Christopher Nolan's Dowhill Jam. Hate to be all "Cons: - Too much water" but lol. Has so few levels that feel like they make any satisfying use of the Zineth gravity-shifting mechanic and the cloying story insists on butting in to fuck up the vibes. I just KNOW the dev crew watched Interstellar while feverishly taking notes and none of them related to anything I wanted out of a game like this, very sad. Exo One is screaming from the diaphragm for some kind of Steam Workshop implementation so people can make School II or Hangar or even Bob-omb Battlefield.

Limpador de paladar, indutor de introspecção, botão de maravilha, post-rock - esse tipo de arte tem vários nomes e propósitos para pessoas diferentes; a delícia cinestésica de rolar por aí e ir muito rápido em vistas lindas sendo o fator em comum que une todos aqui. Tudo que queria era algo que acabasse rápido, me transportasse para um estado de consciência elevada, e invocasse do fundo de mim sensações de frisson e pura alegria, trancafiadas a sete chaves - é pedir muito? Embora Exo One tenha sim atingido esses picos, me fez passar por vales demais , tanto literais quanto figurativos, adicionando gordura e tempo de jogo que me provocaram tédio ao invés do efeito desejado, quebrando a fantasia de higiene mental que o jogo me proporcionava.

Going fast = 5 stars
Going slow = 0 STARS

They need to scrap any part of any level that prevents me from going fast
-Flat ass plain GET OUTTA HERE
-dumpy little dune that isn't tall enough for adequate speed GET OUTTA HERE
A level toward the end where I rip the sky open like a decadent horny God LETS GGOOOO

I do love a journey through space though, qnd the score and sound are great! this is a nice game, I just wish the execution was better and that the levels were more complex / less repetitive !

Exo One traz uma sublime jornada sci-fi que mistura Tiny Wings, Journey e 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Pilotar uma nave alienígena nunca foi tão satisfatório. Infelizmente o jogo parece não entender o próprio potencial e te faz diminuir a velocidade em diversas fases. É tipo jogar Sonic e você estar super empolgado correndo pra caralho, e do nada ter que parar.

Como outro review aqui diz:
Indo rápido - 5 Estrelas
Indo devagar - 0 Estrelas

Apesar dos problemas, ainda é uma bela surpresa.

The best this game has to offer is its presentation, right from the start you get that feeling. Big long shots, grainy effect, space probe look, low fidelity audio messages, etc.
Some kind of narrative that gives you an objective that tries to convey melancholy (along with some music themes) which doesn't go anywhere, only gets in the middle of its otherwise documentary/naturalistic vision.
When the propper game starts, you're given control of some kind of ship, a cutting-edge technology that only modifies gravity to move. With that simple but powerful premise you get along, but as the game goes on it fails to expand its concepts, right from the second level you get the feeling that you're just going from point A to point B, not giving any opportunity of expression or challenge.

Exo One grows on you as its level design develops — the relatively simplistic early levels growing more complex as mechanics are added (or subtracted) and new twists are added to its stunning set of environments. And driving the player through those strange and sometimes wondrous planets is a gorgeous soundtrack filled with moody, contemplative tracks that, for me, are the game's lasting highlight. All-in-all, it's a wondrous, moody, atmospheric game that captures the scale of outer space in a way few games have.

Or, in short, it's like Denis Villeneuve decided to remake Journey and Interstellar at the same time, as a game about falling with style.

The idea of exploring other worlds, more specifically other planets, has always been my biggest dream. Science fiction has been a constant companion since my childhood and especially in video gaming that dream came true on multiple occasions. Star Wars, Mass Effect, Freelancer etc. - just to name a few, fed right into that urge to explore other places. But not just other places, more so other places that have not been ‘claimed’ by anyone.
With having migrated to Germany, I’ve had parents who were not able financially to travel a lot with us kids, so I’ve barely seen anything that didn’t resemble the same’ish landscape of Germany, other than on screen and in virtual worlds. We’ve also never owned any piece of land or a house, so I never understood the concept of that really neither. While people I grew up with told stories of places they had visited and were really familiar with the feeling of being entitled to places, for me it was always rather borrowed and temporary. My interest in the universe and space also made me see things a lot more abstractly and with larger context. It’s extremely superficial that we believe we own anything, on this earth or anywhere else. We have no control over it, it’s borrowed. Just like the places I’ve called home. And I think that’s why I love the idea of exploring exoplanets that are uncharted so much. Not only I know that these places belong to no one, but everyone else does too. It’s a baseline that gives me comfort and blurs the lines of the classism I’ve grown into. No wonder I loved spending time in No Mans Sky so much, a game that gives you the chance to literally visit places no one else has ever seen before, for as long as you’ll play it, you won’t run out of places where everyone would be the same. Start out the same. Exo One feeds into that as well, but on a different level. The places you explore here are absolutely awe-inspiring, they are from a technical standpoint as well as an artistic one. I couldn’t believe my eyes most of the time. But what made it so special to me, was, that those places really felt alien but at the same time kinda weirdly welcoming (as exoplanets per definition should be, duh!). Completely different from one another, but mostly based on very possible variations of planets.
Of course I had to love this game, so I was able to overlook some of its shortcomings: the gameplay could be described as a marble-version of a journey-esque exploration game with tiny wings mechanics. That’s a lot, I know, but these things came to my mind while playing it. The mechanics are juuuuuuuuust good enough to get you over the runtime of roughly 2 hours, the monotony of it (even though very fitting, because the sheer size of these places makes sense) might prove to be too boring for many. The mystery that’s thrown in in very tiny bits serves the game and atmosphere well, but doesn’t do anything drastic to elevate it further.
I’m pretty sure reception for this will be rather mediocre, people will like the visuals and then drop off after a while. I get that too, but I won’t ever skip a chance to explore other planets, no matter how limited my interactions are. It will always give me goosebumps and leave me in awe. And specifically now, in this period, also offers a great escapism, away from one of the most special places in an unthinkably big universe, that we collectively shit on every day.

Having a great fear of the ocean, that water planet was excruciating to play, lmao. But that tells you how immersive the game is.

It's good, but pretty basic. The ship's control feels really clunky at times, but when it works it's amazing. Graphics are…good, but at a distance. Textures look muddy up close, and some effects are not that great either (Volcano planet). Sound design heavily carries the game, and it wouldn't be as effective without it. And even though it has a story, don't expect much. It might as well be white noise.

Enjoyable, but it could be better.
★★½ – Average ✅