> Wish someone would wipe my memories of that game so I can play it again.
Felt the same for years, now I am doing a new playthrough.
I figured, of course I know the solution to the puzzle, but I am hard pressed to remember all the details of how I uncovered that answer, and I know that you can uncover the clues in nearly any order so I know this playthrough will be new in its own way.
Outer Wilds, and imperatively its DLC, are transcendent gaming experiences.
Like many, I stopped playing my first time over a frustration with the jet pack and ship movement controls.
I returned later, this time determined to master the movement controls only to find that after mastering them you eventually abandon perfect movement for efficiency anyways and perfect gameplay looks a lot like the initial flailings.
Anytime you get 'stuck' in the game the answer is always, "what have you tried, what can you try instead?" Illuminating the tendency to presuppose an answer, and grow frustrated when it fails repeatedly.
It's certainly a "just play it without looking up anything about it" game. I went in without being spoiled by the "first surprise" that is referenced in this article and was stunned when I figured it out.
Swapping FPS violence for scientific and archaeological discovery, and a wholesome story centered on the social bonds of music make for a truly wonderful gaming experience.
In terms of things I'd say to encourage someone to play without spoilers, I think I'd focus on mechanics, like:
1. The game has depth to its locations that shows up on repeated visits. Expect to return with better tools/information to see new things. Shortcuts will reveal themselves over time.
2. There is an in-game tool that takes notes for you, hints at undiscovered content, and can provide on-screen waypoints to help you navigate.
3. Don't be too worried about your (avatar's) personal safety, or about rushing. Later there may be times where both might matter for your goals, but the game is designed to support trial-and-error.
One thing to note too is the game can be beaten in the first 10-15 minutes or so without any glitches. You just need to have figured out the grand puzzle of the game. I found that really unique and interesting, like the solution was always available to me but the block was my knowledge of the world, not mechanics or something like an unlockable skill or level.
This is why it's untenable to talk about spoilers in Outer Wilds - 100% of the progression happens in your own mind. Telling someone too much about the game isn't just ruining the surprise or whatever; in a real sense it's playing the game for them rather than letting them play it themselves.
Faced with such a statement, the contrarian in me spent a little while trying to remember any exceptions. I won't say "the ship's computer", since that would be against the spirit of the thing, and by extension certain things involving signals/waypoints.
I think certain actions with the Advanced Warp Core would qualify, breaking the usual progression rules and often leading to an alternate ending.
I know for some people it removes a sense of wonder and mystery, but as a completionist sort, I really appreciate "you found everything nearby" indicators. It means the game/designer respects my time as a human with (a few) other things to do everyday.
Which points out one of the yet reasons why I consider Outer Wilds one of the best games I have ever played, while Blue Prince, which many consider a similar game, as one of the worst. Respect for my time and for where I want to focus my attention.
I understand why this was frustrating, but the problem is that what you wanted conflicts with the game design. Random drafting is crucial to Blue Prince's design - which means early on when you have few resources and no knowledge you won't be able to "focus my attention" because the draft will override your preferences. This isn't an issue for a late game player, but of course you can't get there.
FWIW while I enjoyed watching other people play Outer Wilds, I found the fine control needed too frustrating. I might decide to investigate part of Brittle Hollow, travel there, fall into the hole, painstakingly get back, fall in again, reset, new day. That's exactly the same frustration you had, but for a different reason and as a result I was often unable to tell which of three things was true:
1. That cannot be done, it's an important fact about Outer Wilds, a revelation
2. I can't do that, I'm incompetent. Sucks to be me. Maybe try again?
3. That cannot be done, whoops, game engine limitation, unimportant.
I never had this in Blue Prince and so I was much better able to enjoy both the game itself and watching others play after I was done (Atelier etc.)
Random drafting is only part of the problem. My biggest gripe was the lack of in-run saving. When a run can take an hour, that's just disrespectful in a single player offline game.
And another (smaller) issue is the step limit. End game has you running to pretty far away areas. The walking itself quickly gets old, but you sometimes waste the entire run because you didn't have enough steps for the required back-and-forth.
That being said, I greatly enjoyed how note-taking was rewarded. By the end I had over 600 screenshots organized in different folders.
Mid-run save is a legitimate gripe. Practically the reason it doesn't have that is that the internal game state is probably horrendous and restoring it would be a nightmare. The engineering in Blue Prince is terrible. Imagine the terrible spaghetti you've seen from self-taught programmers, now, imagine nobody more senior is in charge and remember it's a video game so there's time pressure. So yeah, that's a quality issue, and definitely a fair gripe, I could imagine a hypothetical "fixed" version where this works.
The step limit is an important resource. There's a reason one of the early goals of the game (in Bequest and to some extent Dare modes) is to have more steps at the start of each day and why an important penalty of Curse mode is that you only have 13 steps. As with other resources like keys, you can learn to make better use of what you have and also how to get more of it within reason. I don't think it's as good of a game without Steps. They're not (outside Curse mode) scarce enough to commonly end a run, but they matter.
Drafting is already a limited resource, the step limit feels like a hat-on-a-hat. The early game could limit on available draft pulls without the step limit.
But also, I am one of the people that the drafting mechanic directly conflicted with my interest in progressing the game. That lack of being able to focus on a particular thread of my choice affected my interest in the game. I didn't want to juggle every thread all at once, especially without knowing which threads are the most interesting to pull ahead of time.
Drafting doesn't cost steps. That is an important early game realisation.
I think this sort of "If I just keep banging my head against it, then it will break" attitude is a problem and Blue Prince was a much nicer experience for discouraging that but of course each person is different.
Yeah, I noticed the engineering issues. One of the few PlayStation games I've played where crashing was a regular occurrence, which made the lack of saves even more infuriating.
I wouldn't suggest removing steps entirely, but maybe something softer than abruptly ending the day. After exhausting my steps, let me walk around without drafting rooms and picking up items, for example.
And the late game puzzle quality was very hit-and-miss for me. I loved the sigils, for example, and appreciated the permanent upgrades/changes. Other puzzles required putting disparate items/ideas together, but by then the game had expanded too much and it was unclear what paths were exhausted, still useful, or simply fluff, and the randomness made every check time-consuming.
I understand where you're coming from, but I think this part of BP's nature is critical to its ludonarrative symmetry, in much the same way that OW's gameplay structure frames its narrative.
(rot13, spoilers for both)
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P.S.: And if you're playing on a PC, know that there is one section of the game where you need to use your ship thrusters so very gently that it almost requires you to to use a controller.
I can't imagine playing Outer Wilds any other way. It's clearly designed as a controller game. (Doesn't it even explicitly tell you as much before you start, or am I thinking of another game?)
I didn't really get it, and the problem with these games is that you can't ask, because you might spoil the surprise. The controls were fine, even fun, but I just wasn't really captivated by the story.
I don't know if I'm missing something that would make the game click for me, or if I just won't enjoy it. I can't ask anyone, because I'll ruin it if I am actually missing something.
After this comment I immediately closed my eyes and stuck my fingers in my ears (and added the game to my wishlist). I appreciate the rec, it looks great.
is it really a puzzle game? I recently dragged myself through The Witness finally and found it to be mostly not that interesting, most puzzle games have bounced off me similarly.
Outer Wilds, though, what a game. but it felt more like exploring in BotW, even although there is obviously no combat... kinda? there is sort of "combat" in one of the planets, although the only thing that you can do is lose. hmm, that planet is like BotW, but you have 3 hearts and a stick, and every enemy is a Lynel.
There are two, rather fundamentally distinct categories of games that we call "puzzle" games. There's the ones that are simply a series of puzzles based on a similar set of mechanics (Baba is You, Bombe, anything Zachtronics every did), and then there's games where the entire world is a puzzle, where you explore to find clues to solve puzzles that unlock more world and more puzzles, like Myst. Outer Wilds is solidly in the latter category.
Yeah I generally enjoy puzzle games and didn't find Outer Wilds very good from that perspective. And it had some surprisingly intensive dexterity requirements in sections of the game that make it impossible to progress without looking up spoilers, and I'm not talking about the spaceship controls.
And when I finally put the game down and just watched through the rest on Youtube, like, I could see what the game was getting at and why people would be fascinated by it but it was by no means life-changing unless you've had a very boring life.
It isn't very meaningful to assert your arbitrary threshold for "life-changing" as a criteria to measure one's life. It is quite distracting as a closer to an otherwise thoughtful reply.
It is not Hollow Knight, but I recall there were a few parts that required quite a bit more skilled platforming than the game theme would imply.
If nothing else, there are some sections which have somewhat tight time windows which can put a lot of tension into a puzzle game. Resetting an attempt to a failed set piece might take several minutes, adding to the frustration.
It is insane to me that they ask that question in the title of the article and then go on to spoil the big first surprise.
“How do we talk to people about these games without spoiling it for them? Oh, I know I will spoil it for everybody who reads this article!!!
“It’s one of my favorite in the genre (maybe the best) and it requires a level of secrecy because it takes away the wow factor if you learn details about it early, but ANYWAYS here’s some details about it!!!!!!!!”
I really should get back to outer wilds. I like you bounced off of it because of the controls, and I keep meaning to go back because people I have faith in swear by it. I know the most basic secret you learn incredibly early, but that's the only 'spoiler' I know.
I guess this is the one time maybe reading the comments first saved me of a spoiler I didn't want to be exposed to, so thank you :) Guess I finally need to give it a try before it get accidentally spoiled for me.
Introduces what is easily my favorite planet, and a completely new story of nearly identical length.
New characters, new tools, new mechanics, new puzzles. Same feel (except narratively its a bit more spoopy). It's like a selfquel.
(Also, worth noting that if you start a new game, you can just go straight to playing the DLC content without having to replay or complete the base game)
I think it is worth knowing that the spookiness isn't for everybody and is the part most likely to turn some players off. The game offers features to make it as mild as possible without destroying their narrative intent, but it is definitely there.
If you know that you frighten easily and don't react well to it - like maybe you went in a haunted house ride once and then couldn't sleep for a week, this might not be your jam and that's OK.
It's not a skill issue, the game has been conceived so that if you scare easily but keep playing you can work around the issue and succeed. But obviously if after that initial moment of terror you just can't face playing any more that's not a good purchase.
Definitely, but said spookiness is also completely without violence or gore or any real "horror" tropes other than trying to stealth your way through dark hallways.
(Light spoilers) Supposedly the design intent was that you're not supposed to stealth in the dark much at all! It's really not obvious though, so it's a bit of a failure of design in that particular aspect. Interview with a dev: https://medium.com/@cordialkobold/interview-with-alex-beachu...
I didn’t find the DLC quite as good as the OG however the storyline is excellent, and I actually liked most of the puzzles; I say actually because the puzzles are its most often critiqued part.
To counter-balance the positive comments - I've found the DLC dissapointing. It replaces fun of trial and error with hours of boring walking in the dark and cheap horror elements. The best part is probably the "surprise" section, but the rest is just meh.
I hate Outer Wilds and is one of the few games I stopped playing out of sheer frustration. The movement mechanics are a sign of lack of respect for the player.
Blue Prince is the best puzzle game in the past 10 years.
The movement wasn't too big an issue for me, but that's probably because I've played Kerbal Space Program, in which moving around in space is a pretty steep learning curve.
Anyway, that aside, it's a great game, you get a board where you can see everything you've discovered, whether you missed anything important, and links to other things you can pursue still. Or just go to a random planet / place of interest.
Felt the same for years, now I am doing a new playthrough.
I figured, of course I know the solution to the puzzle, but I am hard pressed to remember all the details of how I uncovered that answer, and I know that you can uncover the clues in nearly any order so I know this playthrough will be new in its own way.
And I miss the world, and the gameplay.
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