Outer Wilds (2019)

Wow... So I'm MUCH further into this game now and my jaw is on the floor. I'm in love. I can't wait to see where this goes next!

I've finished exploring Timber Hearth for the most part and am about 90% done with Brittle Hollow. The only things I think I haven't done there are the Black Hole Forge, the Gravity Cannon, and the Quantum Tower (although I did make it up the Quantum Tower at one point when it dropped into the black hole and I was able to follow it into zero-G space and maneuver up to the observatory. I read one of the message trees there, but didn't do anything else. I'll see if there's a more conventional way to get up there later.)

Moving on to the Ember Twin now...

Started playing this a few days ago. It's charming from the get-go but definitely feels like a run-of-the-mill 3D indie game at first. What I mean by that is that 3D indie games usually pale in comparison, visually, to 3D games made by larger studios. 3D games made by small studios rely heavily on a great art style to make them feel tight and polished because the textures and polygons just aren't there to support the type of visuals you get from larger studios.

Thankfully, this "run-of-the-mill" feeling of mine evaporated very quickly! The dialog with the other characters is witty and funny. The movement mechanics are really fun to explore and master, and now that the story has really kicked into gear, all I can say is, I am HOOKED!

I'm really looking forward to putting some time into this this weekend!

This anecdote contains information about the universe of Outer Wilds. In a game all about exploration, it might be considered spoliers.

Last night I came up to a tower that I needed to explore in order to gain some information. The problem is that the gravity wall I was supposed to climb up the tower was broken. Last night I came up to a tower that I needed to explore in order to gain some information. The problem is that the gravity wall I was supposed to climb up the tower was broken.

"Damn, how can I get up there now?"

Suddenly, one of the many burning rocks constantly being spewed by this planet's moon hits the top of the tower and it and I start falling into the black hole that's at the centre of the planet. This is not the first time I fall into it and I know that it is connected to a white whole in the outskirts of this system next to a portal-like device that will teleport me back.

"Uhg, bummer, now definitely never get to the top of the tower".

What I didn't realise is that by the time the whole tower and I are spitted out by the white hole, we are both floating in microgravity. There is no up or down and, consequently, there is no top of the tower either! I can now just float my way there and get all the information easily!

i love this game but the weird thing is that the more i play the more sentimental i get about everything that's happening in the story. it's weird touching in that way, like, each time my loop ends i feel sorrow and a sense of loss. really great stuff here.

logistically i do think that there's a benefit to setting time to pause when you're reading otherwise it's fairly easy to get into a situation where you stop reading text and just wait for it to be translated so you can recontextualize it all on your ship. maybe you can avoid that trap, but it sucked me in and i just am having more fun with time paused during those moments.

Since this game is getting Game of the Year Awards thrown at it left & right, I grabbed a copy for $15.

Granted, I'm only one "cycle" in, but so far I'm not feeling it at all. Primitive graphics, text instead of voice acting, no real idea of what you're supposed to be doing or why, superjanky flight controls... Hopefully it ages a little better as I get some more playtime in.

I feel like maybe I am playing this wrong because I spent a half hour yesterday and did not realise it did not save so I had to start again.

Now I have died but I have no idea where to go or what to do and it is VERY FRUSTRATING!

I have played a videogame before! Am I so coddled that I have no idea what to do without a checkpoint?

Anyway, people I respect love this game so I will keep trying but I wish I did not feel COMPLETELY lost!