Simply amazing.

This is a prime example of what a great, generally frowned upon, "walking simulator" (at it's core) should look like. While i personally very much enjoy deep stories inside rich worlds usually i stay away from this genre if the game at it's core has 0 gameplay apart from moving around and reading.
This is most definitely an exception to the "rule". Because even though, yes, you kinda "just walk around", there's a couple of things that make this game rise above it's peers.

(It's best if you don't know anything when you start playing, but if you really have to know something, this is a short summary without any story spoilers.)

The world doesn't revolve around you, it changes even if you're not present. If you're not there, you will miss out on it (which is a nice break from games where nothing happens unless you're there to see it).

The environments are breathtaking, they're nothing like one another and the events that take place in them make you go "wow" regularly. On top of that, the environments are dynamic, they change over time in ways which you would never expect.

The game is a physics simulation so even things like just moving around in your spacesuit/spaceship are more fun than usual.

There's barely any explicit puzzles, finding out/deciding where to go next to progress the story IS the puzzle. And you don't get any explicit rewards for it, the knowledge about the world/story and seeing these amazingly crafted environments IS the reward. (which is once again a refresher when most games throw pointless and useless loot at you just to give you a feeling that you're getting something).

IMO it overstays it's welcome by a couple of hours, but the constant feeling of amazement throughout majority of the game (apart from the 20 min intro) absolutely makes up for it.

So yeah, for most, playing this will be a very unique experience. Highly recommend to people that have doubts about the genre. And as everyone else is saying, stay away from spoilers, the less you know the better.

Simply amazing. This is a prime example of what a great, generally frowned upon, "walking simulator" (at it's core) should look like. While i personally very much enjoy deep stories inside rich worlds usually i stay away from this genre if the game at it's core has 0 gameplay apart from moving around and reading. This is most definitely an exception to the "rule". Because even though, yes, you kinda "just walk around", there's a couple of things that make this game rise above it's peers. (It's best if you don't know anything when you start playing, but if you really have to know something, this is a short summary without any story spoilers.) The world doesn't revolve around you, it changes even if you're not present. If you're not there, you will miss out on it (which is a nice break from games where nothing happens unless you're there to see it). The environments are breathtaking, they're nothing like one another and the events that take place in them make you go "wow" regularly. On top of that, the environments are dynamic, they change over time in ways which you would never expect. The game is a physics simulation so even things like just moving around in your spacesuit/spaceship are more fun than usual. There's barely any explicit puzzles, finding out/deciding where to go next to progress the story IS the puzzle. And you don't get any explicit rewards for it, the knowledge about the world/story and seeing these amazingly crafted environments IS the reward. (which is once again a refresher when most games throw pointless and useless loot at you just to give you a feeling that you're getting something). IMO it overstays it's welcome by a couple of hours, but the constant feeling of amazement throughout majority of the game (apart from the 20 min intro) absolutely makes up for it. So yeah, for most, playing this will be a very unique experience. Highly recommend to people that have doubts about the genre. And as everyone else is saying, stay away from spoilers, the less you know the better.