Outer Wilds Review (Sin)
This review is 100% spoiler free. If you are considering playing this game, just do it and do not read anything about it, and do not watch any videos or playthroughs on it either.
This game is recommended by everyone I know that has played it, many even saying it's the best gaming experience they've ever had. I don't think this is a "for everyone" type of game, but I think most would enjoy it. It's unlike any other game I've played, and I don't want to say too much about it because the game is best played completely blind on a first playthrough. All I'll say is it's a discovery/exploration game in space with a larger story that you figure out as you play and find new things. Each thing you discover makes you want to discover more and more. The things you find will blow your mind, you discover new mechanics and secrets that have been there since the beginning. Some of the knowledge you learn completely changes how you see the universe you're in, and makes you think in different ways. Without saying anything else, this game is extremely highly recommended, you need to play it. If you enjoy single player games with story, exploration, space travel, and very little hand-holding in terms of direction, then it is a must-play.
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Control Scheme I Used:
Keyboard and Mouse, with default bindings, with minor changes, mainly changing the Number Row assignments to the Number Pad for a more directional arrow feel, which helped greatly with some of the controls with the camera and the logs.
Game says it "is best experienced with a game pad..." whenever you open it up, but I wouldn't be able to play it with one, I had way more control with the keyboard/mouse personally.
There is one particular section that a gamepad would be "better" however to get more precise speed control, however it's not impossible to do without one with the right knowledge of that area.
The ship logs do not work with the mouse AT ALL, which is a huge pain. Navigating them feels very awkward, mouse controls (with scroll wheel zooming) on this would be a major step up I think.
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Worth the current price (CDN$ 28.99 or CDN$ 44.92 with DLC)? I'd say the base game is definitely worth it. Although I think the DLC is worth the price, and this game is amazing and more so with the DLC included, it's getting to that price point where I usually recommend waiting for a sale, however this is a tough call as it's one of the best games I've ever played.
What I actually paid: $17.39 + $10.24 = $27.63
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Completionist Review:
DLC Achievements: Yes one DLC, but it's extremely worth getting
Rating: Not bad overall, nothing grindy, and some with a tiny challenge to them, but not too hard.
Can be completed in one run: Mostly, will require a very quick 10-15 min 2nd run.
Chapter Select: Game has no chapters, it's open world. There are logs that help you decide what's missing.
Did I need/use a guide? For some yes. Many of the DLC achievements do not work the way they are mentioned and only work in very specific ways, so had to look them up after failing them many times only to discover that it only works in a more specific way than mentioned.
The Achievements were fun to do, some were hard to figure out picture and title alone, and less hard to figure out when you know what the description is, but still impossible to me for some. There really wasn't any that felt overly difficult, although some would require a few attempts that could only be done at certain times only because of the way the game mechanics work, however they were very fun to do.