The First Tree is a surprisingly beautiful narrative game despite its apparent simplicity, where two different but parallel stories will intertwine more and more as you make progress.

We'll follow a mother fox searching for her disappeared kits and a son trying to heal from his past and pacify his ghosts about his estranged father that lived far from him in Alaska, now passed away.

The First Tree is a 3D semi-open world, explorative game.

Its creator, David Wehle, said he created the biggest part of the game using third-party assets. He didn't know how to code a game, so his challenge was all about succeeding while learning how to do it.
"You don’t have to design a mountain when you can use a mountain designed by someone else. You just integrate it into your own game".
“Unity and Unreal have democratized game development, so anybody can give it a shot. It’s exciting.”
(David Wehle from an interview on Inverse)

I really love the graphics and when I mean I love them, I mean I love them. A LOT.

It's true the graphics aren't the latest and are simple but considering how David created a game almost out of thin air, he has been able to build a catching visual coherence out of elements created by different artists. If I didn't know it, I wouldn't have ever thought it was created using (also) elements from other people.

They're pretty simple and basic but in my opinion it's a strength of the game.

The fox's journey is a slow paced one, despite it's easy to think that a mother would rush to find her offspring. However we are witnessing and emotionally participating in the story and we mustn't forget that it's a story David Wehle wanted to tell us, even a little autobiographical. So, in my opinion, it's mandatory to take the time to explore deeply each area, to listen to the dialogs, even to stop and think about all the hints and clues on the protagonist's life scattered around.

The fox has a good range of different actions: walk/run, jump/high jump, dig, interact. And that's all you really need to play, without feeling anything missing. It's the reason why we can slow down and explore every corner of this game.

Beyond the basic actions and searching for the kits, we can collect stars (they're 150 in total), find memories and objects from the other "part" of the story.

The first time I played I missed some stars, some details, but it's normal and it gives a wonderful reason to re-play it.
Unfortunately, at some point I've lost all my footage, so I had to play again after one year and a half, without remembering much of it. So I played it again as it was the first time and with some more focus (and a pince of luck) I was able to collect all the stars without looking at any guide.

There is a small number of achievements, half of which aren't so easy to get. Playing with attention and investing a good amount of time exploring to find all the stars, got me something more than half of them.
After taking a look at the Steam Page, however, I've realized that my playing didn't give me any clue about how to get the others, meaning you must search very well and run after completion, they're not something easy to stumble into out of the blue.

By taking my time and trying to enjoy the experience in a deep, meaningful way, it took me something between 3 and 4 hours. The right time, considering what kind of story drives the whole game.

I regret nothing.

They did a few limited edition LPs in colored vinyl and I think this says it all. Unfortunately I wasn't able to buy one, but it was a beautiful piece of merchandise.

Anyway.

The music is beautiful and it's a real part of the game. There can't be a "The First Tree ''without its soundtrack. It's an undeniable important part, as essential as every other part composing the game as a whole and of the game experience itself.
We can also say that it's a core presence of story-driven games, especially those with simple graphics and an engaging story like Abzû or Journey. It's what keeps your mind captured and makes you desire to know more and make progress with the story.

Just under the surface of the dreamlike fox’s adventure searching for her kits, The Firs Tree becomes a complex, multifaceted and deep internal journey with the ability of hitting very near to home. It guides you through the story of a tormented son trying to accept his father’s death and all the unsettled events of his past. Starting from the rage and the difficulties of adolescence, through the many misunderstandings of a whole lifetime, it will end with the first step on healing.

While the fox gets nearer and nearer to the First Tree, the son slowly realizes what really matters in his life, setting a stepping stone for a new beginning.

The First Tree is a wonderful metaphor about loss, grief and mourning, the mistakes of the past, missed chances, pain, sorrow and regrets, but also understanding, healing, a fresh start, new hopes.

A wonderful, delicate game suitable for everyone but in particular to all the people that faced or are facing the loss of a dear one like a parent, a sibling, a relative or a friend or that are in simply need of time to reflect and heal on/from other difficulties and pain that weigh their soul.

Personal suggestion: take your time. Explore. Stop on a cliff and lose your sight in the wonderful landscape that opens in front of you, listen to the beautiful soundtracks. It will relax you deep into your soul.

Beyond this, The First Tree is a wonderful single person project, David Wehle was able to succeed in creating a whole videogame without being a game designer or a game professionist of any sort: from putting together the graphic assets to voice acting, to coding. Already an example and an inspiration for many but sure even for future aspiring game developers!