Island Off Outer Darkness

Planned to just dip my toes in this one after hearing about this game on Side Story, but it has really captured me and pulled me into its world and I'm invested in learning more about the intriguing characters on this island. Island Off Outer Darkness is just fantastic and has completely captured me. Excellent world building from its furthest edges both geographically and societally. A small point on the edge of a big map. A quickly familiar sometimes unfamiliar town inhabited by unfamiliar soon to be familiar residents with intriguing histories and relations. Beautiful soundtrack. I love how it plays around with its form as a game. Also happens to be the best way to play NieR's farming minigame.

Only really played a little, and this is just wonderful, the dialogue system use is inspired, to actuallly focus on morrowind's dialogue system as way to talk to people more in depth, and engage with habituallly instead of in quests is really neat. ANd the overal look feels really creative and wild, love how exciting it feels to meet people just because of how interesting the portraits are. Getting information about the broader world mostly from a racist guy under a bridge feels really fitting since it does feel like that sort of person *would* have overly strong and instant opinions on various places. Not to mention, really like how oddly lifelike the general atmosphere feels , most characters are very mundane in their role so far but feel like they have a life going on.

This leapt easily into my all-time games pantheon. I can see the influences from all the listed inspirations, but this uses those as a jumping off point and forges its own path with aplomb. Some jaw-dropping moments in this, but also a sustained mood and sense of place and grit. I like that nobody in this game is perfect, or all that easy to get along with, or even very nice (including the player character). Lest you think it's "just" a walking sim, I did a gardening sidequest the last possible day I was able to do it only because I was finally able to grapple with and internalize both the fishing and farming systems; the latter of which has a fun logic puzzle aspect to it. That said, there is a cleverly-handled "postgame" that doesn't remove the story stakes if you are looking to do some cleanup. Magnificent work, and capped off by an astounding OST which I'm going to buy right after posting this.

[UPDATED REVIEW] Island Off Outer Darkness is one very interesting narrative experience. It's a postman simulator set in a small remote island a fictional world. A very small place where not much happens, yet, is in the midst of various supernatural phenomena. IOOD is a game centered around talking. Getting to know the inhabitans, unlocking new conversation topics... all connected with the premise of making deliveries. Walking is fairly slow, but it does give a lot of room for the minimalistic abstract low poly vibes and FANTASTIC soundtrack to give you a thick grasp of its ambience and mood. About the dialogue tho, this is quite the verbose game. There's a lot of attention to detail, even with very minute details about each character in town and worldbuilding. I could call this a "conversational imsim" and I wouldn't be wrong. There's quite a bit to chew on, but the story so far it's been pretty laidback. It's kinda like living in one RPG town, but removing all the adventuring, action and whatnot, to instead focus on the conversational aspect. Tho you still have a fishing minigame. Thank god for that. I haven't played anything quite like this. It's a one of a kind experience. A lot of the character ramblings drop some gems, or even some idiosyncratic characteristics that you might not see coming. It's very interesting reading about character relations... but above all, it is a slow moving routine-type game about talking to your neighbours while you do your job of the day. It's not a game for everyone, but I'm very fascinated by how unique it is.

really well written really well drawn im playing this one well past dawn doo doo poo poo seriously though this game rules and deserves your time

Really charming, I was fully engrossed in the atmosphere and world the whole way through. There's a lot I could talk about with this game, well worth experiencing for yourself, but I'll just point out a couple spoiler-free things: 1. I love the look of this game, deceptively stylish but also very readable. Sparse environments without much detail are honestly so much easier to navigate than modern high-fidelity game worlds. Which is good, because you'll be spending a lot of time exploring this island with no map. The hidden upside is that you also become very attuned to even the smallest of differences in the environment, day to day. And the big changes hit so much better. 2. Speaking of big environmental changes, another thing I love about this game is its use of negative space, specifically, the time it takes to traverse in certain scenarios. Since E.Y.E. Divine Cybermancy back in the day, I have had a soft spot for games that utilize large empty spaces to communicate distance and difficulty for the player. There are some deliveries that are a pain in the *ss, and that's great! Or these magical moments near the end of the game that let you linger in the mood. IYKYK. 3. If Clavichord has no opps that means I am dead. In all seriousness, the characters are great. Games so rarely have characters who are so confidently wrong about the world they inhabit, depending on their perspective, There are a few characters I can recall off the top of my head saying absurd sh*t but meaning it 100% earnestly, which makes them so funny. Atmospheric, well-written, I'll remember it for a long time to come. Highly recommend!

There's some good bones here to work with, and I intend on leaving no meat on them when all is said and done. Also shoutout Bucephalus my king.

Despite the small setting of the village the game takes place, its obvious that Zugerujk has put a lot of themself into this world with how much detail there is to discover about literally the whole world, and most importantly the characters. Every character has a unique personality and you'll grow attached to at least one of them with how much new dialogue and topics each day unlocks, whether theyre a good person or not. Even with how many days there are in the game, theres always something new happening. The soundtrack is absolutely wonderful and the fishing minigame is fun too, probably my favourite thing to do each day after the deliveries. I love the abstract and trippy visuals and the overall aesthetic is beautiful, its my favourite aspect of the game. The contemplative atmosphere makes this a real nice game to relax to and im glad i got to experience it. Thank you for making this, its really cool and good

A performance of very slow magic; Island Off Outer Darkness is the punk of the cozy game crowd. Activities here are deliveries, fishing, gardening, all to a small cast of characters you slowly learn more about... but look at those graphics, those abstract daimonds stretched into the vaguest impression of people. Or, note the fixed resolution of the play window (which you're advised not to change, meaning you're likely to play with your window inset on a void of black). Or, have a taste of the opening dialogue; an assault of NPC coldness, even hostility, drenched in words and ways of speaking that you'll have to spend time thinking through. This game has a warm heart, but it's the warmth of learning a new language: You will stumble a few times, probably feel like an idiot, and be forced to study more than you can really comprehend as you start, but once the pieces begin to fit together, there's the double reward of mastering a new skill, and opening your world to so many new voices. That is to say, Island Off Outer Darkness isn't a game for everyone, but if you give it an earnest try it will stare confidently back at you, standing as an incredibly vulnerable work. There is thoughts here on rural/island living, on ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ jobs, on small towns, on hegemony, on faith, on youth, on legacy... and none of it goes down easy, but those jagged edges are what makes it stick.

Ramshackle Fragmented-then-Collected Knowingsfromotherplaces. Island Off Outer Darkness is very clearly inspired by the touch of his slimy embrace in ways that I'm not sure come across to those who do not know it. While by no means a perfect game, Island Off Outer Darkness shows a real vunerability that it would be disrespectful to not admire it. For those who aren't interested in speculating on if they'll resonate with the themes of the game that touch on community, the character writing and original sound track spar with the best of them. Worth picking up and vibing with for fans of Disco, and other character driven narrative experiences.