I didn't have access to too many games growing up, so maybe this doesn't mean much, but this is easily in my top five as far as games go. This shit snuck up on me and completely blew me away throughout my playtime. If you're reading this and your curiosity is peaked, immediately stop reading this and go play the game. It's free on Xbone Game Pass and like 16 bucks on PS4. Go in blind, that's the best way to experience it and that's how I experienced it.
This is everything I love about what video games can be. Entering a brand new world in a way that feels uniquely personal compared to a movie, a book or a TV show. You interact with it and make choices and figure things out, and Outer Wilds utilizes that idea every step of the way. Feasibly, you could beat this game the right way in a matter of twenty minutes, but when you start out, it's on you to navigate this solar system and piece together what you need to do, and it's fascinating. The core gameplay mechanics are simple and intuitive, yet it never gets stale because Outer Wilds goes beyond gameplay mechanics and asks you to use your mind to beat the game. The way this game goes about presenting information is so remarkable. Because all of the information is there, you can reach any objective you have fairly simply, but it's on you to put together the pieces and explore and figure it all out. This leads to genuine feelings of discovery, which is rare in a game. All games alike, indie and AAA, usually make discovery feel contrived and scripted. But not in Outer Wilds. Any time I made a tiny step towards progress, I felt like I was making that progress, and the game was never handing it to me. If that sounds like your cup of tea, go for it.
The fact that this is technically an indie game blows my mind. It has some of the most advanced design elements I've ever seen in a video game. The way that this solar system works, and the way the planets work in tandem with each other, never failed to blow me away. There's so much detail in this universe, not just in terms of world-building, just in terms of how the solar system works fundamentally. It's outrageous. And even if the development and programming are actually a lot simpler than I'm saying, well this game adequately fooled me. This world feels alive and lived in, in ways that even some games that I love only wished they could achieve.
I don't want to be hyperbolic because I'm not the biggest expert on gaming, but it's rare that I just lock into a game like I did for the past week playing this and become obsessed. It's rare that I get this insane sense of scale and discovery in a game. It's rare that by the end, I feel that the journey paid off big. This is such a wonderful game. If you want to play it, play it, and don't look anything up (unless you get like ball-bustingly stuck lol), the best way to experience Outer Wilds is knowing as little as possible. Also banging soundtrack.
Okay, if you play it, I'll give you one bit of advice. DON'T GO TO DARK BRAMBLE FIRST. Other than that? Go crazy.
This is everything I love about what video games can be. Entering a brand new world in a way that feels uniquely personal compared to a movie, a book or a TV show. You interact with it and make choices and figure things out, and Outer Wilds utilizes that idea every step of the way. Feasibly, you could beat this game the right way in a matter of twenty minutes, but when you start out, it's on you to navigate this solar system and piece together what you need to do, and it's fascinating. The core gameplay mechanics are simple and intuitive, yet it never gets stale because Outer Wilds goes beyond gameplay mechanics and asks you to use your mind to beat the game. The way this game goes about presenting information is so remarkable. Because all of the information is there, you can reach any objective you have fairly simply, but it's on you to put together the pieces and explore and figure it all out. This leads to genuine feelings of discovery, which is rare in a game. All games alike, indie and AAA, usually make discovery feel contrived and scripted. But not in Outer Wilds. Any time I made a tiny step towards progress, I felt like I was making that progress, and the game was never handing it to me. If that sounds like your cup of tea, go for it.
The fact that this is technically an indie game blows my mind. It has some of the most advanced design elements I've ever seen in a video game. The way that this solar system works, and the way the planets work in tandem with each other, never failed to blow me away. There's so much detail in this universe, not just in terms of world-building, just in terms of how the solar system works fundamentally. It's outrageous. And even if the development and programming are actually a lot simpler than I'm saying, well this game adequately fooled me. This world feels alive and lived in, in ways that even some games that I love only wished they could achieve.
I don't want to be hyperbolic because I'm not the biggest expert on gaming, but it's rare that I just lock into a game like I did for the past week playing this and become obsessed. It's rare that I get this insane sense of scale and discovery in a game. It's rare that by the end, I feel that the journey paid off big. This is such a wonderful game. If you want to play it, play it, and don't look anything up (unless you get like ball-bustingly stuck lol), the best way to experience Outer Wilds is knowing as little as possible. Also banging soundtrack.
Okay, if you play it, I'll give you one bit of advice. DON'T GO TO DARK BRAMBLE FIRST. Other than that? Go crazy.