souperfelipe
4 reviews liked by souperfelipe
While objectively very beautiful, there's so many minor issues I have with this game that make it beyond frustrating. Some of these include the way the amount of color and detail on the screen can make it hard to see what's attacking you. The bash skill was highly inconsistent with regards to how close I needed to be for it to function. When you go upside-down, the controls, don't change, so you're inversed for these movement segments. While all of these things are manageable, the mere fact that they exist makes the game more obnoxiously difficult than it needs to be. Much of the difficulty I experienced while playing the game came from control issues, or other issues with illogical respawn states and game progression
Tunic
2022
Potentially one of the most overrated video games in recent memory. Bad game design all over the shop here that results in a mostly frustrating experience.
Second job simulator
This review contains spoilers
Thematically perfect when attached narratively, and completes Outer Wilds in a way I could never go back on; the story of the Stranger completely adds to everything and it might be my favorite part of the games story on reflection.
Unfortunately, everything else about it was disjointed compared to the base game, even on a conceptual level: A DLC adding a new area with its own story to a game where everything is knowledge-based and the whole point is it can't be replayed? At what point do I play this? Because if I do it afterwards, that ruins the "never replay" model thematically, but if I do it beforehand, the themes just won't work, even if they fit!
On an executive level, Echoes of the Eye has one (technically two) big environment(s) that are non-linear alike the base game, yet requires steps in this environment to be done in a linear fashion where all the knowledge you learn is still absolutely necessary and you won't find sources of clues in other places, in different words; Echoes of the Eye will not let you freely explore each location as if they were their own planets like the base game, they all fundamentally function the same and each show big steps in a non-recordable form due to the lack of an easily accessible shiplog and the lack of text conveying the story, (which by the way, I do enjoy, but was hampered by the lack of a shiplog in the end for me) which has the end result of making you require a very specific path in an environment that seems deceptively open-ended, the progression also takes practically no utilization of the base Outer Wilds toolset, yet doesn't add much more beyond light-receptive tools. The dream world on the other hand has far more interesting mechanics in some cases but the vast majority are standard survival horror tropes, the main one being "we will plaster the screen in overwhelming darkness so you can't see shit." The most interesting mechanic I remember is sincerely the hands you use to get around, which is a big shame given how much you could do with a simulation made by complete aliens. All of this comes together to be worsened as base game mechanics are still at play with practically no utilization, there is still a 22 time-loop active forcing you to bolt to the Stranger and then the dream world at lightspeed but there is never any positive application of it here; all it does in this DLC is barricade you, paths are never opened or anything here and due to how your timeframe is shorter due to needing to get to the dream world rapidly at the start, the whole thing feels like an obnoxious barricade rather than a natural part of the loop that lends itself well to open-ended exploration where you can start a loop, go anywhere, and still make progress. On an atmospheric front, with the fact the Strangers are complete aliens, I feel they knocked it out of the park for the most part, I have seriously no complaints there; the combination of American folklore, weird sci-fi tropes and pre-existing Outer Wilds mythology goes a long way to create a extremely distinct atmosphere and story, one that will stick with me just as much as the base game, especially with how it just furthers the base storyline.
Really, this isn't something I'd like to rate lowly because in some ways it appeals more than the base game narratively and thematically, but that's not what makes Outer Wilds amazing, is it? As a result of the format and design, I was consistently confused on where to go since I dared to play the game in spaced out chunks as opposed to binging in one go (which I generally hate doing) and it led to me being just completely unable to follow clues and story direction, alongside being generally unimpressed with blander implementation of mechanics and progression than the base game, and this is lethal to the score I have to give this, because even though I have a deep-found respect and appreciation for the DLC, what makes Outer Wilds a 10/10 masterpiece in so many peoples eyes, including mine, is that it's perfectly harmonious in storytelling and gameplay, there's no dividing line, and to feel disjointed in that sense, is to not be Outer Wilds.
Unfortunately, everything else about it was disjointed compared to the base game, even on a conceptual level: A DLC adding a new area with its own story to a game where everything is knowledge-based and the whole point is it can't be replayed? At what point do I play this? Because if I do it afterwards, that ruins the "never replay" model thematically, but if I do it beforehand, the themes just won't work, even if they fit!
On an executive level, Echoes of the Eye has one (technically two) big environment(s) that are non-linear alike the base game, yet requires steps in this environment to be done in a linear fashion where all the knowledge you learn is still absolutely necessary and you won't find sources of clues in other places, in different words; Echoes of the Eye will not let you freely explore each location as if they were their own planets like the base game, they all fundamentally function the same and each show big steps in a non-recordable form due to the lack of an easily accessible shiplog and the lack of text conveying the story, (which by the way, I do enjoy, but was hampered by the lack of a shiplog in the end for me) which has the end result of making you require a very specific path in an environment that seems deceptively open-ended, the progression also takes practically no utilization of the base Outer Wilds toolset, yet doesn't add much more beyond light-receptive tools. The dream world on the other hand has far more interesting mechanics in some cases but the vast majority are standard survival horror tropes, the main one being "we will plaster the screen in overwhelming darkness so you can't see shit." The most interesting mechanic I remember is sincerely the hands you use to get around, which is a big shame given how much you could do with a simulation made by complete aliens. All of this comes together to be worsened as base game mechanics are still at play with practically no utilization, there is still a 22 time-loop active forcing you to bolt to the Stranger and then the dream world at lightspeed but there is never any positive application of it here; all it does in this DLC is barricade you, paths are never opened or anything here and due to how your timeframe is shorter due to needing to get to the dream world rapidly at the start, the whole thing feels like an obnoxious barricade rather than a natural part of the loop that lends itself well to open-ended exploration where you can start a loop, go anywhere, and still make progress. On an atmospheric front, with the fact the Strangers are complete aliens, I feel they knocked it out of the park for the most part, I have seriously no complaints there; the combination of American folklore, weird sci-fi tropes and pre-existing Outer Wilds mythology goes a long way to create a extremely distinct atmosphere and story, one that will stick with me just as much as the base game, especially with how it just furthers the base storyline.
Really, this isn't something I'd like to rate lowly because in some ways it appeals more than the base game narratively and thematically, but that's not what makes Outer Wilds amazing, is it? As a result of the format and design, I was consistently confused on where to go since I dared to play the game in spaced out chunks as opposed to binging in one go (which I generally hate doing) and it led to me being just completely unable to follow clues and story direction, alongside being generally unimpressed with blander implementation of mechanics and progression than the base game, and this is lethal to the score I have to give this, because even though I have a deep-found respect and appreciation for the DLC, what makes Outer Wilds a 10/10 masterpiece in so many peoples eyes, including mine, is that it's perfectly harmonious in storytelling and gameplay, there's no dividing line, and to feel disjointed in that sense, is to not be Outer Wilds.