Outer Wilds - outer space camping trip game

[Ivan]

ehh, tried to get into it and so far it looks to me like walking simulator. The start of game is shit that's for sure. Flied to some planet died to invisible ghost wall and it sent me back to game start where i had to again fucking walk to get launch codes after which i altF4 it.

Subnautica it ain't.

keep going

 

[Darth Roxor]

ehh, tried to get into it and so far it looks to me like walking simulator. The start of game is shit that's for sure. Flied to some planet died to invisible ghost wall and it sent me back to game start where i had to again fucking walk to get launch codes after which i altF4 it.

Subnautica it ain't.

keep going

don't, it doesn't get better

 

[Jaedar]

Subnautica it ain't.

Correct. It's better. Unless you have some weird fondness for generic survival/crafting mechanics, or an even weirder preference for oceans over space.

 

[Arthandas]

I tried it for around an hour, I'm intrigued by the concept of flying around various weird places and trying to understand why the sun explodes but my inner spider sense tells me the game is actually shit and the "gameplay" consists of nothing more than talking to npcs and translating lines on the walls. Are there any actual puzzles? Do you get to pick any items?
It's supposed to be a puzzle/exploration game but since it has suspiciously high ratings on Steam and apparently everyone managed to beat it, it can't require more than 50 IQ to finish...

 

[pakoito]

I tried it for around an hour, I'm intrigued by the concept of flying around various weird places and trying to understand why the sun explodes but my inner spider sense tells me the game is actually shit and the "gameplay" consists of nothing more than talking to npcs and translating lines on the walls. Are there any actual puzzles? Do you get to pick any items?
It's supposed to be a puzzle/exploration game but since it has suspiciously high ratings on Steam and apparently everyone managed to beat it, it can't require more than 50 IQ to finish...

The puzzle is to figure out what the loop is. You need clues, which aren't items, but rather knowledge, as in things in your own head or a notepad. There is no permanence across loops other than the info in the ship's log, which is a repeat of what clues the NPCs and walls gave you.

You solve puzzles not by combining two items together or licking the magic pixel or because an NPC gives you a quest, but rather because you see and understand the question (i.e. what's that exploding thing at the beginning of each loop, how does that magic stone in the museum change places...) and its answer, which leads you to another question that is answered someplace else in the solar system. Some places open on a timer, some have hidden entrances, some are mechanisms you don't understand how to activate, some you have to know what you're looking for to see them.

All locations are available from the moment you finish the (shitty linear) tutorial and enter the ship. If you know the solution to how to survive the loop, like everyone who's finished the game, you can run to the credits

Spoiler

in your first loop because it takes like 5 minutes.

Even if a lot of people have finished it, it's not because it's too easy or the game treats you like you're retarded, quite the opposite. People who aren't familiar with game tropes have a hard time with it, and it asks that you put 2&2 together rather than giving you a compass and points of interest. Or use a bloody guide for tips like most people do.

And the punchline of it all are a few moments of awe about spaaaaaaace and existentialism, or primal fears like noises in the darkness, drowning alone or predators.

 

[Arthandas]

Wow, so It's even worse that I thought. Basically a walking sim except you're flying, not walking... My spider sense was right, danger avoided.

I hate when games pretend to be smart and clever but have no actual gameplay. The only games I've played that successfully merge puzzles and exploration are The Witness and La-mulana.

 

[DJOGamer PT]

I hate when games pretend to be smart and clever but have no actual gameplay. The only game I played that successfully merges puzzles and exploration is The Witness.

 

[Jaedar]

All locations are available from the moment you finish the (shitty linear) tutorial and enter the ship.

The tutorial is optional. You can head straight to the observatory to grab the launch codes. I wouldn't really recommend it, as you'll need to understand how to use your tools to beat the game, but there's nothing forcing you to complete any of the tutorials once you feel you've understood the mechanic.

 

[pakoito]

Wow, so It's even worse that I thought. Basically a walking sim except you're flying, not walking... My spider sense was right, danger avoided.

I hate when games pretend to be smart and clever but have no actual gameplay. The only games I've played that successfully merge puzzles and exploration are The Witness and La-mulana.

Yeah, Mario is a walking sim except you're jumping too There isn't even NPCs to talk to, so pretentious.

 

[Arthandas]

Yeah, Mario is a walking sim except you're jumping too There isn't even NPCs to talk to, so pretentious.

Yeah, very solid argument, comparing OW to a game made almost 4 decades ago xD

Like I said, OW has great reception because it makes stupid people feel smart and you're just proving my point by defending it.
I bet you feel like a genius by holding a button to translate wall texts, pressing a single button to autopilot away, talking to static npcs standing in one spot the entire "game" or having to backtrack where you were every 20 minutes.
Well, it's my own fault for posting in this den of circle jerking retards, it's not like anyone here apart from Roxor sees this turd for what it is.

 

[Darth Roxor]

feels good to be appreciated

 

[DJOGamer PT]

snip

Capital stuff, coming from a guy who praised The Witness...

 

[<3sRichardSimmons]

I liked (most of) The Witness, but suggesting it excels at exploration is laughable.

 

[Visperas]

I just finished the main game and working on the dlc. I'm shocked at its reception here. This game is a fucking masterpiece. DLC included. If you haven't played it. Give it a chance.

 

[Lokiamis]

I just finished the main game and working on the dlc. I'm shocked at its reception here. This game is a fucking masterpiece. DLC included. If you haven't played it. Give it a chance.

I'm so dumb I thought the DLC clue was hinting at the moon and beat the game thinking that was the DLC content. Feels good knowing I have more of this game to play someday at least.

 

[Zombra]

Based on Visperas and pakoito's comments I guess it's finally time to try this, been hearing about it for years. I would generally rather play a pretentious game than Rocket Launcher Spamfest #2099 so yeah.

 

[Average Manatee]

Nothing in the game itself is pretentious. If you care about the opinions of pretentious people and whether they like the game or not, don't.

 

[Jaedar]

Nothing in the game itself is pretentious. If you care about the opinions of pretentious people and whether they like the game or not, don't.

I think the ending can be fairly argued to be pretentious. But anyone who lets that ruin the rest of the game deserves it.

 

[dsndo]

This game filtered me before I even landed on my first planet. The reddit writing and "charming" characters nearly made me vomit. What is the point of controlling your ship if everything can be flown to via Autopilot?

 

[Perkel]

Subnautica it ain't.

Correct. It's better. Unless you have some weird fondness for generic survival/crafting mechanics, or an even weirder preference for oceans over space.

My issue is that puzzle and exploration usually don't mix well. IT takes special kind of mystery to move it forward in order for it not to be contrived.
It's a general problem with adventure games in general. With a good hook aka the mystery you can have contrived puzzles and logic like in Syberia or The Lonest Journey but if the hook isn't there then the contrived nature degrades whatever good feelings you can have.
Subnautica fools you into some general gameplay loop at start before presenting the mystery. "ITS CRAFTING/SURIVAL GAME !" the hook comes later when you start to explore. You get legitimately interested in the regions of this world after you do like 200 meters swim outside of your shuttle and you realize this is actually an alien planet, "i've never seen anything like this." Wait this is weird. I want to see more. Same with Syberia, it starts weirdly contrived with mechanical automatons and a funeral that gives me nothing but once you start to explore a bit first village you quickly realize this is not modern or historical setting but entirely different one, a different version of sovietish nation that the more you explore the weirder it gets. The mystery of chasing living mamoths is just destination, the joy here is from exploring that world even if some puzzles are fucking stupid and it is literally said by main character who gets taken in by weirdness and just as player gets invested into her journey losing track of who she was before, her boyfriend, , her job, past life etc.

On other end of spectrum is Talos Principle. It does nothing for me because the hook does not interest me.

My issue with it wasn't really with flying and ghost cave that killed me and restart of a loop but with whole initial village exploration, villagers, etc. not presenting me a good hook. Here is typical village of good people so now go to rocket because i guess this is what you need to do ? I guess if you make friends in seconds irl then this might be a hook for you but at the point of starting that rocket i never cared about the village. So the only thing that i looked forward to aka the exploration ended up becoming some arcadish what a mole space flight into miniature non sensical planet with tornadoes.

I think the issue here is that some people like puzzles for the sake of themselves while other people play adventure games for their worlds/twists/characters and understand puzzles are necessary component to involve player into story and degree of how it is done also has an impact on the whole game. Like you can't unlink puzzles from Virtue's Last Reward because they are in fact direct contributor to mystery and in Syberia because those weird puzzles kind of fit into this weird world but in something like TLJ most of those could be skipped.

I can appreciate good puzzles i just don't appreciate them without good context otherwise they aren't different than hacking minigame everyone hates.

 

[pakoito]

This game filtered me before I even landed on my first planet. The reddit writing and "charming" characters nearly made me vomit. What is the point of controlling your ship if everything can be flown to via Autopilot?

Autopilot gets you into the planet, once you're in the planet you have to maneuver yourself. There are not many flying challenges tho.

 

[The Decline]

I liked the whole exploring a mini solar system and solving puzzles, but I didn't like the graphics style or the fact that there is no combat or anything really beyond the environmental stuff. Same complaints I had with Subnautica, there's a lot of potential in the game that's squandered.

 

[pakoito]

I liked the whole exploring a mini solar system and solving puzzles, but I didn't like the graphics style or the fact that there is no combat or anything really beyond the environmental stuff. Same complaints I had with Subnautica, there's a lot of potential in the game that's squandered.

How would shooter sections improve the games, and what would you be shooting? Real question.

 

[The Decline]

I liked the whole exploring a mini solar system and solving puzzles, but I didn't like the graphics style or the fact that there is no combat or anything really beyond the environmental stuff. Same complaints I had with Subnautica, there's a lot of potential in the game that's squandered.

How would shooter sections improve the games, and what would you be shooting? Real question.

A Subnautica clone where you are in a more hostile environment would be awesome. Fighting off violent sea creatures and other monstrous underwater creatures while exploring sounds like a fun time to me. Really lean into the horror aspect of the deep sea.

Outer Wilds I would like to see crossed with say Metroid Prime. With or without the time rewinding gimmick. The idea is to have the freedom to explore an entire alien solar system and solve its mysteries and puzzles while battling off hostile entities that inhabit it.

 

[pakoito]

I liked the whole exploring a mini solar system and solving puzzles, but I didn't like the graphics style or the fact that there is no combat or anything really beyond the environmental stuff. Same complaints I had with Subnautica, there's a lot of potential in the game that's squandered.

How would shooter sections improve the games, and what would you be shooting? Real question.

A Subnautica clone where you are in a more hostile environment would be awesome. Fighting off violent sea creatures and other monstrous underwater creatures while exploring sounds like a fun time to me. Really lean into the horror aspect of the deep sea.

That's the mid and late game. In an Alien 2 mech suit. Fuck I hated Warpers.

As for the Outer Wilds suggestions, eh. It'd feel like other game if you could kill the anglerfish rather than using them as a door/key puzzle.