Outer Wilds

I've just finished EotE. Wow. I mean... Wow. Just felt like I needed to write out some thoughts and observations. FULL dlc spoilers ahead.

Firstly, I played it 'weird' and was worried I had ruined it for myself. I started the DLC a long time ago, and something about the overall puzzle was overwhelming me. I couldn't get a clear picture of the 'goal'. I thought it had more to do with re-aligning communications to something else (from the imagery of the craft that turns out to be an EotU-signal blocker). I thought that the antennas on the top of the Cinder Isles tower were the things that needed to be aligned, and was searching and re-searching everywhere for clues I had missed because nothing was linked to that (not sure why I couldn't let this theory go, the whole game is about letting theories go). And I think the biggest thing was that I SOMEHOW thought I had explored every edge of the massive dream Reservoir and couldn't get to any of the points of interest without drowning my lantern. So I hadn't seen the vault and the clear three-step puzzle to open it. So I still thought the vault was a puzzle for the Stranger, not the dream.

I was overwhelmed and didn't want to get frustrated, so I took a break. I took too long of a break, and found it hard to re-enter the puzzles even with the ship log. So I took a REALLY long break until I was desperate to play more Outer Wilds and had forgotten enough of the details to start again (fascinating how this is possible if you've not understood it all yet, it's impossible for me to forget anything from the base game...).

I started a new profile. I approached it fresh. Any time I remembered something early, I ignored it until I found a clue that would have pointed me there. I was surprised that I didn't have to do that too often, and a lot of the moments still hit just as hard. And then... I realised that for some reason, I was feeling the flow a lot better. I was feeling the overall shape of the puzzle coming together. I understood what I had to do, and the experience didn't feel lessened at all by my break, it almost felt heightened - it all fit together so beautifully.

I swapped back to my original profile (I'm not leaving you alone Solanum!!) to finish it out. What a ride. The prisoner's cry fucking killed me (I'm tearing up just writing that). Then, footprints to the water's edge... A clue? A hidden path? I'll just take a step to follow...

Right in my soul, mobius. Punched me right in my soul.

OK, some thoughts and observations in no particular order:

• Initially I thought that the dream was a projection back to their home world, like the Nomai projection pools but more advanced, before finding the slidereel showing the decimation of their little moon in the service of building the Stranger. But I realised later that there is another awesome clue that it is virtual: the stars. The sky is so full of stars! Beautiful and strong and endless, no supernovae to be seen...

• The many links to the story of the prisoner: Most obvious is the one empty 'bed' in one of the temples. But thinking back on it, this also explains the one scratched-out portrait, and the burned house in the Dream. I couldn't figure out why they would burn something to do with the Eye in the Dream if the Dream was created after they turned away from the Eye in fear, but the incredible painting you can find in there gives the clue. This was the prisoner's home in the Dream. They saw the Eye differently, they saw that the destructive power it holds is part of something greater, a cycle to birth new life, new galaxies, a new universe. Life from death. This is why they chose to wake up from their dream of blissful hiding, and take action. And this is why they were imprisoned, and any reminder of them scratched out and burned away by the others.

• I realised quite late that there is reasoning for the 'coincidental' timing of the damn breaking right as the game's story takes place. Obviously a lot of the Stranger has weakened through age, but still, it's crazy that now is the moment it breaks... Or, could it be that it's linked to the supernova like a lot of the base game's 'coincidences'? The Stranger detects the sun's impending death, and starts powering up fully for the first time in millennia. This moment would be the shake and flickering lights that you feel in the first few minutes of each loop, and if that hasn't happened in an incredibly long time it might shake a few things loose...

• From the gameplay, it seems that time passes at the same rate in the Dream as it does outside of it. Does this mean that the Owlks have experienced over 280,000 years of existence, and almost all of that in solitude for the prisoner??

Thanks for reading, that ended up being far longer than I had thought it would be. I guess I like thinking about this game, just a bit...

iam8bit is coming out with a new Collector's Edition as well as the Echoes of the Eye soundtrack on vinyl. Pre-orders start on February 29th.

Doesn't matter if it happened to you, a friend or a streamer. Bonus points if you have a video of it.

I know this is a fairly small community but let's see how this goes:

I just started a multiplayer playthrough recently with somebody who was constantly asking if he could have found X before finding the info that points him to it, hence this post.

My favorite skip:

These runs are very limited and tend to sell out fast. At least they're doing another, it looks like, for the holidays

I'm a big fan of Brittle Hollow! The dynamic plates falling into the black hole, & the huge amount of lore on the planet... Not to mention the amazing Lantern raining down hell all the time!

This guy gets it ::)

I have a spare (unopened) Outer Wilds vinyl lying around which I'm willing to send to a non-scalper Outer Wilds fan for MSRP. The vinyl in question: https://www.iam8bit.com/products/outer-wilds-2xlp

Before selling it on eBay I thought I would try here. The price I paid including shipping and import customs is 50€, shipping is on me.

So if you live in the EU, have a record player and want it, just post a quick picture with your record player setup and your Lemmy username on a piece of paper so I can see that you can actually play it.

I’m Installing the game to play for the first time, it also has some dlc called ‘Echoes of the eye’. Should I install this as well or wait until I’ve completed the base game?

Found this piece that I thought you guys might enjoy. Here's the artist's profile: https://vk.com/satan_sect

got inspired to make this one out of the blue (and because i'm avoiding studying for finals)

I think this is my favorite game ever, but I still haven't played the DLC yet (I swear I'll get around to it someday).

I'm not sure about the reduced frights setting. Are there jumpscares? And does it eliminate them or give more warning? I'm a complete coward when it comes to jumpscares 😭

Also welcome to any other refugees