Recent reviews by Danika, Moon-and-Star

Thanatos.



That is all.

*** While I have done my best to write a review that is spoiler-free, I've endeavoured to do so in a way that (still) expresses my sheer adoration and, hopefully, piques your curiosity and interest.

I only HIGHLY recommend to experience this game for yourself. Please AVOID looking up any spoilers or even any information/guides (wiki, reddit, etc.) before playing this game! Seriously. For reasons I cannot disclose (but, playing this game, you might come to that same realisation) - this, ideally, should be a personal, journey-like experience. ***


If there is one game I wish everyone could play - one game I would recommend to anyone -

This is the one.

Outer Wilds was an experience so outstanding, so extraordinary, it left a lasting impression that I find hard to put into words.

This game is genuinely AWEsome - and I mean that in every sense of the word!

From the moment I found myself in cozy little Timber Hearth, I was taken - utterly captivated by the mystery and beauty of the universe Mobius Digital had created. All the wonderful characters and personalities throughout the game stole my heart completely, and the sense of discovery and exploration, paired with such deeply intricate worldbuilding, stunning visuals and sceneries, took my breath away over and over.

The way the game encourages curiosity and rewards exploration with meaningful revelations is nothing short of brilliant. Combined with the plethora of unique and trippy mechanics of the game - utilising the ASTONISHING physics simulation that is, dare I say, bordering on perfection - this fascinating "search" left me in a perpetual state of shock and awe...

The entirety of Outer Wilds stands as a milestone of jaw-dropping, ingenious, absolutely MASTERCRAFTED game design!

And yet...

Still...

These are not even the aspects that blew my mind the most in this game.

What truly astonished me most significantly was how Outer Wilds delves into themes of curiosity (and the pursuit of knowledge - science - as a result), the passage of time, and our place in the universe. These explorations are genuinely life-changing.


Yes.

This is more than a game.

It is an experience that can alter your perspective on life.


Outer Wilds has affected me on such an existential level, unlike ANY other game before... Unlike most anything before, really.
I felt God from this game more than I'd ever done as a pious girl in church.
Ever since playing this game, I feel like I've been undergoing a sort of spiritual awakening. It's genuinely made me look at- and ponder life in a way I had never done before.
For better or worse, this has proven to be a profoundly thought-provoking and transformative experience, for me.


With all my heart... more than I could say for any other game:

You owe it to yourself to experience it at least once in your lifetime.

I wish I could - forget - and play it, full of wonder, for the very first time again.

I have played and watched many indie and story-driven games. They're amongst my favourite genres. There are numerous games that have touched me on an emotional level, and many that have made me cry. Some had/have even left me emotionally wrecked, with an inexplicable emptiness that lingered for weeks and months.

Outer Wilds hit differently.

Outer Wilds is special.

I think it changed my life.


Addendum:
You know, I really envy you, human who doesn't yet know this game... Because I know that I almost certainly never will have an experience quite like this one - in a video game - again.

I envy you the chance to experience this for the first time... And am I excited for you!
Knowing that there are people that have yet to experience this experience for the first time fills me with a vicarious pleasure, a mix of some kind of empathy and a pure, bittersweet joy.

However, it would be remiss of me not to also give a fair warning:
I am a highly emotional person. And when I played Outer Wilds for the first time, I was in one of the darkest places in my life. These circumstances have made its impact on me that much more powerful.

I am very taken by this game - but it very well may actually not be to your (and everyone's) liking.
I do believe that, maybe, you need to have a certain mindset to be able to enjoy this game.

So as not to give a completely biased review, I will say this:

If you need (or like) a lot of hand-holding in your games, lack in critical/analytical thinking (e.g. connecting and applying information) and/or, most importantly, don't have an inkling of curiosity (the desire to actually look around and explore)

- then this might not be a fitting game for you.

(Of course, that is is just my personal opinion - but I have seen a couple of different people play through this game now, and it has made me draw a few conclusions.)

That said, if you do give Outer Wilds a try
- and if you love video games, I really think you should -

...Well, get ready for something very special. A gaming experience like no other.
I really hope that you enjoy it! Even if only a fraction of as much as I did... <3


I'll leave you with one of this game's many beautiful quotes which I think perfectly encapsulates the spirit of this game.
Sincerely, I bid you:

"The ending isn't any more important than any of the moments leading to it. The important thing is that over here, they are happy."

I refuse to call this just a game. It is so much more.

Once in a while, I would be going about my day, and Once Upon A Memory will start playing on shuffle in my soundtracks playlist. When I hear those piano notes, my heart clenches. And once those guitar strings start playing... Dear god. It never, ever fails to make me cry.

It has been 13 years since I've first come to know To The Moon; and still. This short, bittersweet, emotional journey has humbled and driven me like no other.
The memories will remain with me for life.

I don't know how I have never even reviewed this game. It's all I ever think about. Hollow Knight is phenomenal.

Over the past 4 (almost 5) years, since I first played Hollow Knight, I have completed most every challenge the vanilla game and DLCs have to offer - my personal greatest gaming achievement ever being the completion of the Pantheon of Hallownest. That feeling was absolutely unparalleled to any other achievement I've made in a game!
I'm also still working on beating my last few bosses on Radiant... on and off.
This is definitely a great game for people that love difficult challenges, and the game is so fun and the controls so smooth that it's super addictive.

I still can't get over this game and I consume god gamer-like challenge runs and speedruns on the daily. The patience and skill of some people amazes me endlessly!
(My favourite HK content creator is Skurry, they've got some really fun challenge runs on Youtube - check them out if you haven't, they're also just a cool person)

Besides that, Hollow Knight is just such a beautiful and immersive piece of media and art. It's got so much character - gorgeous visuals with a wonderfully whimsical and cute, while at the same time dark, art direction and design; memorable characters, beautiful soundtrack, and an incredible story. The map and the world design are awesome and there are SO many secrets. What a masterpiece of a game! 😍

Thank you for giving us Hollow Knight and for all your hard work, Team Cherry. <3 This will always be one of my favourite games ever, and although I'm slowly losing my sanity, I know the wait for Silksong will be worth it.

This game is such a fricking blast. Half the time I don't even know what is going on on my screen, but I love it.

Little anecdote: I activated an altar I had never seen before and get the message "You have been sequenced..."
Suddenly, an achievement popped for reaching over 300% movement speed, and my character was so fast to the point it was nearly unplayable. It was only a few minutes later that I noticed all my previous items were gone and instead replaced with SEVENTEEN ENERGY DRINKS. It's moments like these that are hysterical, and even more so when you're playing with friends. It gets crazy real fast. It's awesome.

Also, that MUSIC, my god it's orgasmic. I've been listening to The Rain Formerly Known As Purple on repeat for weeks. Help.

Gosh, I can't put into words how happy I am about this game!!! I LOVE bees and I feel like this game was made just for me, it's so adorable! What I didn't expect was the craaazy complexity, I expected a Stardew Valley-like casual, relaxing game, but this is a real brainteaser (seriously, it has such complex and in-depth game mechanics that I would have never thought from a game looking this "simple" and cute).

The whole premise of the game is so satisfying to all my needs, I'm a huge perfectionist and I'm driven to optimize every single process, plus creating an organised, pleasing aesthetic, all the while I'm not pressured by a time limit at all. I can't get enough of it right now, it just scratches my every itch. Now excuse me while I go collect ALL the bees <3

I haven't had this much fun in a game in a while. It's wonderful.

Update for Steam awards:
If not for Baldur's Gate 3, this would be my GOTY. I still nominated it in 2 other categories.
A new update and achievements were just released recently, and I'm excited to try it out!
Thank you, beautiful ppl of Black Salt Games. <3

This game was so much fun to play with my boyfriend! A clear 'recommend' from me - you are in for a little challenging platforming, hilarious narrating, random funny moments and lots of laughs. Play it with at least one friend. :D

David Davis. Bloody Mary. Mother ♥♥♥♥♥♥.

Tfw you had all achievements but then the DLC come out and add 20 more... :2016imnotcrying:

But on a serious note - I can't say that I recommend this game. I played and grinded through it a little mindlessly at a time when I had nothing better to do, but I cannot say that I really enjoyed the experience. Coming from Obsidian, I was really looking forward to this game and hoping for that feeling I had while playing New Vegas. And while playing in the first zone of the game, it even sort of delivered. It's just from the moment that you get to the Groundbreaker that the game starts to feel really repetitive.

There's a very low variety of weapons and armour. It felt like, as a melee character, I had the choice of a hammer, the same hammer *mk 2*, a glowy sword, the same glowy sword *mk 2*, a stun baton, the same stun baton *mk 2*... you get the drift. The unique science weapons were at least something interesting but they were downright useless with how underpowered they are. The gunplay felt similar to Fallout 4, which I'm just not that excited about at this point because it feels like I've done all this before. There's little variety in enemies and a lot of copy-pasted mobs on all the planets actually. I felt myself just slogging through the combat in this game or even avoiding enemies altogether because it was so repetitive.

Another point of note is the UI and the menus, which are extremely clunky and annoying to navigate. If you've played the game you probably know what I mean when I say the menus feel overwhelming and just frustrating to deal with.
An example is the consumable menu: There are 4 or so types of the same pills for instance, but from different "manufacturers", so that they only differ in design while having the same effect. Not only that, items of the same type are not even next to eachother in the menu. The whole consumable menu is a cluttered mess that you can't even sort by any type, and I couldn't be bothered using 90% of them because just going into that menu was a nightmare. It's so much wasted energy as well, that I believe the devs could have spent on designing more armour, weapon or mob variety instead of a useless variety of freaking soft drinks and salves.

The one redeemable part of the game I actually enjoyed were the characters and companions, and I'm glad that that's still Obsidian's strong point. I liked seeing the witty dialogue and skill checks return. I guess I only got through the game for the sake of the characters and the story, and because I hate myself.

I bought all the DLC for the Fallout games before but this is the one game where I am not enticed to buy the DLC at all. It's a shame, I think The Outer Worlds had so much potential but it completely underdelivered in my opinion. It feels like they tried too hard in specific areas (like designing a hundred consumables), tried too hard to make a pretty "art deco" style sci-fi game, but in the end, it was just really...

Boring.