Your mileage may vary, but unraveling the entire mystery of the Nomai on your own will probably take a lot of time and patience. Even if the Nomai have some human-like traits, there’s still a lingering sense of dread whenever you explore their settlements and their technology. Awe in the sense of near-terror before the unknown. And that’s part of the awe you feel in both Outer Wilds and Arrival. The best comparison I can come up with for how it portrays the Nomai aliens is the movie Arrival, where humans simply have no idea about the aliens’ intentions, and communication with them is a very complicated process. Unlike a lot of games dealing with space and aliens, Outer Wilds doesn’t wallow in the same old tropes and themes. This is where the game begins to fill you with awe and wonder, which is what makes it so memorable. It’s a long, convoluted history that you’ll unravel bit by bit as you translate their writings and explore their settlements. You’ll learn much more about them as you explore the planets and follow the tracks of other Hearthian astronauts. As a Hearthian astronaut, you grew up learning about the Nomai, an elder alien race that left its traces all over the solar system. The real challenge of Outer Wilds is putting the pieces together as you begin to make sense of this universe and the story behind it. Outer Wilds Presents A Puzzle As Big As The Universe So the controls definitely matter beyond flying the spaceship, and mastering them for different environments and situations can be really fun. When you run out of jetpack fuel, it will start using your air to thrust (very feebly though). Obviously, each planet has a different atmosphere and gravity, and controlling the thrust of your suit properly is often a matter of life and death. Flying the ship and landing it safely is definitely useful, but so is defying the variations of gravity in your spacesuit. Spacefaring is actually a small part of the gameplay overall, as you’ll often be out of your spaceship, walking about and exploring a planet. I think Outer Wilds is probably much more enjoyable on the couch with a controller and a big TV. Still, unless you’re used to gaming like this, I don’t recommend it. It took a while to get used to the controls, and it often felt frustrating, but it wasn’t that bad. Being the madman PC gamer that I am, I still went with the keyboard and mouse. The game advises you to use a controller rather than a keyboard and mouse precisely because of that. While there is no combat or proper action gameplay, you'll often require some deft maneuvering to fly your spaceship. Interesting, huh? Ground Control to Space Control - Logistics in Outer Wilds The realism may seem feeble by any stretch of the imagination, but there is a method to the madness. It sets down some ground rules early on and sticks to them throughout the whole game. This is part of what makes Outer Wilds particularly brilliant. Familiarize yourself with some concepts and try to understand the logic and the physics of this universe. See everything there is to see in it, both in your village and outside it. When you die, well, I hope you learned something.īefore that, however, explore your own home planet as thoroughly as you can. Land on each one of them, see how far you can go, and just enjoy the view. It’s a beautiful solar system, full of delightful vistas and amazing planets to explore. Learn how to stop worrying and love the loop. You will die, over and over, but you’ll also accumulate experience that will finally allow you to beat the loop. Obviously, it’s a totally different medium, but the principle is the same. If you liked Groundhog Day or Edge of Tomorrow, you’ll probably like Outer Wilds. Chasing The Edge of Tomorrow in Outer Wilds Soon, you'll discover the system is trapped in a seemingly endless time loop as the sun keeps going supernova. It's a microcosm where a handful of planets orbit around a sun, a few kilometers from each other. Yes, he says, but a very powerful death trap, and maybe that’s what you need to brave the solar system. It’s a death trap, as you tell one of your Hearthian comrades. Your fuel tank sits exposed to the elements. Your spaceship is literally a patchwork of wood and metal. The Outer Wilds space program of Timber Hearth, your home planet, may not seem the safest or most realistic. And that awe is part of what makes us human, even if you’re an alien. What is out there? How far can we go into the black? What is our place in the universe? Outer Wilds doesn’t really try to answer those ponderous questions, but it casts you in a role where you'll sit in awe at possible answers. Space exploration, in particular, speaks to our innermost nature, as creatures who exist in tiny bubbles of liveable conditions. There is something deeply human about the thrill of exploration.
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