I’m curious what you guys have to say about this. Are there any games you consider perfect? Can a game even be perfect?
My example of a perfect game is always Portal 1. Portal 2 has more going on, but in 1 there just isn’t anything to shave off. From start to end, there is nothing I’d change about the game. It’s short, infinitely replayable, great pacing. I like Portal 2 a lot in concept, in concept it should be a perfect sequel, but it just doesn’t keep the extreme tightness of the original game.
Outer Wilds is my favorite game, it’s just so tight between the narrative and the gameplay, there’s not a second wasted and everything ties together appropriately and it doesn’t overstay it’s welcome so long as you’re moderately competent at the sleuthing. Better yet is the DLC they released was equally satisfying while remaining a standalone narrative with it’s own themes and mechanics, while still managing to tie in nicely with the base game narrative. I would suggest holding off on playing it until you’ve completed the OG, but theoretically you could do it anytime during the playthrough.
I guess the only downside I can think of is re-playability, being a mystery/puzzle game once you’ve acquired the prerequisite knowledge it’s a bell that cannot be un-rung and experienced again with the same novelty. Maybe someday I’ll go back, but until then I’ll suffice with the tear-jerking OST of both game and DLC, as I’m reminded of the most humanistic and existential game I’ve ever played.
The only fault I can find are the relatively unwieldy controls. Had a friend who just got frustrated with the spaceship control and dropped it, despite my strong recommendations.
And spoiler do not click if you want to play the game ever which you should just do it stop arguing it’s fantastic:
seriously dont
i got stuck on the hourglass twin puzzle with the warp. I understood the concept of warping to the other planet right, but apparently if you miss the timing, the sandstorm just yeets you into the sky. After three attempts I gave up and hours later had to ask the internet. Was a bit sad, because I just missed it by a fraction of a second.
Ughhhhh I had the exact same experience. It made me feel so bad for having to go to a tutorial after feeling so accomplished from sussing everything else out. And then finding out it was a slight platforming error just left me frustrated with myself and the near perfection of that game
I had a friend play through it and stream it for me to watch, and it was a great experience for us both. Got a lot of that sense of wonder that I had when I first played it myself.
Lol vicariously re experiencing the game is a pastime on YouTube. Symbalily and “About Oliver” have good LPs.
