[No Spoilers]

Honestly there is just no other game that you can play right now that matches the experience this game delivers. I started this game with extremely high expectations, and Outer Wilds somehow managed to exceed my expectations. From a design perspective, Outer Wilds is the most innovative game that I have seen in a long time, and I have no doubt that we will be seeing games developed with this design philosophy in the future.

The game starts off with you waking up next to a campfire and discovering a bit about the world and learning some of the mechanics - It serves as a great tutorial to ensure you understand the basic mechanics of the game. And that's it - now you just explore! You might be asking "but where do I explore? what do I do?". In fact, you can ask people in-game this exact question and they'll always give you essentially the same answer - just explore! You can go anywhere you like and do anything you want, although it never feels aimless. After a short while of exploring, you'll notice a clue that'll lead you onto another clue which might lead you to two more clues until suddenly you've figured out something really important that is very rewarding. The game never fails to reward you for every last discovery you make, which really gives you a sense of progression as you gradually unravel the mystery.

It would make sense to start with the core mechanic in Outer Wilds - the time loop. Every 22 minutes, the sun will explode into a supernova and you will start again (you'll also start again if you die in less than 22 minutes). This creates a really interesting dynamic where you have to manage your time carefully, but also not rush as there's always another time loop. You're never able to explore everything in a single time loop, so you'll find yourself visiting locations multiple times, each time with different knowledge that helps you explore further and discover more. There also aren't many consequences to dying, which further encourages exploration. When I initially heard it was a time loop, The main things I thought were that it would be repetitive and that it would seem aimless, as if you're just exploring the same thing over and over again with no real goal, as it's just gonna reset after 22 minutes. This is not true - every time loop is different, and you really do feel like you are progressing, even if your character is in an infinite loop and everything apart from your ship log stays exactly the same from your first time loop to your last. The time loops break up the game into chunks that make you feel like you have accomplished something every single loop, without feeling pointless as it's all resetting anyway.

The mystery is brilliantly designed and fits so perfectly with the environment they have created. The mystery isn't suddenly solved when you reach the final planet or complete the final objective. In fact, you can go to any planet you want to, although you won't solve the mystery until you have explored enough of the game to truly understand it. Different people may discover things in different orders, yet the game handles this so well to lead everyone to a satisfying ending when they finally figure out what they need to do, whichever order this happened in. Outer Wilds works on a design philosophy which compels you to explore the interesting locations, rather than searching everywhere as thoroughly as possible to ensure you haven't missed anything. The clues are brilliantly written to direct you to places that you might not have been yet. You won't spend lots of time going around aimlessly just to find one small clue that adds to the puzzle, you'll spend your time visiting interesting locations that give you a meaningful insight into what has happened and help you to solve it. You don't have to explore everything to solve the overall mystery, although the game never fails to reward you for exploration in a way that other games rarely manage to.

The world is also excellent - every planet is completely different from all of the others and is constantly changing throughout the time loop. One thing I was particularly impressed about is that all the places the game mentioned that I thought might be blocked off, you can eventually go there once you figure out how - and it's very rewarding once you get there. I'd love to be able to talk about all of the different places, but I don't want to ruin it for you - just explore them.

The most unique aspect of this game that makes it special (which I have already mentioned) is the entirely knowledge-based progression system. You won't get cool upgrades to your ship or unlock new items or gain much skill (with the exception of maybe flying, that takes a while to get the hang of). The only thing you'll gain as you progress is knowledge. This knowledge is nicely organised into your ship log which records what you discovered at each location but deliberately leaves you to make connections between these locations. The ship log also prompts you as to which locations need further exploration, which does help when you don't know what to explore. This really is what makes the game unique, and is why Outer Wilds is so special.

If I was to compare Outer Wilds to another game, I'd probably start with Subnautica. Imagine Subnautica, but without all of the survival elements. Subnautica, but without having to gather food and water. Subnautica, but without gathering resources to build a base. Subnautica, but without any kind of gear upgrades. What you're left with is pure exploration, and it's incredible. Subnautica already did a great job at providing an exploration-driven game but Outer Wilds takes this one step further by stripping out all of the unnecessary survival elements to leave you with an unparalleled journey of exploration that you simply won't find in other games. If you enjoyed Subnautica, you'll love Outer Wilds.

When you buy this game, don't look up the solutions to puzzles unless you are truly stuck and you have explored everything else. This game rewards you for solving puzzles yourself, and you will never feel the same sense of satisfaction if you find out the solutions on the internet.

Outer Wilds is really a refreshing experience that differs from many games, although some people have described it as quite niche. I disagree - I really struggle to think of anyone who this game wouldn't appeal to. Outer Wilds is a game that makes you think and explore, although there's nothing too complicated that you couldn't understand. The puzzles themselves are pretty easy, although it's the way they're presented to the player and all link together is why it feels so satisfying to solve the problem, allowing you to solve it yourself without the game telling you. Outer Wilds finds a way to explain everything by putting clues in just the right places so you'll discover them yourself, all on your own. No-one is telling you that you have to explore anything. There isn't an objective in the sidebar that tells you where to go or what to do. It is entirely the player's curiosity that drives the game forwards, and is ultimately why Outer Wilds is such a special game. It is an absolute must-play for anyone, and easily one of my favourite games of all time.

EDIT: DLC also great, well worth getting if you enjoy the main game (although i didn't like the stealth sections)