Outer Wilds

 PlayStation 4
User Score
7.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 203 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 145 out of 203
  2. Mixed: 21 out of 203
  3. Negative: 37 out of 203
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  1. GreatJew6370
    Nov 3, 2019
    7
    Good writing, humour, minimal bloat. Old school, but in a good way. Not perfect, but really enjoyed it
  2. jameson95
    Jan 16, 2020
    6
    I really want to like this game, but I just don't, AT ALL. The game mechanics are just not fun. There is very little fun about dealing with the game's gravity and flying the ship. I get that the game is meant to be a journey about discovery, but I just found the maze's to be incredibly convoluted and frustrating. Some of this game felt like trying to solve Zelda's water temple in 15I really want to like this game, but I just don't, AT ALL. The game mechanics are just not fun. There is very little fun about dealing with the game's gravity and flying the ship. I get that the game is meant to be a journey about discovery, but I just found the maze's to be incredibly convoluted and frustrating. Some of this game felt like trying to solve Zelda's water temple in 15 minutes. What's fun about that? Nothing.… Expand
  3. Zeak
    Jan 11, 2022
    5
    I get why people like this game - the writing is decent, the gameplay and its exploration can be fun. But for me all of that is undermined by the clumsiness in how the game feels and looks. I get it's an indie title but man there are prettier indies out there. It jus feels like an early build prototype at times and looks like one too. All of this made me just drop it half way.
  4. MNBA
    Jan 5, 2022
    6
    *Update: I'm gonna periodically pop into this one for a few minutes here&there to putz around the planets and slowly progress. I still find myself intrigued enough for small doses, but my bitterness & frustration with what's preventing me from enjoying it make it so that I'm only good for a few goes at a time. I believe the people who love this game, love it for good reason.

    Shoot, I    *Update: I'm gonna periodically pop into this one for a few minutes here&there to putz around the planets and slowly progress. I still find myself intrigued enough for small doses, but my bitterness & frustration with what's preventing me from enjoying it make it so that I'm only good for a few goes at a time. I believe the people who love this game, love it for good reason.

    Shoot, I was really hoping to get into this one, buuuut…

    …after several hours of gameplay, I find myself still fixated on my fight with the mechanics, and no longer giving a sh*t about whatever precious little story and mystery is supposed to be unfolding here. I get it, the devs wanted to be clever with gravity, thrusters, boosters, orbiting planets, and some dainty version of space travel realism, but what you get is video game graphic disorientation, and wasting minutes of your real life trying to jump onto the ledge of a cliff in some cave that you quickly realize you just don’t care about. And as soon as you manage to navigate somewhere and uncover a clue or two, you’re looped back to square one; the loop gimmick would be alright, if traversing anywhere wasn’t a time-consuming challenge itself. I’m beginning to suspect too that there’s not even much here, like if they hadn’t spread everything out and made navigation a challenge, and added in the start/stop loop gimmick, you’d just have a short story about a little alien race attempting to overcome something, with a few puzzles, eventually coming down to probably having to line something up with the planets and their time/location in orbit to stop whatever from happening and/or complete some unfinished task from the past. But again, mechanical frustration keeps preventing me from getting immersed into the purpose.

    Maybe I’ll watch the last chapter of a gameplay walkthrough to see where it was going and how it ends, but life’s too short to stick with a game that has you preoccupied with irritation.    … Expand
  5. Skurttish
    Jan 12, 2022
    7
    A great idea that was too frustrating to finish. But it really is a game with great central ideas—excellent investigational elements, an interesting plot, brilliantly creative worlds.

    What I didn’t like was the stress of knowing you’re on a time limit every run, and that some of the puzzles were so hard, they’d take almost all my time—and then I wouldn’t be able to explore any of the    A great idea that was too frustrating to finish. But it really is a game with great central ideas—excellent investigational elements, an interesting plot, brilliantly creative worlds.

    What I didn’t like was the stress of knowing you’re on a time limit every run, and that some of the puzzles were so hard, they’d take almost all my time—and then I wouldn’t be able to explore any of the area past the puzzle. Plus, the fact that certain events only happen a certain amount of time after each run begins means that you’ll be sitting around waiting sometimes, and Lord help you if you mess something up and have to sit through that again. Ultimately this frustration was why I watched the ending on YouTube after getting about 85% of the way through—those last few steps were too finicky.

    But if you have a lot of patience and want a Myst-style space investigation game, this is absolutely for you.    … Expand
  6. Oncearunner
    Aug 2, 2021
    7
    I enjoyed the mysterious story this game tells, in much the same way that I enjoy Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. However that doesn't stop me from being immensely upset that the underlying philosophy of both stories is so sinister. There was also one clue/puzzle in particular that seemed far too obtuse, and others that were frustrating based on the time loop requirementd
  7. AllHitsTaken
    May 15, 2022
    5
    The game is fun until you get to the point you get to in all games, where you’ve found 80% of everything and then you need to explore to find the remaining 20%. The problem with this game is that it only gives you at most 22 minutes to explore before it kills you and makes you respawn at the starting point. And usually you can’t last the full 22 minutes because in order to explore you needThe game is fun until you get to the point you get to in all games, where you’ve found 80% of everything and then you need to explore to find the remaining 20%. The problem with this game is that it only gives you at most 22 minutes to explore before it kills you and makes you respawn at the starting point. And usually you can’t last the full 22 minutes because in order to explore you need to leave your ship, at which point you only have 4 minutes of oxygen. Yes there are trees in the world that provide oxygen, but when you’re exploring a new location they’re generally few and far between. So you end up in a desperate rush to find something - anything - new each iteration, and progress and fun grinds to a halt.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

29
#29 Best PS4 Game of 2019
55
#55 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
82

Generally favorable reviews - based on 8 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 8
  3. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. Playstation Official Magazine UK
    Nov 18, 2019
    90
    Whether you want to play explorer, detective, or Bill Murray, Outer Wilds has you covered. We’ll say it again: one of the best games you’ll play this year. [Issue#169, p.93]
  2. Push Square
    Nov 2, 2019
    70
    This is a game that presents itself in a unique way, and trusts you to put together its compelling mystery without assistance.
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  3. COGconnected
    Oct 29, 2019
    76
    In the end, Outer Wilds is all about exploring a mysterious solar system and finding out its secrets. I had a fun time flying around in space and it’s good for the gaming industry as a whole to have an adventure game like this that’s about exploring a world without having to shoot or fight enemies. However, Outer Wilds doesn’t do a great job at guiding players. Instead, you are left aimlessly exploring until you figure out what to do next.
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