Recent reviews by smileyface12349

You can build roads and railways and cool buildings (plus a couple factories every now and then)

2D Satisfactory

While the blink interaction may seem like a gimmick, it actually works incredibly well to support the main premise of the game. Where other games will try to maximise playtime, adding in collectables, achievements and pointless side quests - It is literally impossible to experience all of this game. There will be moments where you are desperately trying not to blink, trying not to miss out on an important moment in the story, but inevitably you will miss out on some moments. And one you blink, there's no going back. You will never know what you blinked past, but that's exactly how the game is designed. You cannot possibly experience everything that happened in this person's life, just little chunks of their life that they remembered. Some are really important, others less important. It works so well with the absolutely incredible story which is really what surprised me the most about this game, but I can't really talk about it without spoiling it.

You will absolutely want to play with blink interaction. I don't have a webcam but I have an android phone, and using DroidCam worked perfectly for me. While the game could work without it, it wouldn't be nearly as impactful if you could experience everything in the game without missing out on some moments because you blinked. This game is so unique and the blink interaction is a big part of that.

Overall, this is an absolutely brilliant 90 minute game that you do not want to miss. There really is nothing like this game available right now, and likely never will be.

Actually pretty great, only a couple of hours but very enjoyable and funny.

The dialogue is the best bit, not afraid to break the 4th wall and doesn't take itself too seriously.
Here's a couple examples: I met an NPC who introduced themselves "I'm the best forkfight player in Veggieville! I would tell you to check out my streams, but I haven't been able to go live since the pigs in here MAKE SO MUCH NOISE!". Or while reviewing official documents it contains "Player name, address, city, state, opinion on grass".

The combat is very simple so don't get this game if you're looking for a challenge or particularly decent combat.

Soundtrack is also pretty good imo

Overall, if you're looking for a 2 hour chilled out experience that's funny, this game is well worth a look at.

[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)

As long as you're only expecting about an hour of gameplay then go for it - I would describe it as "surprisingly not bad"

The detective aspect is also lacking a bit as you don't actually choose yourself who you think it is - It's just revealed through the story.

It is an enjoyable hour though, which may justify the price to you. I got it on humble bundle, and I would recommend anyone who also got it through humble bundle to play it because it is enjoyable

Right now I have completed the main story but haven't started either of the DLCs

Don't be put off by how old The Witcher 3 is - It's still a great game that is just so much fun all of the time, and the graphics hold up really well and are amazing. The main storyline is thorough and enjoyable and there are loads of side quests to enjoy. The map is also huge, but not so big that I wouldn't recognise where I was. I found myself completing almost all the side quests not to level up, but just because they're all a lot of fun. The only criticism would be how the side quests mostly serve as a distraction from the main story rather than complementing it. There's no need to rush though - take your time and enjoy all of the side quests! The combat is also simplistic but surprisingly good.

Overall, The Witcher 3 is still an amazing game today, and is absolutely worth the price. If it's also on sale, then go for it - you won't be disappointed

If you want an exploration game where you can find cool stuff and build cool stuff, you won't be disappointed. However, Subnautica is so much more than that. It has a rich storyline that will leave you wondering about your situation right up until the end. There is so much stuff to read that will gradually give hints to help you solve the mystery. Very well designed, fun to play, some bugs but they don't interfere with gameplay too much. Also pretty scary when you go down deep. Graphics are great, everything looks really nice yet shouldn't be too demanding. This game offers significant progress throughout the 50 or so hours of gameplay it offers.

Overall, Subnautica suits so many different playstyles, and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone wanting an exploration, survival, story, base-building, even horror game.

An amazing game that offers hours of fun for many different play styles. Lots of content (5000+ items, lots of bosses etc.) and just lots of fun to play. I've played on multiple platforms with a few playthroughs on each and it's fun every time. Really cheap as well