If you were to ask me to pick a single game to represent each genre as a pillar of what that genre of game can accomplish, I’d hoist Outer Wilds up as the pillar of exploration games without an ounce of hesitation. Outer Wilds is a passionately made space-exploration game set in a fairly large solar system filled with several planets each with their own sets of secrets and mysteries that you are free to explore at your whim.
Outer Wilds is one of those games that you are best going in with as little knowledge as possible because ultimately this game is about the things that you learn in your journey exploring the solar system. However I think that I can still explain a little about the game's mechanics because as objectively good as this game is: the way it plays simply won’t be for everybody.
Outer Wilds does not contain any combat. It does not contain experience or skill trees. Hell, it doesn’t even have quests. Outer Wilds is entirely about exploration and 99% of your gameplay will be flying around to different planets, exploring on foot, reading logs and piecing together clues from environmental storytelling -all to further understand the mysteries that surround you.
So what even drives you in Outer Wilds? What are your goals? Well it’s simple: curiosity. Given a new spaceship and complete free reign to do whatever you want in the universe, it’s entirely up to you to decide what you want to do. There is no right path to take in Outer Wilds, no perfect guide or direction to follow. Just go wherever looks interesting and let yourself enjoy the journey.
There’s nothing else that I can really say and nothing else that you need to know. Outer Wilds is a love story to the mysteries of space and exploration. It is a love story to human curiosity and determination. It is the best exploration game I have ever played and perhaps ever will play. It is an absolute privilege to be able to experience this game, a privilege that you will only have once. This is an honest to god masterpiece and I couldn’t recommend it more if I tried.
5/5
Outer Wilds is one of those games that you are best going in with as little knowledge as possible because ultimately this game is about the things that you learn in your journey exploring the solar system. However I think that I can still explain a little about the game's mechanics because as objectively good as this game is: the way it plays simply won’t be for everybody.
Outer Wilds does not contain any combat. It does not contain experience or skill trees. Hell, it doesn’t even have quests. Outer Wilds is entirely about exploration and 99% of your gameplay will be flying around to different planets, exploring on foot, reading logs and piecing together clues from environmental storytelling -all to further understand the mysteries that surround you.
So what even drives you in Outer Wilds? What are your goals? Well it’s simple: curiosity. Given a new spaceship and complete free reign to do whatever you want in the universe, it’s entirely up to you to decide what you want to do. There is no right path to take in Outer Wilds, no perfect guide or direction to follow. Just go wherever looks interesting and let yourself enjoy the journey.
There’s nothing else that I can really say and nothing else that you need to know. Outer Wilds is a love story to the mysteries of space and exploration. It is a love story to human curiosity and determination. It is the best exploration game I have ever played and perhaps ever will play. It is an absolute privilege to be able to experience this game, a privilege that you will only have once. This is an honest to god masterpiece and I couldn’t recommend it more if I tried.
5/5