[mh2266]

is it really a puzzle game? I recently dragged myself through The Witness finally and found it to be mostly not that interesting, most puzzle games have bounced off me similarly.

Outer Wilds, though, what a game. but it felt more like exploring in BotW, even although there is obviously no combat... kinda? there is sort of "combat" in one of the planets, although the only thing that you can do is lose. hmm, that planet is like BotW, but you have 3 hearts and a stick, and every enemy is a Lynel.

[mpyne]

Yeah I generally enjoy puzzle games and didn't find Outer Wilds very good from that perspective. And it had some surprisingly intensive dexterity requirements in sections of the game that make it impossible to progress without looking up spoilers, and I'm not talking about the spaceship controls.

And when I finally put the game down and just watched through the rest on Youtube, like, I could see what the game was getting at and why people would be fascinated by it but it was by no means life-changing unless you've had a very boring life.

[dugidugout]

It isn't very meaningful to assert your arbitrary threshold for "life-changing" as a criteria to measure one's life. It is quite distracting as a closer to an otherwise thoughtful reply.

[mpyne]

People who talk about Outer Wilds describe it that way. For instance just two comments up in the thread is "Outer Wilds, and imperatively its DLC, are transcendent gaming experiences." And this is the normal type of comment you see when this game comes up.

If this were objectively true that the game is simply transcendent (assuming we can agree on what this would mean), then it would make sense to power through an otherwise unexpectedly arduous game that you thought was going to be more akin to a puzzle game, because of the experience you would be able to take with you and ponder afterwards. The destination would make the rough journey worth it.

Having bought and played through much of the game based on the evangelism for it online, I simply want to make clear that it should not be considered a unanimous opinion that the game is transcendent and that a rough journey would therefore be worth it.

Saying too much about the game itself would spoil it for people who would enjoy it, but those who might be leery of it deserve to know that it's still a game, can still be unenjoyable if it's not your thing, and that you won't necessarily miss an irreplacable life-changing positive experience if you don't knock it off of your Bucket List.

I apologize for going against the orthodoxy with regard to this game, but people deserve to know they're not alone if they didn't find it the experience it was advertised to be.

[Hammershaft]

What constitutes life-changing and what constitutes intensive dexterity will subjectively vary by person based on their skills and tastes.

I didn't find the game to require much dexterity, but I did find it to have interest world design and ideas that have stuck with me for years.

[3eb7988a1663]

It is not Hollow Knight, but I recall there were a few parts that required quite a bit more skilled platforming than the game theme would imply.

If nothing else, there are some sections which have somewhat tight time windows which can put a lot of tension into a puzzle game. Resetting an attempt to a failed set piece might take several minutes, adding to the frustration.

[ishouldstayaway]

> it was by no means life-changing unless you've had a very boring life.

Why this shitty jab at the end? What a needlessly petty thing to say.

[OkayPhysicist]

There are two, rather fundamentally distinct categories of games that we call "puzzle" games. There's the ones that are simply a series of puzzles based on a similar set of mechanics (Baba is You, Bombe, anything Zachtronics every did), and then there's games where the entire world is a puzzle, where you explore to find clues to solve puzzles that unlock more world and more puzzles, like Myst. Outer Wilds is solidly in the latter category.

[mathieuh]

Have you tried the Talos Principle (and it sequel)? I also didn't like The Witness but the Talos Principle games are some of my favourites