Island Off Outer Darkness

One of the best-written story-driven games since Disco Elysium. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ what an experience. I cannot wait for whatever the dev makes next cuz it's gonna be a doozy I'm sure.

Island Off Outer Darkness was a surprise, a delight, and a moving experience. The writing is clever, with careful attention to the intersection of identity, politics, and personality, the sense of atmosphere (aided by an excellent soundtrack) is extremely evocative, and the worldbuilding in particular was brilliantly exposited. There were several times where something I truly didn't expect took place, and I had fun the whole way through. There are occasional bugs (I had to restart a bunch of days because I got stuck on geometry - I don't think there's a "unstick me" button, or at least I don't know what it is), and without spoiling anything, I would have preferred less influence of a specific source material, but overall I think the game was fantastically done and I'm excited to follow Zugerujk's work and see what comes next. I wish more games like this were being made. I'd even take one half this good.

It's got atmosphere for days. It's got a farming minigame. It's got a guy that is a horse and also gay. What more could anyone want???????

Best comp I can come up with is impressionist Boku no Natsuyasumi 2 in a remote, dark island from a fictional world where strange things happen and a bunch of neighbors are retrogrades and reactionaries. As in Boku no Natsuyasumi, being enclosed in a small village peppered with characters to get to know little by little through the mundanity of everyday life creates a very characteristic feeling of familiarity. I decided to play one or two days each day, which takes me 10/15 minutes tops, and I am really enjoying the experience, slowly, in a mundane way.

The fact that Death Stranding came out 7 years ago and this is the first time I've seen the Strand Game format applied to exploring a small cast of characters in a tiny map is astounding. The delivery format is such a natural fit for making not just the characters themselves but their relationships to each other slowly unfold for the player that it's baffling it's not a common practice. But even if it were, I don't think most games doing that would match the care and grace that Island Off Outer Darkness brings to it. And that's all without getting into the incredible soundtrack, the gorgeous and clever visuals, and the feeling of existing just on the edge of a complex, fleshed-out world that defies quick or easy understanding.

Short thoughts: I really enjoyed my time with IOOD, and I plan to play it again with the dev notes mode soon. I completed my first playthrough at about 14 and a half hours. I think the audience for this game is going to be niche and full of sickos (positive), and I'm glad I got to be one. Also, the music is absolutely phenomenal and there were several times where I would put the Postman somewhere with a nice view while I chilled out and listened. I'm stoked that this exists, glad I played it, and I'm looking forward to what Zugerujk does next. --- Longer thoughts: Lately, I've been thinking about games that wouldn't make sense or hit nearly as hard in another medium; getting to go through each day as the Postman brings an intimacy to the experience that I wouldn't have if I were watching this as an animated film or a theater production. There is a deliberate tedium to this game that gives a (literal) gravity to the experience of play. You move slowly, and even when you get almost all of the possible movement upgrades, the player movement is deliberate and clumsy and asks for your patience. Even when I felt pretty confident in the movement, I would turn too slowly and fall off a dock, splashing into the pixelated water only to emerge on a sandbar beach off to the side of the island. This also turned out to be a piece of artwork that I wanted to savor, sitting with it for a couple of hours each night. I think that tedium and slowness will be off-putting to some - but for the narrative sickos like myself who had their worlds changed by games like Kentucky Route Zero, 1000xRESIST, NORCO, and others, it is a treat to experience. There are a few pieces of media I could compare this to - its called-out inspirations would be obvious ones (and in particular, I was very excited to see Jeff Vandermeer's SOUTHERN REACH books in the pile). But if I had to pick something that *wasn't* already on that list, I would point to two pieces of media: The first is the Kid A-mnesia Exhibition that came out a few years ago, a 3D experience of the albums through a strange physical space full of creatures that only sometimes acknowledge you. The Exhibition is maybe not a *game* - despite being played like one - but it is unique. The second is a gallery installation located at the Hirschorn Museum in Washington D.C., a permanent exhibit from Laurie Anderson. It is a medium-large room painted matte black with white hand-painted notes, snippets, quotes, existential thinking, and *stuff* scrawled across the walls, floor, and ceiling, along with four or five distinct installations within the room. It is striking and I think about it regularly. I see a lot of myself-from-ten-years-ago in the writing of these characters; I am very glad that this game came across my radar, and I am excited to see what the dev does next, and I hope they decide to keep making art. I will be thinking about Island Off Outer Darkness for a long time.

Holy hell is this good. Planned to just play for an hour or so tonight but had to pull myself away after four hours. The music is incredible and pairs perfectly with the visuals to create a very potent atmosphere while delivering packages. The writing for the varied cast of characters is excellent and really makes you want to get to know all of them. There's also some very cool surprises, movement tech, and farming and fishing, what else could you need?

Highly worth your time if you're interested in games like Flower, Sun, and Rain: games about slowly exploring a space and its inhabitants that is willing to have a lot of fun with the premise and setting, as well as fun at the expense of you, the player. Highly evocative in its direction, a very thorny game to dig through and contemplate as well. Really enjoyed the complicated developments across its cast and the ways in which you have to navigate your own thoughts and feelings about the people and the world you are inhabiting.

A very fun and unique game.

This is an incredible game for sickos with 10/10 ambiance, loveable and hateable characters(looking at you Clavicord if i see you again its on sight). If this even slightly appeals to you just buy it trust me its worth your time. The incredible attention to detail plus the whole package of music as you slowly move around a low poly environment chatting with really fleshed out characters who all evoke a strong emotional reaction when you see them both positive and negative. While the ending was not to my taste I very much understand the why it is what it is in the context of the game as a whole.