you are actually moving or just stuck on a wall. These could all use a little brightening up. The frustration at a tree root in the evening sun will be with me long after I finish this review. The rocks and the house are the other two places.

    The music track with lyrics was a highlight of the game - it started to sound so much like Sigur Ros I thought it might actually be them! That is wasn't isn't a disappointment, because the effect was enough to heighten the entire scene.    … Expand
  3. towibabe
    Jun 16, 2019
    1
    Biggest waste of $10 and 2 hours of my life. Save your money, don't try it out of curiousity...just trust me.
  4. r0mer0
    Jan 18, 2022
    1
    Can't recommend The First Tree. The colors are nice, the models are not. The fox animations are bad. Some game mechanics are redundant. One can, for example, toggle between run or walk. There is never a need to walk, and no limit to running – why not make running the default? The music is generic and uninspired and loops to often, as do environmental sounds (like rain). Neither can beCan't recommend The First Tree. The colors are nice, the models are not. The fox animations are bad. Some game mechanics are redundant. One can, for example, toggle between run or walk. There is never a need to walk, and no limit to running – why not make running the default? The music is generic and uninspired and loops to often, as do environmental sounds (like rain). Neither can be muted, nor lowered in volume. Turning the sound off is the only way to go. That also stops the narration. That makes the game actually more enjoyable, not the best thing to write about the developers obviously very personal story.… Expand
  5. chilidogtrainer
    Mar 31, 2022
    1
    TL;DR: This is *not* a game for kids, the mechanics need heavy refinement, the gameplay is just waypoints for a hack melodrama, and the sad, sad, sad soundtrack is just aggravating. It needs a hell of a lot of refinement and doesn't need to so ham-fistedly try to pull heartstrings. This was a self-serving project that may have helped the developer, but it's not for public consumption.TL;DR: This is *not* a game for kids, the mechanics need heavy refinement, the gameplay is just waypoints for a hack melodrama, and the sad, sad, sad soundtrack is just aggravating. It needs a hell of a lot of refinement and doesn't need to so ham-fistedly try to pull heartstrings. This was a self-serving project that may have helped the developer, but it's not for public consumption. You'll lose more in your own personal time than whatever money you pay for it.

    Longer version:
    I think I'm playing a different game than those giving this a high score. The game opens with a low-polygon, snowy mountain scene where a fox mother wakes up and you hear narration between a man and a woman talking about some event. Sixty seconds later you're looking at a dead fox cub; if you turn on the commentary, the game's developer talks about this as being an exercise done after his father has died and says that he showed this sorry game to children at Pax West. What? What in the hell were you thinking? "Gee, young kids love seeing dead baby animals, and this is going to tug at those heart strings. Wait, maybe a sappy score and a winter environment will seal the deal." That is, of course, if you can turn your attention from the camera being pinned to the fox in a way that makes it feel like you're driving a tractor trailer down the road.

    It doesn't get any better from there. Glowing waypoints are just a way to tell a story about finding the other fox cubs. The game's premise that this is a dream is a weak excuse for it not making any sense; honestly, it would have made more sense if there were crazier transitions. The only way to play this is with the sound and subtitles off - you'll just miss out on hearing about some failed teenage rebellion and a wife who sounds more like a podcast co-host than a partner. And the story - sweet baby Jesus it's bad. Just imagine that you've gone to a poetry reading by a high school teenager. Yup, that's exactly what it's like.

    If you're working through grief, then don't play this game - take an actual walk outside. It will do you a lot more good than the time sunk into this game.    … Expand

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
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No score yet - based on 2 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. PLAY! Zine
    Mar 5, 2019
    70
    Clumsily narrated yet strongly delivered tale, told through the eyes of a seeking fox and set in a gorgeous dream-world, The First Tree is an hour long video game you will not forget for some time after beating it.
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  2. NintendoWorldReport
    Dec 7, 2018
    65
    The First Tree only lasts about 2 hours and is essentially a walking sim through a handful of gorgeous settings with bits of narrative threaded throughout. That being said, the ending truly is something special, and if you choose to get this game in the future, I’d recommend enduring through the rough narration and reaching the finale. The finale is worth it.
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