Firework is a heavily narrative-based Chinese horror game that controls like a 2D adventure, but with no real action. The gameplay is very simple with no combat, chases, or quick-time events, only a few minor puzzles. Though the puzzles are the primary gameplay here, they're frankly quite simple and none of them really gave me much pause before I arrived at the solution. Given that, despite the 2D movement controls and ability to roam around, this in some ways feels more like a visual novel than a more interactive game. The focus is primarily on the story with lots and lots of text throughout, uncovering clues gradually to reveal the game's mystery. It definitely feels like Detention was an influence here given the perspective and atmosphere, but that game I felt had much more intricate puzzles and while the gameplay was light, I did feel it added some tension to the horror rather than just being a medium for the experience.

As someone who isn't typically into visual novels, I thought this was just "okay" for what it is. The light gameplay feel of it kept me a bit more engaged than just turning a page on the screen, which is one of the main reasons I struggle with visual novels. However, the story itself I just felt was about average. The mystery is unveiled with good pacing, but the revelations are not nearly as impactful as I expected them to be. I also found the story difficult to follow at times. This is partially due to the characters' Chinese names I'm less familiar with, but also because the bulk of the characters are essentially off-screen for the whole story, making it much harder for me to try and remember who is who for awhile while initial foreshadowing is being dropped. Still, the game wasn't ever boring and I did appreciate the addition of the atmosphere the environments provided to give the story a bit of extra pull across its 3-4 hour length.