Outer Wilds (2019)

Completing this game took me 3 cycles of:

• Wow this game is the best thing ever
• I dunno where to go now
• Dropping the game after burning out
• Coming back to it in 2-6 months to repeat the cycle.

Overall a unique experience, I don't know many games like this one. It combines a complete freedom of exploration without any handholding, filler content or fetch quests.

I had a lot if cool stories and accidental interesting findings happen in the game, but don't have the mood to write then down.

Will play the dlc in 2-6 months. 😄

I just finished this game, and it's easily one of my favorite games of all time. So much love and thought went into this one and I lived for the "ah ha!" moments, of which there were many.

This game is a lot like Myst, where you explore for the sake of getting new knowledge to put towards solving some kind of puzzle. And the puzzles in this game (like Myst) are not the kind of room-sized puzzles that might connect two linear points in a story or map, but instead are environment sized puzzles. And often times you're not even 100% sure what the puzzle is until you find a piece of information that both informs you of what you're trying to achieve and how to achieve it.

When you take a step back and look at how this is achieved, it almost feels cheap: create a huge universe, spread information around the universe in such a way that links between information are in wildly different locations, and force the player to explore and backtrack a lot in order to learn enough to unlock new locations. The gameplay is almost Metroid-like in that regard, only instead of getting something tangible like a suit-upgrade or a new item to unlock the next area, you're getting knowledge of how to do it; so, unlike Metroid, there's very little replay value because all the stuff you need is in your head, and the exploration and backtracking would no longer become necessary. And when it's all said and done, you realize there's relatively little actual content, but because it takes so long to explore and gather it all and put it all together, it feels massive. And the world being a solar system helps in that illusion.

But is it "cheap" because of that? I say absolutely not. The planets are each unique and incredibly creative, the music is immediately nostalgic, the travel and physics are fun. The exploration is wonderful, and the way the game teaches you is masterful. You don't realize at the time, but some areas of the game are basically tutorials on how to apply your tools in certain situations to achieve something new, and then you're expected to know how and when to apply that later. But ultimately it's those "ah ha!" moments -- when you find that final piece to a puzzle or you put an idea to the test and it works out -- that give you the endorphin rush and rewards you for all the time you've put into exploration and information gathering. The first time I successfully landed on the quantum moon I felt like I had really achieved something in a way that I'm not sure a game has ever made me feel, and little did I know that the quantum moon itself was just a means to an end, so my achievement was actually just the start to another puzzle that required me to revisit that moon many more times. People who don't have the patience or desire to solve these mysteries will probably find the game frustrating and unenjoyable. People who do will feel immensely rewarded.

I'm so happy that my GOG install of The Outer Worlds failed, because it led me to finding Outer Wilds in my backlog, and gave me an incredible gaming experience.

Every review you read here praising this game to hell and back is telling the truth. It is the most one of the most unique gaming experiences you will ever have. It is a masterclass in accomplishing the goals you set out for as a game designer. It is incredibly bold with it's decisions, and it frankly doesn't care if you like them or not. The game is to be experienced, not played and beaten. And it is a nice little look into the inevitability of the universe and people maintaining hope in spite of this.

So if everything people hype up is true, why 4 stars? Well, the first 8 or so hours were magical. Truly special. Exploring the solar system and unraveling the mystery at your fingertips feels amazing. Learning new tidbits and becoming more familiar with the world feels very rewarding as you begin to realize all of these puzzle pieces were right under your nose the entire time, and they all tie together everywhere you go. Learning of the Nomai and their history was very interesting, probably not controversial to say it was the best part of the game. But at some point around the 10 hour mark you get to the point where you've basically found everything you could on one go through, and the follow up visits to try to find that one clue you missed in an area that takes you 10 minutes to get to began to wear me down a bit. The payoff in the end of putting everything together, or even just getting the satisfaction of a pay off from one clue is phenomenal, but the farther into the game you get the more scarce those moments become. So for me the final ~15-20 percent of the game was unfortunately the worst part.

That is until the ending (well the one people consider the real ending as there are multiple). It is one of the most memorable I've ever seen in a video game. If you can reach it on your own with little to no help it is a surreal experience that is absolutely worth it. However, like I said, I just wish it had come a few hours earlier. I understand the game design and narrative reasons for the things I disliked about the game. I don't think they're objectively bad choice, they just weren't made to please me specifically and that's fine. But what this game does well, it does better than arguably any other game ever has. It is a great game that I would recommend, and would advise you to go in as blind as possible to get the most out of it.

This to me feels like the perfect game. The controls and gameplay isn't perfect, but it doesn't need to be. And in this case it makes sense that it should adhere to the world we play in. Masterful setup of non-linear story. There are so many fun quirky quantum mechanics going on, it's an absoulte joy to discover them.

I dont think ive ever felt so much chills during a playthrough, and towards the ending it was incredible how my whole body would just tingle and go cold from the adrenaline of discovery.

An absolutely insanely good game and a hallmark in the hisotry of interactive experiences. A must play, simply.

Outer Wilds was one of the most unique experiences I've ever had with a video game. In this indie sci-fi game, you explore the ruins of an extinct civilization in a hand-crafted solar system of diverse, bite-sized planets in order to uncover a mystery and escape a time loop (that conveniently restarts each time you die).

Gameplay

There is no combat -- only first-person environmental exploration, puzzle-solving, light platforming, and using your brain to put all the evidence of an interplanetary mystery together to figure out where to go and what to do next. This last part is aided by a very useful computer on your space ship which logs your discoveries, but does not hold your hand and tell you where to go. The game also operates on a very impressive physics system in which planets revolve and rotate in real time and your traversal capabilities, both when flying in your ship and in your trusty space suit, are impacted by minute changes in gravity and weather. I had the impression from the games marketing that survival elements would play a large role in the game play, but these were very limited. You only need to manage your suit's fuel and O2, and if you do die, well, you just wake up at the beginning of the time loop again.

Narrative

The overt narrative in this game is rather sparse. Instead of relying on dialogue and exposition, the game accomplishes it's story-telling goals through player-directed, non-linear exploration. There is one massive twist that occurs very early in the run time of the game which, in addition to the excitement of exploring, I found motivated to see the game to the end. Finding out the cause of this event and how it is tied to the fate of this extinct race of aliens is tied very much to the exploration you complete throughout the game. I didn't really find any of the characters all that compelling however, and felt that the ending, which seems to emphasize a theme of friendship isn't really earned given how much of the playtime is spent in utter solitude.

Aesthetics

The game has a indie, low-budget, almost cartoonish graphical presentation which feels well-suited to the story and never looks bad. Each planet you explore has a unique environment that is presented well, and the design language of these environments, the ruins which populate them, and the technology you use to explore them, are all distinct, cohesive, and original. The game's soundtrack is sparse. Most of the time you play in complete silence, with only the sound of the environment and your suit to accompany you. However, there are key moments in which music does play, all of which feels appropriate and well-suited to the situation. I especially like the synth-wave track that plays repeatedly toward the end of a given time loop and the game's main theme.

Score: 5/5

While no game is perfect, a 5/5 game is one that can be recommend to a broad gaming audience, achieves greatness in all areas of gaming design for it's genre, attempts and succeeds at pushing the medium forward, and leaves a lasting impression that is emotional, philosophical, or amusing in nature.

This is like two of my favorite games ever combined. The awesome environments, exploration, and discovery of Subnautica mixed with the "game progression through learning" of Tunic. Also some Superliminal puzzle vibes. I almost cried towards the end because I was so invested in the game.

It feels so weird that I could hop onto a new save file right now and beat the game within probably half an hour, because all you need to beat the game is knowledge. This is proven by the fact that you can die and you don't really lose anything because all you need is knowledge. It's basically a puzzle game that doesn't have any puzzles, just an environment to explore that tells you how to progress.

I had so many great moments; every time I think the game can't get any better I discover something new or piece something together. Honestly the mere realization that the sun was exploding and that's what caused the timeloop was enough to make me love the game, but the discoveries kept building and building and I was so immersed that those anglerfish fellas truly could have given me a heart attack multiple times.

The environment is amazing, the music is excellent, the story is beautiful, and the experience is one of the best I've ever had. Unfortunately I can't wipe my memory and replay the game for the first time but I will definitely try to get all the achievements so I can experience the environment a little bit more.

This goes straight to my 2nd favorite game of all time, but I just finished and I'm sure that looking back at my Outer Wilds experience in the coming weeks will only make me love it more.

Introduction:

As you might know at this point. Describing Outer Wilds without ruining the experience for anyone trying to get into it is a feat on its own.

Outer Wilds throws the player into the unknown with only one simple goal: Get off your planet and explore the Solar System.

From here on out it's up to you to go wherever you want. It gives you the liberty of playing the game how you want to play it and uncover the mysteries of the Solar System where your enemy is knowledge and physics.

Gameplay

Although the physics of this game are extremely complex and accurate to what you would expect in outer space (with a few tweaks due to the small size of the solar system), the gameplay in turn is simplistic but fun. You make use of your spaceship and jetpack for movement and carry a handy alien translator which will help you be guided through this game's beautifully crafted story.

The story is told through text alone. This is where Outer Wilds shines. Mind you that I'm not a person that particularly to read every single note I find in a game, but Outer Wilds managed to make me love reading every single piece and bit of lore even if it wasn't necessary, because while it also serves as the catalyst for moving you in the right direction, it also forces you to engage with the story itself, in an extremely good way, revealing mechanics that have been available to you all this time, but you just didn't have the knowledge yet, perfectly giving you that "oh...I could do that?!" moment, pushing you to explore further.

It's this positive feedback loop that keeps you going in Outer Wilds. I struggle to even think of a game which comes close to this level of perfection in game design in the last decade.

Conclusion:

Outer wilds is a beautiful masterpiece that I cannot stop talking about it even after months of finishing it, where each one of its components fits into each other like a glove and it still manages to tell an amazing and engaging story that will leave you thinking about it for years to come.

It single handedly reminded me that there are still games that are just focused on being games out there.

After having my progress once deleted by accident, I was about to drop it. Thank god I didn't.

As for so many others, Outer Wilds deeply moved me and even made me cry in the end. It was among one of the greatest experiences I made with any media or art in my life and defintely one of those 'want to experience it the first time again'-type of adventures.

It has this peculiar wholesome and nostalgic atmosphere that we all know so well and I personally always seek in indie games, but in a completly unusual context, which is that of being a lonesome traveler in a foreign solar system. The backpacks and campfires where you roast your marshmallows just to chill for a bit and relax are intended to always remind you of that fact and simply but effectively evoke this genuine feeling.

As in real life traveling, there is no real objective in this game apart from seeing amazing things, learning new stuff and simply enjoying beautiful sceneries. Outer Wilds is at its core a travel-simulator. It hints at its secrets in the beginning, but it really doesn't give you any purpose or direction at all or rewards you for doing anything, other than having experienced it. This is something imo many indie games strive to do, but none really does so well as Outer Wilds.

There is an indescribable serenity the blissful score sometimes evokes in combination with the stunningly beautiful and diverse sceneries of the planets as you explore them. As for instance, right at the end of the run, when you just found out something epic and 'end times' is beginning to kick off and you lose gravity grip of the planet and just float off into space and while you drift through the hostile, oxygen-less depths of space into certain death, you take out your signaloscope and hear the other travelers playing their song and thus reminding you: you are not alone, you never were. I have no words.

On a theoretic game design level, it's so refreshing and suprising to see that the unusual, stripped down gameplay, which has zero progress and absolutely no gratification of reward whatsoever inherently to the game, still works.

The progress you make is only your external gain of knowledge (saved in the ship log, but that's fair) and that can only work if the game keeps your curiosity up, and it does, because it has such an intriguing sense of mystery.

Outer Wilds is also at its core an open world-exploration game. And it is a big question mark towards all bethesda, ubisoft and other AAA-open worlds in the sense that it makes you wonder: shouldn't a world which wants to be explored offer something worth to be explored and not just some monkey brain item or exp rewards, but something truly, truly interesting? A big plus is also, that the solar system you're exploring is fairly small and doesn't have all that many planets. They're just stuffed with interesting stuff on the in- and outside, Outer Wilds has the density of content that open world games always lack.

I don't think the quantum physics are always 100% scientifically correct, but for the sake of the narrative I think it's fair enough and absolutely fun to learn about anyways. In general, I don't know any game that employs the theme of physics that well. Let alone the varying gravity-induced complex movement mechanics and spaceship controls.

Enough said. Play it if you haven't.

So I just finished Outer Wilds about 10 minutes ago, and all I can say is "Wow!"

What an amazing achievement in video games. The story, design, and mechanics all felt incredibly fresh. It was truly like nothing I've played before. There are certainly similarities with other mystery/adventure games, like Myst and The Witness, but Outer Wilds is something totally its own.

Highly, highly recommended.

There's been enough talk on this site praising Outer Wilds that I don't think I have much to add. I'm going to shill this vid to watch at least before I continue:

I think, in short, it's probably the most beautiful game I've had to experience as a cohesive whole. An archeological space exploration that brings introspective thought and self consideration of where we are in the scope of the universe, how we search for truth in the stars, and what we take away from the end of everything.

On top of that, it's built on a brilliant puzzle route structure, that ends up with a whole tree of different routes through the game dependent entirely on which planets you explore in what order, how and when you solve the riddles of the universe, and with the inclusion of sequence breaking and freedom of options. It's so tightly designed with scenarios that come organically like the first venture into Dark Bramble, or the first tornado sending you high in Giant's Deep that every replay I find myself seeing the whole series of planets as living worlds rather than just strict clockwork which is what it ultimately is.

It's all backed by an insanely good soundtrack, great visuals, and actually genuinely good writing. There's so many surprises in store that it's hard for me to go any further than this. I 100% completed it thrice over, and every single time was almost a dream. Please play Outer Wilds. (10/10)

The extremely-simplified premise of Outer Wor-- I mean Outer Wilds is that it's Majora's Mask / Groundhog Day in Space. I'll leave introductions to that. Other more-passionate people can do a better job describing the game.

On to my final take of the game....

As an extremely goal-oriented person, Outer Wilds is a direct affront to the core of my very being. This game is meant for aimless wandering. Then, at some point, you might find a clue that inspires more aimless wandering. You aren't supposed to try and beat the game. Instead, you're supposed to experience and enjoy the environment.

This hurts me. I'm here to beat games, and this game does not want to be beaten. It especially hurts when, after about 12 hours, I clearly found the place where "the end" of the game was going to play out, but lacked even the smallest clue regarding one of the vital pieces I needed to make the end happen. People say that it's technically possible to beat the game in your first run, but I can say that there is no number of monkeys randomly typing on typewriters/gamepads that could ever make this happen (unless those monkeys are cheating).

Despite my strong distaste of my experience with Outer Wilds, I can't deny that it does some things extremely well. It's a game I don't particularly like, but could still talk about for hours.

• The transition from planets to outer space to underground caverns to outer space and back again is absolutely seamless and truly impressive.
• The interaction between all of the moving pieces in the game is technically quite amazing.
• It's a completely open world walking-simulator-type game, that despite the 22 minute restriction, lets you mostly explore at your own pace.

In addition to my aversion to the basic premise of the game, there are specific items which further soured my experience.

• On Giant's Deep, the Jellyfish are supposed to shield you from electricity. But unless you approach them from precisely the right angle and without your ship, they actually electrocute and kill you. Also, multiple times, I found myself stuck in the terrain on this planet (particularly annoying when you're then forced to wait out the 22 minute timeloop).
• Brittle Hollow was a nightmare to traverse. It's overflowing with kludgy, ambiguously-pathed jetpack platforming and gravity gadgets that would frequently not work like they're supposed to, ultimately flinging me into a black hole of frustration (both literally and figuratively). Trying to reach the Southern Observatory was like smashing a sensitive body part between two bricks, and was the first time I turned to the Internet for help, only to find that the recommended route was totally different from the route suggested in-game.
• The Ash Twins were even worse to navigate. In order to explore and find lore in this location, you're either required to wait for several minutes on one Twin, or rush against time to avoid getting buried in sand on the other Twin. This added timer detracts from the novelty of the timeloop, and adds a layer of frustration. Additionally, the developers themselves have admitted that some of the mystery on this planet was not well-conceived, and apparently they're still tweaking this area over 6 months later.
• When attempting to complete one of the very final puzzles, 1) A vital teleporter did not work correctly when I encountered it organically (before I Googled and found that I was on the right path at one point, then later led astray). Instead of teleporting me to the Ash Twin Project, I got sucked off-planet by the sandflow. And 2) after retrieving the warp core in the Ash Twin Project, I turned the gravity field back on so I could walk to the exit warp pad, only to have my character glitch into the rotating starfield and eventually be greeted by a "You Are Dead" game over screen.
• Fans of the game seem to hate the Dark Bramble. I didn't actually mind the Dark Bramble. Dark Bramble #1.
• The ending with everyone playing music around the campfire felt cheesy, saccharine, pretentious, and undeserved.

On a different note, in my attempt to answer the question: "What were they thinking?!?" regarding some of the design decisions in the game, I found this excellent making-of documentary. I just thought it was worth sharing...

In honor of Giant Bomb, my most watched video game website, naming Outer Wilds their Game of the Year, despite all my cynical predictions to the contrary, I finally decided to try and write some kinda review-ish something of this game I've been trying to sort out my thoughts on for almost half a year now. The fact that I've even been thinking about it for that long already places it among rare company. Dark Souls, Bioshock, Braid, The Witness, Outer Wilds. These are the games that delicately drum on my dendrites day after day.

Outer Wilds does so many things that, I think, most other games are too afraid to do, even if they wanted to. It doesn't have combat. It, only in the most technical of senses, has a save system. If you knew how, you could beat the game in the first twenty minutes you spent with it, no speed-running skills required, and yet for most people (including me) it takes about twenty hours to finish. There are no upgrades, there is no exp. The only upgrade happens in your brain, as you accumulate knowledge about this solar system and its history and nature, and the only experience are the ones you have while attaining that knowledge, which include, but are not limited to:

• falling in a black hole
• accidentally hurtling into the sun
• going inside a comet full of lethal ghost farts
• getting launched into space by a waterspout
• getting eaten by a giant angler fish
• riding inside a jellyfish
• toasting marshmallows on the moon
• playing music around a campfire with your buds while the universe ends

Outer Wilds is, in many ways, a metroidvania game were you to replace the arbitrary abilities and corresponding doors those abilities open with a completely open, delicately crafted clockwork world where the only thing preventing your forward progress is what you know or have been able to figure out. That it manages to meaningfully stretch a twenty minute series of actions into twenty hours this way is completely mind-boggling. You can go to the planets in any order you want and not only will you not break the progression, but the story that unfolds will be just as satisfying as the order than anyone else chose. It's a giant set of interlocking gears, a game of rock-paper-scissors on an interplanetary scale.

The big, obvious thing it does is something I wish more games did--place complete trust in your intelligence and patience as a player. This will be like cold refreshing rain in a desert to some, and like compelled flagellation to others, so I understand why it's uncommon. However, I personally love nothing more than a game/book/movie/whatever treating me like I'm intelligent, curious, patient, and perfectly comfortable being confused, because I am those things, and it's rare to be treated as such. In some ways I feel like Dark Souls paved the way for games like Outer Wilds despite it having no combat and not being "hard," in the traditional sense, but that's a conversation for another day.

The most common complaints I've seen are that the game feels, "directionless," and, "like a waste of time." To which I can only say, nothing about Outer Wilds felt like a waste of time to me, and that it's okay to start a journey not knowing the destination, or even the next stopover. Most great works of literature are the same way. The nature of art is that often the best of the best asks a lot from you, because truly great art is not just passive entertainment but a long, satisfying, potentially challenging two-way conversation that requires your full attention, as well as patience and trust in your partner to eventually lead you somewhere interesting even if at first their anecdote seems to be going nowhere

Outer Wilds catching on as widely as it has feels, to me, like a seminal moment in the maturation of this medium. More and more people seem to be coming around on the idea of the "most fun," game and the"best," game not having to be the same game every year. People are coming around on games as a heavyweight method of artistic expression as well as engaging toys to pass the time with. If I were to pick the most "fun," video game I played this year, it would probably be Remnant or Division 2, because who doesn't love a tight, mindless shooter you can play with friends? I put 140 hours into Division 2, and 45 into Remnant (also got all the achievements).

But I can already tell I'm not going to be thinking about either of those games in ten years time. Remnant didn't bring me to tears. The end of Remnant didn't prompt mutual, misty-eyed proclamations of brotherly love with the friend I played through the game with (the same friend I played Remnant and Division 2 with, and for whom Outer Wilds is also his # 1). Outer Wilds did. Outer Wilds is deeply contemplative, touching, life-affirming, and cathartic in ways only a video game could be, and if there's anything we need more of in this industry, it's more video games doing stuff that only video games can do, rather than worshiping at the altar of film and literature.

This game is simply fantastic, another one of those that manage to somewhat bring me back to the days of childish joy. I finished it in two sittings, not because it is extremely short, but because I couldn't stop playing it.

Outer Wilds is an adventure/story/exploration game where you fly around a solar system looking for clues about past event that transpired there, and it has a lot of things going for it.

First, the world design is amazing. It has been a while since I saw a game that went as bonkers on the look of their different planets as here, especially when they are all fully traversable on foot or in spacecraft. They each have a unique gimmick to them, and the characters and architecture all interact with these planets in interesting ways.

Second, the mystery is super intriguing. Not only because uncovering the secrets of an age long gone is an interesting premise by itself, but also because they tie it in to the gameplay in fun ways. One thing in particular is that you never actually acquire any upgrades or enhancements, you simply learn new things about the world, and if you had known them when you started playing, you could have played the game in any order you wished. There are no progression barriers as far as I am aware. On top of that the game never explicitly tells you where to go. You are given some hints at the beginning, but it is in no way required that you follow them. You can go almost anywhere and find other hints as to where you should go. I was never stuck playing it, but it also didn’t feel so easy that I was bored. It was mostly a constant feeling of excitement thinking about what I could do with the new information I have, trying to remember every other place in the solar system I had seen something similar to what I just uncovered.

Third, the gameplay is simply fun. The thing you do in this game is exploring, and there are two main methods of transportation: walking (or flying with a jetpack) or flying around in your space shuttle. To some extent it reminds me of Kerbal, not really from a gameplay perspective since spaceflight is very forgiving in this game, but in its whimsical nature.

All in all it comes together in a way where each element complements the other. Gameplay and story are mixed in a very non-gamey way which helps a lot with immersion; gameplay and level design plays very nicely together as they are fun because they always interact the way you feel they should; level design and story is interwoven in a way where the story seems plausible because of the world it lives in. The music is also well made, it is very subtle, and I don’t remember much of it, but when you notice it, it is because it strengthens the feelings I was already having.

I want to share two of my favourite moments from this game in a non-spoilery way. First was when I finally found out why I had died three times in a row for unknown reasons. The second was the very end of the game where I was super tense playing it because of another fun interaction between story and gameplay. For those who have played it I am sure you know what I mean.

I would recommend this to most people who enjoy a good adventure/story game. I’m not actually sure who wouldn’t enjoy this. It has enough gameplay to satisfy people who do not normally enjoy “story experiences”, but it is also mostly story focused for us who do. Anyway, great game.