Outer Wilds Is Not A Video Game

For months now, a great many of you have been asking when I would finally play Outer Wilds. After a lot of milking it to gain interest- I MEAN, after a lot of eagerly anticipating giving it a go, I finally sat down to play it. Here is my experience with… a game that I only started to enjoy when I stopped treating it like a game.

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Hello there, Hello Fresh (0:00​)
This is how Outer Wilds works... (1:23)
...and I have mixed feelings about that (2:33)
The Language Barrier (7:23)
"aNoTHer CLuE" (12:43)
"Danger: Ghost Matter Detected Nearby" (15:36)
Things that actually helped (19:51)
Outer Wilds is not a video game (22:19)
Thank you for waiting and watching! (28:26​)

▶Games Shown

Outer Wilds (2019)
God of War (2018)
Final Fantasy VII Remake (2020)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017)
NieR:Automata (2017)
Batman: Arkham City (2011)
Hollow Knight (2017)
Death's Door (2021)
Portal (2007)
Metroid Dread (2021)
Xenoblade Chronicles (2010)
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (2006)
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (2011)
Elden Ring (2022)
Unsighted (2021)
Dark Souls (2011)
Dishonored 2 (2016)
Prey (2017)
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017)
The Last of Us (2013)
Ghost of Tsushima (2020)
Firewatch (2016)
BioShock (2007)
Final Fantasy XIII (2009)
Fire Emblem: Three Houses (2019)
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door (2004)
Gone Home (2013)
Persona 4 Golden (2012)
The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker (2002)
God of War Ragnarok (2022)
Xenoblade Chronicles (2010)
Octopath Traveler (2018)
Jump King (2019)

▶Movies/TV/Anime Shown

Interstellar (2014)
National Treasure (2004)
The End of Evangelion (1997)
The Amazing Spider Man (2011)

▶Media/Clips/Considerations:

▶Music Sources (in Order):

Bomberman Hero OST - Milky
Outer Wilds OST - The Museum
Outer WIlds OST - Timber Hearth
Xenoblade Chronicles OST - Satorl Marsh
Outer Wilds OST - Nomai Ruins
Perfect Dark OST - Training
Melty Blood Actress Again OST - Uncommon Sense
FFX OST - Wandering Flame
Portal 2 OST Volume 1 - I'm Different
Xenoblade Chronicles OST - Colony 9
Outer Wilds OST - End Times
Outer Wilds OST - Reprise
Uniq - Art Of Silence

▶Research Sources

Noclip - The Making of Outer Wilds:

[DarylTalksGames]

And thank YOU for convincing me to play this game. What an absolutely unforgettable ride <3

[razbuten]

another example of the not being able to get into outer wilds to outer wilds changing your life pipeline

[chrisholben]

When I beat that game I was just graduating college, directly into the worst part of the pandemic. I’d been spending my days job hunting; I would type the word sales into indeed and just apply for everything that came up in my city. One of the biggest things that got me through it in the end was knowing that once I was done I could go hang out with all my favorite hearthians. The night that I finished it, I cried and cried, for like 40 minutes. My girlfriend was coming over that night, and she had no idea what to do. To this day, those first fourteen notes of timber hearth give me goosebumps without fail

[thunder]

22:00 i love the detail of the supernova music begins to play when you reach 22 minutes

[JackVice]

The first time I played it was the night I discovered my dog was dying, and I played it to stay awake with him until the vet opened. After chewy died, I found the “end of the game” (I refuse to spoil anything) and I haven’t been touched by a piece of art like that before or since. It had a sense of optimism to what came next and was a lesson about mortality that I won’t forget.

[ijustsawthat]

Everybody is gangsta until you hold they very thing that makes you immortal and realize that for the first time you are mortal. You no longer have the safety of the loop, and you have to make it count. This game makes you hate death, then make peace with it, then it becomes casual, to the last moment when... It's not, and you fear it. For the next 22 minutes, you are no longer safe.
I will never forget that moment of Outer Wilds.

[AzariahWolf]

"Welcome to this video on the Outer Wilds. Spoilers warning for Hollow Knight."

Classic.

[faresgh]

17:00 "It's almost like the Nomai don't know about Ghost Matter.. I wonder why that could be ?"
Well, this has to be one of the most subtle spoil alerts I've ever heard..

[kblaghablagh]

I'm a current Ph.D. student in mathematics, and I feel like progressing through Outer Wilds has some similarities with doing math research. So much of my progress has been struggling to prove this one thing, then forgetting about it for a while to go work on other things and searching other avenues, then half a year later you come back to that thing you were stuck on for months and proving it is suddenly extremely easy to you. The tools to solve what you were working on were (possibly) always there, it just hinged on you knowing enough (or reading the right papers) to actually go and do it. You can beat Outer Wilds in the first loop if you know how, and if you were wiser, you could prove things in math that I currently can't. It's simultaneously rewarding to prove something that a while back, you were deeply stuck on, and a bit frustrating, because you technically had all the tools to complete the proof then too, you just weren't smart enough.

The difference is that with research, you only have an inkling of an idea that you can "beat the game" because some things you conjecture just turn out to be false, or things that you won't have the tools to prove for years and years.

[wiiuandmii]

Folks, he did the thing. The thing has been done. Hoorays all about.
In all seriousness, this is such an amazing game, and I’m glad you got the chance to experience it. Enjoy the rest of the project!

[ElMedkit]

Now I’m convinced to at least give it a shot. With university I stopped playing exploration games because of time and feeling too lazy to think after a long day but this game seems right up my alley!

[BlaZay]

I'm so glad YOU, of all people, struggled with this game. Because I didn't, it swooped me off my feet from the get-go, and as such, despite (or because of?) all my unending love for it, I'm utterly unable to identify why it wouldn't be the same for everyone. But you were able to perfectly encapsulate your struggles while agreeing with us in the end, and I couldn't be happier about it. I'll make sure to redirect other people to this video in case they ever feel like you did. Thank you, and I'm looking forward to your experience with the DLC.

[feck]

My non spoiler tips;
1. Use the ship map. This does show progression and where u can go next.
2. Think more about how gravity works sometimes
3. Think more about time. The system is not in the same exact state throughout a run.
4. Don’t be afraid to look for tips if you are stuck - most people who played this love to help without spoiling the puzzles. Like these 🙂

[SystemBD]

Congratulations on finishing Outer Wilds and this video. You did this game justice and managed to avoid most spoilers.... which is certainly not an easy thing to do.

The best thing I can say is that I will recommend this video to those struggling with this game. Now you can go to sleep today knowing that you made the universe a little bit better 😊

[destinyDragon]

I didn't know that I need this video. I haven't been able to finish Outer Wilds yet for all the reasons you listed, but this motivated me to keep trying, so thank you so much Daryl :)

[dtuveji]

You know what made my time with outer wilds enjoyable from start to finish? I played it together with my gf. And so, I did not sit there by myself frustrated that I couldn't get farther, but rather we'd discuss, and think, and she would try instead, and, you know, it added a lot to the vibe of the game. Cute and chill, even though weird and horrifying at times. The best experience was that we were afraid of different things, and so I was jumping in the black hole that freaked her out, but she found her way through dark bramble, which horrified me. So... yea, I think playing with someone is actually a great idea for this game, and a very nice experience to share.

[dragondai]

Every so often I stumble upon someone experiencing Outer Wilds for the first time. Usually it's in the form of a video essay like this. Sometimes it's on Twitch. Even rarely it's in real life. And every time I am reminded of the magic that is this game. Taken back to a two week period of time in my life when video games were finally able to truly live up to the potential they have and deliver a unique, one of a kind experience like nothing else in the whole world.

Outer Wilds in so special and so amazing. And it is always so magical to get to see someone discover that for themselves. Thanks for sharing your experience with us, Daryl. I just wish I could do it all again, for the first time.

[justflavio]

This was a very different experience than I had with outer wilds, although I loved it just as much. It was so great hearing your perspective and how you made it through this beautiful space journey. Ending on that solanum quote made me cry, genuinely, perfectly encapsulates the journey outer wilds takes you on. Fantastic job dude.

[Skywalkup]

Thank you for providing me with an “intro to outer wilds” video to send my friends. There are so many SPOILER filled videos on how good the game is, but this is easily the best “hey, this game is hard but here is a primer” video I could ask for.

[MrMEOLA]

Fantastic video about a Fantastic Game. Thoroughly enjoyed it :)