Video Gamers Podcast - Gaming Quick Takes: Outer Wilds

Episode Date: May 7, 2022

From gaming hosts Paul, Michael and Josh, we're bringing you even more content each week.  Gaming Quick Takes will release every Saturday. Just another way we want to say thanks to our listeners for support this gaming podcast. Hope you enjoy! Connect with the show: Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/multiplayerpodcast Join our Gaming Discord: https://discord.gg/Dsx2rgEEbz Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/multiplayerpod/ Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/MultiplayerPod Subscribe to us on YouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCU12YOMnAQwqFZEdfXv9c3Q Visit us on the web: multiplayerpodcast.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey guys, there's no ad here at the top of the episode, but I did want to take a second to explain this new episode format and also explain a couple of changes that we've made to the podcast, just in case you happen to miss the announcements on the last couple of shows. So basically, we have decided to shake up the benefits that we offer those who support our show through Apple subscriptions or on Patreon. It used to be in the past that Josh, Michael, and I would record short 5-10 minute solo episodes that we would call quick takes, mostly for the purpose of pointing out games that we recommend people check out. And we would release two of those every week for subscribers, but ultimately we know that our show works best

when we have all three of us there at the same time. So what we have decided to do is that moving forward, instead of releasing Quick Take episodes for subscribers, we are going to be releasing two bonus episodes every month that have all three of us there. And those episodes will be at least 30 minutes each. And so we talked a little bit about, you know, what do we do with all of these old Quick Take episodes, and we have decided that we are going to release one a week on Saturdays. That way, everybody has a chance to listen to these Quick Take episodes, which used to be behind a paygate. So at this point, we have about 100 Quick Take episodes that we've recorded,

so we've got about, you know, about two years worth of content. And so we're going to keep releasing these one a week on Saturdays until we run out of Quick Takes, or we decide to do something entirely different. So if this is the first Quick Takes that you have heard, they are a little bit different because they are completely solo shows. It's a little bit less formal, a little bit less structured, but we do hope that you guys enjoy having the extra content. So happy gaming to you out there. And here, let's hear from Josh. He's going to talk a little bit about Outer Wilds. Let's hear it. Hey everyone, it's Josh, back with another bonus episode for our exclusive supporters of the show. Let me start off by saying thank you guys very much. We couldn't do this without your support.

And today I am going to be bringing you some knowledge of a game that I absolutely love and I want to highly recommend to you guys and gals. And that is a game called Outer Wilds. Now, I don't want you to confuse this with Outer Worlds, which is kind of the spiritual successor to the Fallout series, though this one is called Outer Wilds. And honestly, it is a game unlike any other game that I have ever played. It's unique in a lot of ways. So the general theme to Outer Wilds is that you are stuck in a time loop. Basically, you wake up on a small planet and you're introduced to a slight kind of intro slash tutorial area. Just kind of helps you get your bearings and set the stage for a little bit of the story up front. You're kind of this alien that's excited to finally get to pilot their own rocket ship.

And it's finally your time to shine and go out and explore the heavens, which you start to do. You have no clue what you're doing in the beginning of the game because they really don't tell you a whole lot, when lo and behold, as you were flying around and exploring, 22 minutes later, the star in your solar system supernova is wiping out everything, including you. Now, the kicker here is that you wake up in the exact same starting spot, equipped only with the knowledge that you learned from your previous run. Now, in the beginning, that's not going to be very much, but later on, it really progresses to where you don't want that supernova to happen because you have just followed this rabbit hole down and you really want more time to explore that area, but nothing stops the supernova in this game. It actually sounds a little frustrating, but it's not. It adds a ton to kind of just the overall feel of it.

Now, when you do start over, thankfully you do get to skip the opening tutorial area and you can go back to exploring in honestly just a few seconds. The loop never bogs you down with chores, which is great in my opinion. Now, the game's world in this case is an entire solar system that you're in

and it's comprised of five very distinct planets with cool names, like the Hourglass Twins and Timberhearth and Brittle Hollow, maybe Giant's Deep or the Dark Bramble. All of these planets are vastly unique. It's one of those things that even just talking about them, I can picture in my mind each planet and kind of what was entailed on that planet and some of the secrets that were found on those. So they did a great job of really making each planet stand out as unique. Now, one of the cool things about Outer Wilds is that you can fly to any planet at any time. You do not have to have progression to unlock planets. You see one over there, you want to go check it out, you are free to go do so.

Hey, what's that over there? What's up with those twin planets and the weird sand tornado thing? Hey, engage your light drive, go have a gander. It's really the choice is up to you, and there's really no right or wrong way to explore in this game. Nice thing is this allows for a great sense of exploration and progression. Now, naturally, you're going to come across puzzles and barriers you don't quite know how to overcome until you do some more exploring. You uncover more clues. You realize, oh, hey, this is going to help me, point me in the right direction. And oh, I've got to go over to that planet now and look for something. And so, you know, the game does a good job of kind of keeping you jumping around and

never getting too tired of being in one place for too long. Now, there is a story behind everything, and it does a great job of dangling that carrot in front of you to make you want to find out just what the heck is happening. Why is this star supernova? Why do you keep waking back up? And that kind of stuff. So there is a really neat underlying story there. And that was a lot of fun to kind of

discover what was going on there as well. Game playing, it's a very satisfying mix of exploration, puzzle solving. The puzzles aren't too hard. I mean, some of them can be, but this is not like a brain bending puzzle game. It's just that there are times when you're going to have to figure out how to progress. And sometimes that can be a little difficult. There are definitely puzzles that need to get solved and clues that you need to pick up on and stuff like that. There's clue gathering mixed with some other elements. Like there's some cool platforming parts in this game. There's some other mechanics that I don't want to spoil for you, but they really do an excellent job of mixing up just about everything. There is spaceflight and planet exploration. They're both very well done. They're enjoyable, and it's cool to just cruise around the

solar system in your ship, flying past planet surfaces or from one planet to another before seeing a cool area that you want to explore, touching down on, hopping out, and seeing what that world has to offer. The entire solar system that the developers have crafted is top-notch. It's incredibly unique, and honestly, it's a joy to explore. You can get from one planet to another in a matter of a minute or two, so nothing is super far away. You're not going to spend 10 minutes in light hyperspace travel and just being bored in between. Graphics in the game are very enjoyable. They're not going to spend 10 minutes in light hyperspace travel and just being bored in between.

Graphics in the game are very enjoyable. They're colorful. They're unique. Each planet has kind of its own unique palette and look to it. There is an excellent soundtrack that really helps with the immersion in this game. There is the coolest ominous change in music to signify that the supernova is about to occur. And that leads to some really tense moments as you were just scrambling, trying to finish up what you were doing or, you know, looking for that last little clue before, you know, everything gets wiped out and you have to start over. So what do I like about Outer Wilds and what don't I like about it? Well, honestly, what I love about it is the gameplay loop. There's this amazing sense of discovery. There are a ton of these like, aha

moments and the fact that you can go to any planet in any order you want. So you feel like you're in charge of your own destiny. And I like that they let you do that. You kind of just go around at your own whim, do what you want to do. You are going to likely find something no matter which direction you go that is going to help you progress. And so that's a neat little thing that they've built into the game. Now, one of the few complaints I have in this game is that sometimes you can wander a bit aimlessly. There's a few times where you're really hunting for the next clue or that next thing that

will open up a clear path of advancement, and you just can't find it. There's a little bit of backtracking and going back over some old areas to discover some new stuff, and it can feel a little bit like a chore, but honestly, this is a minor complaint, and it's one of the only ones that I had. The game currently sells for $24.99 on Steam and is worth every penny of that. I can't recommend it enough. Do yourself a favor, pick up one of the coolest, most original, most memorable games I have played in years. I think you're really going to love it. If you do pick it up, let me know your thoughts on it. If you've played it already, hey, let's talk about some of those awesome memories. But I really hope you guys enjoy.

Thank you for supporting the show. Have a good one. I'll see you later.