This review contains spoilers
At first, I was worried that the 22 minutes cycle would stress me out more than anything. But it turns out it was barely an inconvenience.
The first moments of Outer Wilds when you explore your home planet really set the mood for the rest of the game. From the get go, there were a lot of intriguing dialogues. The NPCs talk to you about this ancient civilization, the Nomai, from which you need to decipher their language. And you learn that some of your more experienced comrades are already wandering around the galaxy making their own researches.
It got me excited to start exploring the different planets straight away, to follow in their footsteps.
It took me a few minutes to have a good grip of the spaceship's piloting, but I quickly got used to it.
By the way, I had no idea about the death loop when I started the game, so my first death was quite surprising. It really happened out of nowhere.
The very 1st planet I visited was Giant's Deep. I had fun finding data left by the Nomai, inspecting the ruins and solving little puzzles, all while being soothed by the music and quiet atmosphere.
After that, I went to Dark Bramble. It took me a while to progress on this planet with all the deaths caused by the Anglerfishes, and all the crashes. So it was satisfying to eventually find my way through the fog and meet Feldspar. The space-bending properties of this planet were fascinating.
It's interesting how the rewards in this game are not bonus items or better gear to make you more resistant. The only things you'll ever find are data & recording left by the Nomai on each different planet. And there's no combat either. It's purely a game of exploration, investigation & puzzle solving.
And I have to say I got really engaged in the story after some point.
Earlier, I said that the cycle didn't bother me, but having to rush my way through Ember Twin before the sand engulfs everything was a bit underwhelming. Yet another mechanic that completely caught me off guard when I first visited this planet. Waiting for the sand level to decrease on Ash Twin was equally annoying.
I don't know how to put it exactly, but the atmosphere was somewhat unsettling at times. Being all alone in the quietness & emptiness of Space, finding vestiges of ancient civilizations, recollecting their memories through their texts & recordings, and learning about their tragic fate... You just feel like a powerless witness.
There's also the fact that most of the people you find are unaware of the time loop you're all stuck in.
I appreciated the scientific aspects in the gameplay. Whether it's the things shown in the observatory, like the explanations about supernovas and the tidal effect; the fact that you can communicate from one planet to another sending radio signals; the gravity being slightly different on each planet due to their mass; White Hole's teleportation violating Causality... It gave a sense of realism to the game which I found quite appealing.
It surprised me a lot when Brittle Hollow's blackhole sucked me in, and sent me at the other side of the galaxy. I was so confused for a few seconds. "This game even has wormholes? I love it!"
By the way, Brittle Hollow looks amazing, especially underground where you can cross bridges right above the blackhole.
There were many more beautiful places, like Brittle Hollow Southern Observatory; Interloper's ruptured Core; the Sun Station; or even the Quantum Moon sixth location. The game has a beautiful artstyle!
Some places were so well hidden, I really had to go out of my way to find some of the locations required to progress in the story. It took me quite some time to find the access to the Anglerfish fossil in Sunless City, or the Tower of Trials inside Giant's Deep huge cyclone.
The trials in Tower of Quantum were so fun to figure out. Having to use the camera to prevent the archs from teleporting was clever. There's also that little puzzle in Ember Twin's caverns where you need to turn all the lights off to be able to teleport with the quantum shards. I enjoyed those puzzles a lot.
Another fun moment is when you have to go through Interloper's core, going down those slides & dodging the ghost matter.
I loved the process to enter the Tower of Quantum Knowledge on Brittle Hollow. This was one of the last important locations I visited because I couldn't figure out how to enter it for the life of me.
30 hours into the game, I had an epiphany after watching the meteors crash on Brittle Hollow, and I finally understood that I needed to wait for the Tower to fall down in the blackhole and get teleported to the other side.
It was very clever, and it's one of the many moments where I was fascinated with how ingenious the game design is.
I was constantly rewarded for my curiosity, and it incentivized me to explore more & more. It felt rewarding to realize that there was indeed a hidden place inside Giant Deep's massive cyclone; inside the volcanos on Hollow's Lantern; or when I entered the Quantum Moon for the 1st time.
Fun fact: I landed on the Quantum Moon BEFORE finding the Quantum Moon locator on Ember Twin 😅
The exploration on Quantum Moon was captivating, the atmosphere is very eerie. It took me till the end-game to finally reach the 6th location. Finding Solanum was a shock, I was so surprised to meet a Nomai face to face. And I was happy to learn more about the Eye of the Universe.
At the end of the game, when you finally reach the inside of Ash Twin, all the informations are gathered together, and you finally understand the bigger picture.
It was so satisfying to solve those mysteries about the Nomai's extinction, the time loop and the Ash Twin project.
Removing the core tugged at my heartstrings. It was such a compelling adventure... I haven't played ANYTHING like Outer Wilds. It's so different from everything else. I had great moments with it, and I'll probably remember it for a long time.
----------Playtime & Completion----------
[Started on July 11th & finished on September 12th 2023]
Playtime: 40 hours
I got the first ending by removing the core inside Ash Twin Project, and I unlocked almost every log inside the space ship.
I still need to unlock the true ending by solving the mystery of the Eye of the Universe, but I'll do it later, along with the DLC "Echoes of the Eye"
The first moments of Outer Wilds when you explore your home planet really set the mood for the rest of the game. From the get go, there were a lot of intriguing dialogues. The NPCs talk to you about this ancient civilization, the Nomai, from which you need to decipher their language. And you learn that some of your more experienced comrades are already wandering around the galaxy making their own researches.
It got me excited to start exploring the different planets straight away, to follow in their footsteps.
It took me a few minutes to have a good grip of the spaceship's piloting, but I quickly got used to it.
By the way, I had no idea about the death loop when I started the game, so my first death was quite surprising. It really happened out of nowhere.
The very 1st planet I visited was Giant's Deep. I had fun finding data left by the Nomai, inspecting the ruins and solving little puzzles, all while being soothed by the music and quiet atmosphere.
After that, I went to Dark Bramble. It took me a while to progress on this planet with all the deaths caused by the Anglerfishes, and all the crashes. So it was satisfying to eventually find my way through the fog and meet Feldspar. The space-bending properties of this planet were fascinating.
It's interesting how the rewards in this game are not bonus items or better gear to make you more resistant. The only things you'll ever find are data & recording left by the Nomai on each different planet. And there's no combat either. It's purely a game of exploration, investigation & puzzle solving.
And I have to say I got really engaged in the story after some point.
Earlier, I said that the cycle didn't bother me, but having to rush my way through Ember Twin before the sand engulfs everything was a bit underwhelming. Yet another mechanic that completely caught me off guard when I first visited this planet. Waiting for the sand level to decrease on Ash Twin was equally annoying.
I don't know how to put it exactly, but the atmosphere was somewhat unsettling at times. Being all alone in the quietness & emptiness of Space, finding vestiges of ancient civilizations, recollecting their memories through their texts & recordings, and learning about their tragic fate... You just feel like a powerless witness.
There's also the fact that most of the people you find are unaware of the time loop you're all stuck in.
I appreciated the scientific aspects in the gameplay. Whether it's the things shown in the observatory, like the explanations about supernovas and the tidal effect; the fact that you can communicate from one planet to another sending radio signals; the gravity being slightly different on each planet due to their mass; White Hole's teleportation violating Causality... It gave a sense of realism to the game which I found quite appealing.
It surprised me a lot when Brittle Hollow's blackhole sucked me in, and sent me at the other side of the galaxy. I was so confused for a few seconds. "This game even has wormholes? I love it!"
By the way, Brittle Hollow looks amazing, especially underground where you can cross bridges right above the blackhole.
There were many more beautiful places, like Brittle Hollow Southern Observatory; Interloper's ruptured Core; the Sun Station; or even the Quantum Moon sixth location. The game has a beautiful artstyle!
Some places were so well hidden, I really had to go out of my way to find some of the locations required to progress in the story. It took me quite some time to find the access to the Anglerfish fossil in Sunless City, or the Tower of Trials inside Giant's Deep huge cyclone.
The trials in Tower of Quantum were so fun to figure out. Having to use the camera to prevent the archs from teleporting was clever. There's also that little puzzle in Ember Twin's caverns where you need to turn all the lights off to be able to teleport with the quantum shards. I enjoyed those puzzles a lot.
Another fun moment is when you have to go through Interloper's core, going down those slides & dodging the ghost matter.
I loved the process to enter the Tower of Quantum Knowledge on Brittle Hollow. This was one of the last important locations I visited because I couldn't figure out how to enter it for the life of me.
30 hours into the game, I had an epiphany after watching the meteors crash on Brittle Hollow, and I finally understood that I needed to wait for the Tower to fall down in the blackhole and get teleported to the other side.
It was very clever, and it's one of the many moments where I was fascinated with how ingenious the game design is.
I was constantly rewarded for my curiosity, and it incentivized me to explore more & more. It felt rewarding to realize that there was indeed a hidden place inside Giant Deep's massive cyclone; inside the volcanos on Hollow's Lantern; or when I entered the Quantum Moon for the 1st time.
Fun fact: I landed on the Quantum Moon BEFORE finding the Quantum Moon locator on Ember Twin 😅
The exploration on Quantum Moon was captivating, the atmosphere is very eerie. It took me till the end-game to finally reach the 6th location. Finding Solanum was a shock, I was so surprised to meet a Nomai face to face. And I was happy to learn more about the Eye of the Universe.
At the end of the game, when you finally reach the inside of Ash Twin, all the informations are gathered together, and you finally understand the bigger picture.
It was so satisfying to solve those mysteries about the Nomai's extinction, the time loop and the Ash Twin project.
Removing the core tugged at my heartstrings. It was such a compelling adventure... I haven't played ANYTHING like Outer Wilds. It's so different from everything else. I had great moments with it, and I'll probably remember it for a long time.
----------Playtime & Completion----------
[Started on July 11th & finished on September 12th 2023]
Playtime: 40 hours
I got the first ending by removing the core inside Ash Twin Project, and I unlocked almost every log inside the space ship.
I still need to unlock the true ending by solving the mystery of the Eye of the Universe, but I'll do it later, along with the DLC "Echoes of the Eye"