Outer Wilds: Echoes of the Eye

Everything you wanted from an Outer Wilds DLC in a package you never thought to expect. Echoes of the Eye puts its own twists on the base game’s formula without a single misstep.

Quotation forthcoming.

While I still enjoyed my time with Echoes overall, I’m a bit disappointed by the approach to wholly abandon the scope of the original and lock players into one area. I also did not enjoy the spooky area as it forces a different playstyle of focusing on how far you can go before you reset. I no longer felt like an intrepid explorer and more like a speedrunner, hoping I could key up a sequence, sneak by, and just get ten feet further than I did last time. In the end, the story changes, and parts of the new area are a delight to see. Some of the new mechanics like the rafting or manipulation of light are most welcome. So while Echoes gives up parts of what made Outer Wilds so great in the grand exploration, Echoes of the Eye is a solid companion piece to the base game. I just wish I didn’t spend nearly all of it away from my spaceship.

That's what makes Echoes of the Eye unmissable if you couldn't get enough of Outer Wilds. It manages to push you in new, challenging directions with puzzles that scratch the same part of your brain that the original did while not relying on the same tricks. It's a feat that shows the depth of design prowess Mobius Digital first flexed in its debut title, but stumbles slightly when it tries to redefine its means of progression in the final third. These are the weakest moments in all Outer Wilds, but they aren't enough to sully what this fantastic expansion adds to an adventure that still stands as captivating and engrossing.

Despite a few flaws, Echoes of the Eye brilliantly replicates what made the magic of Outer Wilds, with a new area that is both puzzling and awe-inspiring, both sumptuous and mysterious. It's simple, the first few hours of the adventure are absolutely thrilling, when the player slowly takes ownership of the workings and secrets of an environment that seems to be there from the start. An excellent start, however, a little spoiled by new horror-oriented phases, where you will pace in the dark if you do not have the right information, at the risk of being spotted by frightening creatures and having to go back and forth. frustrating returns to try your luck again. As usual, you may also be frustrated if a crucial clue passes you by, Echoes of the Eye calling more than ever to be an observer. Otherwise, it's a complete success. A goodbye worthy of the name to the great Outer Wilds.

Echoes of the Eye is a wonderful return to the clockwork solar system of Outer Wilds, even if its occasional horror game sections aren’t quite as interesting as what came before.