Outer Wilds is a one-of-a-kind experience for me in a million different ways.
When the main theme played on the title screen, I was excited that it had good music. When the intro had me waking up by a campfire with an alien buddy and a "Roast Marshmallow" prompt, I knew it had charmed me. When I jumped for the first time and noticed it "simulated" a squat by requiring a hold and release to get maximum height, I suspected I was in for an all-timer.
The next 30 hours proved that my suspicion was correct.
Everything about Outer Wilds is made with such love that I'm overwhelmed just thinking about it. The movement and physics ooze a frantic, cackling glee at their own barely contained chaos. The writing and story make otherwise voiceless or long-dead characters have beating hearts. The art direction and world designs create such scale and beauty that it's impossible not to stare in awe. The music is so unbelievably perfect that, in many ways, it is the game. And the actual process of going places, learning things, and putting all the pieces together in your head is so finely tuned that you probably won't even notice it's happening.
And all of it leads up to an ending that somehow manages to confidently leap over the unrealistically high bar the rest of the game sets for it.
I have thought about this game every day for over two years. Just listening to the soundtrack is enough to make me start crying (in a good way). It's impossible for me to exaggerate how good I think this game is because my honest thoughts already sound like they're an absurd exaggeration. So the best I can do is say that Outer Wilds is my favorite game of all time and I love it deeply.
So if you play Outer Wilds, I hope you'll love it too.
When the main theme played on the title screen, I was excited that it had good music. When the intro had me waking up by a campfire with an alien buddy and a "Roast Marshmallow" prompt, I knew it had charmed me. When I jumped for the first time and noticed it "simulated" a squat by requiring a hold and release to get maximum height, I suspected I was in for an all-timer.
The next 30 hours proved that my suspicion was correct.
Everything about Outer Wilds is made with such love that I'm overwhelmed just thinking about it. The movement and physics ooze a frantic, cackling glee at their own barely contained chaos. The writing and story make otherwise voiceless or long-dead characters have beating hearts. The art direction and world designs create such scale and beauty that it's impossible not to stare in awe. The music is so unbelievably perfect that, in many ways, it is the game. And the actual process of going places, learning things, and putting all the pieces together in your head is so finely tuned that you probably won't even notice it's happening.
And all of it leads up to an ending that somehow manages to confidently leap over the unrealistically high bar the rest of the game sets for it.
I have thought about this game every day for over two years. Just listening to the soundtrack is enough to make me start crying (in a good way). It's impossible for me to exaggerate how good I think this game is because my honest thoughts already sound like they're an absurd exaggeration. So the best I can do is say that Outer Wilds is my favorite game of all time and I love it deeply.
So if you play Outer Wilds, I hope you'll love it too.