This review contains spoilers

~11 hours. I have mixed but generally positive feelings on this one.

Positives: Story seems okay, graphical design is really nice, some puzzles were pretty good.
Negatives: Could be personal, but I really did not like most of the other gameplay.
YMMV: Takes a while to get the idea of the story. I won't be replaying this, but to get everything done you will have to.

Spoilers below as I write some of my thoughts after finishing:

Story:
Going from my understanding of the story (with the Memory ending I have seen), I quite liked it overall. You're playing through some abstracted/distorted version of Elster or Ariane's memories (or both, I suppose).

Going through the game feels like a reflection of what is actually happening to both of these characters as they are wasting away on the Penrose ship, long after its intended service time. I felt lost for a long time in what the game was trying to tell me until the very ending, and having found the ending I think that is okay. It moved me quite a bit and I think it was effective in delivering that painful, sad situation.

One minor gripe is the false ending. I am aware that I am in the minority here but I am not a fan of setpieces like that. They're totally lost on me.


Gameplay:
Generally, the game controls very well. I adjusted quickly to how the game wanted me to move, fight and interact, and moving through the menus with the keyboard was intuitive.

That's the extent of that though. Here comes the griping.

The game urges you to manage resources and plan your movement/combat well. It seems designed for this because it makes a point of telling you there is an inventory space limit and that resources are rare. Enemies also seem to have either set patrols or areas they can move in so you can sneak around them.

Starting with the inventory management, only on one or two occasions I felt like it actually enhanced the difficulty. For the rest of it, it felt like a major nuisance. I felt like a squirrel gathering one or two key items and hauling it back to a saferoom. It constantly got in the way of progress.

I understand that will make things more difficult because now you have to backtrack (potentially through enemies), but it's still backtracking. It registered as nothing but annoying. The game was very intently designed this way. They even made an in-game poster about it.

The combat was a mixed bag, and that might be okay because it should be avoided anyway. Sometimes the game will however just force you into a combat situation. Either because the room is designed that way, or because of reasons that seem less intentional. Some rooms have enemies that spawn in such a way that if you enter from one side you can sneak past just fine, but if you enter from another, they are alerted right away. These were my least favorite moments besides the inventory-related backtracking. A consistent system where I can solve rooms would have been nicer for me.

One other minor thing that comes to mind is the monsters hidden in the floor. I sighed every time I was in a room with them. walk back out, walk back in, loot. Still loot remaining? Walk back out, walk back in, loot.

I'm complaining, but in general I wasn't so frustrated with the gameplay that I want to complain much more about it. I won't be replaying the game for other endings; for that I'll just look at the wiki.

Fun, short, sweet. Decent story.

Enjoyment of this game comes largely from nostalgia. This is the kind of game that you would have loved as a kid, but probably would not like as much if you pick it up now.

Started playing. Didn't stop playing.

Controls are tight, OST is amazing, levels are great, challenges are good. Lovely game.

Rated after clearing it once and will probably P rank everything.

Everybody loves this, I just liked it. Not enough to finish it though.

This review contains spoilers

A story about a woman coming to terms that she is a fish.

Decent puzzles. Finished in 5 hours.

It's a meme at this point, but for me outer wilds is as perfect of a game as it gets. A game you can really only play once, where the main motivator for playing it and progress you accrue being the knowledge you gather. There is little to nothing like Outer Wilds and I enjoyed every second I played this game from beginning to end.

A fun choose your own adventure with mediocre combat and alien space husbandos. Its alright, but I've heard the sequels leave much to be desired.

A game you can only play once. If you like detective/puzzle stuff you owe it to yourself to give this a shot.

Depending on where you are in life and whether you can relate with the characters or not, this game may reduce you to the sad mess it left me after I finished it.

A game that requires some persistence. If you can push past the aesthetics you will either can't put down or just pass by completely. If you do play it you're in for a treat.

Hitman games are probably best when you are just starting them. I can only imagine how fun it is now to start playing this game in its third release with all of the additional content. However after a while of playing you start to see the repeats in how the game is designed and how the developers generally want you to solve a map.

The best challenges for veteran players are the silent assassin challenges, especially silent assassin, suit only. But once you have done these you probably know enough about the level that nothing else is a surprise anymore.

Regardless I have spent countless hours playing this game and I am looking forward to the roguelite mode that they will be adding soon.

Great horror game that relies more on establishing an oppressive environment and the big baddie hunting you down than cheap jumpscares.

This review contains spoilers

A masterfully made game whose story kind of drags before finishing off decently. Could not care less about the epilogue.

Great open world, probably bigger than necessary. Exploring bits from the first game but makes me think if the effort put into it would have been better spent elsewhere. Could be wrong since I didn't finish the epilogue.