It truly is. A triumph in gaming. It will hopefuly be studied by curent and future generations of game developers as one of gaming's finest experiences. And the fact this game started as a master's thesis is the ultimate flex.
I haven’t played it but I believe that there is a game somewhat like outer wilds called return of the obra dinn. I’m pretty sure there are still a lot of differences but it will somewhat, from what I heard, scratch the outer wilds itch.
I remember a certain emptiness when I arrived at the Sun Station. The only thing I had left was it and the ATP. And I read the message that said “The sun’s life cycle is ending in 13 minutes.” And I went, “wait, but that’s…” I decided to wait and let the sun consume me. And just ruminate on it. My favourite moment in the game is actually the Interloper, but this was incredible.
Same. The sun station just seemed so dead and sterile. It had a certain sense of uneasiness to it. The Interloper is also my favorite moment of the game as well. I enjoy the little detail that the bones of the two nomai in the core are all broken, since they died from the explosion instead of the ghost matter
I really love the interloper too. I think the interloper and the sun station complement themselves really well because as you explore and piece the game together, you start thinking the Nomai's hubris is what destroyed them but these two places show the opposite. Even if the sun station worked they wouldn't self destruct because of the contingency plans. You could have even blamed them for the sun going supernova now at some point in your explorations, but the sun station and other stuff shows it's not. No, everything that happened to them and to the Hearthians is just chance. It's sad because that's also a thing in real life too, doesn't matter if you do everything right, chance might take it all away...
This game has so many great moments. The first landing on the quantum moon for example was a very special moment for me. Exploring the Interloper was creepy and tense. But for some Reason the sun station is my favorite moment as well. Maybe it is because it is that hard to reach and once youre finally there you really arent expecting to find these very informations. Oh and the first arrival at the ATP is special becaue you got many glimpses of this obscure and ancient room througout the game. First you have no idea how to reach it (I initially thought it wasnt a real location at all and all you could experience were these simulations on the different planets). Great game overall. In the Top 2 all time games for me :D
I want to draw attention to two underrated moments, the Nomai Grave and the Old Settlement's associated writings specifically. The Old Settlement writings are such a sucker punch of emotions, you get - "The pain of your absence is sharp and haunting, and I would give anything not to know it; anything but never knowing you at all (which would be worse)." Followed up with - "We can hear the other escape pods’ distress signals, which gives me hope. Foli, are you still here? I am unsure how to survive in this place without you. (I am unsure how to be me without you.)" About two Nomai you never hear the names of before or after this point in writings, meaning there's only one possibility of what happened to them in the crash, and it fills you with this visceral feeling of loss, and then you stumble upon one more - "Is the hardest part of this tragedy not knowing who we may have lost? Or will the hardest part come later, when we learn? (Be well, Aunt Melorae...)" Which is still a heavily emotional line, but assuming the player has heard of Meloare before, (she's very prominent on the ember twin), there'll be this relief that you can almost feel. The Nomai grave, of course, makes these lines all the more emotional, with a chilling display of Nomai corpses, huddled, drifting, and abandoned by time, floating around a bramble seed pod, far too small for anyone to fit through. So close, yet so far away from safety. Are either of these the best scene? No, maybe not. But they certainly strengthen that of the Interloper's core, where you're reminded, in a single recording, that everyone you may have grown attached to through texts and recordings is dead. The Nomai are all dead (at least in this system.) They have been for thousands of years. Most people get attached to their stories, but they are gone. Reality can be cruel sometimes, but the Nomai never gave up. The saddest part is, with how dense the ghost matter was, there was maybe enough energy there to power the ash twin project. If they had the foreknowledge, or just a little more time.
I just finished Outer Wilds for the first time a couple days ago, and it was magical. I ended up meeting Chert on Ember Twin after exploring the Sun Station near the end of the loop, and getting clued in that this is the natural end of *every* star system. That's where it hit for me.
I actually found out in one of my very first loops because I decided to follow the satellite that gets sent out in the beginning of each loop and saw all the stars disappearing before the supernova got me at the end, kinda hurt the emotional impact of discovering it later ig XD
This is certainly the biggest tonal shift in the narrative in Outer Wilds. It's not about preventing an accident or turning off a tool of greed or carelessness. It's about coming to terms with the end of things. It says "all things will die, and so will you", and asks simply "what are you going to do about it?" But, for me, the greatest emotional gut punch of Outer Wilds has to be the Nomai skeletons floating around their shuttle in the Dark Bramble, looking at the portal, at the signal that was supposed to be guiding them to safety, that led them this far, but that turned out to be a dead end. Some of the skeletons are hugging. Some are holding hands. They died together, in the hope that their company could ease the passing of those around them. That's an emotional gut punch.
This moment really strikes at the core of Outer Wilds' themes, in a wonderful way. In fact, it's essentially a direct mirror to the ending: You stand before the sun and realize how inevitable the end is, and it fills you with dread and emptiness, a feeling you'll likely carry with you throughout the rest of your time with the game. Until you finally reach the ending, and are once again confronted by how powerless you are to stop the universe from ending. But this time, you've come to terms with it. The knowledge that there simply isn't a way to save everyone has been with you for a while now, and at the end of it all you're finally ready to just accept and make peace with that fact. Instead of raging against the dying of the light, cursing your lot and falling into despair, you simply take one last moment to cherish the memories you've made, all the people you've met, and just let go. Become the Phoenix whose dying flames nourish new life.
The ending really was bittersweet. It's not an end, it's a beginning. Just not for you. Not that I noticed that the first time, I was too busy being scared from all the quantum nonsense at the end. It was only after my second go with the interloper that I got the intended feeling.
YEEES, this moment really pulls the rug from under you and represents such a drastic shift of your goal. I freaking love the revelation that it's simply the course of nature. It could have been similarly dramatic if the sun station did work but it wasn't possible to turn it off. It would still be a harrowing moment. But the fact that the station wasn't the big villain to begin with and suddenly there's nothing left to blame for your demise is so much more thought provoking. It left me feeling empty for a short while afterwards. Gosh, I fucking love this game! BTW your spoiling us with your current video output!
I remember watching this video a while back before knowing about Outer Wilds. The narrative intrigue of the sun exploding, the sun station, and space exploration of a fully functioning solar system are what sold me on the game, even though one of the major plot points had already been spoiled for me. Finally coming back months later, after 100%ing the base game and dlc, finding all but 5 scraps of data for the ship log, and figuring out how to reach the true ending without needing Google once for my journey, I can say this was quite the adventure. For me the moment that really hit me the hardest in my playthrough (more major spoilers btw for any new players listening) was finally meeting the prisoner in the dlc. Revealing to him the history of everything that happens in the entire game up until that moment, events that stretch over a period of 280,000 years, epic music playing in the background, to show him that after all this time being trapped in the simulation, his faith in the Eye was not in vain... that was awesome. He gave all of us a chance for the universe to be born anew, by using the Eye's power of _quantum energy,_ or maybe the Eye is supposed to represent God? Idk. So much shit I had to go through to reach that point, the dream world is terrifying lmao. Outer Wilds' soundtrack was also incredible
After realizing this I just stood there, and waited for the sun to engulf the station. It was too late, there was nothing left to do. There was nowhere to go after this since there was nothing that could be done. The realization turned to hope when I got hints that maybe there is more, the interloper is there, they wanted to investigate that too, maybe there is a solution there. Imagine my utter devastation when I went to the interloper and found out that this was yet another dead end, but this time for their entire species. But I was still there, I could complete what they did not have time for.
This is the best moment in any game ever, and the best thing is everyone realises at a different time and reacts differently. What other videogame tricks you into thinking you can save the world for so long and then tasks you with accepting the death of the universe? And it could ONLY be achieved in a videogame.
My heart swells when I see people recognizing this game as the true masterpiece it is. The two Outer Wilds videos you’ve made so far and fantastic, and if you have more to say about this game I’m definitely here to listen!
My favorite moment was when I landed on the island where the travellers is on Giants Deep. I remember seeing the cyclone approaching, and I thought i was going to die. Then, it carried the island into arbit. At the apex, music started playing and I could see all the planet. The moment was so calm and tranquil until the island started plummeting downwards.
I'll probably always believe the ending of Outer Wilds is the most impactful moment in any video game. You know what's coming, there's no pretense anymore. And even then it manages to blow you out of the water. A close second is showing the Prisoner our story, and then probably Solanum. While the Sun Station IS fantastic, I think it's also one of the few parts of the game that could be considered frustrating to get to using either route. I also think Outer Wilds was always more about the people you meet and befriend rather than the greater mystery, even before the reveal. Fantastic video Ratatoskr, I can't wait to watch you continue this series.
I still haven't finished the DLC its so goddamn scary. Although I think I'm already done with the scariest bit and now it's just having the will to go forward and finish the damn thing.
That moment when i finally made it to the sun station thinking....okay now i can finally halt the source... it's happening i am at the end..racing against time to finally make it there and then read these dialogues and i just let the loop consume me and for 3 more subsequent loops i just wander around with no reason.... made me feel things i have never felt before playing any game
I had the exact same experience with the sun station in my playthrough, and it's something that's stuck with me ever since. Honestly amazing they were able to set up such an incredible and emotional narrative beat in a nonlinear exploration-driven game like this.
Incredible moment. As I was reading through the information in the sun station i remember my head spinning trying to reformat everything I had expected and was trying to achieve. Things like the Nomai unknowingly having injured the sun.
I think that my favourite reaction to the Sun Station I ever saw was in Nerd Cubed's playthrough of Outer wilds. The emotion behind "Oh...its just dying..." as he stares out of that viewport.... Its the curiosity of a mystery solved, but man if it doesn't sound so sad too... Sun Station is one of the moments in Outer Wilds that I crack and tear up (one of many, the game is good for those).
hes not wrong this and the interloper were the 2 most emotional moments in any form of media I've ever experienced. any time I renember these moments i always start tearing up or crying. Theres it wasnt just that you realize the sun is dying but also that you realize everything the nomai had worked for, all the mining, all the developent, all the cities, the probe, the ash twin project, the black hole forge, everything was for nothing and they failed. at this point I had already explored the interloper and when I read that they heard of a comment with strange readings, that was it. its all over. no more nomai. the story was incomplete, but I had just found were the end of the nomai's story was. And reading, I could feel the sense of loss and sadness in the text. the whole sequence is insane and jumping across the station before that fills you with adrenaline as the music picks up and you can see how fast youre rotating and moving. its an astonishing scene
I think this ties into the melancholy of the universe itself. It seems that the universe all encompassing is not going to last forever, and the Nomai knew. The heat death of everything, is perhaps then end. But in the ending of this game you get that glimmer of hope. That perhaps this is just a new beginning. That realization is something I might never forget. So while the universe evokes a sense of melancholy in me, it does not make me sad anymore. "It is moments like this that makes you happy you stopped and smelled the pine trees".
I managed to land on the Sun Station about halfway through my adventure and hadn't yet realized its purpose. But everything clicked in that moment anyway, and it was both an aha and a very somber moment all at once. Brilliant game. I love it.
To me, it was thinking what was going to happen if I died with the black hole core in hand. Getting to the Ash Twin's center was the last place I got into, and before I got there I had already pieced together everything and how to get to the eye, I just needed to get in and confirm my suspicions or be proven wrong. But as I tried piecing together this last puzzle I couldn't stop worrying about if I died with the core in hand. Would the game delete itself or something? Feeling this made me ecstatic, no game surprises me anymore, it's a rare occurrence and this was the biggest one to me. I was nervous trying not to mess up after getting in that I got eaten by an anglerfish and found out what happens, hahaha...
Between your previous outer wilds video and this one, I tried it out through xbox game pass. I have to say that this game will stick with me for a very long time. Figuring out the one thing you need to do to get to a certain place was always so satisfying (like going to the sun station and the quantum moon). Definitely one of the best games I have played in a while.
This game has so many good moments like that. After watching so many playthroughs it is so crazy how many things we miss when we don’t have a focus on it. Like the entirety of the Quantum Moon. Most people don’t notice it until nomai texts point it out. One of the coolest things to realize was when you talked to chert and realized other suns are going supernova and that by the end of the loop there are way less stars than before and yet because we don’t focus on it we don’t notice it.
Honestly, I'm very happy you went from Elden Ring to Outer Wilds because: 1. It was the first game I played after ER that gave me that jaw-drop effect. 2.They are both very reserved narritively, and you can get stuck if not inspired to push on, meaning lots of hidden lore/moments that not everyone catches.
Has someone with a reading disability I had a totally different experience. I played with a friend explaining to me key texts. At this time my purpose wasn't to stop the supernova I've already came the fact that it was natural and bound to happen. My purpose It was to get to the eye of the Universe. The sun station was one of my last destination and I learned about its function while visiting it. And it struck me! The Ash Twin project, the probe cannon! It was at this moment that I've understood their purposes and how they worked. For me it wasn't the moment that I realized that eventually, everything will end. But the moment I've understood everything that surrounded me.
My experience with the sun station was quite similar! I had already had the realization much earlier when I talked to Chert throughout one of the loops (which is also an amazing and heart-wrenching moment) and the sun station was more of a realization moment for me. Like “oh! This is how it all fits together! The supernova powers the loop and that’s why I’m in this situation!” It’s so so cool how everyone can have such different storytelling experiences from this game.
The music, the scenery, the view, the realization. I had chills, when I entered the Sun Station and it was one of the most memorable moments in video games that I ever had. I was blown away by both facts, that Nomai wanted to explode sun AND that they failed. After reading all of this, I just watched through the glass, how sun becomes bigger and consumes the Station. I've been sitting like 15 minutes in woah state after this.
My favorite hour in outerwilds is the last one. However, the shock of reaching the sunstation and having my laundry list of tasks to do to save the world explode as I realized it was all hopeless was an experience I've never had before in gaming. Same with the end of out wilds actually it does that a lot.
Currently watching one of my friends play through this masterpiece, and he’s already started to put together that it’s the universe that’s dying, not just his star, based on looking at the sky and seeing so many stars dying as well. Can’t wait to see how he incorporates the Nomai’s plans to make the sun go supernova, and if he writes it off, or if he thinks they somehow caused a chain reaction or something
I teared up as you read the sun station stuff, that was probably one of the most beautiful moments in all of video games for me and just remembering that revelation hit hard. After going through the rest of the game after that, it actually changed my perspective on death, truly an amazing work of art. When I tell people about why I love this game I can't even tell them that it changed my perspective on death, just on an aspect of things, all because I feel like that would spoil it.
This is a tiny thing, but the Sun Station music doesn't play *until* you kick the door open. The entrance of the music at that moment is one of the things that makes the sun station such a fantastic moment, so I just had to say.
The moment this hit me was actually when I noticed the stars going off en masse in the sky, way before I entered the sun station. I connected the dots, it wasn't our solar system that was special, it was all of them going supernova, the grim truth dawned on me, it immediately made sense since the nomai were gone after all, if they had succeeded in what they were trying to do, we wouldn't have lived to see any of it in the first place.
I have watched like 6 friends play the game, unguided. None of them gave ANY thought to the sun station which made me a little bit sad. But man did they love the game overall.
The line of text "Should we build the Sun Statin to power the Ash Twin Project?" was the first time my heart skipped a beat playing this wonderful game, the first time I glimpsed the scope of what Mobius have created. But not the last. And I agree, the moment of realisation on the Sun Station hit like a ton of bricks, I will always remember that feeling.
3 месяца назад
Watching this video and remembering the feelings I had when I first visited the sun station made me shed a tear The realization that the nomai failed in their plans and that it was all happening due to the universe collapsing made it all way more profund and "meaningful" in a way, it was to me the most impactful moment in the game and the one that I wish the most I could have the chance to relive it one more time
It’s funny how different people’s experiences can be with this game. My Sun Station experience was very different because I visited it VERY early on in my play through. Think I did a few visits to Attlerock, a quick visit with Gabbro, and got eaten by an Angler fish in Dark Bramble before deciding to land on the sun station. I knew that it must be possible to land there because if not, why put it there? (Didn’t know anything about teleportation in this game.) Gameplay wise it is still one of my favorite experiences with this game. It felt like I was in that scene from Interstellar. The first I learned about the purpose of the sun station was on the sun station itself. But I wasn’t quite ready to accept that I couldn’t save everyone. As I discovered more, I had this idea that maybe the purpose of the ATP was to protect everyone from the supernova and since there was a powerful warp code in there, it would be used with the vessel to bring everyone to a new star system. It only really hit me that it wouldn’t be possible to save everyone when I spoke to Chert for the first time and he told me to zoom in to see what I had previously thought were little star clusters were actually other stars going supernova and that the whole universe was ending. Once I learned it was on a universal scale, I pretty much shifted all my focus to the eye of the universe. It’s just funny reaching sort of the same conclusion in a very different way. I can’t help but wonder if the sun station reveal would have been better in a later part of the game though like this vid describes.
This was one of the best moments for me either, felt the same way, lost my ground when discovered that nothing could stop the ending of the universe...damn this game hits so different than anything I ever played, i Liked what you said about this game turning to be different than what we expected, because for one moment I dind´t knew very much about it, only that had really nice puzzles to solve...but man at the end I felt that I just experienced something ver very unique and profound...one of the best games ever
This moment is so incredible because it's where the real theme is finally revealed. You weren't playing a game about saving the universe. You were playing a game about accepting death. P.s. Someone made a great video about the music of outer wilds, borrowing the title from a real-world band. It is the most resonant essentialization of the meaning of outer wilds I could ever give. "The universe is a beautiful place, and I am no longer afraid to die."
My Sun Station experience was different but it indeed was a great moment and high impact in the experience. I didn't know yet that the Sun Station's purpose was to cause a Supernova so it was a big revelation to me when I got there. Actually after watching many playthroughs, there were many subtle clues that I can't believe I didn't pick up during my playthrough :D It was a roller coaster of emotions because I first learned that it tried to cause a Supernova, so I thought "oh so they're causing all of this loop?". Then I learned it didn't work so I thought "Oh so they're not the cause? What the hell is going on then?". Then I learned the Sun is naturally dying XD Opening the door in the Sun Station was so cool, awesome and terrifying :)
One of the most brilliant things about Outer Wilds is that the true open world nature of it can leave completely different contexts and emotional impacts for the same events. I discovered that the Nomai were even interacting with the Sun so late, and that the time loop stuff was an emergency measure so early, that I had no belief that I could ever stop the Sun from exploding. To me, visiting it was just part of a pilgrimage to learn everything I could about our ancient caretakers, with the hope that I could one day complete their quest for the Eye. When I eventually got to the station and confirmed what I had suspected, I simply sat next to our skeletal friend and let the Sun consume me.
Okay, there's the usual Outer Wilds video essay "wow, this is really high effort", and then there's this... holy SHIT this is high effort. I assume you used a freecam mod to get these camera angles. Regardless, your approach to representing this game in your videos is really unique and I very much enjoyed it. My personal experience with the Sun Station wasn't great. I had to look up a hint on how to get to the teleporter (I had been banging my head against that wall for a while, and after 20+ attempts at landing on it manually I concluded that it was simply not the intended method), and by that time I had discovered practically everything besides the Ash Twin Project and the sixth location, so I already knew that it was just the natural death of the Universe. Still, the music coming in as the door opens gave me chills, and discovering the pain that the Nomai went through after their failure hit pretty hard, but that was kinda overshadowed by the revelation that the station was meant to make the sun go supernova. You see, the Nomai text elsewhere in the solar system doesn't _explicitly_ state what the purpose of the Sun Station is, though it heavily hints at it (except inside the ATP, which as mentioned before I hadn't gotten to yet), so I was kinda lagging behind on that realisation. It probably didn't help that, as already discussed, I _knew_ that the Sun Station couldn't possibly be causing all this. That plot twist, even though it was immediately subverted by the information that it didn't work, had a different impact on me than it did on most people I've seen play through the game. It made me ask "Why _did_ they want to create a supernova so bad?", which kickstarted the process of connecting the dots regarding the ATP. The bottom line is: while the Sun Station moment was _slightly_ ruined for me by the circumstances of its discovery, it became a major part of the reason that entering the ATP for the first time ended up being my favourite moment in the game. I just hadn't quite figured out what the ATP was all about before finding the Sun Station, even though I had technically found most of the information about it. It's one thing to read the information on the walls, but it's another to actually _understand_ it. The Sun Station gave me the emotional connection to engage with the mystery on a different level, to rethink its relevance to my situation. By the time I entered the ATP, I had done it. I had figured what started the time loop, I had figured out why the machinery for it even exists, and perhaps most importantly, I had figured out why there is a warp core in there and where I shall take it. I had figured out the big mystery at the literal core of the game, and the final, most damning piece of evidence was right in front of me (a literal wall of text lmao), as well as the means to stick it up to the Universe. The end of the Universe isn't the end, there's more to explore here.
I'm so glad you've enjoyed Outer Wilds so much that you're making videos on it (these types of videos are the only things that give us Outer Wilds players any respite since we can't play the game fresh again) and I love that you're even using music from the DLC. I hope you play/enjoy that too, since it opens a whole new perspective on the story.
And specifically video game story telling. Outer Wilds is probably the perfect example of how video games can tell stories in novel ways. The reveals are made all the better by the way the player discovers them themselves.
When you uploaded this video i instantly went to play outer wilds. Just finished it recently and came back to watch. My experience with the sun station was very different since I figured out how to get to ash twin project and the vessel a while before I got to sun station so sun station was just like a "lets go see what's going on there" to me and although the realization that it wasn't the nomai's fault was nice I didn't think too much of it because at that point I was too focused on getting to the eye since I had all the pieces
Awesome video, very much described my experiences. I'd like to add that I also felt utterly haunted by the mural on the wall where the Nomai is holding a scale with the eye of the universe on one side... and the sun in the other.
Reaching the sun station was a rollercoaster of emotions for me. First shock that the nomai tried to explode the sun, anger that they fired it. Then confusion, and sorrow for the nomai and their failure. Lastly uncertainty on how to move forward. All of this in a span of less than 5 minutes.
To me it's not only a shift in goals, but a shift in story framework. For myself and I'm guessing many players, the moments building up to this discovery are full of thoughts of sci-fi adventures, weird technology, and aliens. But this moment is what really caused me to shift and think about the existences as a whole, the existential implications of what was attempted, and in general provides an incredibly strong tonal bridge to the metaphysical and philosophical questions the game ultimately becomes about
In a year where Elden Ring released and became my favorite game of all time, topping Ocarina of Time, it says something that this game makes me rethink that opinion once again, only half a year later.
It's with the Sun station that you realized this game never was about saving the world ; it was about accepting that it was the end. I felt something similar in Dark Souls III when I found the Firekeeper's eyes : it was never about saving the dying Fire ; it was about putting an end to the cycle.
For me it was the moment in the Probe Tracking Module. You see one probe launch, and then you see ALL OF THEM. The sheer weight of time, friends. It felt horrible and awesome.
My favorite moment in the game was in the quantum rocks in the red planet caves and when you switched off the lights and got teleported, I literally jumped out of my seat.
The fact that it takes a good deal of time to REACH the sun station, and it is consumed half way through the loop, is also a nice touch. By the time you have the revelation that reaching the sun station will NOT break the cycle, there's not really enough time to do anything but wait, and die there. You just sort of let it sink in, and although you've died many times before, this one feels different.
Getting to the Sun Station was such an emotional gut punch. I was determined to get the sun to stop exploding and save everyone, but you can't. This was my last stop before the ATP, and I had to just stop and think about what happened.
The Sun station was actually one of the first places I went, getting there on (I believe) my third or fourth loop. I had no idea what it was meant to do, I just saw the station orbiting the sun and was super interested, so I flew there manually (I was already fairly used to the controls because they're fairly reminiscent of Elite: Dangerous and spacewalks in Kerbal Space Program, which I've played a good amount of.) It's always really interesting to me seeing people talk about their theories about and experiences with the sun station they had throughout the game because for me it was knowledge I took for granted. On the other hand, when visiting the sun station, I didn't realize the sun was dying naturally. I learned the sun station wasn't causing it, but honestly, I'd never even thought that it was. So I didn't really get that contextual shift - I just assumed that I hadn't found out what was causing the sun to explode yet and that I would find it eventually. When I did get that moment was talking to Chert and he pointed out that *all* the stars are going out, I started to watch them on my signalscope, and the two of us began to completely freak out upon realizing that it was the end of the universe. It always makes me sad that so many people miss that, with most playthoughs I watch not even realizing you can zoom in until gathering chert's instrument at the end of the game, and chert generally being underdiscussed.
Outer Wilds is one of 3 games I consider literally perfect. It hit all the right notes, and though it's non linear, there is still a weird sense of progression. Learning the sun station wasn't actually causing the supernova was one of those moments in gaming that makes your gut drop. You thought you had some answers but it left even more to be asked when you discovered the context of them. "This star has reached the natural end of its life cycle"
Totally agree. Despite the nonlinear format it does such a spectacular job of creating a story for the player no matter what order they’re going in. It’s just… it’s so well made. What are the other two games you consider perfect?
Great video! I feel you should have also mentioned the visual details of the scene. For me, how the sun watching room looked played at least as big a part as the actual story revelation itself, in how amazing that section was.
Ratatoskr keeps saying that he's gonna isolate his audience by discussing games they don't like, but he just keeps talking about my all-time favorite games.
I didn't have this reaction when I reached the Sun Station. I had assumed that the sun was exploding on its own because I noticed that the stars were also exploding as time went on, and I believe one of the other explorers started having a mental breakdown when he realized that the sun was near the end of its lifespan, so I already got the idea that it was natural. The real reaction I had was more like "they tried to kickstart a supernova?... wait... so THAT'S why the time loop happens! Their process worked!" it was more of an epiphany than a "change in goals" especially since my goals were more about finding the eye of the universe at that point, which actually brings me to my "sun station" moment: To me, the most impactful moment (besides reaching the eye of course) was when I found the module at the bottom of Giant's Deep. Watching the oil sculptures explaining that after many attempts they actually found the coordinates of the eye left me thinking "oh my god... they did it... they actually found it... their work is not in vain" and then the sudden realization that I need to go there was the true shift in goals for me.
Personally I never got to the assumption I could prevent the sun from exploding, but learning for certain I couldn't do anything about it definitely let me ruminate how dire the situation really was. Surely one of the most inpactful moments in outer wilds ❤️
Strangely enough the sun station was one of the first places I went. I saw it and was determined to try to rendezvous with it and I ended up getting into it on like my second loop. It was so early in the game that I didn't realise what I was even looking at.
I feel kinda bad I visited the sun station, before knowing what the hell it was. playing with a friend who’s also blind, we see the sun station, bets me I can’t land it. then we find basically the conclusion to a story thread without knowing the beginning the screams while trying to land it made up for it tho lol
I got to the Vessel and saw the modern Nomai logs and noticed that the stars were going out well before I got to the Sun Station. As such, it wasn’t really a revelation for me, though it was still a powerful moment... For me, this game’s ending will always be the best moment, followed by the DLC’s “ending”, followed by the moment you splash down inside the Stranger for the first time.
I didn't experience that moment, because early on in my playthrough I hung out with chert later on in a loop, so I knew the whole time that the supernova was most likely nateral, and that the sun, and all the other stars were just really really old, and it never even crossed my mind that the supernova could have been purposeful, even when I read about them trying to cause it to go supernova I didn't really think that that was what was going on
for me the sun station was literally the last place I went because I couldnt solve the puzzle. Immediatly changed my motive from: lets stop the time loop and save the solar system to: Lets see the eye of the universe because hell, what else is there left to do.
I never experienced this moment. I was never trying to stop the sun from exploding. I was so engrossed in exploring and understanding that i never had any other goal, so for me this revelation changed nothing
my favorit moment in Outer Wilds was when I found out what that giant kannon in Giant's Deep was and why its always shooting in a different direction at every new loop
I didn't feel the same as everyone else, I never had this realization at this moment, because when I reached the sun station, I believe the sun was going supernova because of something else, and the station was registering this as a "natural end". Seeing the interloper fall into the sun shortly before it explodes made me suspect the interloper, only to get confused after investigating it. I searched for some Nomai trinket to save the system for a while after that, only to realize it couldn't be done after looking into my ship logs.
A similar moment for me (and a lot of ppl) is the realisation you have to sacrifice yourself in the flames in the DLC to cross the bridge and open the vault. Very uncomfortable revelation
Excellent video! I don't know whether you're looking for suggestions for future episodes, but if you've played Rain World, there are a few incredible moments from that game that I'd love to see an analysis of in this style
one thing that stands out about the game is that it's really dark. it's not bad when playing on your own, but on video it makes it a bit tough to make out what is going on in a lot of scenes.
Игры
![What happens when you call a Nomai shuttle home after supernova? [Outer Wilds]](/img/1.gif)
Outer wilds is the greatest experience I’ve had in gaming. I wish I could swipe my memory and experience it all over again.
Or at least hope for a Outer Wilds Part II, that is as good as the first one :b
The best you can do is get other people to play it so you can get a contact high from them discovering it.
It truly is.
A triumph in gaming. It will hopefuly be studied by curent and future generations of game developers as one of gaming's finest experiences.
And the fact this game started as a master's thesis is the ultimate flex.
@@chichirocket I tell everyone about it with the highest praise and no one listens or tries :((
I haven’t played it but I believe that there is a game somewhat like outer wilds called return of the obra dinn. I’m pretty sure there are still a lot of differences but it will somewhat, from what I heard, scratch the outer wilds itch.
I remember a certain emptiness when I arrived at the Sun Station. The only thing I had left was it and the ATP. And I read the message that said “The sun’s life cycle is ending in 13 minutes.” And I went, “wait, but that’s…” I decided to wait and let the sun consume me. And just ruminate on it.
My favourite moment in the game is actually the Interloper, but this was incredible.
Same. The sun station just seemed so dead and sterile. It had a certain sense of uneasiness to it.
The Interloper is also my favorite moment of the game as well. I enjoy the little detail that the bones of the two nomai in the core are all broken, since they died from the explosion instead of the ghost matter
I really love the interloper too. I think the interloper and the sun station complement themselves really well because as you explore and piece the game together, you start thinking the Nomai's hubris is what destroyed them but these two places show the opposite. Even if the sun station worked they wouldn't self destruct because of the contingency plans. You could have even blamed them for the sun going supernova now at some point in your explorations, but the sun station and other stuff shows it's not. No, everything that happened to them and to the Hearthians is just chance. It's sad because that's also a thing in real life too, doesn't matter if you do everything right, chance might take it all away...
This game has so many great moments. The first landing on the quantum moon for example was a very special moment for me. Exploring the Interloper was creepy and tense. But for some Reason the sun station is my favorite moment as well. Maybe it is because it is that hard to reach and once youre finally there you really arent expecting to find these very informations. Oh and the first arrival at the ATP is special becaue you got many glimpses of this obscure and ancient room througout the game. First you have no idea how to reach it (I initially thought it wasnt a real location at all and all you could experience were these simulations on the different planets). Great game overall. In the Top 2 all time games for me :D
I want to draw attention to two underrated moments, the Nomai Grave and the Old Settlement's associated writings specifically.
The Old Settlement writings are such a sucker punch of emotions, you get
- "The pain of your absence is sharp and haunting, and I would give anything not to know it; anything but never knowing you at all (which would be worse)."
Followed up with
- "We can hear the other escape pods’ distress signals, which gives me hope. Foli, are you still here? I am unsure how to survive in this place without you. (I am unsure how to be me without you.)"
About two Nomai you never hear the names of before or after this point in writings, meaning there's only one possibility of what happened to them in the crash, and it fills you with this visceral feeling of loss, and then you stumble upon one more
- "Is the hardest part of this tragedy not knowing who we may have lost? Or will the hardest part come later, when we learn? (Be well, Aunt Melorae...)"
Which is still a heavily emotional line, but assuming the player has heard of Meloare before, (she's very prominent on the ember twin), there'll be this relief that you can almost feel.
The Nomai grave, of course, makes these lines all the more emotional, with a chilling display of Nomai corpses, huddled, drifting, and abandoned by time, floating around a bramble seed pod, far too small for anyone to fit through. So close, yet so far away from safety.
Are either of these the best scene? No, maybe not. But they certainly strengthen that of the Interloper's core, where you're reminded, in a single recording, that everyone you may have grown attached to through texts and recordings is dead. The Nomai are all dead (at least in this system.) They have been for thousands of years. Most people get attached to their stories, but they are gone. Reality can be cruel sometimes, but the Nomai never gave up.
The saddest part is, with how dense the ghost matter was, there was maybe enough energy there to power the ash twin project. If they had the foreknowledge, or just a little more time.
I did the same thing. It felt appropriate.
inducing amnesia upon myself by hitting my head on the wall several times in order to experience this game as anew once again
I just finished Outer Wilds for the first time a couple days ago, and it was magical.
I ended up meeting Chert on Ember Twin after exploring the Sun Station near the end of the loop, and getting clued in that this is the natural end of *every* star system. That's where it hit for me.
I actually found out in one of my very first loops because I decided to follow the satellite that gets sent out in the beginning of each loop and saw all the stars disappearing before the supernova got me at the end, kinda hurt the emotional impact of discovering it later ig XD
Talk to chert more, he has a lot to say through out the loop.
This is certainly the biggest tonal shift in the narrative in Outer Wilds. It's not about preventing an accident or turning off a tool of greed or carelessness. It's about coming to terms with the end of things. It says "all things will die, and so will you", and asks simply "what are you going to do about it?"
But, for me, the greatest emotional gut punch of Outer Wilds has to be the Nomai skeletons floating around their shuttle in the Dark Bramble, looking at the portal, at the signal that was supposed to be guiding them to safety, that led them this far, but that turned out to be a dead end. Some of the skeletons are hugging. Some are holding hands. They died together, in the hope that their company could ease the passing of those around them. That's an emotional gut punch.
This moment really strikes at the core of Outer Wilds' themes, in a wonderful way. In fact, it's essentially a direct mirror to the ending: You stand before the sun and realize how inevitable the end is, and it fills you with dread and emptiness, a feeling you'll likely carry with you throughout the rest of your time with the game. Until you finally reach the ending, and are once again confronted by how powerless you are to stop the universe from ending. But this time, you've come to terms with it. The knowledge that there simply isn't a way to save everyone has been with you for a while now, and at the end of it all you're finally ready to just accept and make peace with that fact. Instead of raging against the dying of the light, cursing your lot and falling into despair, you simply take one last moment to cherish the memories you've made, all the people you've met, and just let go. Become the Phoenix whose dying flames nourish new life.
I want to add, it's wonderful to see another with such exquisite taste as to be both a Wheel of Time and Outer Wilds fan.
The ending really was bittersweet. It's not an end, it's a beginning. Just not for you.
Not that I noticed that the first time, I was too busy being scared from all the quantum nonsense at the end. It was only after my second go with the interloper that I got the intended feeling.
YEEES, this moment really pulls the rug from under you and represents such a drastic shift of your goal. I freaking love the revelation that it's simply the course of nature. It could have been similarly dramatic if the sun station did work but it wasn't possible to turn it off. It would still be a harrowing moment. But the fact that the station wasn't the big villain to begin with and suddenly there's nothing left to blame for your demise is so much more thought provoking. It left me feeling empty for a short while afterwards.
Gosh, I fucking love this game!
BTW your spoiling us with your current video output!
I remember watching this video a while back before knowing about Outer Wilds. The narrative intrigue of the sun exploding, the sun station, and space exploration of a fully functioning solar system are what sold me on the game, even though one of the major plot points had already been spoiled for me. Finally coming back months later, after 100%ing the base game and dlc, finding all but 5 scraps of data for the ship log, and figuring out how to reach the true ending without needing Google once for my journey, I can say this was quite the adventure. For me the moment that really hit me the hardest in my playthrough (more major spoilers btw for any new players listening) was finally meeting the prisoner in the dlc. Revealing to him the history of everything that happens in the entire game up until that moment, events that stretch over a period of 280,000 years, epic music playing in the background, to show him that after all this time being trapped in the simulation, his faith in the Eye was not in vain... that was awesome. He gave all of us a chance for the universe to be born anew, by using the Eye's power of _quantum energy,_ or maybe the Eye is supposed to represent God? Idk. So much shit I had to go through to reach that point, the dream world is terrifying lmao. Outer Wilds' soundtrack was also incredible
After realizing this I just stood there, and waited for the sun to engulf the station. It was too late, there was nothing left to do. There was nowhere to go after this since there was nothing that could be done. The realization turned to hope when I got hints that maybe there is more, the interloper is there, they wanted to investigate that too, maybe there is a solution there.
Imagine my utter devastation when I went to the interloper and found out that this was yet another dead end, but this time for their entire species. But I was still there, I could complete what they did not have time for.
This is the best moment in any game ever, and the best thing is everyone realises at a different time and reacts differently. What other videogame tricks you into thinking you can save the world for so long and then tasks you with accepting the death of the universe? And it could ONLY be achieved in a videogame.
My heart swells when I see people recognizing this game as the true masterpiece it is. The two Outer Wilds videos you’ve made so far and fantastic, and if you have more to say about this game I’m definitely here to listen!
My favorite moment was when I landed on the island where the travellers is on Giants Deep. I remember seeing the cyclone approaching, and I thought i was going to die. Then, it carried the island into arbit. At the apex, music started playing and I could see all the planet. The moment was so calm and tranquil until the island started plummeting downwards.
I'll probably always believe the ending of Outer Wilds is the most impactful moment in any video game. You know what's coming, there's no pretense anymore. And even then it manages to blow you out of the water. A close second is showing the Prisoner our story, and then probably Solanum. While the Sun Station IS fantastic, I think it's also one of the few parts of the game that could be considered frustrating to get to using either route. I also think Outer Wilds was always more about the people you meet and befriend rather than the greater mystery, even before the reveal. Fantastic video Ratatoskr, I can't wait to watch you continue this series.
I still haven't finished the DLC its so goddamn scary. Although I think I'm already done with the scariest bit and now it's just having the will to go forward and finish the damn thing.
Yeah sharing the history of events in the entire game with the prisoner was my favorite moment, that shit hit hard
That moment when i finally made it to the sun station thinking....okay now i can finally halt the source... it's happening i am at the end..racing against time to finally make it there and then read these dialogues and i just let the loop consume me and for 3 more subsequent loops i just wander around with no reason.... made me feel things i have never felt before playing any game
I had the exact same experience with the sun station in my playthrough, and it's something that's stuck with me ever since. Honestly amazing they were able to set up such an incredible and emotional narrative beat in a nonlinear exploration-driven game like this.
Incredible moment. As I was reading through the information in the sun station i remember my head spinning trying to reformat everything I had expected and was trying to achieve. Things like the Nomai unknowingly having injured the sun.
I think that my favourite reaction to the Sun Station I ever saw was in Nerd Cubed's playthrough of Outer wilds.
The emotion behind "Oh...its just dying..." as he stares out of that viewport.... Its the curiosity of a mystery solved, but man if it doesn't sound so sad too...
Sun Station is one of the moments in Outer Wilds that I crack and tear up (one of many, the game is good for those).
hes not wrong this and the interloper were the 2 most emotional moments in any form of media I've ever experienced. any time I renember these moments i always start tearing up or crying. Theres it wasnt just that you realize the sun is dying but also that you realize everything the nomai had worked for, all the mining, all the developent, all the cities, the probe, the ash twin project, the black hole forge, everything was for nothing and they failed. at this point I had already explored the interloper and when I read that they heard of a comment with strange readings, that was it. its all over. no more nomai. the story was incomplete, but I had just found were the end of the nomai's story was. And reading, I could feel the sense of loss and sadness in the text. the whole sequence is insane and jumping across the station before that fills you with adrenaline as the music picks up and you can see how fast youre rotating and moving. its an astonishing scene
on my "as soon as i finish outer wilds" playlist xD
I think this ties into the melancholy of the universe itself. It seems that the universe all encompassing is not going to last forever, and the Nomai knew. The heat death of everything, is perhaps then end. But in the ending of this game you get that glimmer of hope. That perhaps this is just a new beginning. That realization is something I might never forget. So while the universe evokes a sense of melancholy in me, it does not make me sad anymore. "It is moments like this that makes you happy you stopped and smelled the pine trees".
I managed to land on the Sun Station about halfway through my adventure and hadn't yet realized its purpose. But everything clicked in that moment anyway, and it was both an aha and a very somber moment all at once. Brilliant game. I love it.
To me, it was thinking what was going to happen if I died with the black hole core in hand. Getting to the Ash Twin's center was the last place I got into, and before I got there I had already pieced together everything and how to get to the eye, I just needed to get in and confirm my suspicions or be proven wrong. But as I tried piecing together this last puzzle I couldn't stop worrying about if I died with the core in hand. Would the game delete itself or something? Feeling this made me ecstatic, no game surprises me anymore, it's a rare occurrence and this was the biggest one to me. I was nervous trying not to mess up after getting in that I got eaten by an anglerfish and found out what happens, hahaha...
That was probably my favourite part too, yeah. That's exactly how my thought process went. I actually got to the ending first try, though.
Good job lmao
Between your previous outer wilds video and this one, I tried it out through xbox game pass. I have to say that this game will stick with me for a very long time. Figuring out the one thing you need to do to get to a certain place was always so satisfying (like going to the sun station and the quantum moon). Definitely one of the best games I have played in a while.
So excited to see you continue covering this. I cannot wait to hear your thoughts on Echoes of the Eye and how much that adds to the experience
This game has so many good moments like that. After watching so many playthroughs it is so crazy how many things we miss when we don’t have a focus on it. Like the entirety of the Quantum Moon. Most people don’t notice it until nomai texts point it out. One of the coolest things to realize was when you talked to chert and realized other suns are going supernova and that by the end of the loop there are way less stars than before and yet because we don’t focus on it we don’t notice it.
Honestly, I'm very happy you went from Elden Ring to Outer Wilds because:
1. It was the first game I played after ER that gave me that jaw-drop effect.
2.They are both very reserved narritively, and you can get stuck if not inspired to push on, meaning lots of hidden lore/moments that not everyone catches.
Has someone with a reading disability I had a totally different experience. I played with a friend explaining to me key texts. At this time my purpose wasn't to stop the supernova I've already came the fact that it was natural and bound to happen. My purpose It was to get to the eye of the Universe. The sun station was one of my last destination and I learned about its function while visiting it. And it struck me! The Ash Twin project, the probe cannon! It was at this moment that I've understood their purposes and how they worked. For me it wasn't the moment that I realized that eventually, everything will end. But the moment I've understood everything that surrounded me.
My experience with the sun station was quite similar! I had already had the realization much earlier when I talked to Chert throughout one of the loops (which is also an amazing and heart-wrenching moment) and the sun station was more of a realization moment for me.
Like “oh! This is how it all fits together! The supernova powers the loop and that’s why I’m in this situation!”
It’s so so cool how everyone can have such different storytelling experiences from this game.
The music, the scenery, the view, the realization.
I had chills, when I entered the Sun Station and it was one of the most memorable moments in video games that I ever had.
I was blown away by both facts, that Nomai wanted to explode sun AND that they failed.
After reading all of this, I just watched through the glass, how sun becomes bigger and consumes the Station. I've been sitting like 15 minutes in woah state after this.
My favorite hour in outerwilds is the last one. However, the shock of reaching the sunstation and having my laundry list of tasks to do to save the world explode as I realized it was all hopeless was an experience I've never had before in gaming. Same with the end of out wilds actually it does that a lot.
This game is still my very favorite one. Such a good game
Glad to see someone talking about this game further than “go play it”. I already did and I want to think about it some more.
Currently watching one of my friends play through this masterpiece, and he’s already started to put together that it’s the universe that’s dying, not just his star, based on looking at the sky and seeing so many stars dying as well. Can’t wait to see how he incorporates the Nomai’s plans to make the sun go supernova, and if he writes it off, or if he thinks they somehow caused a chain reaction or something
I teared up as you read the sun station stuff, that was probably one of the most beautiful moments in all of video games for me and just remembering that revelation hit hard. After going through the rest of the game after that, it actually changed my perspective on death, truly an amazing work of art. When I tell people about why I love this game I can't even tell them that it changed my perspective on death, just on an aspect of things, all because I feel like that would spoil it.
Great point
This is a tiny thing, but the Sun Station music doesn't play *until* you kick the door open. The entrance of the music at that moment is one of the things that makes the sun station such a fantastic moment, so I just had to say.
The moment this hit me was actually when I noticed the stars going off en masse in the sky, way before I entered the sun station.
I connected the dots, it wasn't our solar system that was special, it was all of them going supernova, the grim truth dawned on me, it immediately made sense since the nomai were gone after all, if they had succeeded in what they were trying to do, we wouldn't have lived to see any of it in the first place.
I have watched like 6 friends play the game, unguided. None of them gave ANY thought to the sun station which made me a little bit sad. But man did they love the game overall.
The line of text "Should we build the Sun Statin to power the Ash Twin Project?" was the first time my heart skipped a beat playing this wonderful game, the first time I glimpsed the scope of what Mobius have created. But not the last. And I agree, the moment of realisation on the Sun Station hit like a ton of bricks, I will always remember that feeling.
Watching this video and remembering the feelings I had when I first visited the sun station made me shed a tear
The realization that the nomai failed in their plans and that it was all happening due to the universe collapsing made it all way more profund and "meaningful" in a way, it was to me the most impactful moment in the game and the one that I wish the most I could have the chance to relive it one more time
I hated this game, but really wanted to like it. So in other words I really appreciate others playing it and explaining what makes it special.
Same. I also saw this ‘rug pull’ moment coming a mile off which is perhaps why it just felt a little bit pointless to play after that.
It’s funny how different people’s experiences can be with this game. My Sun Station experience was very different because I visited it VERY early on in my play through. Think I did a few visits to Attlerock, a quick visit with Gabbro, and got eaten by an Angler fish in Dark Bramble before deciding to land on the sun station. I knew that it must be possible to land there because if not, why put it there? (Didn’t know anything about teleportation in this game.) Gameplay wise it is still one of my favorite experiences with this game. It felt like I was in that scene from Interstellar. The first I learned about the purpose of the sun station was on the sun station itself. But I wasn’t quite ready to accept that I couldn’t save everyone. As I discovered more, I had this idea that maybe the purpose of the ATP was to protect everyone from the supernova and since there was a powerful warp code in there, it would be used with the vessel to bring everyone to a new star system. It only really hit me that it wouldn’t be possible to save everyone when I spoke to Chert for the first time and he told me to zoom in to see what I had previously thought were little star clusters were actually other stars going supernova and that the whole universe was ending. Once I learned it was on a universal scale, I pretty much shifted all my focus to the eye of the universe. It’s just funny reaching sort of the same conclusion in a very different way. I can’t help but wonder if the sun station reveal would have been better in a later part of the game though like this vid describes.
This was one of the best moments for me either, felt the same way, lost my ground when discovered that nothing could stop the ending of the universe...damn this game hits so different than anything I ever played, i Liked what you said about this game turning to be different than what we expected, because for one moment I dind´t knew very much about it, only that had really nice puzzles to solve...but man at the end I felt that I just experienced something ver very unique and profound...one of the best games ever
This moment is so incredible because it's where the real theme is finally revealed. You weren't playing a game about saving the universe. You were playing a game about accepting death.
P.s. Someone made a great video about the music of outer wilds, borrowing the title from a real-world band. It is the most resonant essentialization of the meaning of outer wilds I could ever give. "The universe is a beautiful place, and I am no longer afraid to die."
Keep the content coming, the best game ever can’t have enough attention
My Sun Station experience was different but it indeed was a great moment and high impact in the experience.
I didn't know yet that the Sun Station's purpose was to cause a Supernova so it was a big revelation to me when I got there.
Actually after watching many playthroughs, there were many subtle clues that I can't believe I didn't pick up during my playthrough :D
It was a roller coaster of emotions because I first learned that it tried to cause a Supernova, so I thought "oh so they're causing all of this loop?". Then I learned it didn't work so I thought "Oh so they're not the cause? What the hell is going on then?". Then I learned the Sun is naturally dying XD
Opening the door in the Sun Station was so cool, awesome and terrifying :)
Cant wait for the echoes of the eye video
One of the most brilliant things about Outer Wilds is that the true open world nature of it can leave completely different contexts and emotional impacts for the same events.
I discovered that the Nomai were even interacting with the Sun so late, and that the time loop stuff was an emergency measure so early, that I had no belief that I could ever stop the Sun from exploding. To me, visiting it was just part of a pilgrimage to learn everything I could about our ancient caretakers, with the hope that I could one day complete their quest for the Eye.
When I eventually got to the station and confirmed what I had suspected, I simply sat next to our skeletal friend and let the Sun consume me.
Okay, there's the usual Outer Wilds video essay "wow, this is really high effort", and then there's this... holy SHIT this is high effort. I assume you used a freecam mod to get these camera angles. Regardless, your approach to representing this game in your videos is really unique and I very much enjoyed it.
My personal experience with the Sun Station wasn't great. I had to look up a hint on how to get to the teleporter (I had been banging my head against that wall for a while, and after 20+ attempts at landing on it manually I concluded that it was simply not the intended method), and by that time I had discovered practically everything besides the Ash Twin Project and the sixth location, so I already knew that it was just the natural death of the Universe.
Still, the music coming in as the door opens gave me chills, and discovering the pain that the Nomai went through after their failure hit pretty hard, but that was kinda overshadowed by the revelation that the station was meant to make the sun go supernova. You see, the Nomai text elsewhere in the solar system doesn't _explicitly_ state what the purpose of the Sun Station is, though it heavily hints at it (except inside the ATP, which as mentioned before I hadn't gotten to yet), so I was kinda lagging behind on that realisation. It probably didn't help that, as already discussed, I _knew_ that the Sun Station couldn't possibly be causing all this.
That plot twist, even though it was immediately subverted by the information that it didn't work, had a different impact on me than it did on most people I've seen play through the game. It made me ask "Why _did_ they want to create a supernova so bad?", which kickstarted the process of connecting the dots regarding the ATP. The bottom line is: while the Sun Station moment was _slightly_ ruined for me by the circumstances of its discovery, it became a major part of the reason that entering the ATP for the first time ended up being my favourite moment in the game.
I just hadn't quite figured out what the ATP was all about before finding the Sun Station, even though I had technically found most of the information about it. It's one thing to read the information on the walls, but it's another to actually _understand_ it. The Sun Station gave me the emotional connection to engage with the mystery on a different level, to rethink its relevance to my situation. By the time I entered the ATP, I had done it. I had figured what started the time loop, I had figured out why the machinery for it even exists, and perhaps most importantly, I had figured out why there is a warp core in there and where I shall take it. I had figured out the big mystery at the literal core of the game, and the final, most damning piece of evidence was right in front of me (a literal wall of text lmao), as well as the means to stick it up to the Universe. The end of the Universe isn't the end, there's more to explore here.
I'm so glad you've enjoyed Outer Wilds so much that you're making videos on it (these types of videos are the only things that give us Outer Wilds players any respite since we can't play the game fresh again) and I love that you're even using music from the DLC. I hope you play/enjoy that too, since it opens a whole new perspective on the story.
I love that Outer Wilds has slowly been picking up steam over the last year or so. Best game I have ever played.
thanks to the DLC, Switch port, and Game pass additions.. its a travesty it took this long and that many resources to make people notice it
I hope folks learn the lessons Outer Wilds teaches regarding storytelling.
And specifically video game story telling. Outer Wilds is probably the perfect example of how video games can tell stories in novel ways. The reveals are made all the better by the way the player discovers them themselves.
When you uploaded this video i instantly went to play outer wilds. Just finished it recently and came back to watch. My experience with the sun station was very different since I figured out how to get to ash twin project and the vessel a while before I got to sun station so sun station was just like a "lets go see what's going on there" to me and although the realization that it wasn't the nomai's fault was nice I didn't think too much of it because at that point I was too focused on getting to the eye since I had all the pieces
Awesome video, very much described my experiences. I'd like to add that I also felt utterly haunted by the mural on the wall where the Nomai is holding a scale with the eye of the universe on one side... and the sun in the other.
Truely one of the greatest anime betrayals of all time.
Reaching the sun station was a rollercoaster of emotions for me. First shock that the nomai tried to explode the sun, anger that they fired it. Then confusion, and sorrow for the nomai and their failure. Lastly uncertainty on how to move forward. All of this in a span of less than 5 minutes.
To me it's not only a shift in goals, but a shift in story framework. For myself and I'm guessing many players, the moments building up to this discovery are full of thoughts of sci-fi adventures, weird technology, and aliens. But this moment is what really caused me to shift and think about the existences as a whole, the existential implications of what was attempted, and in general provides an incredibly strong tonal bridge to the metaphysical and philosophical questions the game ultimately becomes about
In a year where Elden Ring released and became my favorite game of all time, topping Ocarina of Time, it says something that this game makes me rethink that opinion once again, only half a year later.
"Filled with fear and wonder, you jump across."
Yeah, the first time I tried that I fell into the sun. :v
It's with the Sun station that you realized this game never was about saving the world ; it was about accepting that it was the end. I felt something similar in Dark Souls III when I found the Firekeeper's eyes : it was never about saving the dying Fire ; it was about putting an end to the cycle.
For me it was the moment in the Probe Tracking Module. You see one probe launch, and then
you see ALL OF THEM.
The sheer weight of time, friends.
It felt horrible and awesome.
My favorite moment in the game was in the quantum rocks in the red planet caves and when you switched off the lights and got teleported, I literally jumped out of my seat.
The fact that it takes a good deal of time to REACH the sun station, and it is consumed half way through the loop, is also a nice touch. By the time you have the revelation that reaching the sun station will NOT break the cycle, there's not really enough time to do anything but wait, and die there. You just sort of let it sink in, and although you've died many times before, this one feels different.
For me reading that no command for 280,000 years hit like a truck. So much melancholy and sorrow in that moment.
Getting to the Sun Station was such an emotional gut punch. I was determined to get the sun to stop exploding and save everyone, but you can't. This was my last stop before the ATP, and I had to just stop and think about what happened.
The Sun station was actually one of the first places I went, getting there on (I believe) my third or fourth loop. I had no idea what it was meant to do, I just saw the station orbiting the sun and was super interested, so I flew there manually (I was already fairly used to the controls because they're fairly reminiscent of Elite: Dangerous and spacewalks in Kerbal Space Program, which I've played a good amount of.) It's always really interesting to me seeing people talk about their theories about and experiences with the sun station they had throughout the game because for me it was knowledge I took for granted.
On the other hand, when visiting the sun station, I didn't realize the sun was dying naturally. I learned the sun station wasn't causing it, but honestly, I'd never even thought that it was. So I didn't really get that contextual shift - I just assumed that I hadn't found out what was causing the sun to explode yet and that I would find it eventually. When I did get that moment was talking to Chert and he pointed out that *all* the stars are going out, I started to watch them on my signalscope, and the two of us began to completely freak out upon realizing that it was the end of the universe. It always makes me sad that so many people miss that, with most playthoughs I watch not even realizing you can zoom in until gathering chert's instrument at the end of the game, and chert generally being underdiscussed.
Outer Wilds is one of 3 games I consider literally perfect. It hit all the right notes, and though it's non linear, there is still a weird sense of progression. Learning the sun station wasn't actually causing the supernova was one of those moments in gaming that makes your gut drop. You thought you had some answers but it left even more to be asked when you discovered the context of them. "This star has reached the natural end of its life cycle"
Totally agree. Despite the nonlinear format it does such a spectacular job of creating a story for the player no matter what order they’re going in. It’s just… it’s so well made.
What are the other two games you consider perfect?
@@untitled_one1584 Portal and Shadow of the Colossus
Great video! I feel you should have also mentioned the visual details of the scene. For me, how the sun watching room looked played at least as big a part as the actual story revelation itself, in how amazing that section was.
Ratatoskr keeps saying that he's gonna isolate his audience by discussing games they don't like, but he just keeps talking about my all-time favorite games.
I didn't have this reaction when I reached the Sun Station. I had assumed that the sun was exploding on its own because I noticed that the stars were also exploding as time went on, and I believe one of the other explorers started having a mental breakdown when he realized that the sun was near the end of its lifespan, so I already got the idea that it was natural.
The real reaction I had was more like "they tried to kickstart a supernova?... wait... so THAT'S why the time loop happens! Their process worked!" it was more of an epiphany than a "change in goals" especially since my goals were more about finding the eye of the universe at that point, which actually brings me to my "sun station" moment:
To me, the most impactful moment (besides reaching the eye of course) was when I found the module at the bottom of Giant's Deep. Watching the oil sculptures explaining that after many attempts they actually found the coordinates of the eye left me thinking "oh my god... they did it... they actually found it... their work is not in vain" and then the sudden realization that I need to go there was the true shift in goals for me.
It's not a game where you save everyone... it's a game where you accept it's the end
It's really cool to see you hop over from elden ring to outer wilds.
They scratch the same itch for me
Marking this as a watch later and making a mental note to go play outer wilds so I can comeback and give this video a watch
If only there were a way to erase my memory and play this game again
Personally I never got to the assumption I could prevent the sun from exploding, but learning for certain I couldn't do anything about it definitely let me ruminate how dire the situation really was. Surely one of the most inpactful moments in outer wilds ❤️
fun fact: you can always talk with Chert late in the loop and learn it very early in your playthrough
I had so many moments like that in game.
Strangely enough the sun station was one of the first places I went. I saw it and was determined to try to rendezvous with it and I ended up getting into it on like my second loop. It was so early in the game that I didn't realise what I was even looking at.
I think the first time i heard the "time is up" music and watch the sun go supernova is one of those moments i will never forget in a video game.
Andrew Prahlow is a treasure and I'm not sure we deserve him.
I feel kinda bad I visited the sun station, before knowing what the hell it was. playing with a friend who’s also blind, we see the sun station, bets me I can’t land it. then we find basically the conclusion to a story thread without knowing the beginning
the screams while trying to land it made up for it tho lol
To be honest though, the entire game is probably one of "the best moments," of anyone's life.
my best moment is realized how and why your specy is almost alone in this solar system
You should totally talk about the interloper’s reveal and the way it makes you look at all the nomai ruins on brittle hollow differently.
I got to the Vessel and saw the modern Nomai logs and noticed that the stars were going out well before I got to the Sun Station. As such, it wasn’t really a revelation for me, though it was still a powerful moment...
For me, this game’s ending will always be the best moment, followed by the DLC’s “ending”, followed by the moment you splash down inside the Stranger for the first time.
RAT CREW, THE GAME IS CURRENTLY ON SALE FOR $15 ON STEAM UNTIL SEPT 26 (in the US at least)
I didn't experience that moment, because early on in my playthrough I hung out with chert later on in a loop, so I knew the whole time that the supernova was most likely nateral, and that the sun, and all the other stars were just really really old, and it never even crossed my mind that the supernova could have been purposeful, even when I read about them trying to cause it to go supernova I didn't really think that that was what was going on
for me the sun station was literally the last place I went because I couldnt solve the puzzle. Immediatly changed my motive from: lets stop the time loop and save the solar system to: Lets see the eye of the universe because hell, what else is there left to do.
God I love this game. Glad you enjoyed it so much 👍
I went there looking for a solution to prevent the sun from blowing up. This game was a masterpiece
I never experienced this moment. I was never trying to stop the sun from exploding. I was so engrossed in exploring and understanding that i never had any other goal, so for me this revelation changed nothing
Who else here plays ksp, saw that station and thought. "Oh yeah, I rendezvous that". And actually pulled it off.
my favorit moment in Outer Wilds was when I found out what that giant kannon in Giant's Deep was and why its always shooting in a different direction at every new loop
This moment misfired for me because I already had a guess that the sun was dying naturally, and it made me guess the purpose of the ATP.
Just commenting to help the algorithm, nice video
I didn't feel the same as everyone else, I never had this realization at this moment, because when I reached the sun station, I believe the sun was going supernova because of something else, and the station was registering this as a "natural end". Seeing the interloper fall into the sun shortly before it explodes made me suspect the interloper, only to get confused after investigating it. I searched for some Nomai trinket to save the system for a while after that, only to realize it couldn't be done after looking into my ship logs.
good idea for a series
A similar moment for me (and a lot of ppl) is the realisation you have to sacrifice yourself in the flames in the DLC to cross the bridge and open the vault. Very uncomfortable revelation
Excellent video! I don't know whether you're looking for suggestions for future episodes, but if you've played Rain World, there are a few incredible moments from that game that I'd love to see an analysis of in this style
one thing that stands out about the game is that it's really dark. it's not bad when playing on your own, but on video it makes it a bit tough to make out what is going on in a lot of scenes.
I cried on the spot when reading that this was the natural end of the sun. Fuck it hit like a truck
Is quite a weird thing to find a game that is not about wining and having a happy ending. More like accepting going out and making it worthwhile