Echoes of the Eye centers on themes of not being afraid to face the truth of fundamental life (that the universe is super big, that we're all gonna die, that we've made mistakes, etc), no matter how scary they are, and I think it succeeds in addressing them very well. Using varying levels of darkness and sight focus to force the player to commit to seeing what's in front of them, even if it frightens them, teaches a bravery and acceptance of what could be that fits really well with Outer Wilds' overall ideas of the tragically limited nature of our lives. And, really, what's hiding out in that darkness isn't even scary monsters, just other people who are trying to go about those same questions and fears in different ways.

I think the feeling of interconnectedness and solemn community from original Outer Wilds is somewhat missing here; locations and discoveries progress very linearly and separately instead of the larger solar web that the base game builds. Things are overly lonely on The Stranger; there's no lost time with any character or friends like in the wider solar system. Raft navigation and general getting about on the stranger is also kind of awkward. I understand why it's there, once you get to breaking open the night areas it's a pretty clever way to guide how a player moves from where to where. But while the player is still figuring out The Stranger as a whole it's limiting and difficult to use for repeated navigation between places.