Ivan Von Mayer

One of the most well written and thought provoking games I've ever played. It made me feel emotions I didn't think existed. There's such a hopelessness to its world but also such a beauty, the kind of beauty that makes you want to hold on to those fleeting moments, but also look onwards to the future. I felt more for Harry DuBois than I have any other character in a work of fiction, and the fact that much of Harry is a reflection of myself made that jarring, yet also cathartic. So many aspects of the individual human mind and the shared human zeitgeist are reflected in this game, through its characters, its dialogue, its world, its art, its music - it all comes together so beautifully. I can't listen to the song 'Whirling in Rags, 8am' and not feel a feeling that is quite indescribable - if I had to put it into words, I'd say its a sort of awe-inspired coziness. HARDCORE TO THE MEGA!

Outer Wilds is great because it puts its trust in you, and has confidence that your curiosity will get you through to the end. So many games nowadays sit you in the passenger seat and drive you to your destination. Outer Wilds just puts you in the drivers seat and tells you go wherever you want. As you explore this absolutely insane solar system, you discover clues that help you get closer to your goal. It’s a lot of fun learning the systems and growing mastery over the game. The twist with Outer Wilds is that you’re stuck in a 22 minute time loop, so after 22 mins is up you go back to where you started and go off again. The information you learned is still there, but now the changing world is reset and you can come at things from a fresh angle. A lot of these one star reviews talk about how the game doesn’t tell you anything and you don’t ever know what to do. Do these people realise there’s a log in the back of your ship that gives you an overview of what you learned and hints about what you can draw from it? You literally have a mind map that tells you about all of your discoveries that can nudge you in the right direction, so these reviews are null in my opinion. And if you do ever feel stuck, take my advice and just go somewhere you haven’t been yet. This truly is a fantastic game and I can’t recommend it more, it’s not very often something this unique and original comes along, so experience this truly magnificent game now before it’s too late.