Outer wilds

outer wilds

March 5, 2023
PC
Time at review: ~70hrs

A unique first-person open world exploration set in outer space that places environmental puzzles and mystery at the center of its experience.

As you discover secrets of your solar system across a variety of biomes, each coming with unique hazards, you reveal clues that propel you deeper into a story of intergalactic visitors, abandoned cities, and enigmatic alien technology. No guns or invading insect armies included— gravity is dangerous enough. With a jetpack and a spaceship, you are quickly given free reign to travel the solar system on your quest to piece together fragments of history into a cohesive narrative. There are no tutorials, no hand holding, no NPCs dragging you around by the nose; the decision of where to go (and when) is up to you as you navigate the clockwork mechanism of your solar system. If you can manage to pilot your ship without killing yourself, that is.

If you like exploration, the sense of discovery, mystery, feeling like a genius at finding secrets in a world where death can happen easily, often, but never feel punishing, do yourself a favor and buy the game.

premise

You play the role of a young astronaut from a pioneering culture taking their first steps as a space faring species. As a player, the moment to moment is spent flying and walking around your solar system reading clues in search of hidden areas. Air, fuel, and health are the resources to manage on your mission of discovery though they certainly don’t feature heavily. They are all infinite resources while on your ship and easily topped up there for your spacesuit. This mechanic strikes a wonderful balance that adds excitement to your travels instead of tedious stats to micromanage. Once I had spent some time with the game, scarcity was a point of exhilaration instead of frustration. The same can be said about ship damage and repair.

Game Feel

Navigating zero-g in three-axes did take some getting used to personally. Acclimating to the feel of the ship’s boosters, the changing horizon line (or absence thereof) amounted to some silly deaths that remind me I am a speck in a universe that doesn’t care. However, after spending some time getting used to the controls, staying oriented and traveling between the five planets becomes graceful; an exercise that’s exciting to learn and satisfying to master. After putting in more time, pulling off more experienced maneuvers at higher speeds, while not the emphasis of the gameplay, adds a fun dimension. And, to the developer’s credit, building an entire solar system without the need of a single loading screen amounted to an immersive game that easily drew me in.

The game wants you to explore, take risks, and try stuff out to get to that next area that maybe, just maybe, has the answer you’re looking for.

The environment is filled with clues that appear on your map of the system, thread and thumb-tac style. Exploration can easily turn dangerous and in some cases hilarious deaths can follow. The good news is that death holds minimal consequence and I found going back for another try hard to resist. The puzzles can appear cryptic at first, but are never maddening or unfair in retrospect. There are so many scattered among these worlds that switching to follow another lead will inevitably steer back to one previously abandoned. Only this time, I was better equipped than before to crack it. Solving the puzzles was truly satisfying.

If you like exploration, the sense of discovery, mystery, feeling like a genius at finding secrets in a world where death can happen easily, often, but never feel punishing, do yourself a favor and buy the game. The game wants you to explore, take risks, and try stuff out to get to that next area that maybe, just maybe, has the answer you’re looking for.

considerations

So, what’s the bad news? Honestly, not much. The art style, while not my particular favorite, is not without its charm and is effective at feeling otherworldly if a bit cartoonish for my tastes. In the end, an argument can be made that it’s a good fit given the lightheartedness of exploration the player is encouraged to adopt. Steam lists the game as “Playable” on Steam Deck due to small type which was my experience and limited me to desktop. I’ve since learned there’s a toggle in the Steam settings menu you can use to help alleviate the issue of garbled looking type, but have not taken advantage of that with this title personally. Beyond that (and I’m reaching here), I would admit that towards the end of my playthrough I wish skipping the restart sequence after a death would be an option; a minor gripe for such an awesome experience overall.

Takeaway

The game is superb and I recommend it. I also highly recommend the Echoes of the Eye DLC which is best experienced after the main game, in my opinion. Chances are extremely low that you’d find it before finishing the main content. Either way, it is a great addition with a decidedly spookier vibe— sans the jump scares. My total playthrough time plus DLC was ~70hrs. I tend to be slower with games in general compared to most, particularly if I am enjoying them. Average completion times are 16hr-26hr at time of review. Also of note is the game is best experienced with a controller, as the developers recommend. If this sounds like your thing, stop reading about it because the less you know the better.