Recent reviews by abronan

Very good core gameplay but extremely frustrating and poor boss design that is artificially increasing the difficulty by making the challenge unfair (Shard 7 boss is genuinely awful). Unless all stars align and you get good power ups, then expect to waste your time on a run with a lost boss fight at the end. This game still needs some polishing and balancing, which is challenging without making the game too easy.

Story wise, dialogues are the worst I've ever seen in a video game (with a lot of "..." and vapid empty sentences and groaning). I end up skipping all dialogues because it adds nothing to the game and just wastes your time.

This is a shame, because the feeling of speed is there and most runs are enjoyable. Better feeling/experience than playing Sonic. But can't recommend due to the very frustrating boss experience. Difficult games and bosses are fine, but the challenge needs to be fair, not just randomly being hit by unavoidable lasers/objects or waves in front of you.

My review will contrast with all the recent reviews due to the layoff, but quite frankly I'm having a good time with the game. I have played some ~50 hours (a lot of time offline and not counted on steam due to internet outage) and I keep coming back due to the atmosphere.

So, is it worth the price? For the time I've spent playing it yes. But I would recommend you grab it at a discount due to the current situation. It is just incredibly frustrating that this game will never live up to its true potential, because it was a worthy successor to the first game. I'll never get the satisfaction of dashing and slashing using Rondo in any other video game. The pace of combat is fast and is a good 3D rendition to what Hyper Light Drifter felt like with a 2D top view.

The art direction and soundtrack are also great and both align with the atmosphere of the first game.

So what happened? IMO the game was too ambitious for its own good, making this an open world rogue like/extraction shooter was not the right pick. They could have made this a rogue like, but in closed spaces rather than an open generated world, which would have made it easier to debug and expand along the way with new zones and areas. Focusing on combat and mechanics rather than spending too much time on bug fixing an open generated world.

I still recommend the game if you liked the first, especially if you stick to it for a while, unlocking new characters and upgrades. You can easily get 20 hours worth of gameplay, which is not bad for the price.

At the time of writing, the last boss is still missing, but there is good hope this might be coming in an upcoming patch (as per the community manager announcement on the layoff), concluding the game in a satisfying way. As for me, I know I'll keep coming back to this game once in a while, just to use Rondo and chill while exploring.

This is my first ever review on steam after 15 years. Outer Wilds is the type of game that has a long lasting impact on you. It affected me so much in fact, that I started having very wild dreams after completing the game.

The discovery aspect is essential and part of the gameplay, and you go from surprise to surprise. I would follow the advice echo'ed all throughout the reviews to jump into this experience with as little information as possible. This is one of a kind experience and this game is like no other on Steam.

Do yourself a favor and buy this gem.