Outer Wilds
Warning: Review contains spoilers seen in the game trailer
Name Confusion: There are three games that have come out this year with the word "out" in their name and I feel kind of obligated to distinguish between the three. In fact, many journalists have taken the time to try and distinguish between them. Outward, the "backpacking game" as I call it, generates a "not the chosen one" vibe with the slick of putting down your traveling bag that improves your prowess. Released March 16, 2019 Outward is described as a fantasy-survival-RPG where you literally travel between cities surviving off the land. This might have sounded cool, even after the major patch that came out October 3, but IGN's review (as much as I disregard their opinion) scared me out of it with its realistic endeavors, clunky combat, challenging gameplay, and game-breaking bugs. The Outer Worlds (which I will play) is the game advertised as from the original creators of Fallout that brings about a "better version of Fallout 4 in every way" as the general consensus I hear on the Internet. Outer Wilds is the "what No Man's Sky should have been from the start" space adventure that resets time every 22-minutes. This is the one I will be reviewing today.
Development: Outer Wilds has been in development a long time. Originally pitched on Fig, the game managed to be crowd-sourced barely at $125,000 in September 17, 2015. That's 4 years ago! The problem came along when they decided to alter the deal and release it in the Epic Store on May 29th before Steam. I get that Steam is a lovely platform and all, but not only does the Epic Store take 12% instead of 30% of the cost of the game but also gives out free games on a weekly basis. And the game was only bumped from the initial $20 sales pitch to $25. Even after having some problems at release, the developers continued to do their best in fixing the game.
The Good: I cannot express how awesome it was playing this game. I believe the "tutorial" was the best I've ever seen. Not only was I surprised to see No Man's Sky planet hopping but also thoroughly enjoyed Zero-G atmosphere. Although you are "supposed" to try and follow the signals from your special doohickey, you can be equally rewarded by simply exploring the areas at your own leisure. Because the game follows a time loop, you can technically finish the game within the 22 minute limit once you know exactly what you are supposed to do. The so-called "mystery" of the time-loop is solved by a series of bread-crumbs left on the planets that appear on your space logs inside the ship (that automatically update and don't disappear after each trip). A lot of areas are just there for your entertainment and have no significant bearing on your main objective. These sites help build on a believable ancient civilization that had schools for children, a form of religion, scientists for colonial advancements, and space explorers. In the process of the game, you will learn the space rules through black holes, quantum entanglements, memory preservation, energy disbursement, and the allocation of molecules at the atomic level. It gets so technical that I have no idea how many of those are based on actual theories within the scientific community or purely science fiction. I was both determined and thrilled to discover something new every loop that I didn't quite think possible beforehand. There is no telling how many times I looped or how long it took to finish the game. It can take a minimum of 10 hours to 30 hours, averaging at 20 hours, depending on your commitment. It is entirely possible I spent a total of 80 time loops: 10 no-escape puzzles, 30 dumb mistakes, 30 out-of-time moments, and 10 relaxing curiosity instances.
The Not-So Bad:
Most of the problems I encountered were minor things that are barely
worth mentioning. There are no voice actors as most of the communication
is conveyed through text. Some puzzles can be incredibly vague on the
details (which the developers are trying to fix) and require some
trial-and-error to solve (especially near the end). Although the skill
ultimately becomes useless after obtaining the space suit, jumping
requires you to hold down the button before activating. Some areas can
be quite difficult to navigate and require some pristine timing in your
platforming skills. It is extremely easy to lose your spaceship from
outside sources. There were a few times I couldn't get on top of the
ship to make repairs. Autopilot doesn't take into consideration moving
around certain objects that might be in the way. This is actually
something you can mention to your pals in the village and can be extremely funny to experience
when it happens. There are some incredibly tense and creepy moments
that will have you screaming for mercy. The overall volume of the game
seemed quieter than normal. The ending is ultimately confusing and its
resolution... disappointing. Honestly, it reminds me of Stargate's Window of Opportunity episode where they eventually surrendered gave up.
Review: For a relatively cheap game that builds upon everything that is space related, Outer Wilds performs better than a lot of other games twice its size. Exploring is at the heart of the game where the game builds on scientific theories to help solve the ultimate mystery of the universe. If you aren't afraid in flipping over every rock just to see what is underneath, this game is definitely right for you. If you do decide to play it, I highly advise trying to figure out things for yourself without any sort of outside help. More fun that way.
10-28-2019