It's been years since I've started writing this review and I was always undecided about what to write... but now, with so many other games played after it, it just hit me. My view about it has not been altered in the slightest, heck, I think it gained even more value with time, because Outer Wilds has truly been an unforgettable journey that has been unmatched as of now.
As a space simulator about discovery, Outer Wilds is not afraid to let you roam around freely from the very beginning, where you get welcomed by the fellow inhabitants (known as Hearthians) of your planet of birth (known as Timber Hearth) just to learn the basics, have an overview about the main characters involved in the story and some hints and warnings about what you will stumble upon by being part of the Outer Wilds Ventures Space Program. It's always up to you to hop on your propelled capsule and begin to discover every ingenious mechanic, every little detail scattered inside the solar system and make some sense of it, to meet weird old friends and new charming ones along the way. You don't have a companion, or a set of objectives, you're not forced to follow a straight line to reach the ultimate accomplishment...you just have to rely on your wooden spaceship, your fragile spacesuit and your trusty sonar/camera to unravel the unkown.
Time is not for free tho, you only have so much of it and the clock is always ticking...but nothing is unfixable. Whilst the game pushes you towards solving the mystery beyond your mission and what lies beyond your very own eyes, my only advice will be to just explore without fear of the consequences, because the game can get scary overwhelming and a bit frustrating to navigate if it seems like you're not progressing.
The amount of chained events and supposedly unsolvable truths that will tie together in the end is one of the game's crowning achievement and like many others suggested before me, to know as little as possible about it is the best thing you can do to enjoy it at its fullest.
Outer Wilds comes with a surprisingly heartwarming, melancholic and immersive soundtrack that gets me the chills more often than I'd care to admit (everytime I listen to it).
Beyond all that has been said above, I think I'd fail to describe how much this game gave to me; some of the most significant memories of my gaming history reside all inside the small planetary system of Outer Wilds...and I'm really glad that I've persevered despite the frustration and the sense of lost it gave me at one point; but thanks to the Outer Wilds Ventures Space Program you're never lost...and you are never alone (crowd aww sound effect*).
Echoes of The Eye fortifies even further the main concept of the game giving you a bunch of new mechanics to work with, asking you to solve another important puzzle that lies among the stars. One of the best DLC's ever produced without a doubt, it's just more content at the same quality (if not even more sophisticated in some parts) of the base game and unthinkable skip to me.
I give this an
unfillable void/10
