Outer Wilds is a highly polished breath of fresh air. Piloting my ship felt incredible. At first, I piloted my ship directly into the sun! After I got a feel for the controls, though, I was performing maneuvers I didn't think possible around the planets. The music is captivating, going from relaxing at Timber Hearth, to genuinely Horrifying elsewhere. The UX is very well thought out. I was able to easily pick up in the story where I left off after a hiatus because of how well designed the ship log is. The graphics are awe-inspiring. The sense of scale the game conveyed to me was so intense I felt dread at some of the scenes depicted in the game.

All of these are simply extra details to Outer Wilds, which at it's core is an amazingly well crafted mystery game. The whole system is open world, so it felt like true freedom to explore and piece together the story without feeling like I was being fed obvious clues. The way that knowledge about the star system helps solve puzzles is so organic, I was constantly impressed by the true nature of the areas I was exploring. There are many 'eureka' moments in this game where I felt like a genius. Truthfully, though, that's all due to Outer Wild's masterful storytelling.

I give Outer Wilds the coveted 6 bags of popcorn.