“...We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, and the others, too.”

- United States President John F. Kennedy's "We choose to go to the Moon", 1962 speech.

"Magnificent Speech. Ain't it? But how is it relevant?"

“Uhh well sir. Kinda evokes a similar ideology about our mission. Ya know in Outer Wilds(OW). Plus our newest astronaut for the program has some interesting logs to see. I think you should see them.”

“Hmmm. Reports are only forwarded to me urgently for outstanding experiences. And you say he has one?”

“Without a doubt sir, I think it may shed some light on why the speech is given among other things. Though do mind his first day. The results were… not pretty on initial impressions. He also tends to label our project as a game/simulation at times while referencing relative sci-fi films… Which is odd, but not harmful.”

“Hmph, I’ll be the judge of that. He better not write anything concrete. Due to the secretive nature, it’s imperative to keep things close to the chest so to speak. If I find SPOILERS in the above mediums. I’ll expel him post-haste and zero remorse.”

Log 1 - An extremely short slow, boring beginning to a grand adventure

Initially I thought learning about space and whatnot boring. Yet decades later on I couldn't help but amusingly remember those naive days. Here I am weeks after joining the program. And I must say The Outer Wilds is odd. I signed what felt like books of NDAs, and the only thing I can definitively concerning this secretive game is that it evokes a whirlwind of cathartic emotions. Steadily rising higher despite its demure appearance. Steam succinctly describes; “open world mystery about a solar system trapped in an %^&(%^& loop.” With bolded phrases such as: “Welcome to the Space Program! Mysteries of the Solar System… A World that changes over time and lastly grab your intergalactic gear!" Statements sound interesting at a glance, but nothing to entice everyone except those with an interest going farther than our little globe in real life. Pointing at the biggest question of 'how,' 'what' & 'why' during your stay here are primary motivators to unearth the beautiful diamond. And I must whisper after trying for a small amount of occasions…

My first impressions weren’t positive. I love getting to the action real quick. So when I'm delegated to walking and reading early on. Doesn’t excite me to move on especially since I already want to progress past the atmosphere. And usually, there’s a clear prerogative of what to do. Here there’s not a hand-holding overarching narrative to follow consistently. You have to build your own goals and discover what lies in the vastness of the universe a bit. A central 'plot' does exist though, so don't worry if you think this is purely a sandbox. Moreover, upon finishing the basic tutorials on thrusters, scouters, signalscope and finally getting the launch codes. Took 30 minutes flat and I was ready to sleep. However, once I entered my ship and said goodbye to my friends. Activating thrusters and Yahoo! We're in space! Didn’t have difficulty navigating the solar system… Until I ventured to a distant foreboding sphere. Where my breath was taken away and silenced. And my previous hurdles are eradicated. Wish I could march back in a hot instant to slap my past self silly for thinking ridiculous nitpicks. Because I’m so glad to be wrong.

“If it wasn’t for the last sentence. I would’ve ordered you to flag him for disposal.”

“B-b-boss?”

“Nevermind. The 2nd record better impress. Or else…”

Log 2 - Appreciating the fear of the unknown

I’ll try to describe my emotions on the first planet. Any interstellar film or game worth its salt needs to evoke the presence of horror, hopelessness, anxiety, and tension. We can use examples from earlier works like Alien(1979) by Ridley Scott or Mass Effect(2007) series. The former needs no introduction where we see struggling survivors encountering a deadly alien threat. Managing to keep our suspense intact and the ‘surprise’ of what occurs in the future moving. Among other elements of horror such as fear. The latter presents a decent spread of hostile and friendly species to converse. Yet the traits differ. You never know what to expect despite talking to them. The element of ‘surprise,’ is inherent in the above aspects. Thus I am treated to a host of emotions I find unsettling. But not off-putting. The closest example I think is during a segment of Independence Day(1996). Where the protagonist must venture off on a final mission. Not a spoiler, most films have this action during the last act. A final hurrah. I felt a sense of uncertainty despite cautiously maneuvering my small vessel in an unknown place. Feeling lost and embracing the zero-g is a sense I felt intimately. The sentiment is further connected to a growing climb of wonder and excitement. Upon discovering something I found incredible and increased my resolve to learn further.

“Boss, you’re smiling.”

“What?! Nonono bits of food stuck in my mouth, had to move my teeth a bit.”

A cough is heard.

“A-anyway let’s move onto the 3rd report please.”

Log 3 - Fleeting wonder and magically enraptured from beginning, middle, and end

One of the main pillars is Wonder and magic is everywhere. The sensation of actually embarking on a solo declaration is fulfilling. Discovering new facets you seldom knew before is equally as powerful. Encountering and struggling against different varied biomes is a treat both planet-wise and in astral territory. Mirrors our lived life in making goals and acting upon them in a unfamiliar environment. Ya know the first moment you see snow? And you wanna build a snowman immediately? Remember those memories. The awe and jaw drops are plentiful. I’m reminded of the second when I first became enchanted by Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace(1999). Not because of the cool action sequences as a kid, but the big ol question mark on my face witness Tatooine. A harsh desert with a cornucopia of species living around. Beyond the nearly unlivable conditions, my eyes were glued to the racers speeding along the canyon highways in a deadly race. Different from NASCAR, the Olympics, horse racing and plenty vehicular competitions out there. The phenomenon never escaped as I climbed higher in age brackets. Games and films both share a wonderful quality to capture something different, and unique. We gaze and transport ourselves into a fictional world to our liking, dislike and nuances in between. Exploring, discovering, being lost, trails connecting pieces of lore. And starting anew, reborn with the knowledge gained. A gratifying cycle emerges. I can’t escape. But do I need to? Hmmm…

Capturing the immediate and prolonged interest of any individual varies. The dullness I experienced initially reversed course upon investing additional time. Helped by a strong point. Every 22 minutes a [censored] occurs. [Re%^&*ing] my character with intact launch codes. And crucial wisdom gained previously. Ready to start another venture. I wasn’t enthused on the mechanic early on. But after hours passed by unnoticed, I realized it's an innovative narrative helper. Demonstrating the consequences of our historical actions and what methods we can induce next. Not adhering to strictly player-centric design. The state of everything continues with or without our actions and causes self-reflection. The last point is significant. I’ll touch on it later as I dive into the process of elimination and frustration. On the opposite side, I calmly steered my cruiser to another location since the previous place scared me enough to not travel back there till I scrounged up extra courage. I traveled to a decently fast-moving object which I didn’t think was possible. Landed surprisingly safely. I was riding high on the accomplishment. Until I came upon an old recording. Turns out an ancient civilization left their findings! I learned a clue and after checking what I could, which isn’t a whole lot. I return to my vessel. Only to witness it’s not there! I recall what my translator deciphered revealing the cause. I facepalmed not registering the different data prior to later. I promptly yeeted myself into the sun to restart. What a horrible 2nd try. On my third attempt, I traveled to a fresh site.

You know the idiomatic expression the third time's the charm? Well let me tell you how it's true. I can’t dive into specifics of what I saw. In terms of relatability and vibes, I found it breathtaking. An animated film I still love today is called Treasure Planet(2002). A story about a young lad coming across stories of a cool wandering pirate with the ability to disappear with nary a trace. To the point he has amassed a great treasure. Enchanted by his tales, he resolves to follow in similar footsteps. I won’t discuss anymore, but if you splice the movie with Interstellar(2014)’s planetary discovery, with displayed awe in both protagonist's facial expressions. Then you can figure out what my face turned into. The sentiment is unsurpassed and instantly hooked me to delve deeper into the cosmos and what mysteries to unearth, understand, and utilize to the fullest extent. The magic of discovering other passages connecting to clues and answering my questions left me satisfied to a greater degree I would equate to circumspect. A notion I love to bits when connecting wonderful lorebuilding.

“Hmmm. I don't appreciate disclosing the exact minutes, but I'm happy he at least censored the important bits. To leave fresh greenies their own imagination.”

Gently smiling. The assistant silently passes the 4th transcript. Wondering if it was a trick of their eye, but they swear a slight smirk instantly emerged before vanishing. A blink if you miss it event.

Log 4 - For now a little step. Later, a giant leaps for lorebuilding

The fourth spot I journeyed to I would equate to a familiar segment from Interstellar(2014) except mixed with an animated film called Titan A.E(2000). Both deal in matters of heavy topics I won’t spoil. But it is deep and conjures mature themes. Enhancing OW’s careful lore building. Mirrors similar human fascination with space and what can we glean from minute information given to us using advanced technology. Using a suit and gadgets helps us to create a better picture. Although it can be hypothetical we can at least infer with evidence and prove claims. Therefore, I can’t help but smile whilst I'm reading texts of dialogue again where previously I thought was boring.

The genius of worldbuilding worth its salt is the ability to strongly capture an individual’s attention and let the user form their conclusions based on information given from religion, culture, laws, physics, and other info. There's merit in connecting. In video games, we discern this through dialogue given by NPCs and books we can read. Two elements work in tandem to enrich the player beyond the main plot. For better or worse, we identify an excess and perhaps too little in some cases. Here, a careful methodology concerning the non-handholding story and vital lore texts emerges. Maximized to the fullest effect I'm astounded to witness from a non-RPG. And I’ve played a decent amount removing the RPG element. What blows my mind further is the placement of lore exercised to the fullest limit. Knowledge is extremely instrumental in conducting further actions. Thereby the primary strengths result in the varied text. Ancients in humorous stories and hobbies full of quirks yet it doesn’t detract from their passion in their craft. Goals, missions, incentives, and purpose all become linked and shared. Far from piling an ever-stuffing pinata or treated to a plate made by a five-star restaurant. Rather familiar... a certain fella I watched growing up from Discovery channel. Dr. Michio Kaku who can break complex terms into explanations like I'm five format. With a dash of compelling interest. Then cooked to an extent I'm savoring the taste. With the power of my handy ship reports, I can connect lore automatically. Arrows lead me to my next destination based on evidence previously. And data entries compiling alternative bits to complete an informational packet. Categorized, neatly in concise portions of longer post-it notes. It is a miniature, but effective companion twisting the noggins in my brain not too hard unlike the Talos Principle. Disregard thinking it could be a chore. Quite the opposite.

Throwing out conventional design. From coding to world-building- constructing a trail that is rich, emotive helped by sound design, and purposeful. Yet it does not retain the intrinsic building blocks we usually associate with storytelling; the character ‘A,’ will detail information to us to character ‘B.’ We read text records instead. Some may see this as boring as hell as did I, early on. But stick with it, and you will see the splendor of their capabilities. The genius and creativity of the writings revolve back to the narrative, the curiosity. Then the question arises. What is the underlying incentive that moves the participant so much to continue? I’ll answer that by pointing to the sky beyond our planet and asking “What lies beyond outer space? And what else can we derive from there?” The incentives look plain, but usher in a tug-of-war gently luring me into the mystery and eating the delicious carrot. And it's funny because my philosophy teacher posited multiple questions to extrapolate from anything similar to the pursuit of education, and the limits of our current understanding of science. He used a pencil as an example. Why is it sharp? Why is the material wood? Can it be broken? What is the eraser made of? How long does it take to create a single pencil? What’s the cost? Why am I using a pencil instead of a pen? These questions can be applied coming across each concept or tangible stuff during a sweep in OW. Yet it doesn’t become a chore to look underneath every nook and cranny. Purpose and clues which lead to further clues and discoveries in a cyclical manner rewarding the patient and observer. Listening and understanding are key component blocks in understanding things greater than we initially perceive. Lean into the minimalistic design without being overbearing. There is enough to ride the fine line of not extracting over-complicated to the point of excess. And I 100% believe 99% of everything here is gold. Loan Verneau(Other designer) emphasizes the characteristics from a 2020 Noclip documentary.. “Minimalism is actually advantageous.”

“Boss, here’s some grub. You should eat ya know.”

“Yeah yeah don’t worry, I'll eat when I finish chronicle 5. Don’t worry.”

The assistant turns around, rolls his eyeballs around, and cheekily smirks as he watches his employer avidly reading more entries. He nonetheless hands him the fifth log.

Log 5 - Secrets, have secrets. And the critical usage of tools

Much in a minuscule vein of the Marvel Cinematic Universe(MCU) Avenger films, there’s always a layer behind a character or plot and usually you can apply the concept to films and videogames in reading behind the scenes or underneath the underneath. Underlying messages, themes, and possibly commentary on a variety of issues without implicitly being said. OW operates similarly. I follow breadcrumbs, I learn additional details, shifting the layers of my comprehension from literal, non-literal, lateral, etc. A delicate move that eases youngins and removes the over-complicated. Toeing the very fine edge of a black hole. Not descending entirely, but enough to make me struggle. My thinking process was in overdrive to determine various possible links. Frustration and impatience emanated from my head. Almost to the point I wanted to put this as a negative. But taking a deep breath, re-evaluating my options, the process of elimination, and a cool head kept my logical process running smoothly and not overheating such as a PC.

I hesitate to call this a 'puzzle' cause it's not. In the vein of Portal & Talos Principle. Where it is clear and linear of what you have to do. Definitely puzzle inspired. Elements through the environment in a non-intrusive manner. Designed in a way to be beginner-friendly yet as you gradually hit the end credits slowly ramp up. Not too cryptic and not too direct. Easy to connect the dots in my opinion. Forgive me for not enclosing the exact method or describing further, once again spoiler territory. But if you enjoy those ‘puzzles’ I mentioned earlier, then probably the process is favorable of how the developers implemented here. Tying to the lore and narrative. Enriching my overall experience, akin to pursuing an oasis in the desert after days of not eating or drinking. I was hungry, thirsty, and ravenous to continue. Here’s a hint, use the rumor and ship records to help you pinpoint possible solutions. It may not matter much early on but try to make it a habit to check. The results will surely surprise you.

Moreover, the tools gained are used to the fullest effect. You can attain most of them by equipping your suit. But also don’t forget about them! I can’t track the countless occasions I died forgetting to equip my gear. Don’t be a silly fool like me. Remember! It’s dangerous to go alone! Take this! A special craft, jetpack, scouter, translator, signalscope, A reliable suit equipped with an oxygen tank and fuel for the jets! You’ll need these essential tools before descending on new ground. Lest you die of lack of oxygen heh. The tools are a nice fusion mixing into the raw fun immediately. In expected and unexpected ways. I lost sight of my liner. Heh easy peasy, I use my jetpack to jettison slightly into the atmosphere where I can behold an overview of the planet I'm currently on. And it's fun wrestling with different forces of gravity. A past memory allowed me to soar freely, enjoying the freedom of zero-g. And testing the effects of denser gravity life. Is a super struggle to jump a mere foot. Such careful implementation, where physics and movement are acted upon deserves special praise. Always fun to test out various gravitational fields and actively maneuvering my ship based on my momentum is satisfying by demonstrating you can’t easily become a master with enough tools and tricks at your disposal. Revolves back to always something fresh to learn and discover and using that knowledge is priceless.

Navigation I found to my pleasant surprise isn’t tough. To me, I found the experience easy to get a sense of orientation to decide your ensuing travel destination. Helped by the fact you have your globe compass. Thankfully entire locations are not absurdly complex. Plenty of locations are developed with care. Distinct enough to stand on its own. Standing in the middle of nowhere, you undoubtedly easily find themselves lost on where to forge next! Well, my friend the signalscope is a radar, compass, and a handy sound detector. Simply following the source can lead to incredible discoveries! A reliable suit can protect you from various hazards so keep an eye on your health! It’s not just the vastness of the unknown that can be scary. I’m reminded of the warning Stephen Hawking once said regarding alien civilization. Maybe that will help or not. Who knows… Anyway! You should use the scouter. While it seems useless in the beginning to throw a pocket-size machine out in the distance rendering images such as mobile Mars rovers. Invaluable in checking out what’s in the distance. You rarely know what kind of matter you’ll come across. If safe to land, dangerous terrain to traverse, hell the additional light source emanating is vital in scouting too! In the darkest of moments, I determine solace in the illumination. Lastly, a handy translator to decipher old texts. Minus this little guy, I probably would’ve quit entirely! A tool to transcribe what was said long ago. Man. Wish we had this for our main cast back in Arrival(2016).

“Arrival is a damn fantastic film! A must watch along with the other sci-fi films touched on.”

“I agree, boss. Weird they haven’t watched Kubrick’s famous space film. Think he could’ve had substance to articulate about him.”

“True, perhaps they have not watched the film yet… Shame.

“Best of the best… Ah, here's the latest text.”

Log 6 - It's okay to make mistakes. History is full of them

I believe one of the hardest and maybe underappreciated qualities is to capture the attention of an individual for a prolonged period depending on the fun factor. Overcoming obstacles, finding new treasures, discovering secrets, winning against an opponent completing an objective, and my favorite is learning supplementary erudition that can be used retroactively to encounter alternate paths and solutions to obstacles. A slice different from metroidvanias with required items/abilities to progress. Similar, but different from how a rogue-lite conducts after failure. Operates by handing you enough necessary devices, not ability-gating, but sending them off at their own pace is an immensely enjoyable endeavor. 'If you can go there, you can reach it.'

But also exhibit a manageable learning curve. Thereby allowing astronauts and astralfarers to continue unabated without major insurmountable hurdles. A phenomenal example is akin to Mario falling into the abyss and we restart immediately is a simple and earliest example. Here the presence of failure and not giving up is palpable. Embracing mistakes can often lead to interesting outcomes. Making the most of what you can do within a limited ordeal reminded me heavily of my recent trip to Japan. Where I tried to do the most of what I could physically do while staying within ‘x’ amount of days. You have to embrace the logistics and persevere to rise above average motions to do as much as possible. Granted you don’t have to follow the ideology to a T. I love doing whatever you want at your leisure.

My experience in Japan was a proverbial light-bulb in parallel history of what I conducted. I didn’t come to this realization til dozens of attempts of failing, dying, and befuddlement. Concerning the failed attempts. I stand and try again. It is why I appreciate the [blank] loop occurring within 22 minutes clever. Sure a restart is feasible, but considering the full breadth is not player-centric. Enough distinct events occur within a small time frame. I won’t bring out anything explicit. But this core facet is a robust pillar holding up what makes OW remarkable. I’m reminded of the Apollo program to reach the moon after a world superpower equivalent entered the race by sending Yuri Gagarin as the first person to fly in past our blue home. Countless citizens of the Liberty Nation felt fear of being left behind. I was never born during that era, but the texts in history books detail the significance greatly of landing on the moon. The sensation of rivalry, anxiety, feasibility, capability, and what if’s are borne fruit within the OW project. How many adventures will my tiny craft be able to exert? Before I redo the whole start again? What untouched goals can I scrounge aside from virtually landing on my moon? Can I fulfill my mission parameters? And most importantly why am I doing this myself?

As a student and lover of world history: encompassing socio, technological, cultural, and countless others. Fascinating to grasp, but also our experiments to blast outside our atmosphere. The simulator has an alluring way of increasing my curiosity constantly. By approaching early interstellar travel through a museum. You don’t need to understand everything inside, but I find what’s displayed enchanting. Unseen creatures cute but terrifying. Text writing given in an untraditional manner. Artifacts changing senses of physical orientation and the mysterious Nomai talked in reverent tones leave me intrigued for new material. Teasing me, luring me to learn extra. It's lovely, the devs managed to send me into a similar fascination I had long ago as a young lad. I was enthused on entire interstellar matters and reliving the experience now. In a distinguishable manner by actively transforming a viewer's perspective into that of an active participant. “I read tales of cosmos history” takes on a whole new meaning when I traveled to the “moon and beyond.”

Despite my slight struggle in the beginning. The journey is bloody significant it in my honest opinion. It's up to you to decide the methodology a journey will advance. They say ignorance is bliss. And knowledge is power. Blah blah blah. Entertain the two notions and subsequently witness a slow, but gripping plot of pioneers embarking on treacherous expeditions and meritwhile voyages. Embracing the unknown like a partner steadily balancing their fear on a tightrope. To what end? Up to you! For what awaits fellow travelers mainly a wonderful trek to the stars.

Log 7 - My Mixed Feelings is Zero, as I Expected

I’ll be frank. I have zero mixed feelings. No negative nitpicks, and frustrations were due to the fact of my inability to jump the gun and Rambo my way to the credits. A shameful bad habit I still have trouble deterring myself from. Although, I’m glad I played until I finished the final act. The lesson I gently reminded is exercising a lesson in patience. Breathing deeply and re-focusing on my priorities whilst undergoing a process of elimination. Determining what I haven’t explored and what I couldn’t pass before, but with extra information gained. Surely I can do what I was unable to before. The backtracking wasn’t a sore spot. And sure the beginning can be slow, but I believe it's worth delving into to understand fully the tutorials. Gently nudging the player through the do’s and don’ts of star travel and the dangers that come in your travels. I’m at a sheer loss to add anything concrete regarding suggestions and I cannot for the life of me conjure meaningful examples. Everything is self-contained and at your disposal to succeed. Mayhap a gentle reminder that self-reflection is key and organizing your next list of priorities transitions into an easier task to undergo were vital to remember. Here’s a tip reviewing what you already accomplished might bring a different insight. Keep notes my friends!

“Kid already left huh? Damn. My is stomach hungry. But that can wait. I have naught urge to eat nor sleep right now.”

“Funny, I too experienced the same feelings after I entered the organization.”

Log 8 - Stories & mysteries. A positive appraisal

I always love heavy stories. It's the primary reason I look for within the medium. Everything else 2nd. So I'm extremely shocked to play a title where the plot is [redacted] in a way I didn’t expect. I’m no stranger to storytelling methods of unreliable narrators, ludo narrative dissonance, and connecting essential literary elements to craft a compelling plot. A climax full of importance and gawking. Supposedly with a loveable cast as well. I received none of these yet achieved an indescribable experience using a non-traditional progression. Which I find enormously challenging to describe in minute details. Within the confines of the simulator, I encountered many memories I don’t believe I'll forget. A stack I reminisce fondly. An aspect, so moving is a solid top quality. Ever seen any seven wonders on Earth? Or presumably some iconic nature-made landscape to leave you breathless? Same energy! In my struggle, all that's left are the sensations conjured during the moment and everlasting memories. Usually, players detail the conclusion as the ultimate moment. Others, the journey. And for a certain side the beginning. As I take my final steps into the end credits I can chiefly remark that everything is priceless, precious, and potent passion resonating to my very heart.

“Yes, I do agree the overarching story has incredible value striving towards. It's enormously challenging to display in a raw form. But I sincerely and wholeheartedly agree with their assessment.”

“Oh man, two left. Nights getting late… I have work in the morning... Meh I'll keep reading.”

Log 9 - Tips, hints, and a single weird outlier- A confession and the choice

Despite what I said early on with having zero mixed feelings I will confess to using a FAQ and hint guide near the very last stretch of my playthrough. I won’t say specifics. I primarily missed two things but I already knew beforehand and the execution. I simply missed the diminutive connection. This isn’t advocating to check FAQ or a guide. Merely suggesting if you need help. Or contacting a close friend. A blind playthrough is still highly recommended. However, this doesn’t deter me from gently conveying if you’re struggling to be careful of spoiling yourself on YouTube or a harmful thumbnail blatantly showing what to expect. It is extremely rare I would resort to such a tactic considering 99%, I found everything by myself and I suspect if I hadn't checked I would’ve eventually found the answer. I don't think there’s harm in searching for hints/tips since its impossible for every person to be on the same wavelength in understanding and processing logical thinking. It's why we don’t notice universal praise 100% of the time and barely to none flaws in every single product made. There’s always something to remark.

“Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I’ll give their assessment a valid shake. It's honestly impossible to make a program and run to the finish line. Hitting the mark consistently. Playing blind to successfully reaching the ending every instances without help. The ultimate undertaking is still not within our capability. But by fine-tuning it we can achieve a close number to the triple digits. I believe Noclip demonstrates the history and the multiple developmental iteration stages in getting there. Seems the work was very challenging, but worth it. Cool guys. Was nice watching behind the scenes.”

“Oh. The last texts…”

Log 10 - The Final Log

I think the testament to a magnificent quality is the ability to grab anyone from any reasonable age and outside of searching for auxiliaries fully explore and in their understanding comprehend what is given. To an extent where the player deeply appreciates what is conveyed through memorable experiences, deep themes and reigniting a blazing heart of what makes videogames so moving. In neither too complex nor too simple aspects. Rather it strives to hit every range in the spectrum to capture the essence of what I feel is the zenith of pure discovery, supreme wonder, and incredible satisfaction through the act of accomplishment. At the very core, the devs toe the fine line to the point of frustration. Excelling in qualities I look for. And punches its weight limit beyond the super heavyweight class. Heck, shooting for 100% isn’t required either! You don’t need to worry on performance achievements. They're akin to extra credit points. A relief in my eyes. Thereby lodging a wonderfully thoughtful fun loop that keeps me coming back frequently until the final track is conveyed. Danny O'Dwyer, from Noclip puts it in the best way possible.

“...Outer Wilds is more than the sum of its parts. It's the type of game that leaves you with a feeling that can’t be explained. It has to be experienced.”

I echo the same sentiment. The herculean effort the developers at Mobius Digital created is truly one of a kind. Infrequently have I played a science fiction type hitting utterly the things I love and fear from the cosmos yet contained in a moving revolving door of themes tiny and grand. I found the grand finish line of my expeditions. Sure there were bumps on the road to get there. But OW travelers experiences hardship differently and manages to resolve them in a method to their satisfaction. For me. The venture was arduous yet left me with a marvelous sense of immense satisfaction. A sensation anyone knows intimately. Whether it's to defeat the most difficult boss, triumph over the hardest puzzle, climb the tallest pillar, or journey a thousand miles whilst completing many mini-challenges. The same feeling never escapes. The moment of victory, the HUZZAH always reigns supreme. A phenomenal caliber reverberates in spades beyond my imagination. Always surprised me to the nth degree yet ne'er blew my suspension of disbelief into a catastrophic supernova. Elevating by not prescribing to conventional designs. Connecting the sweet Chekov’s gun beautifully comparable to an intricate web. Whereupon I was helplessly comprehending every morsel of lore and thus achieved a peak Everest of worldbuilding. Through gaining knowledge. And harnessed to the maximum effect. Removing egregious copy paste areas. This wasn’t the largest universe I’ve explored, nor the prettiest graphically nor does it contain a tour de force soundtrack and an always gripping plot to unearth coupled with a loveable cast. Doesn’t hit the limit of fun gameplay. Outer Wilds is none of these. Yet the sum of its parts as Danny eloquently said earlier along with playing as blind as possible are the hallmarks benefiting an increased multiplier to the X degree. Tying the above to excellent points by a duct tape machine and launching my ship to uncharted territory is an unparalleled impression.

I implore any curious souls looking for an excellent sci-fi space adventure such as this as a one hell of a wake up palette cleanser to try between games, game pass, or even if they had an experience a stark contrast to mine then that’s entirely fair and valid. What matters is how your journey started, during, and ended. What you find at the closing of the day is the sincerest conclusion you reached with both hands and mind. Literally and figuratively. For better or worse. The cosmos exists, but so do we. And thus we venture forth to the stars. Undeterred, unbowed, and unflinchingly in the face of its daunting expanse, striving past our normal means. Similar in some respects to a tiny excerpt from a famous speech proposed decades ago.

.
.
.

"Oh by the way Boss. I have something to report-"

The assistant gradually opens the door to the office. There he spies his superior sleeping soundly in the chair snoring softly. Peering closer he witnesses the final log close to his chest.

He sighs softly and gathers a jacket nearby to drape over him. But in doing so, a light object falls to the ground.

A piece of paper.

“Oh for me?”

The assistant reads the confines slowly. Eyes growing wider as paragraphs fly by until...

A single final line…

10/10 - Get me their number. We need to talk.

References and additional material:
1962 - JFK Moon speech
2020 - The Making of Outer Wilds - Documentary by Noclip
Before I play: Outer Wilds - Useful tips!
Spoiler safe FAQ - literally saved my bacon. No joke
My spoiler thoughts of Outer Wilds
Special thanks to Hotpoppah, _YALP & Phantasm for recommending OW to me.

It's good. You know it's good. You know why it's good. It uses its medium to the full potential in terms of story, gameplay, etc. etc. It kind of makes most other games worse by proximity because they weren't as good at being games as Outer Wilds is. Also one of the few pieces of media to make me shed a few tears, even if after the fact.

Everything else to say has probably already been said so instead I'll bitch about something that doesn't matter at all: I see fans say shit like "u'll never experience it again u can never replay :(((" It's like, yeah, that applies to fuckin' everything! That's sort of a big contributing factor to why this is special! Experiences are always fleeting, positive ones moreso. Cherish your memories but don't wallow in them; move on in the hopes to experience even greater things, ya damn redditor.
I think it rubs me the wrong way cause gamers seem tired of how bloated, stretched out, and unoriginal modern games can be but then their first response to something new and exciting is "no replayability. too short. i want moree. sequel when?" Like, you're part of the problem! That type of feedback is why almost every good game this year has been a remake or a sequel, they're just giving us what we ask for which is more of the same. This is probably a human nature thing and I'm just as much of a perpetrator of this as anybody (Silksong when?).
Wait, what was I doing? Was this a review for something?

(Includes Echoes of the Eye DLC)
(Mastered because I got all the achievements)

"The pain of your absence is sharp and haunting, and I would give anything not to know it; anything but never knowing you at all (which would be worse)."

sexy mutyumu recommended this to me as part of this list thanks dude

possibly the greatest metaphor of life every time you get closer to the end of the world the game makes you embrace your death and still makes you willing to live those last seconds to the fullest

sometime ago i started outer wilds and dipped almost instantly when i got into the solar system gameplay because whatever i felt so overwhelmed that my most authentic reaction was to close the game and never touch it again

i booted it again some days ago and ended up addicted to it to the point that i would play it for hours and hours straight until i uncovered all the secrets of this stupid fucking solar system i cannot tell you how much cocaine they put in this game to get me THIS hooked honestly

outer wilds base premise is as simple as absolutely effective and wondrous . youre a space explorer from a little village in a small world you get to know its fellow inhabitants and begin to learn the characteristics of the world around you and whats incredible is the fact that all this actually acts as a tutorial for what youre gonna do for the rest of the game playing hide and seek with the kids helps you understand how to use the frequency sensor you can use a little space ship model that acts the same as your space ship you can go to the cave to help repair some parts of an inner equipment stuff that makes you accustomed to both zero gravity movement and your jetpack and how to repair your ship you can begin to use the multipurpose probe and translate some forgotten language stones and use the inside of the museum to get to know some particular stuff that you wont know until later how actually useful it is and this is only the BEGINNING of the incredible variety of stuff you get to do in this fucking game

the synopsis is this you go to the museum and the historian there introduces you to a lost civilization that disappeared some time before for some unknown reasons and also some other explorers of the space company who went missing for some other reasons and while you ask some other stuff you go get the codes to begin your trip in the outer space and when you do that a nomai statue at the entrance of the museum opens its eyes stares at you and you get back to when you wake up like it was all a dream

after this weird shit you get to finally begin this endless travel in your galaxy to discover the secrets of the nomai and where they have gone

now i will talk about some in depth not super spoiler heavy stuff and then some heavy story stuff so if you want to go completely blind stop now since i only talked about the beginning

MILD SPOILER AHEAD

as soon as you go travel and do your stuff you get to know your surroundings theres some different planets with different qualities and quirks and while you travel you understand something very grim as soon as you reach 22 minutes the sun goes supernova and will explode and gorge on every single molecule of the solar system causing your death and making you realize that youre in a neverending loop due to something out of your control you will always begin your travel again at the campfire and from there begin your exploration anew

understanding how the planets work is something so thrilling in this game i cannot even begin to tell you every single one is an incredible discovery i dont know the names in english so i will talk about them in italian sorry yall

cuore legnoso is the first planet you get to visit because its also the home of the teporiani and you will also begin to understand that this is also the only planet with some good atmospheric conditions for life to thrive and although its fairly resembling earth its actually full of geysers all around that conceal some incredible secrets too whats also cool is that some of these planets also got some satellites like cuore legnoso got sfrido where you can fine one of the stranded explorers and thats freaking fun i love these 2 planets

gemello cenere and gemello brace really push forward the concept that youll get to understand throughout the game some planets change aspect and theres some limited time events in these 22 minutes and no other planet has more drastic transformations than these 2 they basically become completely different due to the fact that most of the sand from one planet gets to the other one and whatever and yeah these two are basically interconnected and one is more of a cavern mass and the other is ruins below sands kind of vibe also love them

vuoto fragile is also kind of weird because its entirely hollow apart from the surface the center hosts a black hole that will eat whatever gets close to it and the near satellite will get some vulcano debris on it and slowly the surface of the planet will fall in the black hole in whatever other part of the galaxy also interesting

profondo gigantesco is full of tornados and islands getting thrown left to right and has a distinct thick atmosphere and has a electromagnetic core that also has some weird consequences to the entire planet

rovo oscuro is the most hostile of them all some intergalactic plant took control of a planets life and crushed it and now sits on the center of it if you enter youre gonna be welcomed by foggy environments spaces that have no sense and contrast the basic rules of space and time and some huge monstrous anglerfish floating around and giving you the worst panic attack on existence i kid you not

l’intruso floats around the galaxy and as the name implies its not really part of the solar system you can see that its orbit is actually off centered and is completely entirely frosted

believe me or not you will get to know the entirety of all these planets how their different gravities work and at some point youll begin to move so fast because youre going to travel to these places so many fucking times its gonna be implanted in your brain trust me

all these planets have some places of interest that can give you hints on some different mysteries youre gonna look for and the ship log is gonna help you with that

the ship is full of stuff like tutorials and different equipments and even this mythical ship log thats gonna give you a map of the stuff you have discovered or that you have yet to discover now my recommendation is just to go fuckinf blind and fail and die and do all your stuff until youre ready to get into some deep lore territory and also you have to understand how every planet works and how to exploit their characteristics to your advantage

the ship log got some different threads to let you know which one youre following like theres a log group for the quantum moon or a log for the eye of the universe or a log for the twin project so youre gonna know what to do next somehow i mean it can feel kind of daunting in the beginning but slowly you will get the hang of it because this game is designed to hell and back for fucking christ

before delving into spoiler territory some more stuff about the game

the fact that they managed to create a seamless miniature solar system in a game working in real time and with so many different aspects working at the same time is something i wont ever understand how they managed to do something like this is beyond me like theres some teleportations devices that work when some planets align like how do you even DO that its fucking insane what the hell

and yknow using the jetpack and the ship can feel pretty difficult to use but traversing the deep space begins to feel easier and easier after playing for some time so you dont have to worry about that

the puzzle designs of this game also took me by surprise im not a huge puzzle guy yknow that but i was astounded by the fact that they managed to put some great puzzles that dont go into the frustration territory but actually reward you if you get to explore a bit of the surroundings or if you have explored another planet before that actually got something to do with the puzzle at hand and somehow they dont feel overwhelming theyre the environmental kind of puzzles like idk portal or shit like that but they really make you feel good about doing them because you get to piece together some stuff yourself or get to know how precisely something works like probably the greatest example is the quantum moon which is by itself a big ass puzzle level and to complete it you have to get some intel about the quantum stuff from other planets and actually experiment with quantum objects yourself thats fucking clever kudos to you designers

the art design is kinda streamlined if you ask me theres nothing really outstanding about it apart from the individual character designs which actually feel intelligent and look really nice even though teporians look pretty different from your usual design for some obvious reasons again the art style is going for the kind of not too realistic kind of cartoony vibe and somehow really work with this over realistic solar system and then again the art style there is not about the art itself but how they space and use the different models and quirks of the planets to make them feel alive and breathing like theyre living beings in this galaxy too

SFX obviously got implemented to the story like a shining jewel it would not feel the same with the incredible work put in that department water sand fire every natural element is speaking to you and still as soon as you begin to translate the words of the nomai youre struck with sad fucking piano oooooooooooOOOOOOOO youre in for an emotional ride

and the music in itself is pretty scarce and simplistic but boy when it hits IT HITS the melody you hear whenever the sun is approaching its end is some of the most haunting beautiful tragic warm whatever other adjective tune you will hear in the entirety of the game and when you connect the fact that this is the tune of the end of the galaxy it gets so much more emotional thats basically the song of “thats it bro . youre dead accept your demise and try again next time” its absolutely beautiful and the fact that you can see the sun slowly dying and exploding is so beautiful that i would just sit and stare at the end of it all while there was a spectacle of colors eating the life out of the planets you cannot escape

some other music plays out in different points like when you discover some nomai settlements or read some very bad stuff on the walls or when you travel to some special locations really the music in this game really add to the atmosphere which is already pretty rich and particular really theres no game that made me feel like this like just wandering around the galaxy and either fear the endless void or just vibe with its beauty but nothing will ever beat the somber and emotional track that plays out right at home this is possibly the most powerful music in the game and it only gets even better when you just sit there in front of the campfire and taste some marshmallows or like when you get to the sun station and you realise the incredible jump you have to make to unravel its secrets and this plays out or the tune you get to hear throughout the game that really gives you the chills because it feels like home or like this fucking theme that plays out whenever something sad to the nomai happens and particularly i think about the scene where you get to the escape pod 3 in rovo oscuro and you find them just dead floating around looking miserable and the log turns into nomai grave and THAT THEME PLAYS and one of the most beautiful one of all the theme that plays when you get the last piece of the puzzle that is a remix of the theme of the sun exploding and thats pretty breathtaking if you ask me

last but not least the UI design in this game is absolutely incredible from the simple buttons you have to press to the detailed yet easy to use ship log to the different ingame aspects that reflect what youre doing like the light sticks (i dont know how to call them) of the ship lighting in the direction youre doing or your jetpack giving you some tridimensional arrows to tell you where youre going and what movement youre doing or like the different objects youre gonna use or even something so stupid as the nomai speech reading thats something that you will do for the entirety of the game and its pretty interesting how the nomai got this written form that develops in spirals or like even the fact that youre gonna use some scrolls or some plates to read what they are saying this game really is incredible what the fuck

and the fact that you make yourself this game you can take your time you can explore what you want in what order you want thats absolutely top notch game design no achievements no rewards no objects no new abilities no linear exploration NOTHING its just you the space around you and your neverending curiosity to discover whats happening to you and the world around you

ok anyway HEAVY SPOILER TERRITORY

getting to slowly understand the nomai whereabouts is absolutely terrifying and beautiful at the same time like theres this distant civilization that got a reading somewhere in the galaxy of an object that for them is like a god a supernatural being they really begin to do everything in their power to get closer to this thing that they also hypothesize it could not even care about them like it could be a random object that randomly sent a wave in their direction and they thought it was a message from a messiah or something like thats a banger incipit and all of this you get to know by reading their scrolls around the worlds

a thing that really got to me is when you see murals about how the nomai found a species of non intelligent beings in cuore legnoso and how theyre actually gonna develop into the teporians making you REALLY understand how distant in time these beings really are and slowly you will also get to discover and understand and also use their different constructions and devices since theyve been in this galaxy for a long time they actually left some many different scrolls around the planets even some villages and even constructed some hi tech stuff for the purpose of finding this fucking eye and yknow whats really incredible ?

the nomai wanted to send a probe through an orbital cannon into space to actually get to find this eye but since its an infinitesimal chance to find it in the outer space but to actually do that they actually created the twin project to send the result of the probe back in time of 22 minutes to reuse it an indefinite amount of time so to find this object in the outer space but the power that would take to use this device amounts to the power of a supernova and what the nomai wanted to do is actually cause a supernova so they tried to make the sun explode but were unsuccessful and then died out before the project could be set in motion and thats where you get back to the players time and now the 22 minutes rule all of the sudden makes sense because when the supernova happens the consciousness of the player is sent back in time for another probe to be shot out and as i was saying yknow whats incredible ? the fact that whenever you wake up you see the cannon in profondo gigantesco shoot the probe THIS IS FUCKING INCREDIBKE PH MY GOFOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD

due to the connection to the statues of memories the player and another guy are the only one that can actually remember what the shit happens in this time loop and thats also the reason for the player to understand how to stop this from happening and what better way to actually find the eye of the universe oh yes baby

DISCLAIMER if you arrived here you probably have finished the game or else youre fucking stupid so im not gonna talk about all the other plot points because it would take so much fucking time to tell you how massive this games story actually is but the segment in the quantum moon where you talk with solanum using plates due to language barrier is probably one of my favourite stuff in the universe and anyway every single thing of this game is incredible exploring the ghost cities the laboratories get to piece together clues to get to the eye UGH i love this

after exploring the twin project and the core of profondo gigantesco you will get all the stuff to actually make the right thing to close this incredible game thats right getting jumpscared in rovo oscuro by the anglerfish

after getting there and finding what remains of the vessel with which the nomai got into this galaxy you put back the battery to where it belongs and input the coordinates of the eye of the universe and let the vessel take the reins

you finally get to see the eye of the universe which is nothing more nothing less than a huge as fuck mass of quantum energy that actually looks like a black hole and thats the thing that the nomai actually chased after just an unemotional aseptic huge piece of molecules and thats it they died for this because they were convinced it was some kind of ungodly being wandering around the universe just giving important signals to space races for some whatever reason

i cannot understand how they managed to create such a powerful segment in the videogame media and just then followed it with some of the most haunting segment ever

you get to see your friends again or better the quantum version of your friends again and also understand that its not only your star that is dying every single star in the universe is dying and everything is going back to 0 and actually this is something you can see if you zoom in the sky during your playthrough theres an explorer you encounter that tells you he saw 2 supernovas in one day and if you actually look for yourself the sky is FULL of supernovas so thats whats gonna happen youre gonna search for your friends and regroup the band for the last time playing the jingle you know too fucking well from your countless loops and then you create a big bang giving rise to another univers

the fucking end

after the credits you can see that 14 billion years later a solar system similar with the one youre living in is thriving and new life forms are idling in front of a campsite

i dont know what happened in me but i just started uncontrollably crying after finishing this game i swear it was like experiencing something so grand and so incredibly profound that the only thing i could do was contemplate stuff and cry about it this is just how powerful the message of this game is im not joking this is so much more than a solar system simulator and a puzzle game and a flight simulator this is a larger than life tale with messages that resonate with every human being something like hope or lack thereof struggle or relief in front of your death the concept of time and space and what it means to break it how important it is to cherish life and not be sad about it ending because thats just what happens in this vast universe

this could be one of the greatest games of all times for themes alone the legacy of the nomai and the meaning they gave to a life towards something that was actually meaningless really hurts me to talk about and i cannot stress enough how everyone should push through this game and complete it blind you wont regret it

this made me actually less afraid of death said another comments and i can really relate to that

talking about how powerful this game is would not even give it 1/100 of the justice it deserves and what you really need to do is get it boot it up and experience it first hand this is an experience like no other i have ever had and im pretty sure this review didnt really put into words how monumental this game really is but i sure know in my heart what the truth is and the truth is life is meaningless i would love to have 4 eyes

SIDENOTES OR AFTERTHOUGHTS

I think its really cool the developers thought of other endings that are influenced by what you actually do and do not do in the game if you get the core our of the twin project you will not be connected anymore to the memory mask which means if you wait for the sun to explode you will be dead for good this time game over ending BUT if you instead get out of the galaxy because there's no loop you will get the isolation ending

you can even break space time with the scout and the black and white hole warps or you can jump into the black hole in the twin project when the sun explodes and talk to yourself in the next loop (and the character actually looks beefy take that suit off pardner) or even removing the warp core and bringing it to solanum on the quantum moon and just live there as a quantum being forever I swear to fucking god the developers of this game thought of EVERYTHING

I JUST FOUND OUT THE THEME THAT PLAYS OUT DURING THE 14 BILLION YEARS LATER SCENE IS THE SAME THAT PLAYS OUT WHEN THE SUN COMES UP IN CUORE LEGNOSO NOOOOOOOOO

its also interesting to say that for the most part of the game i skimmed through the ghost matter tutorials so i didnt know i needed to use my scout but i wanted to rely on nomai because they usually have the answer for everything but nowhere do they talk about ghost matter and then i realised that 1) they tell you about ghost matter in the first 5 minutes of the game and 2) the nomai could not tell me of the ghost matter because THEY WERE FUCKING KILLED BY THE GHOST MATTER IM SO STUPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIID

just found out theres a meditate option to skip to the next loop and i just discovered it WHERE THE FUCK IS IT

the fact that theres laws of physics theres planets doing their thing theres spacetime paradoxes how can you even create something so beautiful and something that feels so alive

recently i had to process a loss in my family and as childish as it may sound like im really glad i got to play something like this that helped me an atheist to actually make some sense of life loss and love and i think i will take the messages of this game with me forever

I am so happy to say that I was able to witness a masterpiece before I died.

There is only so much that can be said about this game without straight up ruining it for blind eyes, but every minute detail packed into this work of art is crafted and intertwined with the most delicate touch to them.

There is nothing to do in this game aside from exploration and reading, yet you'll soon realize you're stuck in an incredibly enthralling mystery that fills you equally with warmth and dread. You will completely forget that the game never even gave you instructions aside from telling you to go fuck off into space and to never come back.

Finding one piece of the puzzle leads to dozens more and suffering through the pain of grasping the frustrating ship controls becomes a moment of euphoric accomplishment once you hit the ending and the mystery is completed.

This game sits in the back of my cranium constantly picking at it. I have thought about this game almost daily since finishing it and it's not really an exaggeration. I mourn the fact that I have completed this game and have done everything that I can in it. It's a very unique experience that shouldn't be explained, only witnessed. You'll understand later.

If you're looking to play this game and you just started your journey reading reviews or looking for recommendations, I suggest you be very careful how many sources you read or watch before you begin. So I'll be very careful to not spoil anything for you.

This is a game you can only ever play once. Many games send you on a narrative story with a beginning middle and end. You get more powerful abilities or items and use those to confront your next challenge. You will not unlock new abilities, you will not get new gear, you will not talk to an NPC that magically opens the path forward for you. The way you progress in this game is by how much you understand about the universe you're playing in, how well you understand the events that transpired before the game begins, and simply knowing is enough to spoil massive revelations you have. I played this game at release and I will likely always know how to beat the game within minutes of starting a new save file. I will never forget therefore I'll never be able to truly play this game ever again.

At the very base level, this is a space exploration puzzle game with "realistic" physics. Actually navigating space will be a pain in the ass at first, you will die, a lot. The solar system is very unforgiving to all your squishy parts. But every time you die, there will likely be something you could have learned if you're paying attention. And that piece of knowledge will hopefully lead you to one more bread crumb that will get you to the its emotional ending. It's the kind of game you just quietly think about for days afterwards, as if you have a feeling that you've lost something you can never get back.

The music is ungodly good. I played this game 4 years ago and still find myself humming or whistling the tunes from it. There are a few musical elements that hit at specific story points that are extremely powerful. The atmosphere (heh space puns) is lonely but full of wonder. Each major environment is extremely unique and memorable with their own gameplay elements that may be a mystery at first but once solved were right in front of your eyes the whole time.

At the core, this game hands a ball of yarn. You slowly pull the end and watch it unravel, seeing more of the unwound string as you go. The yarn becomes less tangled, you begin seeing the end and the pieces falling into place. You'll feel satisfied at your journey and what you accomplished and how far you've come, but you'll never be able to bundle that cord up in the same exact way again, you'll always know what it looks like unraveled and that's why this game is so beautiful.

Huh..? I thought this was supposed to be that Obsidian Fallout in space...?

I think the structure of this game combined with the experience it provides might be one of the more profound moments in epic gaming history. I think the fact that the path to actually beat this can be done in 20 minutes and yet you simply won't and it doesn't matter at all says a lot about videogaming. You know, as a whole. Like, as a medium or whatever. You know what I'm saying man. I think I will compare every walking sim to this in the future *I am immediately pelted by rocks by the purist walking sim fandom because this game has 3 actions tied to right click instead of 1*

I think the one thing I would maybe fault it for is the lack of a clear message. I went into this kind of expecting something a bit more substantial in terms of some tenet to take away, but it's more a brainpickler in nature. Maybe that's on me. Maybe that's on hype. I don't know. I do know it kinda prevents it from hitting my favorite games list despite probably hitting my highest rated games list. Don't ask me to explain that. It drags the game down to a downright embarrassing 5 stars instead of 5 stars (backloggd has no rating scale options)

I've been looking forward to playing Outer Wilds ever since it came out, I heard pretty much everyone who played it say that it would change your life and I didn't exactly go in with those expectations, but I thought it would be my kind of thing! I have played a good few hours of it now and bounced off it eventually each time, it's probably just not for me! I am not rating the game however because my issues with it are more to do with me than the game. I wasn't interested in reading the Nomai transcripts, I didn't feel like I had a reason to care about what happened to them, nor did I want to find out why it happened. I liked the little puzzles and discovering new things, but the reward was always a little bit more Nomai dialogue. I realised at a certain point that the game was reminding me of my job as a Tech Support wanker. I worked in a job before where each problem we were dealing with we had to resolve in 20 minutes or we needed to escalate it to a different member of the team, so naturally I got quite good at gleaning the relevant information I needed from an email or phone call about an issue as quickly as i could, discarding whatever additional fluff there was and then trying out a few ideas as to what might solve this persons problem, hopefully fix it somehow and then move onto the next one. A lot of the time it was systems I was unfamililar with and I'd just have to try and work it out during this timeframe, basically throwing your head against this alien technology until you can just about get it to work. It got to the point where you don't really care what the problem is or what is going on, just how to make it stop or go away. The outer wilds has a lot more going on than just seeing an email from Wendy again saying that the software she uses isn't working properly and then trying to work out what's going on (puzzle), while basically filtering out any superfluous information that she gives (plot) but it made me feel like I was at work enough to really grind my gears. It's clearly a brilliantly designed thing, of the stuff I found in my few hours with it I really enjoyed the statue workshop and the caverns on the planet that was slowly being filled up with sand. Unfortunately no matter how hard I tried I couldn't help but feel like I was just doing my day job and you know what, fuck that

At first you're struck by how strange it is: A grade-school mobile of a solar system literalized; a hollowed-out planet collapsing into a miniature black hole; a moon that disappears when you're not looking. The logs, clues, and glyphs are initially mystifying, even frustrating.

But you start to make connections. You hypothesize and test. You find yourself standing in the right place at the right time, discovering another facet of this clockwork world.

And then you're hooked.

Whether you take solace or discomfort in its somewhat fatalistic ending, you'll have a wonderful mystery ride regardless.

That is a hard pill to swallow, this could be one of the greatest game of all time, and it is for so many people thankfully. But some things I cannot ignore. No it's not the game being woke because they have blue skin and no pronouns. The quintessential space experience is discovery, the game opting to offer most of it in the form of text archives. Now, I understand the limited ressources of the team, but none of the in-game people writing these texts nor the content itself were anything to write home about. I just wanted a space bunny I guess. I love bunnos. Unrelated. The lack of wildlife hits you like a stinky pussay, but there's really no problem with a different scope. Kicking down on indies for their lack of budget and manpower would just be stating the obvious, while at the same time admitting being showered in creativity under limitations stops being enough and you want the paws of capitalism on a product to fully realize... mechanics, at the cost of the vision. Nah we ain't fuckin with that.

The planets were dope, they're small yet you're not allowed to view much, so you have to walk around, jump around, whatever burn some calories man (you're gonna need it in space, bucko!). After landing on a few surfaces, you realize they are surface level LOUD INCORRECT BUZZER NOISE ignore my lame joke BUT still, the scope means the planets have to be small and there is some cool spectacle discovered once you land on a given planet. Nothing as daunting in other media as the storms on Giant's End and the sand pillar on Twin Peaks (idr the name). But das what im sayinnn the wonders cease early on and the rest is grabbing enchantment table ahh texts like they're collectibles. You'd lose some of the disorientation if you made planets bigger, would anyone actually want not to jump a little too high and leave orbit like a child being dropped on his first day of school? No! They tried atleast.

The realistic space movement is genuinely amazing. It really propels up the joy of exploration. Before you even get the hang of it, it just feels cool, that's how I control in my dreams and so do you. Lemme SWOOOSH and THUMP--THUMP--THUMP and YIPPEEEE and demolish my ship, as I deserve for my travesty of a flight. It's a roguelite that's self-aware of being one, just like Hades. But this really isn't a roguelite at all, moreso... slow burn Die & Retry feat walking simulator? We get too caught up in labelling things. It's an arena fighter now. You're fighting the physics and raycasts. A guide to the qintessential indie experience once said "indie games are famous for their lack of set gender" as they mistranslated the french "genre" which both means "genre" (shocker) and gender. The marketing team should go to the MARKET to see which bitches are up for sale, the localization industry is fucked as fuck

The ending's impact landed better on some other people, I do think other scenarists have found less clumsy ways to reach that conclusion. But these people probably did drugs, so you go Outer Wilds!

If you were to ask me to pick a single game to represent each genre as a pillar of what that genre of game can accomplish, I’d hoist Outer Wilds up as the pillar of exploration games without an ounce of hesitation. Outer Wilds is a passionately made space-exploration game set in a fairly large solar system filled with several planets each with their own sets of secrets and mysteries that you are free to explore at your whim.

Outer Wilds is one of those games that you are best going in with as little knowledge as possible because ultimately this game is about the things that you learn in your journey exploring the solar system. However I think that I can still explain a little about the game's mechanics because as objectively good as this game is: the way it plays simply won’t be for everybody.

Outer Wilds does not contain any combat. It does not contain experience or skill trees. Hell, it doesn’t even have quests. Outer Wilds is entirely about exploration and 99% of your gameplay will be flying around to different planets, exploring on foot, reading logs and piecing together clues from environmental storytelling -all to further understand the mysteries that surround you.

So what even drives you in Outer Wilds? What are your goals? Well it’s simple: curiosity. Given a new spaceship and complete free reign to do whatever you want in the universe, it’s entirely up to you to decide what you want to do. There is no right path to take in Outer Wilds, no perfect guide or direction to follow. Just go wherever looks interesting and let yourself enjoy the journey.

There’s nothing else that I can really say and nothing else that you need to know. Outer Wilds is a love story to the mysteries of space and exploration. It is a love story to human curiosity and determination. It is the best exploration game I have ever played and perhaps ever will play. It is an absolute privilege to be able to experience this game, a privilege that you will only have once. This is an honest to god masterpiece and I couldn’t recommend it more if I tried.

5/5

A feat of gaming.
They programmed an entire solar system emulated by a pure physics engine? The worlds are unironically spheres? This is awesome.
They told you to go anywhere and somehow perfectly designed the worlds to keep you progressing at a constant pace?
The replaced traditional traversal 'upgrades' and 'keys' with learning and knowledge? How.
Mario will never do this. Mario would hate for you to learn. Mario spits on you when synapses fire.
This makes the game effectively playable only once in your entire lifetime, and that's a good thing.

This game has some set pieces and moments that are pretty astonishing.
I was hoping to take a little bit more from the story, but that's ok. I think this is a result when nearly every review says "This game changed my perspective on life! I literally never smiled until I played this game" Expectations can only be so high. I almost took a half star away for this reason.
But then I realized - name another game on this level as of 2024. There just isn't one that I'm aware of.
Breaking against the traditional game design norms can sometimes yield the most satisfying results.

I bought this game for my dad (the pipeline from Fallout to Outer Worlds left him wanting more space travel), and this game's reputation was completely unbeknownst to me. It only took a few sessions of watching him play before this became a shared experience between the two of us. Together, we explored the galaxy, shared observations, and solved problems with our combined knowledge. We wrote down intel that might come in handy so we wouldn't have to refer back to our ship's log. My dad's not too coordinated when it comes to complicated control schemes, so if something required finesse, he handed the controller over to me. There's probably an alternate timeline where I played this game alone, and I'm indescribably glad that I had this experience instead. Is my rating of this game highly biased by these circumstances? Obviously, but it's my review, I make the rules.



...what, you want an actual critique? Fine. The flying controls take some getting used to. Boo hoo. Making shitty landings is part of the fun. Don't let it stop you from experiencing one of the coolest games I've ever played. Go in blind, thank yourself later.

Six different planets orbit a dying star.

One is collapsing in on itself.

You hear a banjo play. The man on the rock tells you he's scared. He doesn't want to die. It's homely twangs ring through the indifferent universe. The universe does not care that he is scared.

One has winds, winds so violent they fling islands into space.

A man plays his flute, and stares into the basil clouds, waiting for something to happen. He meditates. The universe waits along with him.

Two have sand that pours in between and up and down and in and out of nooks and crannies of places long forgotten.

The rhythm of drums from an idle mind and itchy hands echo into space. A scientist thinking, wondering about the secrets of the stars. The universe keeps her secrets.

One is wooden filled with impossibly large places in impossibly small seeds. Silence. white, red, light piercing through the fog.

The reeds of a harmonica cut through the eerie atmosphere, and the sounds reverberate through marrow and bone. The universe is oblivious of the horrors it houses.

A tiny moon spins around a planet filled with green and life, wood and houses, science and spaceships.

A lonely fish sings a tune by a campfire in his solitude. He sits there, roasting marshmallows. He whistles a familiar song that the others remember. His voice cracks along with the flames that caramelise his tasty treat.

And the universe listens.



It's been a long time since I've played outer wilds. I think it's hard to put into words how much the game means to me. I'm glad this game was made, and I'm glad that I played it.

This game is more than a masterpiece

Outer Wilds is more like the best dream you could ever have, you're exploring, enjoying and absorbing every little detail this game has to offer and just like, it ends. The credits roll up, and you feel awe, you feel complete but also a sense of longing, just how a great dream makes you feel.

THIS.IS.THE.GREATES.GAME.EVER!!!!!