Outer Wilds is an incredible experience of exploring a solar system to learn about that of which has been before you, to solve the issues of the current time. With a very intriguing lore and world setting, I think few games can compare to the level of mystery and exploration that this creates.

The style of progression of which this game offers, is very intriguing, but also has the consequence of being rather unforgiving. You wake up at a camp on your home planet where it's up to you to walk around and read about useful information, including the functioning of ghost matter, quantum objects, and about the different tools you have when you then head out. Your ship is quite funky to control at first, but over time you'll start to get more used to the wobbly physics. As you explore, you're armed with a space suit with limited jet fuel and oxygen, of which can be restored by heading back to the ship for oxygen and refueling, and alternatively, you can find trees for oxygen, or leftover gas tanks on planets to refuel. You also have a scout of which you can launch out in front of you to get pictures or to test safety. You also have a signal scope both on your space suit and in the ship of which you can use to track down different signals. Lastly, you have a translator, of which you can use to read information of which has been left behind by a prior civilization. All useful information you pick up on the different planets will be stored in the ship log, a computer within your shuttle, of which is also useful for trying to learn about trails in need of following.

Now onto the progression system. During your exploration of the different planets within this solar system, you will come to find many forms of road blocks where exploring certain paths of information will halt, prompting you to go elsewhere and look for other things. While many games require you to gain some form of skill boost, new ability or tool to progress in these sorts of moments, Outer Wilds works differently, in that the very tool you need to pursue to progress, is knowledge. This on paper, is genious, as it means whenever you're stuck it's often because of dynamics of which you are yet to fully understand, of which were right under your nose all along, and it also means that once you've beaten the game once, you can pretty much rebeat it in a few minutes compared to the tens of hours it takes the first time!

However, this form of progression comes with one major flaw.

Being a game of which the lore is so integral to the progress, it is in your best intentions to NEVER spoil yourself in any way or form as learning on your own is integral to the experience of Outer Wilds, however, you can at times find yourself trapped at certain points in the game by simply not knowing where to go next, or maybe vital information went right over your head as it did we me on occasions. It's completely natural that different people think differently, and some are far better at following along the giant puzzle which is the Outer Wilds solar system, others can find themselves unable to progress without any nudges, of which the game itself only provides through subtle means. Outer Wilds is also a game of which displays itself as a form of open world, however, while you can go where you want whenever you want, there is a linnear path that you're required to follow in order to complete the game, of which involves you bouncing between different parts of different planets. The big issue with this, is then that as you don't know which order you're expected to learn of different concepts and lore, if you ever find yourself stuck and in need of looking up clues, you are almost at a guaranteed chance of either spoiling something very important relating to the plot, or break the secretly linear progression, by doing things in the wrong order, causing you to get stuck repeatedly, as you've learned information in the wrong order. You are also at risk of accidentally breaking our of the path by accident, as I ended up doing by sheer stubbornness. For those who have beat the game and are curious: I made my way into the Ash Twin Project because of my own determination far earlier than I was supposed to, then got stuck as I still missed lots of vital information. I hadn't even explored Dark Bramble properly yet. However I did get the game over screen after a certain action.
This is naturally a consequence of having a path progression in this style, and while I absolutely love how the game is based on finding knowledge to progress, this game could definitely use some more safety switches to ensure others may not experience the same issues.

Overall though, I generally consider Outer Wilds to be one of if not the best mystery/exploration games I've ever played, with an incredibly intriguing lore, an innovative style of play, leaving you on a long grind as you simply cannot wait to learn more of this world. It's main flaw is one that affects few but is a flaw to be prepared for if you're not as good at thinking outside of the box, like my dense brain, but generally this did not make the game unenjoyable in any way, it was simply a bit of an awkward moment and for the other ~19 hours of the game I was having a blast exploring and learning of this exciting world of many wonders. I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who are interested in space concepts, exploration, a puzzle of puzzles-styled world, with exciting lore making you feel like an archeologist learning about the history of your world for the first time. It is an absolute blast to play.

9/10 for me, will most likely be 10/10 for you

Outer Wilds is an incredible experience of exploring a solar system to learn about that of which has been before you, to solve the issues of the current time. With a very intriguing lore and world setting, I think few games can compare to the level of mystery and exploration that this creates. The style of progression of which this game offers, is very intriguing, but also has the consequence of being rather unforgiving. You wake up at a camp on your home planet where it's up to you to walk around and read about useful information, including the functioning of ghost matter, quantum objects, and about the different tools you have when you then head out. Your ship is quite funky to control at first, but over time you'll start to get more used to the wobbly physics. As you explore, you're armed with a space suit with limited jet fuel and oxygen, of which can be restored by heading back to the ship for oxygen and refueling, and alternatively, you can find trees for oxygen, or leftover gas tanks on planets to refuel. You also have a scout of which you can launch out in front of you to get pictures or to test safety. You also have a signal scope both on your space suit and in the ship of which you can use to track down different signals. Lastly, you have a translator, of which you can use to read information of which has been left behind by a prior civilization. All useful information you pick up on the different planets will be stored in the ship log, a computer within your shuttle, of which is also useful for trying to learn about trails in need of following. Now onto the progression system. During your exploration of the different planets within this solar system, you will come to find many forms of road blocks where exploring certain paths of information will halt, prompting you to go elsewhere and look for other things. While many games require you to gain some form of skill boost, new ability or tool to progress in these sorts of moments, Outer Wilds works differently, in that the very tool you need to pursue to progress, is knowledge. This on paper, is genious, as it means whenever you're stuck it's often because of dynamics of which you are yet to fully understand, of which were right under your nose all along, and it also means that once you've beaten the game once, you can pretty much rebeat it in a few minutes compared to the tens of hours it takes the first time! However, this form of progression comes with one major flaw. Being a game of which the lore is so integral to the progress, it is in your best intentions to NEVER spoil yourself in any way or form as learning on your own is integral to the experience of Outer Wilds, however, you can at times find yourself trapped at certain points in the game by simply not knowing where to go next, or maybe vital information went right over your head as it did we me on occasions. It's completely natural that different people think differently, and some are far better at following along the giant puzzle which is the Outer Wilds solar system, others can find themselves unable to progress without any nudges, of which the game itself only provides through subtle means. Outer Wilds is also a game of which displays itself as a form of open world, however, while you can go where you want whenever you want, there is a linnear path that you're required to follow in order to complete the game, of which involves you bouncing between different parts of different planets. The big issue with this, is then that as you don't know which order you're expected to learn of different concepts and lore, if you ever find yourself stuck and in need of looking up clues, you are almost at a guaranteed chance of either spoiling something very important relating to the plot, or break the secretly linear progression, by doing things in the wrong order, causing you to get stuck repeatedly, as you've learned information in the wrong order. You are also at risk of accidentally breaking our of the path by accident, as I ended up doing by sheer stubbornness. For those who have beat the game and are curious: [spoiler] I made my way into the Ash Twin Project because of my own determination far earlier than I was supposed to, then got stuck as I still missed lots of vital information. I hadn't even explored Dark Bramble properly yet. However I did get the game over screen after a certain action. [/spoiler] This is naturally a consequence of having a path progression in this style, and while I absolutely love how the game is based on finding knowledge to progress, this game could definitely use some more safety switches to ensure others may not experience the same issues. Overall though, I generally consider Outer Wilds to be one of if not the best mystery/exploration games I've ever played, with an incredibly intriguing lore, an innovative style of play, leaving you on a long grind as you simply cannot wait to learn more of this world. It's main flaw is one that affects few but is a flaw to be prepared for if you're not as good at thinking outside of the box, like my dense brain, but generally this did not make the game unenjoyable in any way, it was simply a bit of an awkward moment and for the other ~19 hours of the game I was having a blast exploring and learning of this exciting world of many wonders. I would absolutely recommend it to anyone who are interested in space concepts, exploration, a puzzle of puzzles-styled world, with exciting lore making you feel like an archeologist learning about the history of your world for the first time. It is an absolute blast to play. 9/10 for me, will most likely be 10/10 for you