This week’s game is one that I just recently finished. I had a pretty good time playing it, which was surprising because I hate puzzle games.

The game of the week is…

“Outer Wilds”

Before I begin, I would like to clarify something; I hate puzzle games. They make me feel stupid and most are just downright hard. However, I gave it a chance and I’m glad I did. 

“Outer Wilds” is a puzzle-based game where you explore different planets and learn about the past. You start by graduating from the space program on your home, Timberhearth, and start your first space adventure. Your objective is to find information about the past. 

There are a few different planets or places you could (have to) visit. Let’s talk about them.

 

The Hourglass Twins

This was the first place I went to and I’m glad I did. The Hourglass Twins are two different planets but in the same orbit. Let’s discuss the twins separately.

 

Ash Twin

Ash Twin is sand. Sand is everywhere on this planet. As you continue throughout the game, Ash Twin starts to pour sand into its twin, Ember Twin. Don’t give up on Ash Twin just because it’s covered in sand! Things will open up the longer you play that are important to discover. I hated Ash Twin at first but the more I had to go there, the more fun I had.

 

Ember Twin

Ember Twin is a rocky terrain planet that has a huge cave system beneath its surface. However, with the sand from Ash Twin pouring into Ember Twin, areas like the caves underground start to fill up with sand. If you were to go to these places first, I suggest Ember Twin first before the sand from Ash Twin overtakes it all. Ember Twin is one of my favorites, it has so much and I love exploring the cave system beneath it.

 

Timber Hearth

Your home! Timber Hearth has huge grass plains, forests and large craters. This is where you begin and take off. Not much is on Timber Hearth but it doesn’t mean there’s not much to look at. This isn’t my favorite planet but it’s not the worst planet.

 

Brittle Hollow

Brittle Hollow is a rocky planet that’s hollow in the center. In the center is a black hole so be careful not to fall in. Orbiting around Brittle Hollow is Hollow’s Lantern, where chunks of that planet break off and crash into Brittle Hollow. These chunks break off pieces of Brittle Hollow which then fall into the black hole. This is also one of my favorites. There is so much to do here and it’s just beautiful.

Giant’s Deep

Giant’s Deep is covered in a deep ocean. There are very few places to land your ship. The gravity on this planet is awful and with the strong cyclones forcing you up into space and the strong current forcing you to stay above water, this makes it on my list of the worst planets to be on. I hate this planet a lot, it makes me dizzy and sick. Thankfully, I wasn’t on there for too long but still, it makes the list.

 

Dark Bramble

Lastly, the Dark Bramble. The Dark Bramble is covered in ice and twisted vines. An entrance into the seed of Dark Bramble takes you into a foggy, twisted vine area where something lurks within. This takes first place. I hate this planet so fucking much. It’s scary and my eyesight is already bad so I can’t see anything.

 

Let’s discuss some other places/planets you could visit. Yes there are other places but no spoilers for y’all.

The Sun

Yes, there is a HUGE sun. Just like our world, the sun is extremely hot and slowly turns into a Red Giant before exploding. Can you finish the game before it blows up? Who knows! Also, no you cannot get on the Sun, you will burn (not talking from experience). 

Hollow’s Lantern

This moon is a volcanic moon that orbits Brittle Hollow. Chunks off this moon crash into Brittle Hollow, destroying its surface. Never been on it myself but considering it attacks a beautiful planet like Brittle Hollow, it gets me pissed off. For a picture, look at Brittle Hollow’s description because it’s right next to it.

The Attlerock

This is Timber Hearth’s moon. Our one, lonely rocky moon that orbits around us. Nothing is really on here but still take a trip up there, some of it can help you out. I liked the Attlerock, it’s fun to jump around. You can see this moon in Timber Hearth’s picture above.

 

The Interloper

Guys, I got onto the interloper which then crashed into the Sun. It was pretty funny at that moment. This solar comet is covered in ice and when it orbits and gets closer to the sun, be careful not to be melted away with it. Be careful when you explore the interloper because it will crash into the sun at some point. 

 

Now there are some of space stations and satellites. I won’t be mentioning anything about them because you must explore on your own and I don’t want to spoil anything. 

Another important part I should mention is the different travelers you’ll meet on the way. I won’t say anything about them, again to avoid spoiling your gameplay.

 

Chert

Esker

Riebeck

Gabbro

Feldspar

We also can’t forget about your ship! Your ship is your primary way of transportation. Inside your ship, comes your gear (don’t forget to put this on or you will die), oxygen tank, computer, first-aid, etc. Also in your ship is your ship log and I promise you, YOU HAVE TO ALWAYS CHECK THIS! It helps you figure out what you learned and what you could do next.

Piloting your ship is hard at first but I promise you will get better at this. It just takes a bit of time.

After talking about the game without spoiling anything (and if I did, I do apologize), I’ll get into my likes, loves and dislikes about this game. Let’s start off with my likes.

I liked the story. It was a bit confusing at first, mainly because I had no idea what anything meant. However, the more you play, the more pieces will make sense. I will say though that I am still a bit confused about the game.

Another thing I like is that it’s a puzzle game. I hate puzzle games a lot so I thought this would be a game where money was wasted and I would feel forced to play. Surprisingly, I thoroughly enjoyed this puzzle game a lot. I also love space so a puzzle-space game was great to play.

Now let’s talk about what I love. I love the characters you meet along the way. As I mentioned above, we have Chert, Esker, Riebeck, Gabbro and Feldspar. It’s nice to see and talk about things with them.

I also love all of the planets. Yes, I mentioned above hating Giants Deep and the Dark Bramble and that is right. However, they are extremely important to the game and after being on them for long, you get used to them. Except for the Dark Bramble. Fuck that place.

Also, the music of this game??? Fire. Y’all the music is great. If you don’t want to play the game, then at least listen to the music. 

Lastly, my dislikes. The Dark Bramble. Also the ending to the game. It was great I won’t lie but it doesn’t make me happy but it is comforting. I’m about to put a spoiler so look away if you don’t want to know. The spoiler is between the spoiler alert pictures so after the second one, you can start reading again.

The ending of this game is to not stop the sun from exploding. It’s to comfort you that this is what happens and that’s okay. As someone who is anxious about things like this happening, it did comfort me which made me feel better. I wasn’t happy about it but it does comfort me to think that yes this happens and it’s okay. This also makes you think, you don’t have as much time here so make the most of it.

Here are some funny clips from my own gameplay!

“Outer Wilds” is a game that is worth it to play. It’s one of the best games I’ve ever played and I wish I could play it for the first time again. If you love space or love puzzle games or love both, then this is the game for you. If you aren’t interested in any of those, I would still recommend you take the time to look at this game because I didn’t think I liked it either. That definitely changed.

To rate this game on my rating scale, it would break the scale. It’s that good of a game. So no picture for this rating because “Outer Wilds” is too good to give it five stars. It deserves as many stars as we have in our universe.