What an evocative game, full of sublime moments of quiet and reflection, with a fascinating conceit – the creation of clones and the transfer of agency between them. Among recent titles that explore controlling multiple avatars at once (Mario 3D World, Badlands, Brothers), this is one of the most thoughtful and resonant. Losing yourself amidst your own clones is an existential crisis and a delight.

What a shame, then, that The Swapper is also just a collection of nonsensical puzzle rooms. Stop everything, stare at the screen, and forget once again that it’s movement that makes our onscreen selves come alive.

The more I play this, the more I love it. An elegant little game with exactly the right scope for a tactics game to make it near endlessly enjoyable. It has become my go-to game when I've got a few minutes (see: what I do during every Webex meeting I have to sit through in a work day).

Would call this a perfect game except there is something about the randomness of the first turn that drives me a little crazy. Just for instance: playing the train maps, especially on the later islands, feels almost like a crap shoot as to whether I will have any chance of saving the train. Four or five enemies and they all either target the train or post up in its path on the first turn? Oh well! This doesn't happen in the majority of instances, but it's really frustrating when it does.

I wish I had anything meaningfully original to say about this. It's daunting, in more ways than one. I could stumble through praise for its clockwork construction, the heartrending setpieces, and its admirable, probably unjustified confidence that you're going to figure this out—whoever you are, whatever "this" is. But that shit rings hollow, because there's nothing I can say that captures how important I think it is.

Outer Wilds is one of the most beautiful experiences I've ever had. It's going to stay with me for the rest of my life.

One of the best feelings in the world is playing a game that truly deserves the kind of praise it's garnered.

Return of the Obra Dinn is one of the most perfectly detailed and intricately planned games maybe ever made. The nature of it's extremely unique gameplay requires that every detail of the story be near perfectly woven together with every aspect tying into the next. Miraculously, it almost pulls this off without a hitch.

Deducing a majority of the crew and the nature of their untimely deaths comes extremely naturally, through only your own cunning. It completely trusts you to notice patterns in their relationships and activity, and use the frankly beautiful dioramas to piece it together.

Which brings me to the topic of it's unique art style, which uses the limitations of low-poly models and a one-man animation team and embraces it's lo-fi nature and draws the game entirely in two colors. Too close up it can sometimes be a bit grating on the eyes, but watching the sails flap in the wind or being greeted by the gruesome sight of an execution stuck in time can be completely engrossing.

That engrossing feeling not at all hampered by the truly excellent sound design. The voice acting, the horrifying shrieks of men being shredded by monsters, the piercing sound of a gunshot making quick work of a fistfight, or even the waves softly hitting the vessel as you walk across the blood-shed boards of the Obra Dinn. Every bit of it is to marvel at.

It could be said that there is too much guesswork involved nearer to the end of the game, but it's frankly not enough to hamper the experience. It could be said that it's premise reduces replay value drastically, but the first playthrough alone is worth it.

I truly admire this game, and I hope it's gotten the kind of success it deserves.

I hope Lucas Pope is proud of this game, because it's a beautiful tribute. And god damn, those transitions are like porn to me

Incredible, one of the best survival/exploration games I have played. A lot of people seem to get low-key horror vibes from this, which is understandable (godspeed to players with thalassophobia), but I was mostly just in awe this entire time. The atmosphere is to die for, the underwater scenery is breathtaking, the gameplay systems have just the right amount of depth without being convoluted, the sense of player progression is continuously strong and contrasted nicely with the increasingly bizarre and hostile deep sea biomes, even the writing and scenario are impressive. I wish I had a PC to play this, however, because the game has a few frame rate and asset pop-in issues on the PS4 Slim. Even so, this was a winner from start to finish, a source of countless, unforgettable moments of confronting the unknown.

With its humble origins as a Master's thesis that eventually matured into the best possible iteration of the (arguably narrow but not inherently contemptible) Annapurna ideal of the Artistic Indie Title, Outer Wilds is a milestone in curiosity-driven game design and an utterly brilliant marriage between the sheer cosmic awe of 2001: A Space Odyssey and the warmth of a cozy campfire on a clear summer night. The heavily physics-inspired design of the game world and the way it incorporates these numerous interlocking mysteries that all point towards something much greater feels genuinely boundary-pushing and is something that no one with even a passing interest in the medium should miss out on.

While I don't want to evoke the impression that this game is only for physics buffs such as me (it is every bit as much for people into archeological exploration or simply great adventure game storytelling), I do want to emphasize that the game's fidelity towards its real-time orbital physics simulation is downright incredible. I highly recommend the excellent videos by Noclip and Super Bunnyhop to learn more about the game's scientific background once you've completed the game (it's best to go into it as blind as possible). This is genuinely fascinating stuff to me—it's safe to say that never before have I wanted to talk with a development team about the technical details of their work as much as in this case. I even respect the game's enthusiasm for the wilder side of modern physics, and while its portrayal of quantum mechanics quickly maxed out my Quantum Bullshit Detector, I didn't really mind that the game's use of artistic license was doing more heavy lifting in some cases than in others, thanks to its overall more than solid scientific foundation and highly creative use thereof. In fact, Outer Wilds's (somewhat misguided) conception of the uncertainty principle was incorporated so brilliantly into one of its many bizarre and exotic locations that it ended up as one of my favourite moments in the game.

With this physics preamble out of the way, there is another aspect that I quickly want to discuss here. Namely, people who have a low tolerance for frequent deaths should probably get a fair warning before trying this game. I've seen some players mistake Outer Wilds for a relaxing adventure game, only to then become frustrated when confronted with its harsh setting. Expecting this to be about relaxed exploration would be a vast disservice to what the game is actually going for, but this point requires some nuance and elaboration, so bear with me for a second.

Death comes quick in Outer Wilds. Many of these deaths I personally found to be very memorable and genuinely amusing, such as crashing into the sun while still learning how to properly fly my spaceship. The controls are a bit tricky, particularly because the game fully respects momentum conservation (meaning accelerating in any given direction for a certain period requires an equal amount of deceleration to come to a full stop again), but the game provides sufficient flying aids to make mastery of the ship well within reach of the early game. But having said that, of course a few of the deaths in Outer Wilds did nonetheless manage to frustrate me at times (and I say that as someone who considers FromSoftware their favourite developer). Particularly problematic are the handful of platforming sections in this game, which, due to the tricky movement controls, can lead to more setbacks than necessary. Moreover, there will also be players who will find the game's time loop mechanic to be an additional source of frustration, since the time limit it imposes might result in a stressful experience that clashes with their idea of a relaxing adventure game. Although I can somewhat sympathize with that perspective (I too had similar apprehensions at the very beginning of the game), overall I loved the time loop mechanic and consider it an essential ingredient in what makes this game so special.

I need to reiterate that Outer Wilds is not trying to be a relaxing adventure game, at least not exclusively. It presents a universe that is cold, bizarre, hostile, and uncaring. Its apocalyptic premise is very much intended to make you feel stressed out... at first. The point is, however, that amidst all that cosmic hostility and indifference, you can always discover these small niches to relax, to appreciate the majestic beauty before your eyes, to roast a marshmallow while one of your fellow space explorers is strumming a cozy tune on their banjo. The game wants you to let go of the idea of doing everything at once and instead realize that it's okay to take an occasional break and marvel at the wonders of the universe despite (or because of?) your limited time. And if you fail every once in a while by flying too close to the sun or comically crashing into a planet? It's not the end of the world! (Of course, in a delightful bit of irony, it sort of is.) The important thing is to keep at it. Persistent progress is key. Whether the resulting experience is stressful or relaxing depends in large part on your frame of mind.

I'd be lying if I said that I had reached a state of Zen-like harmony with the universe by the end of the game; of course I also had my little frustrations every now and then, even in the late game. But by and large, I was able to embrace the game's philosophy and adapt to its rhythm, which I don't expect will work out for everybody, and that's fair. For me, however, the end result was a truly awe-inspiring and unique video game experience that still lingers on my mind long after having reached the ending. And, oh boy, what an ending indeed!

Open-world action games like this always seem to suck me in. I knew I was going to end up platinum-ing this game roughly an hour into it. But honestly, a lot of this game felt a little one-dimensional. The story was largely forgettable. The puzzles felt pointless. Missions and collectibles felt very rinse wash repeat, even after only the second one. But the combat and movement were just so damn good I couldn't put it down. Web-slinging around New York is so fun and addicting. Combat is never too challenging, but always rewarding, and it feels so kinetic and substantial when you hit an enemy. It's too bad the rest of the game didn't quite match those two peaks.

its a humbling feeling to find a game that feels bigger than you

i dont even know where to start describing it. at its core, its a game about not understanding. the gameplay revolves around trying in vain to learn about your surroundings - to piece it all together and find a solution to a problem - only to die not because of a lack of trying, but because we just dont have the time.

the beauty of Outer Wilds lies right there. its galaxy is small, yet feels huge and only gets bigger the more you dig. by all means it should feel like a hopeless venture to continue exploring, but its too engaging not to. there is no end goal, and it makes no promises other than the fact you will die.

and the magic is that we did anyway. even if i didnt know what for, i kept exploring its planets to find its secrets. i felt giddiness meeting every character and hearing their stories. i pat myself on the back after solving puzzles once i asked the guy at the starting campfire how to.

Outer Wilds - despite playing as an alien - is a deeply human game. a journey about facing adversity through sheer willpower despite not having all the answers, and knowing youre not alone in that.

i cant do this game a service with my $5 speak and someone else could do a much better job, and thats ok. because like i said, this game - like its setting - is big. theres so much to talk about, yet its message is so precise. its mysteries are so complex, yet so simple in retrospect. games like these remind me how special this industry is, and what kind of art it can produce. Outer Wilds is a profound experience i likely wont forget for a very long time.

This game is more of a life simulator than a relaxing experience game.

In comparison to games like new leaf, it feels much more competitive and busy for an AC game, that sometimes can tire me during play due to how long it takes to do stuff due to its inefficient UI and game design. the game looks prettier, and has a lot of things and activities that encourage players to play and return to, but it still lacks a lot of its prequels' charm - most notably, the indifferent characters and slightly cheesy dialogue that fills the game.

The online interaction is a good and fun idea to explore, but feels a bit disappointing that it prevents from players to interact or play on the same island together