Rapidly became one of my all time favorites (maybe even Top 2)
This Game has a cartoony charme like Spore had back in the day without being cheap or ridicioulos. And it does what i expected from "No mans sky", what said game could not live up to: It has a fresh perspective on the universe and tells it in a way that reignites my fascination with space, science and the obscure/unknown.
Pros:
+ Exploration ist the core of Outer Wilds. Great gameplay that revolves around gathering information about the world -- not about collecting stuff or loot or Experience. You learn about the world and that alone is the progress in the game.
+ Dense atmosphere, the score is perfection and fits every situation brilliantly.
+ world is so memorable, that you never run out of ideas, what you could try next.
+ many other things regarding the gameplay-elements and story i cannot talk about because of spoilers.
+ absolutely fascinating world design.
+ Twists and Turns, every piece matters.
Cons:
- Once its finished, it is hard to experience it like you did when everything was new :)
It is a beatiful scifi Story that includes many phenomena (like Comets, Supernovae, Time-Travel, Quantum-Objects) in a creative way. May not be the most realistic game regarding Space an Space travel -- but then again it does not aim to do so ( for instance: Planets in here are a kilometer or so in diameter. That is not realistic at all, of course.)
If you understand a little bit about physics it will come as a surprise, that the creators included many things.
Yes it is stripped down, cartoony and stylized. But how they are using these thing to tell a connected story is brillant.
And the end is as great as it can be. In the middle of the game i was worried, that it promised too much. But no, it does not dissappoint.
It is very hard to describe the quality of the game without spoiling the experience. I think one has to play it in order to understand why this is such a special thing.
The sad thing is there may never be another game like Outer Wilds.