Outer Wilds

Exploring the uncharted worlds of Outer Wilds feels like a true adventure in ways most games never achieve.

Outer Wilds is a poignant space explorer with an emotionally engrossing tale set across a condensed but wildly surprising solar system.

There's a twofold joy to Outer Wilds - the thrill of discovery itself, as you slowly decipher the variables that swirl around each not-so-distant world, and of seeing that thrill reflected in a phrase scribbled centuries ago by some castaway alien boffin.

Beneath its charming and inventive worlds, Outer Wilds hides a cleverly unfolding mystery.

I encounter other space explorers of my own kind. They are bizarre, likable clue-givers who provide moments of comic relief. I perpetrate no violence in this game. I am never required to fire a laser gun or grapple with enemies. (How few are the games, set in space, that absent themselves from combat.) Yet, the worlds I visit can be hostile, releasing their secrets with the greatest reluctance.

Outer Wilds offers an incredible world filled with memorable moments, but the experience is hamstrung by poorly implemented puzzles and wonky systems

Ultimately, it’s the planets that make this game what it is. Worlds full of mysteries and anomalies. To me they are proof that there is still no substitute for handcrafting your virtual realms.

Outer Wilds proves there's still a sense of genuine adventure to be gained from games that commit to a set, fixed structure and design, rather than the kind of sprawling, endless expanses many contemporary titles set out to become. Playing it brought to mind my favorite bits of Dr. Seuss' Oh, The Places You'll Go...except with more of the sun exploding.

Outer Wilds is not a power fantasy. It is a game about discovering how little power you have, and how maybe that isn’t as scary as you might initially have thought. The galaxy is huge, but you can still make your mark on a small part of it.

This is a game that presents itself in a unique way, and trusts you to put together its compelling mystery without assistance