It took an hour or so to click with me, but when it did... wow. It's absolutely worth playing. You should be able to figure out 90+% of the game without a guide.
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Outer Wilds is launching June 18th on Steam
- Thread starter Deleted member 10737
- Start date
It's truly an amazing game well worth playing for anyone who likes puzzles, exploration, and science fiction. Do yourself a favor and don't read anything more before diving in. I didn't actually play it until this year, but if I had discovered it last year it would have been in my top three, easily.
Definitely have to disagree. Every solution makes perfect sense except one. Almost all of them are heavily hinted at elsewhere anyway.
But there is a single (important) solution that is really wacky and seems pretty unfair, got to give you that.
It's a game where discovery is the game. No one explicitly talks about what you discover in the game to would-be players because removing the sense of discovery for a player also removes the enjoyment you'd get playing it. I hate that I can't play this game for first-time again, but it was genuinely one of the most interesting, thought-provoking games I've ever experienced, and there's no way to convey that in screenshots or a write-up without also just ruining the game for the person reading it if they haven't played it.
Problem is some people are expecting No Mans Sky when this is Myst in space. Its not a game about exploring, its a game about thinking. Adjust your mindset accordingly if you want to play it or not.
Are you talking about the sand warp? Because if so, I agree, that's literally the only thing in the game I'd consider kinda bullshit. The rest of it is really elegant.
Amazing game.
Incredibly unique game, and an accomplishment for that reason alone.
That said, while the time-reset mechanic is fundamental to the game's identity, it also is itself a QoL problem that in some cases unnecessarily lengthens the time it takes to accomplish objectives. I think the experience would have been much better had they only lengthened the duration of each "cycle". I also found platforming to be frustrating at times, and was disappointed at how the One X patch tanked performance.
Still, a very cool game.
That said, while the time-reset mechanic is fundamental to the game's identity, it also is itself a QoL problem that in some cases unnecessarily lengthens the time it takes to accomplish objectives. I think the experience would have been much better had they only lengthened the duration of each "cycle". I also found platforming to be frustrating at times, and was disappointed at how the One X patch tanked performance.
Still, a very cool game.
How long to beat says 15.5 hrs for the main game. I'd agree with that. It's not long but not super short.
That's probably what it is. Like I said, I loved the game, but there came a point where I just threw my hands up and I'm pretty much a completist when it comes to games.
Took me about 10-15 hours without a guide. Ultimately it depends on how long it takes you to work through the game's puzzles, though I doubt it would take more than 20 hours unless you're really struggling.
It'a one of few space exploration games that is actually about the exploration and where planets/moons are just not earth like environments in exotic color schemes.
Wow, knew it was shorter but didn't know that short. Thanks.
Yup. Especially early on when it was literally broken and didn't work half the time. But even now, it feels a bit out of place.
Edit: because the rest of the game is so perfect
Same. I was just bored after a while and didn't feel like coming back. Something about it just didn't resonate with me. I didn't care for the visual design, for one thing.
Didn't find it as great as some posters are pumping it up to be - definitely not on the level of a New Vegas. Biggest issues were the easy difficulty, recycled enemies, numerous bugs, and a story that ends abruptly. Solid 7/10 - I played it on Gamepass last fall. Wouldn't pay full price; took about 20 hours to beat and I did some side quests but not all.
Can't really be said enough to be honest.
I never felt more like Spaceman Spiff than in this game... It's just so wonderful.
So I've played this game for almost two hours now and it's the most boring drag I've seen. It's neither fun, nor charming, nor does it offer much in the ways of exploring (everything is so barren). The controls are clunky and there are hardly any puzzles to keep me interested. Why is this so highly recommended? Can someone please explain to me WHY exactly? Go full spoilers if you have to, I just want to understand the high praise, since I doubt I'll be playing more of it.
A truly unique game and it was a great experience to play through it knowing nothing about the game before going in.
It's the best game I've played all generation. The entire galaxy is physically simulated as much as possible, which may feel unusual. The controls are actually just six translational thrusters, six rotational thrusters, and a booster, the minimal elegant solution for traversing this space.
There are lots of puzzles, but they are woven into the spoilers:
Over the course of the game, you piece together the story of the Nomai from the carvings and cities that they left behind. Your curiosity has to guide you: why did the Nomai die? What were they trying to do? What is the Quantum Moon, and how do I get there? What were the Nomai trying to accomplish in the High Energy Lab or the Sun Station? What caused the time loop? What is in the Dark Bramble, and how do I get past the hulking fish? What is in the Eye of the Universe? You figure out the answers by reading and by exploring. The universe is the puzzle. Then, in the last hour, you break the time loop and finish the Nomai's journey.
I think it is safe to say that no game has ever told a story in the way that Outer Wilds does. Very few could. That's what you have to play for.
The first hour on the planet is kinda slow but if the mystery and exploration that ensue afterwards don't catch your attention, then there's nothing to explain to you. It just ain't your thing.
loooool
The game is so good because of this reason, you havent figured anything out so its boring and barren. When you've figured something out its incredibly rewarding
There's so much that makes the game great so it's hard to cover all of it. The thing that's immediately impressive is just how much freedom the game gives you. It just plops you into the world, gives you no direction, and just tells you to do whatever the hell you want to solve its central mystery. And unlike most other open-world games, you actually can tackle it in literally whatever order you want. It's crazy that it actually works. It's a game about exploration that I always wished existed but never did.
Then there's the fact that the game has a ton of weird as fuck stuff there is to discover. Time travel. Black holes that literally warp matter around them. Quantum objects (and a whole moon) that change location when you stop looking at them. Whatever the fuck Dark Bramble is. Giant tornadoes that fling entire islands around. Time paradoxes that destroy the entire universe. There's no other game that does anything remotely like this and yet Outer Wilds has you constantly tripping over stuff like that.
Then there's the way everything ties into the story. The whole "time looping" things initially seems like a lazy excuse for the game's structure but it eventually becomes clear it's central to the entire story. The same goes for the quantum stuff - seems like it's just there for the puzzles at first but is central to the entire story. Same for the black hole. And dark bramble. And pretty much everything else.
Then there's the way the timeline drastically changes the entire world. Or the way different planets interact with each other. Or the way literally every single location in the game has a story-related reason for existing.
Plus a ton of other reasons.
Then there's the fact that the game has a ton of weird as fuck stuff there is to discover. Time travel. Black holes that literally warp matter around them. Quantum objects (and a whole moon) that change location when you stop looking at them. Whatever the fuck Dark Bramble is. Giant tornadoes that fling entire islands around. Time paradoxes that destroy the entire universe. There's no other game that does anything remotely like this and yet Outer Wilds has you constantly tripping over stuff like that.
Then there's the way everything ties into the story. The whole "time looping" things initially seems like a lazy excuse for the game's structure but it eventually becomes clear it's central to the entire story. The same goes for the quantum stuff - seems like it's just there for the puzzles at first but is central to the entire story. Same for the black hole. And dark bramble. And pretty much everything else.
Then there's the way the timeline drastically changes the entire world. Or the way different planets interact with each other. Or the way literally every single location in the game has a story-related reason for existing.
Plus a ton of other reasons.
I played the game a few months back, but it didn't click for me. I was finding the exploration and puzzlesolving enjoyable enough, but I didn't love it like it seems a lot of people do. I also really disliked the flying controls and when I got to Dark Bramble I ended up putting the game down. I think I got through most of the area, but by that point I had spent an hour or two just not having fun and getting more and more frustrated. Knowing that I would have to finish that area also just sapped any enthusiasm to pick the game up again, so I never finished it. I do get why people like it though. It was just that one specific part that killed my desire to play more of it.
Thank you both! That does sound like interesting elements, but I guess the mystery in itself and how it is presented isn't a strong enough pull for me to stay invested. I mean I knew the game was out of my comfort zone, but I tried anyway.
Can anyone recommend a video about the game I might watch instead?
Don't get it, it's an exploration game (great) that likes to punish you and doesn't respect your time.
That's not this game's philosophy. Dark Bramble isn't something you just ram your head against the wall and beat. Here's a vague hint in case you want to go back. I will put it in spoiler tags in case people don't want to know anything, but I will avoid story details:
The Nomai knew a trick for getting past the monsters on the Bramble, and since they are a scientific and studious people, they wrote it down.
But.
They wrote it down on another planet. Your goal is to find the knowledge that they accumulated, understand it, and figure out how to use it to get past the lamp fish.
If you want to know the specific planet:
But.
They wrote it down on another planet. Your goal is to find the knowledge that they accumulated, understand it, and figure out how to use it to get past the lamp fish.
If you want to know the specific planet:
The solution for getting past the fish is hidden in the tunnels of the city underneath Ember Twin.
I know it's a different philosophy from the usual game, but if you can click with it, the game is so rewarding!
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I heavily recommend you the noclip documentary and Super Bunnyhop video.
Noclip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbY0mBXKKT0
Bunnyhop: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZ5KzvW4Bys