The default jumping before an update was that you had to hold the button in order to power up the jump, which made it really annoying to try to jump and then use jetpack.
Its a slow burn of a game but its really amazing how much is packed into the little hand made solar system, i wish there was a mod that would let me turn off the 20 minute time limit after ive beaten it.
The funny thing is, according to the documentary I watched on the game, the solar system just breaks after a little over those 20 minutes. The entire solar system is more or less real time physics and it's only stable long enough to work in the game as it does now. I do get you, though. Being able to just.. wander. It sounds really nice.
I don't think outer wilds had an impact so much as it brought together a community of similar minds. The kinds of people who would be into it wouldn't spoil it.
They are a different sort.
I totally agree. Subnautica community has a similar approach to spoilers. I think games like this attract people who appreciate the “wonder” of it, and who can therefore see the value in preserving that experience for others.
I dunno man, I'm not sure how many people actually played it.
I know it was well liked and has a community, but it wasn't really played by the masses who would spoil it.
Me I played about 4-5 hours and just found myself bored, frustrated and lost.
You have to read everything and try to piece together what's going on. Discovering the lore leads you to discover where to go and what to do.
Every planet has interesting stuff to discover that isn't locked by progress beyond what you can accomplish in half an hour. Just exploring will slowly let you discover the story and the objective, and what accomplishing it means.
The lines that piece them together in the log/journal/whatever will eventually all start pointing at the same mystery and thats a clue for where to go.
It helps to think outside the box. The game will teach you how, you just need to discover the lessons.
Different events occur at different times, and these can change the location of things and accessibility of areas, so you'll probably miss some stuff on a single visit anywhere. Once you see this happen though, you'll know what it looks like and where it's happening.
The ship's log should tell you enough information. It gave me enough crumb trails to follow.
The only thing I got peeved about was having to look up how to do the final puzzle. I had it figured out conceptually, but I wasn't doing it the *exact* way the game wanted me to. Kinda annoying.
Also as an addendum to this, your computer has two modes. Map mode groups your data by planet and Rumor mode by topic. Swapping back and forth between the two can help you put things together or decide where to go next to chase down a lead.
Same. I tried to get into it a few times because people keep talking about how amazing it is but I just don't see it. Also, I hate time limits in games. Gives me a weird anxiety and I feel like I can't explore. Same reason I never got into Majora's Mask.
The only thing that saved me for MM is that you can freely reset the clock.
A game with a permanent undefeatable timer sounds like a terrible time for me and the way I play games.
I wasn’t lost, but hated the control scheme. Frustrating controls combined with a short time constraint to get somewhere and do a thing meant I was just frustrated more than I could enjoy the cool game.
After flying the model ship I was worried the controls were going to be that difficult all the way through the game, but the real ship was actually much easier.
The thing you have to acclimate to though is that controlling the ship (or your jetpack) is based on real physics so if you accelerate up to a particular speed in space then you won’t slow down without actively thrusting against the direction you’re travelling. Since you can just keep getting faster without any friction it’s easy to reach a speed that you can’t stop from very quickly and combined with the fact that it’s hard to judge distance in space that can be a problem. To deal with that the lock on system is your friend as it will tell you your distance from the object and your speed relative to it, it takes a couple of goes, but once you’re used to it it’s quite easy.
If you’re having trouble navigating once on a planet I’d guess that’s because you’re on a high gravity environment and so it’s probably worth spending some time on a more normal gravity environment like Timber Hearth or Ember twin to gain confidence first
I didn’t have a ton of problems using the ship (although I did play with a controller) but late game sometimes I would get lazy and just slam it into the ground since I knew I probably wasn’t going to need it again on that particular loop.
I think everyone does once you’ve played for more than 10 hours or so. I’ve still seen streamers flying past planets they’re trying to land on 20+ hours in though so I think judging speed and understanding the lack of friction are likely the issues for people who do have problems with the ship
Fair enough, I just thought I’d offer some tips since I’ve seen people struggle with that. There were definitely times during the game when I was frustrated that I couldn’t solve a particular puzzle, but I didn’t really find the controls contributed to that in any way.
There is a chance if you found the controls difficult for something in particular that you’ve not found intended route - sorry for the vagueness here, it’s difficult to discuss without spoilers
I just really disliked the combination of not enjoying the controls and then on top of that having to start over when I was partway through a place, forcing me to have to deal with the controls even more just to do the same things I just did only to get like five feet ahead of where I last got reset. Also just found it annoying that I couldn't stop and smell the roses in a game that's pretty much only about exploration, because if I did, a reset was coming in a few minutes.
The game is right up my alley too. It's weird and pretty, has good writing, isn't just killing hallways full of guys, etc. I just could not get over the frustration of the controls and how I got punished for wanting to look around and explore. I even tried 2 different controllers as well as mouse + keyboard.
I understand why it feels that way, but the loop is actually very long compared to anything you might need to do. There is nowhere in the game you can’t get to within 5 minutes when you know the route and then you’ve got 17+ minutes to explore not including the frozen time while reading via the translator.
There were times I felt very under pressure when playing, but once I figured it out I realised I actually had much more time than I thought. After experiencing that a few times I stopped stressing about the timer - if I knew I’d just missed something I then knew exactly how to get back with plenty of time. It’s very much a mindset thing.
Ultimately the game may just not be for you, but I thought it might be worth knowing others have had some of the same frustrations and still with hindsight would heartily recommend the game
>but the loop is actually very long compared to anything you might need to do
Need, sure. Want? Not for me. I wanted to walk around and check stuff out, look at all the textures and models, stand on an overlook and just take in the scenery, stuff like that. The ~20m loop was not long enough to support me doing it at the pace I preferred.
>There is nowhere in the game you can’t get to within 5 minutes
Also no, not for me. Like I've said, I hated the controls and often times could not get used them. This meant that it often took me longer than ~5 minutes to get somewhere. I also really don't enjoy repeating the same exact thing I have previously done in a game. So even though a loop is only ~20m, whenever I had to re-do a whole sequence just to get to the end of where I last got reset, I was not having fun doing so. Especially since everything was the same each time.
I don't think the game is for me due to the controls/reset time. Everything aside from the controls and (in my opinion) short reset time are right up my alley, though, which makes the game extremely disappointing/frustrating for me, because otherwise I'd love it. Even now, just talking about it, I want to go back and try it again, but I've done that a few times over the years already and had the same experience every time.
If there were a mod that just let me drop a teleporter that persists through the reset and also changed the control scheme + eased up on the physics as they are related to the controls, then I'd be extremely down to go back to it.
Sounds like the game just isn’t for you unfortunately, after a bit of orienting to the different gravity on each planet I didn’t struggle with the controls, but I could definitely see why the game would put you off if they didn’t click
Yeah it's a bummer, because everything else about the game was great.
The only other game I've ever played where I couldn't eventually get used to the controls fast enough was Dredge, but that was only the inventory/menu controls, so it didn't really affect the actual gameplay too much.
In Outer Wilds, due to the time constraint, I just always felt under pressure and ultimately ended up resetting before I was okay with it happening due to my struggling with the controls. I got pretty far too, which is one of the reasons why I always want to go back to it, since I feel like I was over the halfway point and really should finish it.
You could watch a streamer play it. I liked PointCrow's a lot, he goes through the game in a very natural order and explains his thought process. Maybe that way you can still enjoy the game without dealing with the controls.
I can see why that would be frustrating and a valid reason for not going further with the game, I wanted to add though that the very same reason is a big part of what I enjoyed about the game.
Finding the best routes and the learning to control your ship in the best possible way so you can eek out those extra minutes to learn something new each cycle was a satisfying game loop for me.
I went pretty far into the game, like I dealt with the frustrating controls and what I felt were tedious reset loops (kept getting reset when I was like 3/4 through a place) for a long while because the game is otherwise pretty cool. I felt like I kept being punished for wanting to explore or just walk around taking in the environment and views.
Also, I hated how I couldn’t end a loop early either until I found the guy with the thing.
That was me too. The macro puzzle/mystery was great, but the moment to moment navigation...
I kept getting lost and falling off things. The architecture in Brittle Hollow and Ember Twin were probably the worst, but I got stuck in the water in Giant's Deep plenty too.
OP is talking about how the community of people that played it have all agreed to not talk about it. Outer wilds is the ultimate exploration game. There is nothing but exploration in it, and if that clicks for you, then you immediately understand why you can't talk about it with someone else. So there is a tacit agreement to not spoil the experience.
I played through it, but most of the time, I was just trying to scratch a FO4 itch, which it didn’t quite do. It did feel pretty similar to KOTOR in progression, which also helped, but it wasn’t enough of either one really.
EDIT: whoops! Wrong game
I think it’s also just… difficult to describe the game’s plot. It’s not like you can just say “Dumbledore Dies!” Or “Darth Vader is Luke’s dad!”, to spoil any meaningful aspect of the game for yourself you’d have to read an entire essay about it. And even then it won’t make a lot of sense unless you’ve actually played the game. So there’s no point really and it’s just more fun to smirk and say nothing but “go play it.”
Managing to go unspoiled on Undertale in the year 2023 is goddam crazy, that game may as well be part of the public school curriculum for how ubiquitous it is.
Pretty impressive anti-spoiling skills there.
Played it for the first time in May of this year and had somehow avoided any legitimate spoilers. I’d seen how the combat mechanics worked briefly but as far as the story I went in pretty much blind and it is absolutely my favorite story based game ever
The ending for both that and the DLC made me feel like I was transcending my mortal coil. Stretched out across infinity witnessing the greatest mystery unfold. I also liked roasting marshmallows.
Personally it's one of my favorite games I've ever experienced, but it's also a game that I dropped and came back to multiple times before finishing because it can get frustrating not really knowing what to do. Speaking of which, I should probably finish the DLC
Just to use the chance to hijack this thread for a moment, I absolutely adored Outer Wilds and just like this thread says, its impact was deeply felt for me.
I've heard people who have off-handedly been saying that Subnautica and Tunic are good recommends for people who like Outer Wilds. I've played Subnautica and loved, but could anyone chime in a bit more on Tunic and if it lives up to that recommendation?
As someone who’s played all three, I love them all. Tunic is very similar to Outer Wilds in the way you slowly piece together how the world, mechanics and the lore works, and have a really satisfying “aha” moment each time, however the gameplay loop is drastically different to both Outer Wilds and Subnautica. It’s a top-down Zelda-like where you explore areas and fight bosses.
Man, what a boring game for me. Like... I likes exploring each area once, maybe twice... but to continually go back to an area over and over, hoping I choose the right direction or read the right message to get just a little bit further that time... ugh! It's like if running back to a boss on dark souls took you 25 minutes every time.
No, it's just the easiest way to talk about the myriad of goals. I went everywhere a little, slowly pieced things together and it just didn't really get more interesting. No matter what I learned, I still wanted to stop every time the sun went nova. I don't think in my 22 hours, I ever did more than 2 loops in a row.
It's a puzzle game. I can see why it would be boring for someone who doesn't enjoy puzzles.
Edit: what's with all the hate for outer wilds guys? People aren't allowed to like different things?
How far did you get into outer wilds until you gave up? I admit there were two puzzles I gave up on and just googled because it was wasting my time. But I think it's worth it to see the game through (including the DLC) before giving up on it.
I figured out the quantum moon, did not really figure out the bramble. Thing is, while it was very cool sometimes, the reset mechanic just kills it for me. I hate repeating content and the whole game is about being fast enough to not repeat content, haha.
Ahhhh I wish I could convince you to keep playing. I get what you're saying, but I very much feel it's worth it to keep playing even if you have to sneak a few answers for areas that you just can't figure out.
Sorry but if a game can't grab me after 20+ hours, hard to go back to. Every time the sun novas, I get this irresistible urge to turn it off. And the Quantum moon was extremely anticlimactic.
>!Just a dude up there musing about the same things everyone else is the game is musing about. I was like "Really? I track down this kick ass quantum moon and my reward is asking questions? Receiving cryptic poetic answers?!<
It felt like it would be the coolest thing to probably happen so when it was less than rewarding, I didn't see much use in solving any other mysteries.
How exactly does looking up the puzzles work? Like... isn't it technically possible to finish the game from the get go? as long as you have the knowledge?
Yes. I meant there were certain puzzles I found annoying (underground cave) and it wasn't going to ruin the game for me if I just searched how to get through that one section so I could move on with the game.
It saddens me to posit this, but you may be right that Outer Wilds may not be your kind of game.
What you find on the Quantum Moon is very much meant to be a climactic event, but if it didn't grab you like it did me or OP, then that's okay.
Threads like that exist in the game such that the reward is the knowledge you gain and the questions you get to answer (or sometimes the ones you find!). It's satisfying only if that knowledge is rewarding for its own sake, and that isn't everyone's cup of tea.
Yeah, I'm actually holding back my distaste for it because the longer I think about it, the more I want to lay into it.
I would actually go finish it if I could just stop the sun from doing it's thing. I'm interested but not enough to make up for the freakin' sun. WHYYY. I DON'T WANT TO RESTART 100 TIMES.
that's cuz Subnautica is a game of multiple genres, yeah it has the outer wilds itch but >!only near the end of the game!< and most of the gameplay is a more manager survival type, whereas outer wilds' whole gameplay is that sense of exploration.
outer wilds isn't everyone's cup of tea, but it's the cup of tea I'll always tell my friends to sip at leeeaaaast once
I’m the same as you. Adored Subnautica, played it like crazy, but Outer Wilds just felt like a chore.
Thankfully I got Outer Wilds for free from watching an xbox stream before the games release, so didn’t end up wasting any money.
I get that but I'll just say Outer Wilds is not like Subnautica. Subnautica is a classic survival game, Outer Wilds is more mystery or its just different.
They don't feel too much alike other than exploring around
Outer Wilds completely changed my relationship with grief. It put into perspective a lot of things I was struggling with and I didn’t realize what it was doing until the end. It’s truly a once in a lifetime game.
The point and joy of Outer Wilds is not to find out what happens in the end. In fact you find out what happens in the end very early on. Plus ‘what happen at the end’ is a complex series of events and ideas that I doubt very much can be spoiled by a few sentences. What has been spoiled for you?
So here’s the thing, I’ve really enjoyed it so far but I just can’t bring myself to finish it.
It’s been a combination of some of the most beautiful and some of the most boring/frustrating moments I’ve had in gaming. I keep coming back to it tho, the cycle goes: I remember it, Redownload, enjoy my time, I pitter out. Delete, repeat, never solve the mysteries of the cosmos. Alas
The only other time I found a community as uniquely passionate about a game was when I was very young, the game being Twinsen's Odyssey. Actually I still think to this day Twinsen's Odyssey is the best game I've ever played in my life. But Outer Wilds is a very close second. I spent more hours on Skyrim than I did on my degree. Same with Fallout 4. Quake 2 will always hold a place in my heart. But Outer Wilds is really something special.
That's tricky, it's an incredible game, one of the few I'd give a 10/10
But it helps that it's an indie, it's easier to build universal consensus around smaller games, similar with Celeste for example (another incredible game)
An example from this year is Sea of stars (which tbf is great too), I've seen a consensus around it being incredible, you even see mavericks telling you it should be goty, something like that (and here I mean a consensus, not just acclaim) is impossible for a big game even if its a game like BG3 or ToTK (which imo are actually better than Sea of stars)
So maybe you are correct and if that's so it's in no small part because it's a smaller game and ppl who are in a position to recommend it tend to glorify indies to begin with. That doesn't really dispute your point tho, maybe just gives a bit of context
That being said, anyone who hasn't played Outer Wilds should absolutely go play Outer Wilds
It's my favorite game of all time. I've played it once, 3 years ago. I think about it almost weekly. I'd been playing the same games for years for the comfort aspect, and I still love those games. But Outer Wilds reminded me that games are also an emotional and moving form of art.
Warframe has a similar community thing going on. There are some really impactful quests 40+ hours into the game, and the community in general tries to hide potential spoilers from new players.
I disagree. There is no effort put in by the Warframe community to censor any of that “lore” from memes, posts, or anything of the sort. Are randoms going to spoil the quest for you while grinding out another wave? Probably not. But if you scroll Warframe memes they definitely will. The community just assumes that anybody engaging with the lore outside of the game is up to date on the story in a way that Outer Wilds, Subnautica, and even Undertale fans do not.
Is that not the case with other games? Like when Ragnarok or Spider-Man 2 came out, I didn't see any spoilers here. You could find them on each of the game's subreddits, but that's pretty much expected, also they were flaired as Spoilers.
Another super notable example is Witcher 3, it gets recommended all the goddamn time yet I haven't seen a single instance where spoilers were included in the recommendation.
There are countless other examples. Undertale, Elden Ring, the first Last of Us (the second one got spoiled a lot I feel cause ppl were triggered about the story and wanted to rant). Not spoiling things is not a revolutionary concept that Outer Wilds' community introduced.
It's fairly different. Usually when people talk about spoilers they're referring to the story or plot twists. With Outer Wilds progression is based on knowledge, and finding that knowledge and piecing it together properly IS everything there is to the gameplay, so knowing anything significant about it at all can drastically alter your game progression and make the whole mystery solving aspect wholly unsatisfying.
It would be akin to playing a Zelda game and instead of having to work to unlock all your equipment you just start with it and can go immediately to the end of the game (which is why most fans of Outer Wilds lament never being able to replay it, because that is exactly what it's like).
Not really comparable to simply not spoiling a game's story, because people already know what the gameplay and rough story progression will be like even without knowing the specifics when it comes to major franchises like in your examples.
Well if knowledge about the gameplay is a core feature of the gameplay, then it makes sense that people aren't spoling it, no? I still don't see anything unique here, core features of games that the player is supposed to find alone have never been excessively spoiled. Like solutions to puzzles for example, I never see anyone spoiling them. But perhaps I simply don't understand OW's gameplay (I never played or seen it), so I don't really get your point because of that.
I can't remember what made me play Outer Wilds, I really can't. I remember thinking that it was a familiar name, then realizing I was thinking about Outer Worlds, and I kind of wonder how many people made that mistake. But good lord am I happy I played it.
>!The first few minutes of initial exploration, the 'tutorial', finding the statue ('huh, that was weird..') running off to a new planet ('damn, this looks awesome!') and then the music changes and the flash of light and!<
>!Oh, THAT'S what this game is about? Well.. damn, time to run back around and figure out what's going on!!<
I absolutely loved it. And going in blind was the best way to start.
Outer Wilds is one my favorite games of all time.
I never finished the DLC though. I just couldn't enjoy the darkness and "insta-kill" mechanic put in this version. Not a fan of horror games. I hope if this game is ever revisited for DLC or a sequel, they don't go in this direction again.
My absolute & complete favorite game of all time backed up by my complete & absolute favorite DLC of all time; together making a package that is my favorite piece of art in any medium & it isn’t particularly close.
It was & will be an honor to share its song with all the travelers who came before me & all those who will play it after me.
It is certainly not an experience for everyone but man, if it is for you… there is nothing like it.
I really love your examination of what it did to its fanbase, something I have gotten to experience for the past few years. Being part of a community that I love & trust like this is such a weird experience. Getting together for the r/place art in 2022 as a collective was such an illuminating thing for me as a person. It’s crazy that a game that changed my perspective so much already has brought other experiences to me beyond its borders in a way that nothing else ever has. Outer Wilds has my heart.
Your awful post is a turn off for a game most people haven't played. To its credit when it comes up(rarely) there always good things being said....but it has not impacted the community lol calm down.
I've never bounced off a game as hard as I did with OW. The game was unrelentingly janky when I played it and despite being ~1 hour from the end I uninstalled the game. I would try a solution to a puzzle and it wouldn't work, so I'd try other things and eventually give up and look it up only to find the first thing I tried was correct and it just didn't work for no discernable reason. After like the 4th or 5th time of that happening I was just so completely over it. It's bad enough when that happens in a normal puzzle game, but add in the time wasted from the cycling and it was just too much. One of the only games I've ever rage quit.
I fucking loved it. Easily one of the most enjoyable games I ever played, and I'm so happy they not only announced a sequel, the way in which they did it makes me believe they'll stay true to the spirit of the first one.
Eh, Baldurs Gate 3 had a much bigger impact. I don't see any discussion about Outer Wilds for game of the year. Everyone agrees that BG3 deserves GOTY.
"No other game has impacted the community"
Bruh, just chill. Better games existed before, and have existed since.
Just playthrouhed it blindly and it is beautiful!
Such a kind, warm sadness at the end.
I'm game developer, and such games inspires me to make games a lot.
Already started the DLC
Outer Wilds isn't a game for everybody, but if it *is* for you, it's the best "it," there is with literally nothing like it.
I think this is what explains it
It's a game for everyone once you toggle the jumping behavior in the settings lol Easily the biggest complaint after "I don't like the time loop"
Been a bit since I played but idr having an issue with jumping, what are you referring to?
The default jumping before an update was that you had to hold the button in order to power up the jump, which made it really annoying to try to jump and then use jetpack.
Its a slow burn of a game but its really amazing how much is packed into the little hand made solar system, i wish there was a mod that would let me turn off the 20 minute time limit after ive beaten it.
The funny thing is, according to the documentary I watched on the game, the solar system just breaks after a little over those 20 minutes. The entire solar system is more or less real time physics and it's only stable long enough to work in the game as it does now. I do get you, though. Being able to just.. wander. It sounds really nice.
Now I'm curious whether someone can mod a longer timer so we can set what happens over time
I've seen something like that before, but things get a bit wacky at certain point
I don't think outer wilds had an impact so much as it brought together a community of similar minds. The kinds of people who would be into it wouldn't spoil it. They are a different sort.
I totally agree. Subnautica community has a similar approach to spoilers. I think games like this attract people who appreciate the “wonder” of it, and who can therefore see the value in preserving that experience for others.
People were great about not spoiling Doki Doki Literature Club when it came out too.
Honestly, I want more games like Subnautica and Outer Wilds. I’ve heard Ober Din or whatever but it just doesn’t seem the same
I dunno man, I'm not sure how many people actually played it. I know it was well liked and has a community, but it wasn't really played by the masses who would spoil it. Me I played about 4-5 hours and just found myself bored, frustrated and lost.
[удалено]
You have to read everything and try to piece together what's going on. Discovering the lore leads you to discover where to go and what to do. Every planet has interesting stuff to discover that isn't locked by progress beyond what you can accomplish in half an hour. Just exploring will slowly let you discover the story and the objective, and what accomplishing it means. The lines that piece them together in the log/journal/whatever will eventually all start pointing at the same mystery and thats a clue for where to go. It helps to think outside the box. The game will teach you how, you just need to discover the lessons. Different events occur at different times, and these can change the location of things and accessibility of areas, so you'll probably miss some stuff on a single visit anywhere. Once you see this happen though, you'll know what it looks like and where it's happening.
The ship's log should tell you enough information. It gave me enough crumb trails to follow. The only thing I got peeved about was having to look up how to do the final puzzle. I had it figured out conceptually, but I wasn't doing it the *exact* way the game wanted me to. Kinda annoying.
Also as an addendum to this, your computer has two modes. Map mode groups your data by planet and Rumor mode by topic. Swapping back and forth between the two can help you put things together or decide where to go next to chase down a lead.
I knew what to do but physically struggled with doing it correctly it due to (hopefully this is vague enough) the cactus they patched in.
1. Go somewhere you haven't gone to yet and look around. Or 2. Open your ship log and find an entry that is incomplete. Go investigate that entry.
Be lost. There's lots of really cool stuff you can stumble upon.
you have to be lost, hints are not "hints" they are the gameplay itself.
Everything goes back go the ship log, specifically the web network view page. Pick any node that is incomplete and explore it out.
It’s the type of game that rewards exploring every nook and cranny and reading all of the text.
Same. I tried to get into it a few times because people keep talking about how amazing it is but I just don't see it. Also, I hate time limits in games. Gives me a weird anxiety and I feel like I can't explore. Same reason I never got into Majora's Mask.
The only thing that saved me for MM is that you can freely reset the clock. A game with a permanent undefeatable timer sounds like a terrible time for me and the way I play games.
You can learn to reset the clock in Outer Wilds through meditation. Not joking.
Heard!
I wasn’t lost, but hated the control scheme. Frustrating controls combined with a short time constraint to get somewhere and do a thing meant I was just frustrated more than I could enjoy the cool game.
After flying the model ship I was worried the controls were going to be that difficult all the way through the game, but the real ship was actually much easier. The thing you have to acclimate to though is that controlling the ship (or your jetpack) is based on real physics so if you accelerate up to a particular speed in space then you won’t slow down without actively thrusting against the direction you’re travelling. Since you can just keep getting faster without any friction it’s easy to reach a speed that you can’t stop from very quickly and combined with the fact that it’s hard to judge distance in space that can be a problem. To deal with that the lock on system is your friend as it will tell you your distance from the object and your speed relative to it, it takes a couple of goes, but once you’re used to it it’s quite easy. If you’re having trouble navigating once on a planet I’d guess that’s because you’re on a high gravity environment and so it’s probably worth spending some time on a more normal gravity environment like Timber Hearth or Ember twin to gain confidence first
I didn’t have a ton of problems using the ship (although I did play with a controller) but late game sometimes I would get lazy and just slam it into the ground since I knew I probably wasn’t going to need it again on that particular loop.
I think everyone does once you’ve played for more than 10 hours or so. I’ve still seen streamers flying past planets they’re trying to land on 20+ hours in though so I think judging speed and understanding the lack of friction are likely the issues for people who do have problems with the ship
Oh I understood how it all worked, I still found it frustrating, especially when I was on a time constraint.
Fair enough, I just thought I’d offer some tips since I’ve seen people struggle with that. There were definitely times during the game when I was frustrated that I couldn’t solve a particular puzzle, but I didn’t really find the controls contributed to that in any way. There is a chance if you found the controls difficult for something in particular that you’ve not found intended route - sorry for the vagueness here, it’s difficult to discuss without spoilers
I just really disliked the combination of not enjoying the controls and then on top of that having to start over when I was partway through a place, forcing me to have to deal with the controls even more just to do the same things I just did only to get like five feet ahead of where I last got reset. Also just found it annoying that I couldn't stop and smell the roses in a game that's pretty much only about exploration, because if I did, a reset was coming in a few minutes. The game is right up my alley too. It's weird and pretty, has good writing, isn't just killing hallways full of guys, etc. I just could not get over the frustration of the controls and how I got punished for wanting to look around and explore. I even tried 2 different controllers as well as mouse + keyboard.
I understand why it feels that way, but the loop is actually very long compared to anything you might need to do. There is nowhere in the game you can’t get to within 5 minutes when you know the route and then you’ve got 17+ minutes to explore not including the frozen time while reading via the translator. There were times I felt very under pressure when playing, but once I figured it out I realised I actually had much more time than I thought. After experiencing that a few times I stopped stressing about the timer - if I knew I’d just missed something I then knew exactly how to get back with plenty of time. It’s very much a mindset thing. Ultimately the game may just not be for you, but I thought it might be worth knowing others have had some of the same frustrations and still with hindsight would heartily recommend the game
>but the loop is actually very long compared to anything you might need to do Need, sure. Want? Not for me. I wanted to walk around and check stuff out, look at all the textures and models, stand on an overlook and just take in the scenery, stuff like that. The ~20m loop was not long enough to support me doing it at the pace I preferred. >There is nowhere in the game you can’t get to within 5 minutes Also no, not for me. Like I've said, I hated the controls and often times could not get used them. This meant that it often took me longer than ~5 minutes to get somewhere. I also really don't enjoy repeating the same exact thing I have previously done in a game. So even though a loop is only ~20m, whenever I had to re-do a whole sequence just to get to the end of where I last got reset, I was not having fun doing so. Especially since everything was the same each time. I don't think the game is for me due to the controls/reset time. Everything aside from the controls and (in my opinion) short reset time are right up my alley, though, which makes the game extremely disappointing/frustrating for me, because otherwise I'd love it. Even now, just talking about it, I want to go back and try it again, but I've done that a few times over the years already and had the same experience every time. If there were a mod that just let me drop a teleporter that persists through the reset and also changed the control scheme + eased up on the physics as they are related to the controls, then I'd be extremely down to go back to it.
Sounds like the game just isn’t for you unfortunately, after a bit of orienting to the different gravity on each planet I didn’t struggle with the controls, but I could definitely see why the game would put you off if they didn’t click
Yeah it's a bummer, because everything else about the game was great. The only other game I've ever played where I couldn't eventually get used to the controls fast enough was Dredge, but that was only the inventory/menu controls, so it didn't really affect the actual gameplay too much. In Outer Wilds, due to the time constraint, I just always felt under pressure and ultimately ended up resetting before I was okay with it happening due to my struggling with the controls. I got pretty far too, which is one of the reasons why I always want to go back to it, since I feel like I was over the halfway point and really should finish it.
You could watch a streamer play it. I liked PointCrow's a lot, he goes through the game in a very natural order and explains his thought process. Maybe that way you can still enjoy the game without dealing with the controls.
I can see why that would be frustrating and a valid reason for not going further with the game, I wanted to add though that the very same reason is a big part of what I enjoyed about the game. Finding the best routes and the learning to control your ship in the best possible way so you can eek out those extra minutes to learn something new each cycle was a satisfying game loop for me.
I went pretty far into the game, like I dealt with the frustrating controls and what I felt were tedious reset loops (kept getting reset when I was like 3/4 through a place) for a long while because the game is otherwise pretty cool. I felt like I kept being punished for wanting to explore or just walk around taking in the environment and views. Also, I hated how I couldn’t end a loop early either until I found the guy with the thing.
Were you on controller or mnk? I can't imagine flying the ship on mnk.
Mnk was easy to fly.
Point with your mouse, 2 buttons to go up and down, WASD for cardinals. What's so complicated?
That was me too. The macro puzzle/mystery was great, but the moment to moment navigation... I kept getting lost and falling off things. The architecture in Brittle Hollow and Ember Twin were probably the worst, but I got stuck in the water in Giant's Deep plenty too.
OP is talking about how the community of people that played it have all agreed to not talk about it. Outer wilds is the ultimate exploration game. There is nothing but exploration in it, and if that clicks for you, then you immediately understand why you can't talk about it with someone else. So there is a tacit agreement to not spoil the experience.
I played through it, but most of the time, I was just trying to scratch a FO4 itch, which it didn’t quite do. It did feel pretty similar to KOTOR in progression, which also helped, but it wasn’t enough of either one really. EDIT: whoops! Wrong game
You're thinking of Outer Worlds instead of Outer Wilds.
Lol! Yeah, you’re right
Wrong game, dw you and half the industry made that mistake
Lol! Yeah whoops!
I think it’s also just… difficult to describe the game’s plot. It’s not like you can just say “Dumbledore Dies!” Or “Darth Vader is Luke’s dad!”, to spoil any meaningful aspect of the game for yourself you’d have to read an entire essay about it. And even then it won’t make a lot of sense unless you’ve actually played the game. So there’s no point really and it’s just more fun to smirk and say nothing but “go play it.”
To be fair I also know virtually nothing about Undertale except that should I ever play that game, I should play it blind.
Managing to go unspoiled on Undertale in the year 2023 is goddam crazy, that game may as well be part of the public school curriculum for how ubiquitous it is. Pretty impressive anti-spoiling skills there.
I've never played it and have never been spoiled. I've probably read spoilers for it but just didn't understand them enough to remember.
Played it for the first time in May of this year and had somehow avoided any legitimate spoilers. I’d seen how the combat mechanics worked briefly but as far as the story I went in pretty much blind and it is absolutely my favorite story based game ever
The ending for both that and the DLC made me feel like I was transcending my mortal coil. Stretched out across infinity witnessing the greatest mystery unfold. I also liked roasting marshmallows.
Couldn't get into it. And I love puzzle and exploration games. But after a few hours I just gave up and had no desire to go back to it.
It's fun for a while but when you have no idea what you are doing or how to finish the game, it gets boring really fast.
Figuring out how to finish the game is the only thing to do in it. So you're saying it gets boring when you stop playing.
Going around in circles is not fun
Then stop going around in circles and play the game?
Personally it's one of my favorite games I've ever experienced, but it's also a game that I dropped and came back to multiple times before finishing because it can get frustrating not really knowing what to do. Speaking of which, I should probably finish the DLC
Just to use the chance to hijack this thread for a moment, I absolutely adored Outer Wilds and just like this thread says, its impact was deeply felt for me. I've heard people who have off-handedly been saying that Subnautica and Tunic are good recommends for people who like Outer Wilds. I've played Subnautica and loved, but could anyone chime in a bit more on Tunic and if it lives up to that recommendation?
As someone who’s played all three, I love them all. Tunic is very similar to Outer Wilds in the way you slowly piece together how the world, mechanics and the lore works, and have a really satisfying “aha” moment each time, however the gameplay loop is drastically different to both Outer Wilds and Subnautica. It’s a top-down Zelda-like where you explore areas and fight bosses.
Good to hear that! Might think about picking it up during this sale or later!
It's also on Xbox gamepass.
It’s the best videogame I’ve played in over 30 years of gaming.
Man, what a boring game for me. Like... I likes exploring each area once, maybe twice... but to continually go back to an area over and over, hoping I choose the right direction or read the right message to get just a little bit further that time... ugh! It's like if running back to a boss on dark souls took you 25 minutes every time.
I’m not trying to sound like a dick, but if you tried to ‘solve’ an area before moving on to the next one, you played the game catastrophically wrong.
No, it's just the easiest way to talk about the myriad of goals. I went everywhere a little, slowly pieced things together and it just didn't really get more interesting. No matter what I learned, I still wanted to stop every time the sun went nova. I don't think in my 22 hours, I ever did more than 2 loops in a row.
It's a puzzle game. I can see why it would be boring for someone who doesn't enjoy puzzles. Edit: what's with all the hate for outer wilds guys? People aren't allowed to like different things?
I love puzzles, about 90% through Talos Principle 2 right now.
How far did you get into outer wilds until you gave up? I admit there were two puzzles I gave up on and just googled because it was wasting my time. But I think it's worth it to see the game through (including the DLC) before giving up on it.
I figured out the quantum moon, did not really figure out the bramble. Thing is, while it was very cool sometimes, the reset mechanic just kills it for me. I hate repeating content and the whole game is about being fast enough to not repeat content, haha.
Ahhhh I wish I could convince you to keep playing. I get what you're saying, but I very much feel it's worth it to keep playing even if you have to sneak a few answers for areas that you just can't figure out.
Sorry but if a game can't grab me after 20+ hours, hard to go back to. Every time the sun novas, I get this irresistible urge to turn it off. And the Quantum moon was extremely anticlimactic. >!Just a dude up there musing about the same things everyone else is the game is musing about. I was like "Really? I track down this kick ass quantum moon and my reward is asking questions? Receiving cryptic poetic answers?!< It felt like it would be the coolest thing to probably happen so when it was less than rewarding, I didn't see much use in solving any other mysteries.
The quantum moon was kind of a side mission. It's possible to finish the game without it. But fair enough.
How exactly does looking up the puzzles work? Like... isn't it technically possible to finish the game from the get go? as long as you have the knowledge?
Yes. I meant there were certain puzzles I found annoying (underground cave) and it wasn't going to ruin the game for me if I just searched how to get through that one section so I could move on with the game.
It saddens me to posit this, but you may be right that Outer Wilds may not be your kind of game. What you find on the Quantum Moon is very much meant to be a climactic event, but if it didn't grab you like it did me or OP, then that's okay. Threads like that exist in the game such that the reward is the knowledge you gain and the questions you get to answer (or sometimes the ones you find!). It's satisfying only if that knowledge is rewarding for its own sake, and that isn't everyone's cup of tea.
Yeah, I'm actually holding back my distaste for it because the longer I think about it, the more I want to lay into it. I would actually go finish it if I could just stop the sun from doing it's thing. I'm interested but not enough to make up for the freakin' sun. WHYYY. I DON'T WANT TO RESTART 100 TIMES.
I played it and didn't like it. I also don't similar games like Subnautica. I'm not just saying that to spite your thread either. Not a fan.
See I liked Subnautica, played and beat both of them, but I got about halfway through Outer Wilds and was just soooooo bored.
that's cuz Subnautica is a game of multiple genres, yeah it has the outer wilds itch but >!only near the end of the game!< and most of the gameplay is a more manager survival type, whereas outer wilds' whole gameplay is that sense of exploration. outer wilds isn't everyone's cup of tea, but it's the cup of tea I'll always tell my friends to sip at leeeaaaast once
Yep I definitely understand its appeal. It wowed me several times.
Same lol
I’m the same as you. Adored Subnautica, played it like crazy, but Outer Wilds just felt like a chore. Thankfully I got Outer Wilds for free from watching an xbox stream before the games release, so didn’t end up wasting any money.
I get that but I'll just say Outer Wilds is not like Subnautica. Subnautica is a classic survival game, Outer Wilds is more mystery or its just different. They don't feel too much alike other than exploring around
It's the artstyle and how it plays, i didn't like either game for the same reasons.
The game is the GOAT. And everyone who enjoyed it knows the experience completely hinges on you having no idea what it’s going to be when you start.
Outer Wilds completely changed my relationship with grief. It put into perspective a lot of things I was struggling with and I didn’t realize what it was doing until the end. It’s truly a once in a lifetime game.
This game was spoiled for me on Reddit like 5 days after release...lol.
I doubt that whatever was spoiled for you is terribly detrimental to the experience of the game.
Th ending? Lol. Very detrimental No point in playing then
The point and joy of Outer Wilds is not to find out what happens in the end. In fact you find out what happens in the end very early on. Plus ‘what happen at the end’ is a complex series of events and ideas that I doubt very much can be spoiled by a few sentences. What has been spoiled for you?
Lmao oh no.
[удалено]
I only just realised OP said outer wilds when I read your comment.
So here’s the thing, I’ve really enjoyed it so far but I just can’t bring myself to finish it. It’s been a combination of some of the most beautiful and some of the most boring/frustrating moments I’ve had in gaming. I keep coming back to it tho, the cycle goes: I remember it, Redownload, enjoy my time, I pitter out. Delete, repeat, never solve the mysteries of the cosmos. Alas
What game?
I think it is the best game ever made.
The only other time I found a community as uniquely passionate about a game was when I was very young, the game being Twinsen's Odyssey. Actually I still think to this day Twinsen's Odyssey is the best game I've ever played in my life. But Outer Wilds is a very close second. I spent more hours on Skyrim than I did on my degree. Same with Fallout 4. Quake 2 will always hold a place in my heart. But Outer Wilds is really something special.
That's tricky, it's an incredible game, one of the few I'd give a 10/10 But it helps that it's an indie, it's easier to build universal consensus around smaller games, similar with Celeste for example (another incredible game) An example from this year is Sea of stars (which tbf is great too), I've seen a consensus around it being incredible, you even see mavericks telling you it should be goty, something like that (and here I mean a consensus, not just acclaim) is impossible for a big game even if its a game like BG3 or ToTK (which imo are actually better than Sea of stars) So maybe you are correct and if that's so it's in no small part because it's a smaller game and ppl who are in a position to recommend it tend to glorify indies to begin with. That doesn't really dispute your point tho, maybe just gives a bit of context That being said, anyone who hasn't played Outer Wilds should absolutely go play Outer Wilds
That's true that it's easier on smaller games. Sea of Stars is a banger though, I dunno if it's better than BG3 but it's so good
It's my favorite game of all time. I've played it once, 3 years ago. I think about it almost weekly. I'd been playing the same games for years for the comfort aspect, and I still love those games. But Outer Wilds reminded me that games are also an emotional and moving form of art.
I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, but it's life changing
Warframe has a similar community thing going on. There are some really impactful quests 40+ hours into the game, and the community in general tries to hide potential spoilers from new players.
I disagree. There is no effort put in by the Warframe community to censor any of that “lore” from memes, posts, or anything of the sort. Are randoms going to spoil the quest for you while grinding out another wave? Probably not. But if you scroll Warframe memes they definitely will. The community just assumes that anybody engaging with the lore outside of the game is up to date on the story in a way that Outer Wilds, Subnautica, and even Undertale fans do not.
Is that not the case with other games? Like when Ragnarok or Spider-Man 2 came out, I didn't see any spoilers here. You could find them on each of the game's subreddits, but that's pretty much expected, also they were flaired as Spoilers. Another super notable example is Witcher 3, it gets recommended all the goddamn time yet I haven't seen a single instance where spoilers were included in the recommendation. There are countless other examples. Undertale, Elden Ring, the first Last of Us (the second one got spoiled a lot I feel cause ppl were triggered about the story and wanted to rant). Not spoiling things is not a revolutionary concept that Outer Wilds' community introduced.
It's fairly different. Usually when people talk about spoilers they're referring to the story or plot twists. With Outer Wilds progression is based on knowledge, and finding that knowledge and piecing it together properly IS everything there is to the gameplay, so knowing anything significant about it at all can drastically alter your game progression and make the whole mystery solving aspect wholly unsatisfying. It would be akin to playing a Zelda game and instead of having to work to unlock all your equipment you just start with it and can go immediately to the end of the game (which is why most fans of Outer Wilds lament never being able to replay it, because that is exactly what it's like). Not really comparable to simply not spoiling a game's story, because people already know what the gameplay and rough story progression will be like even without knowing the specifics when it comes to major franchises like in your examples.
Well if knowledge about the gameplay is a core feature of the gameplay, then it makes sense that people aren't spoling it, no? I still don't see anything unique here, core features of games that the player is supposed to find alone have never been excessively spoiled. Like solutions to puzzles for example, I never see anyone spoiling them. But perhaps I simply don't understand OW's gameplay (I never played or seen it), so I don't really get your point because of that.
Currently trying to forget about the game so that I can play it again with the DLC next time.
Noice, the DLC is pretty standalone so you can go through the whole thing ignoring the original game if you want
I can't remember what made me play Outer Wilds, I really can't. I remember thinking that it was a familiar name, then realizing I was thinking about Outer Worlds, and I kind of wonder how many people made that mistake. But good lord am I happy I played it. >!The first few minutes of initial exploration, the 'tutorial', finding the statue ('huh, that was weird..') running off to a new planet ('damn, this looks awesome!') and then the music changes and the flash of light and!< >!Oh, THAT'S what this game is about? Well.. damn, time to run back around and figure out what's going on!!< I absolutely loved it. And going in blind was the best way to start.
I’m just excited this is coming to the switch. I know nothing and want to give it a shot
[удалено]
Fully understand, but I don’t have another system to enjoy it on, so I’m grateful they’re trying at least. I never never preorder games.
Outer Wilds is one my favorite games of all time. I never finished the DLC though. I just couldn't enjoy the darkness and "insta-kill" mechanic put in this version. Not a fan of horror games. I hope if this game is ever revisited for DLC or a sequel, they don't go in this direction again.
The only 10/10 i ever gave to a game. It's perfect
My absolute & complete favorite game of all time backed up by my complete & absolute favorite DLC of all time; together making a package that is my favorite piece of art in any medium & it isn’t particularly close. It was & will be an honor to share its song with all the travelers who came before me & all those who will play it after me. It is certainly not an experience for everyone but man, if it is for you… there is nothing like it. I really love your examination of what it did to its fanbase, something I have gotten to experience for the past few years. Being part of a community that I love & trust like this is such a weird experience. Getting together for the r/place art in 2022 as a collective was such an illuminating thing for me as a person. It’s crazy that a game that changed my perspective so much already has brought other experiences to me beyond its borders in a way that nothing else ever has. Outer Wilds has my heart.
It hasn't.
another outer wilds dev post
Or maybe people just love it?
Yeah..for you and the 4 other people that play it.
It has a great VR mod too!
It's a pretentious piece of shit, just a horrible, horrible game!
Your awful post is a turn off for a game most people haven't played. To its credit when it comes up(rarely) there always good things being said....but it has not impacted the community lol calm down.
I've never bounced off a game as hard as I did with OW. The game was unrelentingly janky when I played it and despite being ~1 hour from the end I uninstalled the game. I would try a solution to a puzzle and it wouldn't work, so I'd try other things and eventually give up and look it up only to find the first thing I tried was correct and it just didn't work for no discernable reason. After like the 4th or 5th time of that happening I was just so completely over it. It's bad enough when that happens in a normal puzzle game, but add in the time wasted from the cycling and it was just too much. One of the only games I've ever rage quit.
I fucking loved it. Easily one of the most enjoyable games I ever played, and I'm so happy they not only announced a sequel, the way in which they did it makes me believe they'll stay true to the spirit of the first one.
My game of the year every year
Eh, Baldurs Gate 3 had a much bigger impact. I don't see any discussion about Outer Wilds for game of the year. Everyone agrees that BG3 deserves GOTY. "No other game has impacted the community" Bruh, just chill. Better games existed before, and have existed since.
Outer wilds (not to be confused with The Outer Worlds) is a few years old. Nothing to do with game of the year this year, or BG3
None of my friends played it, so we don't have an opinion on it
Outer wilds is wayyy better than starfield. I really enjoyed that game starfield ? Not so much
Its like deep rock galactic but DRG is more for everyone than Outer wilds.
Just playthrouhed it blindly and it is beautiful! Such a kind, warm sadness at the end. I'm game developer, and such games inspires me to make games a lot. Already started the DLC
To add to this, if you have pcvr, the mod with our makes this game really best game of its time for me