The discovery element is still strong, but the navigation is an absolute nuisance for the most part. This makes basic navigating less of an intuitive challenge and more of a confusing mess which is just not fun. For one thing, the fascinating locations you explore are very erratically and haphazardly designed without any rhyme or reason. For the most part, this is a satisfying and engaging experience but there are several glaring issues which can really take the player out of what Outer Wilds actually intended. There are also a lot of little things to interact with and discover. There is a lot of attention to detail, from the way the many planets are presented to even the smallest interior details of your spaceship. This isn’t like Groundhog Day, because your ship will log all the areas you have explored in all those timelines… or is it lifespans? Thankfully, death is an interesting paradoxical construct, as players will quickly learn that they are stuck in an infinite time-loop where each death brings them back to their humble campfire. There is one thing players need to get used to very quickly when exploring the hauntingly subdued worlds of Outer Wilds: dying. Yet while it is meant to be a relaxing game for the most part, the exploration isn’t always a peaceful stroll with friendly strangers as the many celestial locales are filled with hazards and even horrifying hostiles. Outer Wilds generally does a great job at world building, creating enough mystery without being presumptively vague. There is a lore to the game, and from the opening moments Outer Wilds very swiftly immerses a player into its breathing world and then slowly allows them to unravel the rest. As an alien camped in nothing but a sleeping bag on your woodsy home planet, it doesn’t take long for you to get the launch codes needed to explore the universe on your own terms. I don’t know if there is a term for it, but let’s call it “Countrypunk Sci-fi” for the sake of labels. Imagine if you had a spaceship in Red Dead Redemption and that’s pretty much how Outer Wilds presents its universe. ![]() What makes Outer Wilds stand out from the crowd is that you explore the universe in the same fashion as you would regional outskirts of a Country Western setting. As the game’s tagline suggests, you explore an artistically handcrafted solar system at your whim. For one thing, Outer Wilds sits somewhere between the Elite and No Man’s Sky experiences in that there is a game universe and lore with compelling substance, but the exploration of this universe is unpredictable and profoundly aimless. ![]() Outer Wilds is another one of those universe exploration games, but it takes a much different approach from the existing competition. Over the past five or so years we’ve seen everything from the acclaimed Elite Dangerous to the highly controversial No Man’s Sky. In the current hardware generation, however, the powerful technology has provided a comfortable avenue for these massive game worlds to be created with more detail than anyone could have dreamed of in 1984.
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