Outer Wilds

I do not hand out the title of masterpiece very often or lightly. In order for a game to reach that level of praise, all the details and bits and pieces, the graphics, the writing, the art direction, the music, the gameplay itself... everything has to come together to form a unified, cohesive whole.

I can say with absolute certainty that Outer Wilds meets that criteria. Is is beautiful, elegant and inspired. It's impossible to really explain why without spoiling it, and this game is uniquely susceptible to being spoiled.

The only downside is that once you have played it once, you can never really expience its full potential again. Again, it is impossible to explain why without ruining it, but its still well worth playing. Do yourself a favor and go play Outer Wilds!

I downloaded this on the Xbox with the monthly free games. I am so happy I did. I have been playing it non stop. I LOVE IT.

Being able to fly to different planets (with no load time!) and look around has been so fun. Each planet is different and creative.

I can absolutely say this has been added to my list of favorite games. Please give us updates with more planets to explore.

Rapidly became one of my all time favorites (maybe even Top 2)

This Game has a cartoony charme like Spore had back in the day without being cheap or ridicioulos. And it does what i expected from "No mans sky", what said game could not live up to: It has a fresh perspective on the universe and tells it in a way that reignites my fascination with space, science and the obscure/unknown.

Pros: + Exploration ist the core of Outer Wilds. Great gameplay that revolves around gathering information about the world -- not about collecting stuff or loot or Experience. You learn about the world and that alone is the progress in the game.

+ Dense atmosphere, the score is perfection and fits every situation brilliantly.

+ world is so memorable, that you never run out of ideas, what you could try next.

+ many other things regarding the gameplay-elements and story i cannot talk about because of spoilers.

+ absolutely fascinating world design.

+ Twists and Turns, every piece matters.

Cons:

• Once its finished, it is hard to experience it like you did when everything was new :)

It is a beatiful scifi Story that includes many phenomena (like Comets, Supernovae, Time-Travel, Quantum-Objects) in a creative way. May not be the most realistic game regarding Space an Space travel -- but then again it does not aim to do so ( for instance: Planets in here are a kilometer or so in diameter. That is not realistic at all, of course.) If you understand a little bit about physics it will come as a surprise, that the creators included many things.

Yes it is stripped down, cartoony and stylized. But how they are using these thing to tell a connected story is brillant.

And the end is as great as it can be. In the middle of the game i was worried, that it promised too much. But no, it does not dissappoint.

It is very hard to describe the quality of the game without spoiling the experience. I think one has to play it in order to understand why this is such a special thing.

The sad thing is there may never be another game like Outer Wilds.

Outer Wilds isn't just the best mystery game I've ever played, it isn't just the best space game I've ever played, it isn't just the best first person game I've ever played, it isn't even just the best 3D game I've ever played, for me it is the single best game I have ever played.

If you have not played Outer Wilds yet, what are you doing, play it. Outer Wilds is built on mystery and is a once in a lifetime experience so avoid anything to do with the game, sit your butt down, grab a controller and start playing.

The Good: Where do I even start? This game manages to balance story, character, gameplay, mystery and discovery all in its run time of about 10-20 hours depending on how smart you are. It's such an interesting mystery to uncover and it's told in a non-chronological order making it even more gripping. And since it is open world then you can uncover the mysteries of the solar system in almost any order and still have it be coherent and make sense. Not to mention the game looks great as well. And the soundtrack, don't get me started in the soundtrack. Andrew Prahlow does such a good job with the music in this game. The music is so emotional, eerie or warm. The music really creates the mood of each area. The game hosts 6 planets to explore each of them bringing something new to the table and changing over time. Speaking of time, it's one of the most important things in this game. It can be your greatest ally or your worst enemy. But most importantly you must take your time, as rushing through this game is not only difficult but also just gives you a worse experience. And also if at any point you are stuck on a puzzle and don't know what to do. Do NOT search it up, just leave the area and keep playing and soon enough you will find a solution.

The Bad: The only bad things about this game are: the pace starts to slow down a bit once you get close to the end and it's lack of replay ability. Thats it.

Do over all Outer Wilds is a once in a lifetime game and one of the greatest of all time. I could say so much more about this game but it's hard to talk about it without spoiling it, and this is a game where you must go in as blind as possible.

I think this is one of the best computer games ever written.

It is not without its bugs and foibles and can be enormously frustrating at times - that's what the forums are for! But you cannot help but keep coming back to it and back to it, pushing through. It's a puzzle library in a museum in an interdimensional anomaly in a beautiful little pocket universe.

Yes ... it's just so damn beautiful!

And they have given you the most fun spaceship ever to pilot around this place. I presume the experience is still wonderful on PC, but on a games console the tactile loveliness of controlling that little vessel with triggers and sticks is addictive.

And Andrew Prahlow's haunting soundtrack complements the rest of the team's huge, masterful, stylistic achievement.

Watch out for the ending! It packs a serious emotional punch!

Ps. I'm currently playing Echoes Of The Eye, the (so far) only DLC available for Outer Wilds. It is every bit as good as the main story!