The Outer Wilds: Beauty in Confusion
When I first sat down to play The Outer Wilds I didn’t give it a fair chance, I didn’t know what I was in for and just flew around barely engaging with what I was seeing and reading and getting frustrated with the time loop mechanic. For years I had heard that The Outer Wilds was one of the ‘best games ever’ and how it affected people emotionally and I couldn’t understand it, it seemed like a basic space exploration game with some puzzle aspects. Even though I felt this way I decided to start a fresh expedition and set off into the vastness of space to see if this game was everything people said it was.
The common phrase you’ll see people use when they talk about The Outer Wilds is ‘clicking’, that at some point when they were playing the game it just clicked for them and they fell in love, most people have a specific story moment or planet or discovery that caused the game to click for them, for me I don’t think I had a specific moment like that, there were some moments of revelation or puzzle solving that made me appreciate the game more but overall I found myself getting drawn more into the game every single time I sat down to play.
The first time I sat down to play I did so begrudgingly, I knew I wanted to give the game a fair try and I was curious about what the game was really about but I was terrible with the flight controls and wasn’t understanding a single thing I was reading. The next time I sat down to play the controls became more intuitive and I started to get a basic understanding of the story, the time after that I found myself connecting dots, taking notes, and following up on clues all by myself, it wasn’t long before I was hooked and couldn’t stop playing.
Even before the rest of the game had captivated me, the music had me enthralled from the first minute. Composer Andrew Prahlow created a soundtrack fit for space, it’s eery yet peaceful, creepy yet calming. Every planet I went to had its own unique sound and the music that signifies the end of the game’s 22-minute loop always worked at making me feel both the pressure of the end of this gameplay loop but also the relaxing end of the rush, waiting to peacefully begin another loop. Its music and its sound design are two of its strongest features and even to the very end of the game Prahlow found new and exciting themes to keep me engaged and immersed right up until the credits rolled.
I’ve never been very good at puzzle games, I like a good mystery but I don’t have a great memory and tend to forget half the hints I’m given by the time I have to figure it out, this initially posed a big problem for the Outer Wilds, a near 30h game that required me to remember specific advice given to me real life days or even weeks ago, thankfully the game has an amazing system called the Ship Log where the info you learn and connections you (should) be making are laid out on your ship’s computer, this made uncovering the mysteries of the game far more intriguing and less laborious and embarrassing. The game has one central mystery to ‘uncover’ but each planet has specific obstacles or stories that you cannot proceed with until you have learned how to solve a certain puzzle. Finding the solutions to these puzzles and using them to learn more about the overarching story and get another hint for an even bigger puzzle was an immensely satisfying gameplay loop. I did have to google one or two small things throughout my playthrough when I got bad tunnel vision, but most of the mysteries I uncovered myself, and I urge you to do the same ( whenever possible).
When I play a game I’m not usually expecting it to change my perspective on the world, I’m expecting to have fun and try something new. The Outer Wilds was more than a game for me, it was an experience. At times I would zone out and just gather clues and objectives, but every time I took a step back to analyze what I had learned and look at the vastness of what I was discovering I had this weird sense of insignificance, like the vast emptiness of space didn’t even care or react to what I was doing. The ending of the game ( which I will not spoil) was masterful, I would say it’s the single greatest and most meaningful ending in anything I’ve ever experienced, I’m not easy to move but the message that the Outer Wilds sends with its ending is enough to shift your real-world perspective, and I don’t think I’ll ever forget how it made me feel.
Overall, The Outer Wilds was one of the singular greatest gaming experiences I have ever had, I wouldn’t say it’s the best game I’ve ever played but it is one of the most compelling & meaningful games & worlds that I have ever engaged with in any media and I urge anyone who hasn’t tried it and thinks it might be a little overhyped like I once did to give it a try, even if you’re bad at puzzles and figuring things out, you’ll get there in the end, we all do.
