Author:
mooooocows
<
moo
>
68.102.6.106
Use
this link
if you want to link to this message and its entire thread of discussion.
Date:
2/18/2020 8:11:52 AM
Subject:
Outer Wilds
Given how few games I play, I'm not sure what enticed me to get Outer Wilds over a million others, but I did and it didn't disappoint. What a cool adventure game. From the multi-pronged approach to unraveling the events and history of an alien species, pretty good visuals, cool gameplay mechanics, and a fitting and thoughtful soundtrack. For a game world that looks small at first glance, it took a surprising amount of time to explore. Partially due to the dynamics of some of the planets, but also because most of what's going on is below the surface. I don't know how much time I had in the game, but I'd say probably somewhere around 30 hours.
Of course it has its flaws, most notably related to controls. Nothing deal breaking, but at times frustrating. The very first splash screen says a game pad is recommended, so that was the first clue that using a keyboard and mouse would be somewhat lacking. The mouse is fine, but not having variable movement control makes some of the elements challenging, particularly when it comes to the spaceship or jetpack, which are crucial in a space game (surprise). There were also some key bindings which seemed somewhat inconsistent. Then there's some funky collision detection when walking, like getting jammed up to where you cant step or jump onto something like 2 inches high unless you back up first. It's annoying, and happens frequently enough especially on the Brittle Hollow planet, where a misstep gets you falling into a black hole that's inconvenient to recover from. Stairs also tended to feel narrower than they looked. I fell off a particular set of stairs like 4 times in a row. There's also some logical flaws in the story, even accounting for the fact that it's just a game. Granted, that makes it like 99.999% of all stories told. Just sayin. It also seems like there were some lost opportunities but melding it into the game would have probably required it to be less cartoony and forcing the small team to bite off more than they could chew rather than polish it up as well as they did. Lastly, since it's an adventure game, it does adventure gamey things like hide shit in stupid places (you were supposed to look at the ceiling duh!), have some non-intuitive puzzles, or give you the impression that something is crucial to a puzzle but is really just an ancillary story element. I hate having to resort to walkthroughs, but my pride can be restored quicker than my patience. Luckily it was minimal, even for this filthy casual.
I may have made it sound kind of shitty, but the good outweighs the bad by a long shot. The most unfortunate aspect is that there's no logical way as far as I can tell for there to be a sequel. If you like space and adventure games, or maybe even if you don't, you should check this game out.
Oh, and I took this with my selfsie stick:
