absolutely beautiful game in visuals, audio, voice acting, and character writing, sadly brought down by critical issues in narrative and scope.

i was in love with it right up until the ending, which was so jarringly unsatisfying it made every story/lore thread that had been established and then not followed through on unravel the more i looked back on it. it made me terribly sad, because the characters really, deeply spoke to me, but in the end i was sorely disappointed, because they didn't get a satisfying conclusion like they deserved.

it's not a bad game! it's still enjoyable to play, and its flaws are really just the fault of overambition, since the team absolutely wasn't lacking in talent. but those flaws are still major ones, and in this case, i left the experience mourning what it could have been more than anything...

i think i would still recommend it if you're a fan of metroidvanias and want to enjoy the artistry on display, but only if you're prepared to be let down by the ending and unrealized potential.

i played the steam next fest demo when it was available, and... well, it didn't grab me. i stopped playing after an hour because it was both hard and not interesting or fun enough to make me want to keep trying. and yeah, that was a demo, not the full game, but even a finished version does not interest me at all.

it sucks, because i actually LOVE the idea of exploring an alien world from a scientist's point of view! Outer Wilds is my favorite game and i'm really interested in Returnal! but once i actually started playing i was incredibly disappointed, because the scientist angle is just sort of slapped on top of a much more generic alien-shooting game, which has been done much better by other games. it tries to be both and ends up succeeding at neither.

(speaking of Returnal, it became incredibly obvious to me, after watching a friend play some of that game, that this game is trying REALLY HARD to be Returnal, but falling flat on its face, because it doesn't seem to understand what actually makes Returnal cool and what it does effectively.)

maybe it gets good further in, but nothing about it convinces me to stick around and find out.

my impressions are:
- another 3D shooty game that relies on hyper-realistic graphics to distract the player from how the actual gameplay, story, concept, etc. are mediocre, half-baked, not given actual development and care
- blatant Returnal clone, but without any of the stuff that actually makes Returnal good

i couldn't possibly write out everything this game made me think and feel. it's an utterly transcendent experience. every single time you hear someone say you need to play this game, not just watch it, and not look up any spoilers? they're completely right! please listen to them. go buy and play this game right now if you have even the slightest interest in it!

Outer Wilds is about a lot of things, but fundamentally, at its core, it's about love. love of the world, love of learning, love for others— love for life itself. I can think of few games filled with such an overwhelming amount of love, even at its absolute darkest, scariest, saddest points. I fell in love with Outer Wilds because Outer Wilds wants you to fall in love with life.

and, of course, when you love something... you have to let it go. as much as it broke my heart, Outer Wilds recognizes that even the greatest story has to end eventually, and doesn't try to drag it out longer.

this game changed how I think about games, about art, about life itself, and I don't know if I'll ever get over it...

but maybe that's okay. the past is past, now, but it's never really gone completely. we just have to remember it, and move forward.

TL;DR: quite genuinely the best video game ever made! gave me an existential crisis! 10/10!