Outer Wilds

 PC
User Score
8.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 782 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 650 out of 782
  2. Mixed: 55 out of 782
  3. Negative: 77 out of 782

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  1. tibzoid
    Jun 1, 2019
    4
    Ugh the controls are terrible and the kiddie style is so off-putting. Got a refund.
  2. Gurp18
    Feb 14, 2021
    4
    The main mechanic with time loop is interesting but after some time too frustrating. You need to repeat some basic tasks every time and very fast, if you want to have a time to explore something. Also the game sometimes kill you for trying something and you just need to repeat 5-10 minute way to the problematic place and try something else. It is just boring after few hours.
    On the other    The main mechanic with time loop is interesting but after some time too frustrating. You need to repeat some basic tasks every time and very fast, if you want to have a time to explore something. Also the game sometimes kill you for trying something and you just need to repeat 5-10 minute way to the problematic place and try something else. It is just boring after few hours.
    On the other hand, the visual of the game is very nice. Small planets looks great, although they could be little more various, considering, they were prepared manually.
    The story itself is not bad, but it has some plot holes.    … Expand
  3. Grobeu
    Sep 26, 2021
    1
    Imagine trying to read a really boring and badly written children's book, except every paragraph is printed on pages that are scattered all over the place and its up to you to find them and put them back in order. That's outer wilds.
    Sounds great doesn't it ?
    One of the most boring, pretentious and uningaging game I've ever played. I can't wait for the day when developpers will finally    Imagine trying to read a really boring and badly written children's book, except every paragraph is printed on pages that are scattered all over the place and its up to you to find them and put them back in order. That's outer wilds.
    Sounds great doesn't it ?
    One of the most boring, pretentious and uningaging game I've ever played.
    I can't wait for the day when developpers will finally understand that they are terrible at story writing, they're not writers, and they should stick to what they're good at.
    If I want a good story, I read a book or I watch a movie.
    If you don't care about what's happening in the first two minutes, might as well switch it off and uninstal. Because it doesn't get any better.
    Overrated and hugely boring game people say they enjoyed to pass off as sosphisticated.    … Expand
  4. HisDivineShadow
    Jun 19, 2019
    2
    It begins quite novel, atmospheric, and interesting but eventually frustration from its signature feature, which is the lack of saving, starts settling in. There aren't *many* sequences that require precise execution, but you can often die or be set back permanently by a single wrong move. Controls are more unresponsive and annoying in some sections than in others. It's also pretty easy toIt begins quite novel, atmospheric, and interesting but eventually frustration from its signature feature, which is the lack of saving, starts settling in. There aren't *many* sequences that require precise execution, but you can often die or be set back permanently by a single wrong move. Controls are more unresponsive and annoying in some sections than in others. It's also pretty easy to miss something in the environment, or worse yet, in the UI (which is rather underexplained), and be stuck for a long time later. And among sequences that do require precision, the last one is especially offensive. It basically forces you to wait for nearly ten minutes doing literally nothing (with no option to speed it up), and then precisely execute a certain action. Mistime it a little - you you have to repeat it. And that's just 30% of that sequence, as it follows up with another section where a tiny mistake will reset everything. Moreover, that action you start the sequence with has a precondition that is so illogical and arbitrary that it threw everything good the game had out of the window. Its only justification could be "this is the final puzzle, so it must be annoying and hard". I don't think it's possible to figure it out without a guide, unless you are very lucky and decide to try it randomly or out of desperation, and it just happens to work the first time. I was so pissed off that i didn't even bother doing myself it and just just watched a youtube walkthrough. Which I'm actually glad I did, since it kept dragging on completely meaninglessly even after the final-final puzzle. So overall at its best moments the game felt like an 8 or maybe even a 9, but the frustration kept piling up, culminating in an atrociously bad ending section, leaving with a distinctly negative final impression.… Expand
  5. xcylo
    Nov 16, 2020
    2
    mechanically, the game is a disaster. Physics are broken, and controls are extremely finicky, which doesn't help the already arduous platforming sections of the game. The writing style really takes you out of the experience, as various texts and lore you come across in the game feel like they were written for an 11th grade writers craft class. Dialogue is clunky and extremely unnatural,mechanically, the game is a disaster. Physics are broken, and controls are extremely finicky, which doesn't help the already arduous platforming sections of the game. The writing style really takes you out of the experience, as various texts and lore you come across in the game feel like they were written for an 11th grade writers craft class. Dialogue is clunky and extremely unnatural, and the three or four songs that make up the soundtrack, while good when you first start the game become incredibly grating very quickly. The whole project reeks of an over-ambitious small indie team biting off way more than they can chew, putting it more in the "no man's sky" school of indie games, rather than the likes of "Firewatch" or "What Remains of Edith Finch" The game has a number of unique ideas, but no focus. In pursuing all of these ideas at once, each of them become mediocre at best. (I mean really, one can only be randomly flung from a planets surface or have the world suddenly move beneath you when you jump so many times before you start to wonder if this is all really worth it)… Expand
  6. Hurrikhan
    Jun 7, 2019
    4
    There are several issues in the game but the one that killed it for me is the awful fish-eye perspective.
    That and I never had a reply from support about the issue.
  7. SplitMind
    Feb 12, 2022
    4
    Yet another disappointing and over-rated indie- darling to add to my list.

    The graphics in OW can be impressive such as when on the Giant's Deep, but overall are very simplistic and childish. This is not a problem in itself but it does make for a very one-dimensional feel for a game that touts itself as thinking outside the box. The gameplay of OW is downright awful for me. First    Yet another disappointing and over-rated indie- darling to add to my list.

    The graphics in OW can be impressive such as when on the Giant's Deep, but overall are very simplistic and childish. This is not a problem in itself but it does make for a very one-dimensional feel for a game that touts itself as thinking outside the box.

    The gameplay of OW is downright awful for me. First off, we have the time loop mechanic. Thank God it doesn't take long to discover this as it was the final nail in the coffin for me. I'm not sure if they were aiming for replayability here, but it just created an awful amount of tedium and repetition for me to do the same things over again.

    Speaking of tedium, the game seems to pride itself on not telling you where to go or what to do. There is a difference between open-ended exploring and just plain obtuseness and pretentiousness, the latter of which this game unfortunately falls under. I suspect the rave reviewers are a bit like Dark Souls reviewers - they use guides. I found no intuition in my 30+ years of gaming experience to be of use here.

    To add to this, the physics and controls are awful too. Early in the game you control a little drone-like device that's basically harbinger of what's to come as it handles terribly and flops about before smashing into the ground.

    When I visited each of the planets, I didn't find much of interest. Then I learned the game is a bit like piecing together a most annoying and tedious jigsaw where you have to hunt down the pieces.

    As for the story, well I'd need to actually make progress in the game to learn the story or what the point is. I am clearly biased as I absolutely loathe the laziness of time-loop mechanics, so perhaps I was never going to enjoy this game.

    Overall, I hate Outer Wilds. It's a pretentious indie game that tries too hard to be different and forgets to be enjoyable. It wasted too much of my time but I'm grateful I gave up when I did before wasting even more time.    … Expand
  8. Dikano
    Jun 14, 2019
    1
    The mouse sensitivity on PC is absolutely fukked. The input options have minimal effect, so for those of us who don't like high sensitivity aiming, controlling the camera is absurdly difficult.

    The game looks nice, but this is the first time - ever, I think - that I simply cannot play a game that I bought because the control scheme is busted. It's a real shame.
  9. winj3r
    Jun 19, 2020
    1
    Broken save game system and mouse control problems.
    Could have been a decent game, but these problems make it a pain to play.
  10. TenchuuKhan
    Jul 17, 2020
    4
    Here's what you should do:
    Go explore for an hour - if you find it boring by then, wait for the next cycle, get in your ship, accelerate it into the sun and get yourself a refund.
    Because it doesn't get any better. I for myself couldn't let got and kept exploring just to find the same clues to the same phenomenons over and over and over. Then, to actually beat the game, things get    Here's what you should do:
    Go explore for an hour - if you find it boring by then, wait for the next cycle, get in your ship, accelerate it into the sun and get yourself a refund.
    Because it doesn't get any better.

    I for myself couldn't let got and kept exploring just to find the same clues to the same phenomenons over and over and over.
    Then, to actually beat the game, things get really ridiculous - at some point I couldn't be bothered anymore and just grabbed a walkthrough and how people are supposed to figure that out is beyond me. Maybe I'm stupid, and if it weren't for that, I wasn't motivated enough.

    Either way - the big mystery you are supposed to solve isn't so big. It's regular space stuff.
    And the ending is also just your run of the mill "Uhhh look it's like Space Odyssey or Interstellar, totally hasn't been done before, it's oh so clever"

    So, what's good about the game:
    It tricks you into going back to it to try new things you haven't tried before.
    Soundtrack

    Here's what's bad about the game:
    Controls
    Storytelling
    Narrative
    Actually being interesting
    Having to suicide over and over
    Autopilot will kill you
    The ending
    What you have to do to get to the ending
    Everything between start and the ending
    Jumping is stupid    … Expand
  11. NicoNofx
    Jan 10, 2022
    4
    Game is fun as hell, but be aware it has a resetting loop every 22 minutes and when that happens, you have to start all again, travel to the planets again etc, of course that you remember all the discovered things but still is a mechanic so stupid!
  12. Vasot
    Jun 3, 2019
    3
    Awful cartoony graphics, bad controls, missing dialogues the planets are tiny and the physics are a joke the game is just a mess t it should cost around $10 it's overpriced for a 2019 title even No Man's Sky is a better game from this. This is like a game made for 10 year old kids and it's a very poor attempt i refunded
  13. Wiebe
    Feb 26, 2020
    1
    Terrible controls, stupid visuals, simple story and characters, no point to the game
  14. Idiota150
    Jun 13, 2019
    0
    You can't quit when you want and continue at another time. In other words, really stupid save system. I don't have time for that kind of BS.
  15. sliderh2o
    Jun 24, 2019
    3
    The whole rinse and repeat thing is horrible for a video game. Doing the same thing over and over trying to figure out whats going on got really old, really fast! Horrible idea, would have been great if not for this game breaking mechanic.
  16. greenstar
    Sep 21, 2019
    3
    Another critically hyped but boring to play game. If you don't like the first hour, get a refund because its just more of the slow-paced, control fiddly frustrating interface and rambling story that you might as well be playing a text adventure.
  17. SamuraiEdgeplay
    May 21, 2021
    0
    A tour de force of poor game design with a banjo strapped to your helmet. I was thrilled to finally get to this game given the hype, but instead I got two non-stop hours of "wander the universe and figure out these milquetoast puzzles or something" while piloting the world's most inconvenient spacecraft.
  18. notbrianblessed
    Feb 22, 2020
    1
    Doesn't work properly unless you cap your framerate to 60 in the driver settings. Fix your game.
  19. BFM
    May 2, 2020
    2
    Well that was some overrated garbage.
    The game is ugly, technical incompetent, unchallenging and filled with cringe and eye rolls.
    If you want to challenge your mind, finish Grim Fandango or Myst without looking up any solution. If you want to be a mindless errant-boy, with frustrating long roads to walk, just to apply solutions that you figures out immediately, then this is your    Well that was some overrated garbage.
    The game is ugly, technical incompetent, unchallenging and filled with cringe and eye rolls.
    If you want to challenge your mind, finish Grim Fandango or Myst without looking up any solution.

    If you want to be a mindless errant-boy, with frustrating long roads to walk, just to apply solutions that you figures out immediately, then this is your "content".

    Definitely learned the lesson to not trust Hinck.    … Expand
  20. gordon27
    Jun 15, 2019
    3
    I was interested in this game, but it wasn't what I expected at all
    It's fun for about an hour and then it loses steam and becomes a nuisance

    And for a game that looks no better than most 360/PS3 games, it sure is demanding I'd suggest you avoid this game or get it when it's available for $5, no more than that
    No man's sky is
  21. carnivorCactae
    Jun 24, 2022
    0
    Refunded the game because of horrible, horrible controls.

    The sensitivity is all over the place, even when fiddling with sensitivity-controls.

    All controls seem totally counter-intuitive.

    The "controller recommended" prompt at the start-screen should've been a dead-giveaway...
    but who would've thought that you could f**k up simple FPS-controls so much?!
  22. Spyan
    Sep 10, 2023
    2
    extremely boring walking simulator that just doesn't work for me. If I want profound lore, background and storytelling, I read a book. If I feel like going on a contemplative, passive state, I go out and take a walk. The time limit only shortened my patience towards this very over-rated pseudo piece of "genius writing" and "subtlety" (subtlety is not a synonym for "boring, lazy vagueextremely boring walking simulator that just doesn't work for me. If I want profound lore, background and storytelling, I read a book. If I feel like going on a contemplative, passive state, I go out and take a walk. The time limit only shortened my patience towards this very over-rated pseudo piece of "genius writing" and "subtlety" (subtlety is not a synonym for "boring, lazy vague nonsense").

    One of these games I hate, because 1/ they're a bore to play through and 2/ it gives a chance at pretty mediocre people to think they're smart, subtle and deep, although being fed by a steady diet of pokemons, transformers and junk food. It's your basic sci-fi loop story, mediocre, done a thousand times...honestly I had more fun on myst, and that was 25 years ago.
    Overrated crap for pathetic snobs.    … Expand
  23. xperson1
    Mar 2, 2023
    4
    Honestly, just very slow-paced and boring. No discovery amazed me at all. Every character encounter had a lot of build-up, and the conversations were always vague, uninteresting and never revealed anything you already knew.

    Just a lot of trial-and-error without anything entertaining in between.
  24. TheLinkgirl
    Feb 4, 2023
    3
    Outer Wilds is simply a game I didn't enjoy to the same extent as everyone else. I wasn't gripped by the mystery. Many of the mechanics felt messy to me. The 22 minute timer was nothing but annoying to me. While I think that some of the discoveries and puzzles were quite fun, I found that a larger majority of this game's content demanded I cared more than I felt any necessity to. I can atOuter Wilds is simply a game I didn't enjoy to the same extent as everyone else. I wasn't gripped by the mystery. Many of the mechanics felt messy to me. The 22 minute timer was nothing but annoying to me. While I think that some of the discoveries and puzzles were quite fun, I found that a larger majority of this game's content demanded I cared more than I felt any necessity to. I can at least praise the fantastic visual design and soundtrack, but beyond that it all feels like it was just slapped together to me.… Expand
  25. anonytatoplayz
    Apr 4, 2023
    0
    I wanted to save the universe

    why cant I save the universe

    I know why

    The greedy developers didn't want to code that part into the game so they took the lazy way out and forced you to make the game end

    I hate the developers of this game

Awards & Rankings

21
#21 Best PC Game of 2019
18
#18 Most Discussed PC Game of 2019
1
#1 Most Shared PC Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
85

Generally favorable reviews - based on 29 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 27 out of 29
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 29
  3. Negative: 0 out of 29
  1. GameCritics
    Aug 20, 2019
    65
    Outer Wilds is rife with breathtaking sights and sounds, and at the very least, no one could accuse it of being unambitious. Mobius Digital may be a small team but, almost paradoxically, they achieve a remarkable sense of scope by keeping things modest. However, their work suffers from the glacial pace of progress and a hands-off approach to storytelling. My biggest issues – a lack of combat, direction, or material rewards – are obviously deliberate, bold choices on the part of the devs, and I commend Mobius for them while also chiding the cold, inscrutable product that resulted. I admire Outer Wilds, but I don’t love it.
    Read full review
  2. Games.cz
    Aug 19, 2019
    90
    This temporally unique game adds something new with your every death and moves the story forward beautifully. The environments are breathtaking, the music will soothe you. This is the perfect game for those of you who are, above all, curious.
    Read full review
  3. Adventure Gamers
    Jul 26, 2019
    80
    For those who won’t be deterred by the endless deaths and time-looped backtracking in Outer Wilds, its intriguing mystery and non-linear exploration of an entire solar system will be a novel and deeply engaging experience.
    Read full review
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