Whether you started with a 2600 and a joystick in your hand, an N64 with a blistered palm or building your first PC in your teens, what is that one video game you’ve played at some point that to this day sits at the top of your list.
The Outer Wilds. IMO, non-violence-based gameplay design is an underexplored space, especially in 3-D games. The Outer Wilds manages to feel like a fully-fledged game, rather than a traditional walking simulator, using exploration as it’s core gameplay loop.
Further, it’s main progression system is you, the out-of-game player, learning about the world. There’s no abilities you gain or keys you have to find. You unlock new areas, not as a programmed game mechanic, but as a function of reasoning about what you’ve discovered and gaining insight into how the game world works. Any playthrough could be beaten in about 15 minutes – there’s nothing physically blocking you from triggering the end of the game – but it takes you 15 hours or so of flying around the solar system to accrue the necessary insight to get there.
It’s really a special game.
It’s a toss up for me between Outer Wilds and Subnautica. I found Outer Wilds after playing Subnautica and looking for something with the same feeling.
Anyone that liked Outer Wilds should also play Subnautica. Although the game play is more similar to No Man’s Sky (even though Subnautica is definitely much better than NMS)
I wish I had the guts to play it - the anxiety I got from the water-tornados and huge vast emptiness of space, the black hole - the game did such an amazing job at giving me an overwhelming sense of dread that I had to just stop playing. I consider that a compliment towards the game lol
Hey, speaking as someone who hated all the planets (especially the a fog-ridden one I won’t spoil)
Part of the reason why I fell in love with this game was the realization that nothing could ever really harm you. The anxiety I feel when exploring the water-tornado planet was always there – slightly dampened by the understanding that nothing dangerous could ever happen. At most, I was flung up to space. Black hole? Don’t worry, you’ll just end up far away. I’m always anxious, always fearful. I had to learn to be with those feelings, instead of pushing them away.
This was outer wild’s personal message to me: it’s okay to feel scared or overwhelmed. It’s okay to be crushed by narrowing tunnels or die of oxygen depravation or whatever else the universe can throw at you. You’ll always be back in front of a crackling campfire. That’s the safety that the game always guarantees you.
Honestly, with enough exposure to outer wilds, I tried doing black hole trick jumps and sometimes even drove my ship right into the tornados for fun.
I really hope you continue playing! This was one of the best games I’d ever played.
Original Myst was like that- you could technically beat the game inside of seconds- if you knew the answer. (Empty world where everyone was sealed inside books- you could free them by freeing one of two heirs. You had to decide which was the “right” heir.)
The puzzles left clues around the entire game to explain things unlocking puzzles
I have never played The Outer Wilds, however your description makes the game sound similar to No Mans Sky. Is this a fair assumption?
Beyond being set in space I would say they are pretty different. Outer Wilds is set in a single, hand crafted solar system. The planets are kind of “cutesy” and small. Like you can see the curve of the horizon when you are on each planet because they are each designed as spherical levels you are meant to explore most of.
The space flight mechanics are also pure Newtonian physics ala the Expanse, whereas the ships in no man’s fly like planes, not rocket ships.
All that said. If you liked No Man’s Sky I think there’s a decent chance you’ll like Outer Wilds.
Tried to get my now-husband to integrate the soundtrack into our wedding, but alas!
And for anyone reading this thread and thinking it sounds worth a try: a) do no further research, go in blind, very important and b) Outer Wilds is the one you want, not to be confused with The Outer Worlds.
Tetris. Tetris is the King.
I will never in a million years connect “racist” with “tetris”. What was that about?
Mass Effect. The one game I wish I could entirely erase my memory of and do it all again. <3
Mass Effect is the only game I ever played where I read -every single entry- of lore in the encyclopedia. First game with achievements I did 100% on as well. I built my own Normandy models, even… both of the SR-1 and -2.
I hope ME4 is a return to form when it releases. I also hope the TV series I’ve heard about treats the franchise well… The story would do well as a prestige title IMO so I’ll be super bummed if they don’t do it justice.
Ocarina of Time.
Honestly, I just didn’t like the hub-wield element of MM as much as the geography of Hyrule in OoT. It had much more interesting social quests, and combat was smoother, but it just wasn’t what I was there for.
It probably didn’t help that I didn’t have a Memory Pak, and didn’t get to play MM until I got the GCN Collectors Edition disc like 10 years after it originally came out.
Despite Ocarina being my favorite game ever I still haven’t beaten Majora…
That being said I respect anyone who favors it over Ocarina. It’s incredibly imaginative, the way it takes Ocarina and spins it. I don’t think we’re going to ever see something like that in gaming again in a long time. It’s really something special.
Elder Scrolls III Morrowind. Everything in that game feels so different than anything else, including the other Elder Scrolls.
Morrowind: Nix hounds, kwama, guar… Cities made from the husks of ancient crustaceans… Fast travel networks with time consequences based on the speed of the insect you’re riding inside of. Insane lore that feels like a real religion… Are you the chosen one? Is there such a thing? Have you been “chosen” or are you choosing to make it happen? Ash ghouls.
Everything else: Deer, wolf, bear… Renaissance-era European architecture… Instantaneous fast travel with no basis in lore. Dragons.
I’ll forgive the cliff racers.
