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Do echo of the eye.

The learning doesnt end with the game. I started becoming really interested with physics after playing Outer Wilds and now a few years of physics later, I realize Outer Wilds is a diorama representing how cool our own universe is. Just by playing, it helps you grasp incredibly difficult physics concepts and introduces you to the complex philosophy that stems from it. So much of the game is a love letter to our universe and its amazing to see all the references and Easter Eggs to humanities greatest discoveries.they baked within.

I did not like outer wilds. I played a couple hours, and I could not get over the horrible, horrible, controls. The spaceship steers like a brick, you're forced to stand up from the pilots' seat to do stuff but the solar system is so preposterously small you always end up drifting into a gravity well while trying to get stuff taken care of. It's annoying for no good reason. The camera sucks, the movement feels very late 2000's. I just couldn't stand it. I just looked up a video breaking down the storyline. It's nihilism. That's all. Nothing you do matters, so enjoy the ride. Accept you can't change anything. Whooptie doo. I guess if you're 14 and haven't experienced the real world it would be some mind blowing reveal, but for any adult that plays the game... it's just self reinforcing beliefs to be a self-centered d*ck. I really, totally, do not understand why everyone loves this game so d*mn much. The mechanics are bad, and the story is about an inch deep if you stop to think about it for 30 seconds.

i only used the computer once at the start and twice when i got stuck. Also used youtube twice when i should have used my logs. biggest regret.

The game reminded me a lot of Myst, despite being also similar to Majora's Mask, given knowledge is your only tool. I love games like that.

Fine, I admit it, I got baited by the title into a surprisingly great lo-fi video essay.

Honestly i think that people praising this game do much and saying that the end is great and that it is an experience that everyone should have actually hurt the game. Some people go in expecting something from the game, something from the ending, and not realizing that the experience is best when you take it in full immersed, instead of just treating it like a videogame and wanting to solve puzzles and beat it as fast as possible to see "the good part"

I don't even know how you missed the screen on the ship lol, I've never heard that from anyone but that's pretty interesting, and this is a really well made video in your part. Clearly you quite like the game, sadly I really did not past a certain point. I do think some heavy criticism is warranted for this game. It is by far the most disappointing game I've played, not because I came in expecting it to be the best game ever, but because about 8 hours in I expected it to be amazing going forward. It was one of the most dull experiences I've ever had in gaming, partly because I'm impatient, but also this game is designed like no other with its ridiculous level of dialogue that you HAVE TO READ and constant backtracking. After completing what are in my opinion the best puzzles in the game, mainly because they tell you absolutely nothing and expect you to work it out yourself (The interloper, Giants Deep Quantum tower and landing on the quantum moon to name a few alongside some bad puzzles involving piecing together texts) and after you've explored every single planet, and almost all areas on those planets and all the signals, you have absolutely nothing to do but read dialogue and piece things together. The NPCs are static and mostly boring yet chunky in their lines of text, except for a couple but their completely bogged down by nonsense, every planet is devoid of all meaningful life except the Dark Bramble which has incredibly basic and annoying angler fish, and static jellyfish in giants deep and so much of the game becomes tedious waiting which even by the campfire to speed time takes a ludicrous amount of time. Oh and that computer which "saves" all dialogue? Turns out it often misses out key details. Why this game couldn't even implement a dialogue save station that copies it word for word like a (in my opinion) much better game when following the story like Subnautica which doesn't even require you to read 95% of the dialogue is beyond me. In the end I occasionally searched up some solutions (such as the quantum Moon south pole one which you actually mentioned) and didn't regret it, still don't to this day. I was so fed up with this game and wanted it done by the end, because backtracking brittle hollow for the 7th time because that planet is so full of waffle was making me lose my mind. It eventually reaches a point where for 3-4 hours have passed and you've made no progress, you just ask yourself, whats the point? People also said the story was amazing. I found it incredibly mediocre. The Ghost matter was simply the worst part of the story by far. Pure plot dagger that made no sense. The Nomai had almost no motive to find the eye of the universe besides their desire to explore and find things (tbh I don't really remember god as you said), which I get fits the entire point of the game, but its just meh. The hourglass was really cool, even if it was just to fit a plot point. Everything does fall into place too easily, but that doesn't matter too much. And the ending was kind of predictable and stupid to me, I've played other games with unsatisfying endings that grew on me like OneShot or Celestes DLC, this never did, I was annoyed in the moment and that hasn't changed unlike those two games. I am genuinely shocked people can cry to this game when its characters felt so devoid of life. I don't get how people can be so sad about this game. There are several I know far more sad and meaningful to me. Now I am incredibly bias because my favorite game by a landslide (Rain World) has only a few lines of powerful dialogue you can't miss, with the rest being completely optional, and tells a story just as strong and as deep, and in my opinion far better. That game changed how I looked at game just like how Outer Wilds changed how you look at games. For me it made me look at games like Outer Wilds quite negatively, because good games should never force you to read, you do that on the side if you really like the story. Outer Wilds does not respect your time enough as a game, and that is something key to me liking a game. Edit: Keep in mind this was a criticism, so I glossed over things Outer Wilds does incredibly. The movement is simply incredible, the best part of the game. It has an incredibly unique and amazing soundtrack. The accuracy to real life is amazing. The 22 minutes is an incredible feature even if it should have had a better way to speed it up. The signals are a great way too entice players who have nothing to do (but THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH!). The planets are well spaced for an open world game, and a perfect size (mostly) which is hard to do well. The quantum objects are one of if not the single best thing I've ever seen a puzzle game do. These things are the reason why I respect this game. It has nothing to do with the storytelling and dialogue puzzles, which is quite frankly in my opinion, in most instances terrible, which is why I am shocked it has the most praise. It is what killed the game for me. It is what makes the gameplay past around the 8th hour, and that is why I rate this game so much lower than what it should be. But TLDR, the game progressively gets worse the more you play it and overall it has way too much dialogue and hopeless backtracking to be fun beyond a certain time. Definitely a 6/10 game, because I only enjoyed it for about 1/3 of the time I was playing it. Could have been so much better if they made it like most other puzzle games where dialogue is in small quantities and your mostly interacting with the environment. It is unique, but that DOES NOT mean it is good. Before the 8ish hour mark it was building itself up to be an 8 or 9, but lacked enough live ecosystem (the environment changed, but not much more) with animals to be interesting enough to me. Even without that it was on par with Subnautica. But in the end it was just a really boring game.

I would go to Gabro a lot of times, just to see if he had some comforting things to tell me when I was feeling lost. Of course, he didn't haha

I clicked on this video expecting some sort of ill-informed rant so I was very pleasantly surprised, it's always great seeing people share their experiences with Outer Wilds, no two people experience it the same. Mine was kinda similar to yours in a lot of ways though, buying it around 2019-2020 but only playing it in November 2023, when it quickly became my favourite game of all time. I hope the DLC hit you as hard as the base game did, the two of them - both together and separately - are really something incredible. ::)

Animal well was such a crazy little game

Despite the slight clickbait (Lol) i really liked your honesty (and This game ...omg). Keep up the good work. Thanks

344 hours of playing to finish Outer Wild (DLC too). 14 days of my life are in this video game with emotions and feelings which I will find never again. For information, I am very bad with video games...but very obstinate.

have you started the dlc yet? it adds alot more to the ending and context to the story that almost feels incomplete without.

I’m not getting it or perhaps it’s an autistic thing to find joy in it. Maybe it will click eventually.

Outer wilds essayists: realize the Hearthians all go by they/them challenge (IMPOSSIBLE)

13:40 to be honest the hearthian didn't exist yet when the nomai were there, only their ancestors who were some kind of fish

SPOILER WARNIG 11:33 really hit bc I treated the game the same way I googled half of the puzzles practically everything except the (spoiler warning) quantum moon and I really regret that like a lot. I heard the "the ending was so emotional, it changed my life" so many times that I just wanted to see the ending and nothing more and I again regret that when I played it with my friend I was the only one giving him some hints and as I watched him play I was jealous of his natural curiosity that made him discover sm on his own like the (spoiler warning) Vessel. He pointed at dark bramble with the scope and said "wth there's a signal as well?" and just went there. He finished the game with just a few hints from me (most of them were very minor) and I just sat there jealous of his experience. I really like this game and it still holds a special place in my heart. It might not be my favorite game and I really regret my approach to the game but I enjoyed it a lot and am happy I played it I didn't understand shit the first time I finished it (I didn't do the quantum moon part) but I still cried. I still tear up when I hear 14.3 billion years

I actually didn't love Outer Wilds the first time I played it as much as I love it now. I didn't understand many things and I was even a little bit disappointed with the ending because I didn't know what was happening 😅 My love for Outer Wilds grew as I watch videos about it, learn and discover new things in playthroughs and most specially after I played the DLC. It solidified as my favorite game.

If you're searching for more games like that, the closest option - Rain World

God the lighting in this video sucks ☠☠☠

My experience was similar. When I first picked it up, it didn't click. I need to be in the right mood for certain games, and if it was the right moon phase or month or whatever, it may have clicked but just didn't that first time. Thankfully the community is so adamant about how great the game is, and that's ultimately what made me come back to it. If it weren't for all of the praise and commitment to avoiding spoilers (which in itself piqued my curiosity), I may have missed out on probably one of my top 3 favorite games of all time.

if you liked Animal Well play Fez or Tunic. They're literally referenced in the game. Trust me.

I really enjoyed your video. I had a similar experience as you and your bits bout treating the game as something to complete rather than experience resonated with me. I can say having completed the DLC that I get some redemption for my lack of understanding of the base game by really getting stuck into it and seeing it to its conclusion without looking anything up.

For someone who doesn't understand Outer Wilds you seem to have a pretty firm grasp of the key concepts and themes. Great video!

I don't think I ever appreciated Gabbro also being in the loop. It was kinda like "Yeah cool" for me, but it got YOU in to the mystery. That's awesome.

Well, the DLC has no text, it's all visual, so thats a plus :)

ive seen other people not know that the game stops during dialogue and ye i understand it ruins the game i was lucky to know it does and i still love the music from t his game it brings nostalgia and makes me feel happy that i played this game

Loved the vid! You admit that the rocky moments might have been your fault and I can't blame you for it. People try their hardest to make their opinion the only right one, but you also say why it was hard to play at first and what you might have done wrong, and I respect you for it! At the end of the day, most of us agree dat Outer Wilds is a masterpiece.

EA made a game no one wanted to play, Battlebit gave us the battlefield experience we all wanted

"Son of a b****, my light f'n died." -Zagy Ah, so you DID get Outer Wilds...

Indie games is a social construct

Wow. It is really great to see that even though not on your first try, but you were open minden enough to eventually understand what playing Outer wilds means. This may sound weird, but I feel a sense of pride for you, like your words and experience really warmed my heart here.

Hate it at the beginning but I know I have to play it so I bought it

I love Outer Wilds. If you're missing a bit of that feeling of having new things in the game, check out mods. I finished the Astral Codec mod yesterday and it's goddam fabulous. Of course it's not as intense as the main story, but it's still awesome and it goes extremely well with everything else.

I finished this game about a month ago and no other game will ever compare to it in my eyes. I've played some pretty influential games, both on me and the public, games like the classic Undertale, the adored JRPG Persona 5 Royal, and Subnautica, the survival game that flipped the usual script, but this game man, there is something else here. Never will I ever get this experience again, and I say that alot with games I loved but this time it felt real, and I was genuinely distraught with that fact and had to come to terms with the fact that its over. Like the Hearthian you play as, I had to accept that I had lived my last 22 minutes and reached the eye, and now it was time for something new. This game is a masterpiece among masterpieces and I recommend it to people who love any genre, whether you like fps games, visual novels, adventure games, survival games, rpgs, rogue-likes, hell, even dating sims. Everyone needs to see this, everyone needs to observe it for themselves.

I think what you're describing something I've been trying to articulate, which is that Outer Wilds has you unlearning how to play videogames. I was just commenting this on a playthrough on another channel: as a gamer, you're taught two things that absolutely ruin this game. First, when you see a block of text, you need to scan it for a key snippet of information rather than reading it properly and taking time to understand it. Second, if you see something you don't understand, just leave and come back later when the game directs you to do so. The result of this is, for example, when I encountered a large, unmoving tornado, I just accepted that it was there until I could turn it off via some other path in the system. I moved through the whole game like that. I would explore part of a planet, half-understand a few things, and figure that was enough and I'd try somewhere else. I ended up with a ton of snippets of lore that weren't adding up for me, and I was partially enjoying the game and also feeling _incredibly_ stupid because I wasn't putting it together at all. I had much of the information you needed to solve the game, but I still couldn't coherently tell you about the history of the Nomai, etc., etc. I actually restarted and things started to click when I went back and reread things I'd blown by and actually paid attention. The game does outright tell you what to do in most cases. For this reason, zero-G mechanics aside, I think most non-gamers will have an easier time with this game. As an aside, unrelated to anything other than that I've been thinking about Outer Wilds a lot: this game gave me the biggest sense I've ever gotten of really accomplishing something myself in a videogame, but when you think about it, you don't do anything at all in the game. The only change you make to the world at all is removing the core. Everything else is completely inconsequential.

I mean its kinda sad you didnt enjoy it. I got hooked when the time loop started. everyone experiences it differently

Skill issue

The game has so much potential to play like a low end Squad/Battlefield kinda hybrid experience but MAN 8-9ish months of nothing but “soon” “we’ll update it soon” only to have 2 guns 1 map and a few UI changes?

Outer Wilds, Disco Elysium, Bojack Horseman, the three I started and left, then returned to them some time later with a fresh perspective and willingness to go through and understand them. And the three have left a permanent mark in me.

i think i had a similar experience in that i didn't understand the game very much, i feel as though i played it wrong, and i feel as though i didn't appreciate it enough. it sucks that the experience is a once in a lifetime thing because i would go back and do it all differently if i could.

::)

It's ok, It's kind of an intelligence test. Not everyone will get it. Definitely one of the greatest games of all time for those who do get it.

Nice video! I've been thinking a lot about what to tell someone who is about to play this game. Your situation is not common, but it's also not the only time I've heard someone have a bad time because they were just ignoring most text, thinking it was only flavour. I think something like "read everything, and pay attention" would go far. I would also throw in a quick lesson on the ui in space, if I had the opportunity. A lot of people seem to never really understand it even after beating the game, and just making sense of the white arrows helps a lot. A lesson in orbital mechanics might be nice too but that would probably be overkill... I've also cried more times to the ending of this game than any other media. PS You need to get a pop filter or whatever it's called for your mic. (or maybe theres some postprocessing that could help?)

Ive been playing on and off for the last few months and I've never gone two without at least one great fire fight battle that really does it for me. I wish more people played but I get it, I guess. I love it. It's still better than cod or battlefield

I loved the game but I didn't "play it right" i woudl say. Maybe there's no right or wrong way to play it, but i did end up looking on the internet for some answers, like how to navigate inside Dark Bramble or, idk, how to get at the core of the Ash Twin, and how most of the teleporters worked... Yeah.. Big stuff. I just couldn't figure it out while playing it. So i took the easy way : i googled it. And that also says a lot about how i play video games. I'm impatient and i like to have it easy and to be told what to do, i think. Even though i loved the fact that it was completely non linear and I love narrative game like this. Spoilers ahead . . I started this game after a friend recommended it to me and i played it a few 40 minutes, left the game, came back a year later and actually played it after he insisted i played it. Knew nothing about it which was great. No spoilers, no nothing. It was truly an experience. I wasn't so fan at the begining, didn't really understand the hype, and was so frustrated of dying because i couldn't manage the ship and crashed way too often. But the more i played, the more i was hooked. I shared some of my thoughts with another friend who has no interest whatsoever in playing the game, and he told me how he would be so frustrated having too restart over and over after 22 minutes every time. That's not something that bothered me actually, but i do hear his opinion. And i actually understood it while playing the DLC. I gave up on it because having to go all the way back there every single time got me bored and i watch someone else play it (and understand it better) instead. I'm glad i did taht actually, i think i enjoyed it far better. So, yeah. The way i play games definitely hindered my experience too. But looking back, it was such a great game and more than the story itself, i admire how the team behind it manage to create such a unique game and gameplay that has not been seen before (or rarely). I love how whatever you do, you're doomed anyway. The planets are doomed even if the sun doesn't explode (Timber Earth is about to know the same fate. You're doomed just like the Nomai because there is a comet with fatal Ghost Matter that can probably explode anytime just like at the time. You're doomed even if you run far away enough from the supernova because the universe is dying anyway. You just have to accept it. All your quest for nothing. Almost. You still get to create a new universe, but you only know that once you leap into the unknown. Anyway, it's pretty cool, i fucking love this game, it's genuis, good bye

No other game has compelle me to watch every playthrough i come across on youtube

My greatest regret is that i didnt record myself playing the game. I want to relive the moments i had in the game.