Anybody who's spent any time around me in the past month, digitally or physically, knows that I have not shut up about this game for a while.
The thing is, I actually beat it about a week ago now, but I haven't been able to put into words how special this game was to me. I don't have any special anecdote about why I'm writing it now, I just felt like it. Here goes!
When I was a kid, I wanted to be an astronaut. I knew all the planets and their orders and their gimmicks and all that stuff. When you're five or six, you don't worry about the practicalities of getting into space, how labor-intensive every day would be, or how terrifying being so far from home feels. All you think about is the feeling of exploring somewhere alien.
When starting outer wilds, that feeling wasn't recaptured in me immediately for sure, but it snuck up on me before I knew it. I don't know how the bona fide cocaine fiends we call "developers" managed to put so much attention to detail into these stupid little planets, but they did. Oh boy, they did.
You see, this game has a way of making an otherwise lifeless desert planet feel so alive. Sometimes that's alive in a welcoming way, and sometimes that's alive in a way that will try to kill you. If you've played the game, you know damn well what I'm talking about.
Other reviews of this game will talk about how knowledge is your only power-up, the cosmic horror is palpable, the physics engine is excellent, blah blah blah. Of course, all that is true! It's mindblowing! But I'll be damned if those planets aren't what makes the game so wonderful. The feeling of recapturing that adventurous youth and going where no man has gone before. That's what makes Outer Wilds really special to me.
If this has at all intrigued you so far, please remember that I have not even mentioned the main content of the game, the reason you go to outer space in the first place, and/or the story in any capacity. Nor will I. That's for me to know and you to find out.
As a video game (technically), it's not gonna be for everyone, but if you're a fellow with any amount of patience and a decent understanding of how to work a controller then I highly recommend this game to you. And of course, I recommend it to anybody who's at all interested in space. God, I love this game.
In case my shilling hasn't made it clear, this one's a 10/10 from me. Go play it!
The thing is, I actually beat it about a week ago now, but I haven't been able to put into words how special this game was to me. I don't have any special anecdote about why I'm writing it now, I just felt like it. Here goes!
When I was a kid, I wanted to be an astronaut. I knew all the planets and their orders and their gimmicks and all that stuff. When you're five or six, you don't worry about the practicalities of getting into space, how labor-intensive every day would be, or how terrifying being so far from home feels. All you think about is the feeling of exploring somewhere alien.
When starting outer wilds, that feeling wasn't recaptured in me immediately for sure, but it snuck up on me before I knew it. I don't know how the bona fide cocaine fiends we call "developers" managed to put so much attention to detail into these stupid little planets, but they did. Oh boy, they did.
You see, this game has a way of making an otherwise lifeless desert planet feel so alive. Sometimes that's alive in a welcoming way, and sometimes that's alive in a way that will try to kill you. If you've played the game, you know damn well what I'm talking about.
Other reviews of this game will talk about how knowledge is your only power-up, the cosmic horror is palpable, the physics engine is excellent, blah blah blah. Of course, all that is true! It's mindblowing! But I'll be damned if those planets aren't what makes the game so wonderful. The feeling of recapturing that adventurous youth and going where no man has gone before. That's what makes Outer Wilds really special to me.
If this has at all intrigued you so far, please remember that I have not even mentioned the main content of the game, the reason you go to outer space in the first place, and/or the story in any capacity. Nor will I. That's for me to know and you to find out.
As a video game (technically), it's not gonna be for everyone, but if you're a fellow with any amount of patience and a decent understanding of how to work a controller then I highly recommend this game to you. And of course, I recommend it to anybody who's at all interested in space. God, I love this game.
In case my shilling hasn't made it clear, this one's a 10/10 from me. Go play it!