How the Outer Wilds DLC Works Through Fear
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- Опубліковано 10 чер 2022
- The DLC for Outer Wilds explores the nature of fear, courage, and the perilous safety of the past.
All rights go to their respective owners.
The streamer footage is from @bunnytails and @MadMattLugos.
Soundtrack: • Chasing Shadows in Out... . Inspired by Andrew Prahlow's OST.
Music by Jelle Goossens @LandOfAbundance - www.masteringfactory.com/
Thumbnail art by Marlijn van Nuenen - / marligne - Ігри
Thanks for watching! Check out our latest video on the PS3 classic Journey: ua-cam.com/video/AnnS6igRnJA/v-deo.html
An excellent choice!
I still love that the main message of the Horror DLC, is that there is no need to be afraid.
I had a hard time with the horror in this DLC. I know some people didn't really find it that scary but it just set off my anxiety in a way that really stressed me out, and I kept getting frustrated trying to explore the spooky mansion. It was almost enough to make me give up on the DLC. But then I thought about what I'd learned about the owls so far, about how they had discovered something terrifying and difficult, and had chosen to shut themselves away somewhere safe instead of dealing with it. I realised that the whole point of the DLC is for you the player to make the alternative decision, and if I gave up I'd just be doing them same as them. It's such a good example of gameplay matching theme.
@@soapymargherita That's a beautiful story. Thank you for sharing your experience!
I was terrified of the owls when I first encountered them, but when they caught me and simply blew out the fire I stopped beign afraid of them
@@soapymargherita That is absolutely wonderful.
@@lucassantos4136
yeah it was a really good visual joke. like... it rears back, mouth open and teeth showing, and then just does a little puff to blow your fire out. they still are kind of unnerving and you don't want to get caught obviously but it defuses the fear aspect
My favorite moment in the dlc was the revelation that you can drop your lantern in order to glitch the simulation and see better. You are so afraid of getting caught that you liken your lantern to your life, like a warrior who cannot let go of his blade. Its an absolutely genius subversion of your own mindset and survival instincts
Then again, this assumption led me to believe I could exit the simulation by dropping my lantern and walking away. Needless to say, my mind was blown when I discovered the real outcome. One of my favourite moments in the DLC, and I think arguably the easiest of the three to discover organically.
I didn't find out I could drop my lantern practically anywhere until I abosuletly had to for the ending (if you don't cheat). I did not register that dropping the lantern was ever even given as a choice outside of where you can place it in the special reel rooms. I never seemed to notice the "Drop artifact" option pop up. Even after getting the hint that it could be done at all in the reel, I only ever used it to complete that reel room's challenge and then kept an eye out for pedastals similar to the reel lantern to put it down again. I ended up adding an entire complexity to my gameplay that was not supposed to exist further than it needed to. I do feel a bit foolish for not discovering this ability after a week of working up courage to stealth my way past the fear inducing sections of the game, but overall I still experienced the same ending and same relief upon meeting the prisoner.
@@logo417 It took me a minute to realise I could put it down as well, I remember literally thinking "I wish I could activate that anywhere, but I don't think I can put down the artifact in the dream world." And then for the hell of it, I looked down at the floor once I had entered the dream world and the amazement I felt when I saw the drop artifact popup was incredible.
it was a very clever design
It blew my mind when I learned that, up to that point I didn't even know I COULD drop the lantern while in the simulation lol
I am always awed by Mobius' decision to not just make the dream world levels oppressively dark, but absolutely pitch black and unnavigable without light and that your light is precisely what makes you vulnerable to the Strangers. Most other horror games can't realize such a complete vision of darkness because it would make them unplayable. Mobius achieved this by making the horror segments either well lit or unthreatening until the player engages with it; there's no danger at all until _you_ choose to wade just a little bit further into the darkness in search of the truth. I love this so much. The horror genre is essentially defined by taking the illusion of control away from the player. But in the Outer Wilds, you're at your most vulnerable and afraid exactly when _you_ are most in control of the situation.
Exploring the Tomb of the Giants in Dark Souls elicits a similar response. One of the coolest areas I've ever experienced in all the games I've played. Dark Souls just does so much interesting shit that NO OTHER game has done. All the ways Fromsoft manages to find in order to challenge the player are so memorable.
@protonjones54 Agreed! So many people include that area amongst the "bad parts" of the game, but I love it for how oppressively dark it is. I don't love the dog skeletons though haha
absolute chills ran down my spine when i blow the lights off and all the owlks started to howl. truly a "do i really wanna go there and complete this game?" moment
I had to breathe deep and steel myself before diving out of the simulation. It was awesome.
After finishing this video, I just realized the reason we came back to these Outer Wilds videos is because we want to experience the game again, not by playing it again (as that would not have the magic), but to see someone else' experience (or put in another way, video slides). We are just like the ancient species reminiscing their own home world.
"They need distance, some thing about the screen is more compelling then the experience." Misquoted, but true.
Damn, that hits close to home. I’ve gifted this game to a few friends just so I can see their reactions to some of these reveals
yeah, exactly
If you haven't yet, you should watch About Oliver play it. He is amazingly intelligent, curious, and has many of the same reactions we all did. It's been a great experience seeing him witness this game blind.
11:40 this part with the bridges, along with the puzzles of jumping off at the right time, leaving the lantern and dying near a bonfire to still be transported into the simulation is what I personally really REALLY loved about the DLC. It subverts expectations. It gives you a language you're unable to translate and you think your mission is going to be to find a translator somewhere, but you just never do. You never actually get to translate those words. Similarly the first time you get to these bridges, the game communicates that you need to find the codes to the three bridges, but in the end, again, you never do. You CAN brute force the codes, but the game doesn't ever really intend you to. Finding the three codes at the end of the levels would be the standard idea most devs would've put in the game, but here, the solution to these puzzles is just WAY more interesting than just straight up giving you the codes so you can cross. The way the game takes it's own technology and puts it on its head is just amazing. Breaking loading zones, moving away from rendering distance and having a very unique take on death as a mechanic is simply genius.
yeah truly brilliant game design. So insane that it lives up to the expectations of the first game. at least for me. It is equal. even better in some ways.
My favourite part is that each of the "simulation breaking" solutions you find can be used to access the hidden vaults without having to stealth past the owlks at all. Let's you revisit those vaults without reliving the horrors of being chased, but also shows that these tricks can be used to subvert their security.
@@ardent3830 You can get to it initially without any stealthing by removing warp core from ash twin first & letting them die out before getting into the vaults. That's how I did it lol. I couldn't figure out the stealth part so I just let em die
@@m1rac1e Wait really ?
@@lachance4302 ya. timing is very tight, gotta go super fast tho.
That first drop onto the ring world is probably the single most memorable moment in any piece of media for me.
ye that was amazing 😀
"My role in this ended long ago, and now I’ve learned my efforts weren’t in vain. Thank you for facing what was hidden in the dark."
Imagine telling the sad owl man he couldn't sit by the fire
Actually heartless
@@Bubbly_DragonThat would be sociopathic behavior
I find that the strangers covered up the eye not only because they did not want another race to meet the same fate, but also because the eye is a constant reminder of their fears and their failure.
Why not both?
I mean, there’s also the fact that, at least as far as they are concerned, a sentient organism entering the eye would mean the end of the current universe. As the Prisoner states, they did not want their story to end.
it's not that they didn't "want another race to meet the same fate". It's that they wanted to prevent that "fate" in the first place, as that "fate" never happened (until we came along, that is). They tried their hardest to make sure no race at all could reach the Eye, ever, which the Owlks themselves never did, with the exception of the signal blocker.
@@carlosmspk The Stranger's race absolutely *did* reach the eye, they just didn't step into it. Once reaching and scanning the eye they discovered it's purpose, which terrified them.
I believe a more appropriate word would be "shame." Reflecting on the Eye elicits an unconscionable, and absolutely CRUSHING feeling of shame among these ghost birds.
Man, once I realised I had to die and leave my physical body behind to cross the bridge in front of the vault (and in doing so, become yet another ghost in that world) it was a horrifying realisation
Ya we would have been screwed if not for Groundhog Day happening to us.
yeah it felt very eerie, to figure out finally how to reach that last damn node, and just looking up at the watch towers going absolutely crazy with flashing lights and clanging bells, and yet you're still here.
One of my favorite moments was when I realized what those screaming voices were about that you always hear after the dam broke.
One of the sleeping cells is in range of the flood and all their flames get extinguished all at once. It's the sound of them all dying at the same time. When they're gone you can finally explore that area that they're virtual selves was protecting.
So frikn cool.
I spent hours trying to figure out the third bug I would have to exploit to complete the dlc so after locking in to sneak past 3 owls at and in the well, I was just annoyed that it hadn't occurred to me that dying effectively makes you deaf
For me playing this dlc hit hard, as I realised I had a lot of internal fear about my own life, what I liked about the prisoner then, was despite that fear, they chose to deny their fear and leave the sleep, ultimately leading to the heartian entering the eye, and when they gave the choice, of wether to be included despite their fear, I thought that the prisoner exhibited courage in the face of fear, and to not incorporate that to the next universe would be a mistake
Thanks for making this series. It perfectly captured and elevated everything that I loved and couldn't describe about this game. I can never play Outer Wilds again for the first time, but I can come back and watch these videos to get close to that feeling again.
Thank you for watching.
23:39 I always liked that about the jumpscare in Echoes, like the big, scary alien grabs you, opens it's mouth like as if it's going to kill you, and then just blows out the candle you have. I love that cause it's scary af but then you kinda realize they're not so bad.
They do snap your neck if they find you without a lamp.
and then you run into one without the lantern lol
@@izzzzzzzzzzy ...Atleast it has the same effect?
And the achievement you get is pretty funny...
@@izzzzzzzzzzy It's either that or carry you around until they can find your lantern.
At least it's quick.
@@izzzzzzzzzzy I like that by the time you would experience running into an Owlk outside of render distance, you no longer think of them as scary because been caught by them so many times. Then they straight up snap your neck. Pretty subtle subversion of expectations.
The first time you go inside The Stranger has to be one of the all time gaming moments for me.
I feel that the linear nature of echos was meant to show how the Strangers try to control their world. It puts us off of the “open” exploration feel and makes us feel as though we are being lead by some mysterious force.
Something about the inhabitant’s sorrowful singing really encapsulates that regret that he has about the actions of his own species, and I think it’s something everyone can empathize with. It really does pull together that idea that we can look back at and relish the past but we must move on eventually. Good stuff man, I’ll take any Outer Wilds content I can get nowadays, especially if it’s of this quality.
I'm currently on a cross country hiking trip in the US with a buddy. There's so much that we're anxious about every day; physical pain, dangerous situations, and where to even sleep for the night. We know that we can either let these fears overwhelm us, or keep moving forward. This game is constantly on my mind while walking the country, between the phenomenal soundtrack and the philosophical and existential themes. If the main game inspired me to go out on an adventure, the DLC taught us to keep moving forward through the darkness.
Another theme that I loved from the DLC is when you finally meet the prisoner and he has been locked away for 100s of thousands of years.
And you share your story with him, allowing him the comfort and
Closure to know that what he was imprisoned for, ultimately saved the universe from extinction.
It also gave me a sense of comfort in the face of all unknowns, and stresses of life, even if it feels like it,
You’re never completely alone
*SPOILERS*
I think one of the most missed parts of the DLC is the painting in the dream world of the burned out shrine to the eye. There's another one of those plaques, but instead of a code, it shows what happens after the eye destroys everything. The grass covered skull of the owlks grows a flower that blooms new galaxies. It's just another hidden layer that shows how much the owlks missed out by refusing to face their fears. I wonder if the prisoner saw that same image staring out at the stars from his cage.
@@alexlowe2054 I think the devs confirmed that the house in which you find that painting you’re talking about is actually the Prisoner’s house
Oh, Outer Wilds... How I wish I could experience you again for the first time...
This is by far and away the best video essay on outer wilds that I've ever seen.
Same.. I'm yearning to share the experience of playing this game for the first time with someone else, so i can live through that experience again through someone else
holy CRAP the soundtrack for this video goes hard. Huge props to the composer.
(also the video itself is amazing as well)
Ikr, the Outer Wilds soundtrack is sooo good
I appreciate the effort to use not just Outer Wilds songs, but remixes in these two videos. It's really adds to the emotion of the presentation.
6:11 Reminds me of the frame right towards the end of the DLC, where we see the chapters of the life of the owlks, this unfathomably strange civilization, and then, *we* are added to the tapestry. Every step that we've taken no less unfathomably sublime to him.
Great video again. Echoes of the eye is hard for me. I wasn’t even able to experience it properly because of the trouble I have with horror games. It was so difficult for me with the horror sections that I my friends had to help me by giving me info I didn’t have yet. As a result, the experience ended up feeling kinda hollow. Which makes me sad because I feel like there’s really no other way I could have gotten through it.
It warms my heart to hear you talk about it like this cause it feels like I get to have a piece of that proper experience, so thank you.
im guessing you tried reduced frights?
@@shibadawn yeah... it didn't really help much sadly.
@@shibadawn What difference does reduced frights do?
@@eduardoandrescontrerasrome6703 The Strangers move slower in that they never dash at you and they never turn on their lights to search for you, so you can effectively hide by just turning off your light and waiting. But, that second one also means they never reveal exactly where they are... and in levels so dark that it's basically impossible to navigate without light, I think of it as a bit of a double edged sword.
you know that there is a "smart" way to beat the game where you have only one short moment where strangers are chasing you?
Wow, a spectacular analysis on a spectacular game. Not often do you see philosophy and psychology mixed into game reviews. Can't wait for more. And love the music!
I realized that the theater rooms and simulation lantern in the Stranger are a reference to the Cave allegory by Plato, where the inhabitants of the cave are trapped in the dark, only able to see wall in front of them, illuminated by a fire on a higher level behind them, as a stranger uses the fire to cast shadows onto the wall and shape the reality of the inhabitants.
Only by turning around and climbing into the darkness and away from the fire, which had been your entire world, can you at last exit the cave and reveal the truth.
I felt like this was a very clear and on the nose reference Mobius was making, but I still haven't seen anyone talk about this connection
Interesting that Echoes teaches us to look forward rather than internalizing the past. Rabuten's video on the base game said the opposite, that "looking to the future often means looking past today." If Echoes is about moving on to the future, the base game is about slowing down and remembering that it's also important to live today, not tomorrow. It's incredible how far down the dichotomy between Echoes and the base game goes. They're truly two sides of the same coin.
It’s a strange paradox that somehow makes sense. Many games try to tackle the idea of loss, but Outer Wilds is the only one to perfectly mix the ideas of living in the moment but still being ready to move on when the time comes.
I don't think it's really a contradiction, the past and present and future aren't meant to be taken as separate things. the past is what makes up the present, and what happens in the present will make up the future
I think my favorite thing about this DLC was that it so perfectly encapuslates an element of the decisions a portion of our population has made. WE are also the strangers....Strangers in our own world. As we see the inevitable end to the world, we retreat into our virtual simulations of what was, that we can no longer have and get back...nostalgia, longing for childhood, and we lash out at those who question and challenge our desires for nostalgia and who question our longing for the things of our youth. And in the face of a global destruction of our species in the face of climate change, what has been our response? Nostalgia. A recycling of the past devoid of our present situation. We run backwards and do not seek to accept and move forward and take action.
When I was playing through the DLC, going through the virtual matrix of their former home...I saw the horror of it for what it really was, it's OUR future as we are now. To retreat into the matrix of our own creation, to hide as the world falls apart, and to live out our days in this self created womb until the lights go out, and the plug is pulled, and we die. Little do we fully comprehend that the fear of that future is what will sow the seeds to it. That in our desire for nostalgia we will die on the outside, let the world become abandoned, and then we will ensure it.
Is there a sense of the inevitabel fate of our everpresent doom? Yes, we will all eventually parish...but what value does this ending to our story bring us? Nothing, it should bring us terror to see what we have become as a species and to see what has become of our fellow man in the face of that fear.
And we who know, we are the prisoner. Lost in a fight against an inevitable flow towards this nostalgia where when we turn off the signal and try to call for help, to bring attention to a way out...they lash out against us, and attempt to destroy the remnants of that solution. The prisoner is asking for systemic change to the system we exist in and he was imprisoned for it...and there is a very obvious real world equivalent that I hope the creators were pointing towards.
We are so afraid to break away from this conditioned nostalgia but the DLCs great revelation is that there is nothing to be afraid of.
Well said!
holy shit.
Most people won't be like the prisoner, I think they/I/us would be like the strangers. I think it's the younger generation who will get sick of all this nostalgia (I have already gotten sick of it a couple times) who'd make the choice to push the button and go against the grain.
The game also ensures that there will be Nomai and Hearthans eventually, people who's curiosity will overtake the terror and fear of inevitable death.
I know matters are always 'oh so simple and oh so complicated.' I am very much stuck in the virtual landscape, with having explored very little of our own world, but I like to keep a positive outlook where there will always be people with different ideas and believes, those who will rebel and make their own mistakes or choices. And, in a selfish way, I want to believe that it'll end up being for the better.
Brooooooo
The way "A Dream Of Home" started playing the moment you started talking about their dream world gave me goosebumps. Awesome soundtrack and great video ^^
This DLC has that feeling of discovering a whole new world hidden from you before that I absolutely love. And it gives you that feeling multiple times over. The first time finding out the Stranger’s existence, being completely hidden away until you know where to look. The second time when entering the Stranger and coming out of the wooden shed to find a whole civilization lived here long before anyone even had a hint of them being there. The third time when you realize going to sleep in front of a fire while holding an artifact brings you to the simulation, a whole world constructed to mimic a place you don’t know at all. The last time when you realize you can look behind the curtain of the simulation by leaving your artifact behind and it really gets through to you that none of this is real and you realize the actual scale of the simulation
This video need a lot tons more or views and likes. The research, the editing and all the work done to assemble it is truly remarkable, you've made it sound like the game was a piece of poetry. I love Outer Wilds so much and just when I thought I couldn't love it any more, I stumble into your fantastic video which made me love it even more.
Thank you! Planning to cover lots of other games - tag along :)
How are you making such high quality video essays right out of the gate? Only two videos in and you're on par with some of my favorite channels. Can't wait to see more!
they are so brilliant not only this DLC completes the main game, but it's added in a literal way of "finding" it, it's not just: "Oh hey, we added a new planet!". it's always there, but we don't know it yet
Like many have said, what moved me most was having to die to open the vault. First, because it showed how fearless the Hatchling is to intentionally give up their life for the sake of curiosity and adventure. And second, because walking past the bell guards at full pace with no audible noise made me *feel* like I was dead - conscious yet dissociated, and filled with purpose. I don’t expect to ever feel that way again.
I think that if I didn't find outer wilds scary I wouldn't have found it beautiful
When you confront your fear, you gain power over it.
Between Matrix Vision, Fast Travel and Hazard Immunity, the owl wardens stop being a threat.
The lucid dream.
Fear is the mind killer. What I always liked about that quote from Dune is the implication that fear has to go through you to conquer it. That you have to feel it an accept it before rising above it
My favorite part about the DLC is that in the end we have to accept that we ourselves are just like the strangers. Fearing their own mortality and missing their home world they choose to cage themselves inside a simulation forever. They live the same days in the same houses over and over trapped within the walls they built looking back on what was. But how are we any different. We live the same day over and over on repeat, walking across the same paths in and endless cycle within the confines of our solar system. Beyond knowledge of our surroundings there is no progress to be made, we can't change our world. Even the false hope of turning off the sun station becomes shattered once we learn the project was a failure and the sun is exploding naturally. But somewhat unlike the strangers, we don't just hide away but hold an entire universe hostage by doing so. Eventually we have to move on, eventually we have to break this cradle of a cycle by going into the eye, giving birth to a new universe, and dying. We have to let go of our fear and move forward.
The algorithm JUST showed me your first video, and now I think I know why. I haven’t watched this one yet but I’m betting it’s going to be fantastic. I’ll edit in a response when I’m done.
Edit: Thank you for this. Your two videos are perfect companion pieces to the game itself and it’s DLC. The focus on not just the fear the game gives you, but the reflection on it and how even when the game offers you a way to subvert that fear it still doesn’t eliminate it was wonderfully stated.
Again, this was so well realized, researched and your script and prose were so excellently built that you captured the essence and feeling of the games (the DLC is long enough to be a sequel imo) while carefully deconstructing them as you outlined and discussed their themes. Very very very good.
You’re talented as hell, and I now wait with fingers crossed that you give SOMA a similar treatment. As it was a game that helped me fill the Outer Wilds void after I had finished it and also was an incredible game with wonderfully complex existential themes and expressions of those themes.
Excited for what you do next. I’m hitting the bell so the algorithm gives you an extra nudge of love.
Thanks for the wonderful comment! I might do something on SOMA in the future - fantastic game - but want to do something non-spooky for the next video. Stay tuned :)
what you said at 20:10 is so unbelievably accurate. I got to a point with the DLC where my anxiety was just getting to be too much, and I made the decision to use a mod that would make it so that the ghosts would never react to the player. Despite having it on, and knowing that there was genuinely no way for anything to chase after me anymore, it barely made a difference in how scared i would feel going into those areas.
I've had a philosophy for quite some time that _fear is the root of all evil,_ for all evil can be traced back to being motivated by fear. Money, power, fame, are but illusions of safety, control and permanence, respectively, illusions over an existence that rests in an absurd yet sensible truth of not having a say on most of it, yet we are responsible for much of its outcome.
Life itself, and being aware enough to ponder on its eventual apparent end and the impossibility to fathom if and what lies ahead of it, _or even its purpose of being, if it even has some,_ is perhaps the most sublime experience of it all. Standing in the edge of a chasm, or feet away from a deathly predator, or witnessing a natural 'disaster', forces that uncomfortable reminder of mortality that usually remains asleep in waking life, out into the awake conscious.
And it is that fear of death that led to the human creation of evil on an existence that _simply 'is'._ And the tragedy of evil lies in that it ultimately led the human race towards not making itself responsible for its destiny, to excuse their actions on imaginary forces while actively working against real ones. So for one to successfully defeat evil, one must first defeat that fear by rationalizing it in order to overcome it, rather than hiding and trying to escape from it.
So in the DLC, the theme that hit me the most is that, _facing and overcoming the fear of death._ While in the base game I felt somewhat sad everyone and you still died, even if you made a new universe, the stranger's final decision to drown their torch and leave you one last hopeful vision of what lies ahead of life itself, made me find comfort in the original ending. Like Richard from _Hotline Miami 2_ said: "Leaving this world is not as scary as it sounds."
Wow. What an incredible video.
I love these super well crafted video essays, because they let me get a glimpse of that first play through I never I got, the one I myself ruined. I found a random playthrough on UA-cam for this quaint looking game and thought, “Hmm, let’s see what this game is about” sometime before the game had reached its cult status it has now, before the videos were ritualistically marked with heavy spoilers. I started watching the video.
And I couldn’t stop.
It was just so engrossing that I couldn’t put it down, even though I could stop it at anytime. It was a no-commentary playthrough, so I didn’t get to see the players reactions, just a mindless robot moving the hatchling to seemingly nonsensical locations, looking at things and appearing to barely comprehend them.
And I kept watching. Seeing them seem to slowly piece together the puzzle. And watching. Seeing them find hidden secrets. And watching, until the player gathered their friends at the campfire, played the last note, rolled the credits, and the video was done.
I was stunned by this game. One I never even played. A game I could never play. One that couldn’t be played again.
Then the DLC came out. But it happened a little differently. I skipped a large portion of the video, only seeing parts of it due to the way I passed over some of the seemingly dull bits. And in doing so, missed some important details that I just learned here.
And I can’t unlearn it.
And all of it is my fault.
Now I come to these videos looking for a chance at that first playthrough, for a brief grasp at what will be forever just out of reach.
And it might never happen.
But I hope that one day, sometime in the future, when I have yet to come to terms with my own shadows or maybe after I do, I’ll find this game in my library, long after I’ve forgotten everything about it. I’ll wonder why I own this strange game about flying around a miniature solar system and navigating a time loop.
I’ll download the game to my computer and wait for any updates to patch in.
I’ll boot up the game. Start a new save file.
I’ll wake up on Timber Hearth.
And I’ll play through the game for the first time.
I Love this game, because it honestly speaks to us as well Living Creatures
a thing that I don't think people talk about enough, is how the simple act of the Prisoner overcoming their own and their clan fears, risking everything to disable the eye blocking probe for just a small moment, even with the knowledge that the chance of some other civilization is next to null, is what ultimately prompts the events of the entire game to start.
17:37 beautiful that the chord that plays here is one that fades away, like the Nomai tracing the reverberations of an instrument last plucked a long time ago
My favorite part of the DLC was falling asleep with the lantern surrounded by corpses and waking up alone as the dead walked the "spirit world" only to have that rug ripped from under me as I was woken up by alarms ringing, realized time moved slower in here as the ending theme became distorted like Inception, and saw them scanning themselves to project this memory "dream world" only to have THAT rug pulled from under me as I discovered exploitable bugs, code running down the walls, thinly veiled loading screens, and solid water that lacked fatal collision because it wasn't coded to be a liquid yet making me realize that the "Matrix" had me all along.
this series perfectly encapsulated the disparate thoughts and feelings i've been having about this game since i first played it in 2020 (and the DLC on release). you tie together thoughts and concepts with such beautiful language, and i don't think i've really found any OW content that so perfectly expresses this tone of poetry that underpins the game itself-so thank you for both of these videos, and your beautiful mind.
really telling that the easier way to deal with the Strangers is to face them head on, shining the light in the faces to slow them down and get by them easier, instead of running or hiding which usually gets you killed (and frustrated so many people). Face the fear.
Also, this game kinda implies that the universe is at its end with the techonology of most creatures. Nomai, Strangers and even the Hearthians, all of them can and have gone to space for quite a while, especially the Nomai.
Normally, the only constant of "video essays" is that they are dreadful. This, however, is unbelievably good. Thank you very much.
A moving and profound essay. I loved playing this game, but hearing your reflections on it has enhanced the experience all over again. Well done!
The ending of this dlc is the only moment that made me cry from a videogame
When I played through Echoes of the Eye lately and got caught up in the terror of sneaking around the strangers to the point that I wanted to stop, my friend reminded me "that's not the game you signed up for. That's not the sort of game this is." and she was right.
And it's like that too for terror in life. We don't live in a nightmare. We live in a world of love and wonder. And when there's nothing to be seen but fear and terror it's important to stop and find the other way around. To remember the love and wonder and use it to see the way past the fear.
The same way that the curiosity that underpins outer wilds reveals the way past the strangers.
Such a good game.
AMAZING Soundtrack too! The soundtrack is such a big emotion carrier for me in this game, and Jelle you did an amazing job for these video essays :)
What a gem of a video to find! Wonderful series on Outer Wilds, and a tremendous exploration of its themes and messages. Thanks for making these!
you should direct a movie or game already, your two Outer Wilds videos sure are heavenly well directed, and in a way that makes so much justice of the game's themes too, they make all of the science fiction afectionate steps the game does
After finishing Outer Wilds and been completely blown away by how much of a masterpiece it is, I was talking to one of my friends about this DLC. Like me, he wasn't interested in playing it because "when you reach the summit of mount Everest, you don't care about going 5 meters higher" as he put it. I started playing EOTE out of boredom. I knew it was going to be good, but I wasn't expecting something on the same level of creativity as the main game. Gods how much I was wrong. We are so used to bad downloadable content that we don't give any trust when they are announced. And rightfully so. But one of the many things this DLC teach us is that when there is passion, there is success. One of the best if not the best DLC ever made, and the ending blew the already excellent Outer Wilds storytelling out of the park. I wish I could just forget everything about OW and start it fresh again. There will be never, ever another videogame experience like this.
I love that you connect this video to your previous video with revealing the terror passage from Burke, it reminds me of how the DLC reveals additional information from the same source material we already visited :) great video, just like your last one.
Thank you for helping still that ache a bit that we can never truly experience this masterpiece of a game again, haha! I'm excited for your future projects :)
You literallty made shed tears. This what I love so much about this game, its message is so profound and truly makes you reflect in on yourself.
I as a regular gamer found Outer Wilds Echoes of the Eye to be exceptionally difficult, for multiple reasons. The amount of information and the dopamine hit with every discovery were further in between because of the tighter confinement and linear world that you were in, which in turn meant more cluelessness and frustration. Second, the secret world simulation was even more linear and obscure and every bit of information was just as powerful as it was scarce. And the sneaking past the owl-elk creatures in the dark was rather difficult and horrible, also from mechanical perspective because I didn't know how they behaved. I in fact got caught so many times that I believed for a long time that you simply do not engage in hide and seek against them. Frustrating, I know, and not from a philosophical stance, but purely from a mechanical perspective. But I am really glad that I pulled through, although very sweaty. All in all, a masterppiece of a game, and sublime. It is difficult and strains your brain a lot, but does it really well. 10/10 .
I was so happy to see this uploaded, another great essay going through the game. Some other games that I think could be interesting topics are Hyper Light Drifter and Celeste, both of which I think tell their stories in unique ways. I'll look forward to more content in the future :D
wow. Just stunning. I had thought along these lines before, but thak you for showing me and helping me understand a new perspective. on the DLC.
Somewhat selfishly, I never expected it to tie back into my own life at the end - your advice is genuinely going to help me move forward through the way life is right now!
Truly a wonderful reflection on what is possibly my favourite game of all time.
I hope you make more of these kinds of videos, because you're very talented, especially for someone just starting out. Your approach to analysing video games by comparing them to art and philosophy is unique and interesting, and I can't wait to see more :)
First time I walked into a green fire room, I took one look and thought "This is the room where they drank the Kool-ade"
11/10 editing and writing. You are super underrated, keep it up :D
the strangers didnt want to accept that they would die. by blowing out the candles in the ending the player character accepts it. though the eye of the universe will destroy everyone and everything, it also is the altar upon which a whole new universe is born and new lives are lived.
This is an excellent essay on this DLC, it perfectly articulates how finishing the game made me feel. Subscribed and really hoping to see more video essays from you, whether they’re about games or otherwise
Your ability to tell a story is masterful. Thank you for sharing the journey.
Thank you for creating this video, it's a lovely and fascinating perspective on the game and DLC.
You made me cry, dude...
Thanks for making this video.
Thank you for understanding and showing how the horror of this game becomes so unique and beautiful.
And lastly... Thanks for making me cry.
Wow I wasn't expecting a philosophical video but it worked really well, and your voice is so calm and pleasant to hear. You have reason when you say fear is all in our minds because my main terror in this game was the fear to encounter one of the Owlks in the pure dark, the fear of the jumpscare if you want.
I keep discovering new ways to see Outer Wild and it's ending... Or new elements that make it more beautiful and meaningful.
Playing echoes probably shaved an hour or so off of my life but i think watching this gave it all back, great vid man :D
Thanks for watching!
I'm so glad people are still out here making content like this about my favourite game of all time. I can never get enough of Outer Wilds.
This and your previous video are the best video essays I’ve seen on Outer Wilds, your incorporation of philosophical concepts like the shadow is masterfully done.Your music for the videos is amazing and really elevates the whole video to another level.
Your videos are so brilliantly constructed that I hard find it hard not to shed some tears, just goes to show how much this game means to us. You remind me a lot of Mobius Digital themselves in the way that they are a relatively new to the scene and not well know to the public but are making some of the best content in their craft. I’m excited to see your next video whenever that may come out.
Thank you for this video it really means a lot to me and I wish you the best life man. cheers!
I remember the first time I encountered the ghost birds in the dream world. It was a profound story moment for me. At first, I saw them walking around that one building in the distance, across the river, where they're having some sort of party, and I'm thinking, "holy shit, LIVING bird people?" I found a bridge to cross the river. Then, I came across wandering lights in the large forest area, before the house. I wanted to investigate these strange lights. I eagerly ran up to one half-way, shining a light on it, and it shined a light on me. Turns out it's one of those ghost birds! They carry their own lanterns, like mine! It ran up to me, picked me up (wow they're big!), showed off its giant freakish mouth (holy shit their mouths are HUGE?), and blew my light out. The encounter definitely spooked me, but when my character woke up, I just sat there, very intrigued, and very confused about what this meant. Why was the creature so desperate to kick me out of the dream world? You would think that, upon discovering a new and intelligent lifeform for the first time, you would be curious about meeting it, learning about it, try to communicate with it. I had met the living Nomai, Solanum, and this is how she reacted. Or, maybe new alien life would frighten you, and you would hide. But with this ghost bird, it reacted in a way I NEVER would've expected. It was a profound and mysterious thing to witness. This encounter served as foreshadowing to me, and it was a blast unravelling the story behind these creatures in the dlc.
I wonder what other people's reaction were when they first found out the ghost birds aren't friendly
This video is a masterclass. Your ability to extract the thematic core of this game and articulate it in such an eloquent way is to be commended. Subbed!
Congratulations on the video, you explained the game in a way I could feel but couldn’t put into words. I really appreciate this video, this game will always be a part of me
In my first gameplay i remember thinking, "what happends when you just leave the artifact away" in the simulation, and the first thing that came to my mind was "then you wouldn't have light source" and now thinking of it, i was about to spoil me the whole puzzle. The game devs know that we are curious and we could accidently skip and discover things we aren't supposed to know yet. SO they induce fear, i wouldn't have a light source if i just walked away from the artifact, we would "die" i we just jumped out of the boat, we just don't think of dying until we get to solve everything that we are curious for. That's also a good way to make us fear.
Absolutely fantastic, thank you for sharing. Can't wait for more from this channel
Absolutely phenomenal work. It's astonishing to me that this is only your second video, as this level of quality implies years of experience. Excited for anything you do next.
These videos are always beautiful, thank you for making them.
This follow-up video essay, much like the DLC itself, knocks it out of the park where I didn't think it could be done... again. I think I like this video more than the one you did on the base game. The soundtrack as well... Great job!
i will always be thankful with this community, i had never seen a video that doesnt prevent you from the spoilers and recomend you to play it or at least give it a try before seeing the video. Everyone speaks in a so passionate, emotional and personal way that makes you feel very comfy, like being in a campfire around your friends... its like the feeling of playing this masterpiece once again for the very first time, so thanks for the video, i love every part of it, the phrases and the music, thats not exactly from the game but inspired from it,all of that shows the dedication that you put on it... so yeah... thaks
Wow! Another great analysis. Love how you also go out of the game, into philosophy and psychology, and tie it into the subject. Especially liked the little thought that going down the stairs to the ritual room is like going down the strangers' subconsiousness, I never thought of it but makes total sense.
Maybe a new video could be about Journey, and its influence it had on gaming! Ive seen so many games trying to replicate that feeling.
Or Inside/Limbo
Or dr robotniks mean bean machine, also a very unique, influential game ;)
I loved the base game, but the DLC is what really resonated with me. It's where all of my strongest emotions about the game are wrapped up.
The end of the DLC in particular, where you project a vision of what's happened to the Prisoner, with the guitar rendition of the traveler's theme. When the Prisoner lets out that mournful wail that seems to be some mixture of catharsis and sorrow. And most of all when you watch their final vision of the two of you sailing off into the sunset before finding his footsteps leading into the water.
When it came time to find the Prisoner in the end of the game, I wasn't scared when I blew out the candle to find a corpse standing behind me. I was kind of... comforted? That entire sequence, blowing out the candle on your friends, the nomai, the stranger, then yourself. Whenever I think about it I get choked up.
I also shared the experience of horror and relief after getting caught the first time. I wondered what would happen and then when all they did was lean in and blow out my light, I realized: They're not some horrible ghosts haunting this place. They're just a bunch of scared folk that want to be left alone.
God, I'm getting choked up just thinking about the Prisoner's part in the song at the end of the universe.
Wonderful video for a truly incredible game. Really glad to see you using Lugos’ footage as well. Not used to seeing him outside his own channel, but his playthrough is by far my favorite out there and the closest one to making me feel the same way I felt when I first played it for myself.
Truly incredible videos. So beautifully written and well analyzed, with new revelations I had never even thought of before. Thanks for making my favorite game even better.
You make videos with the same quality as million subscriber UA-camrs. Keep it up!
Man! This was a great video, certainly gave me a lot to think about. Would love to see more OW content from you.
These kind of profound takes on outer wilds is what I was missing the whole time. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this marvelous experience.
Haven't seen the video yet, but I wanted to share my favorite revelation about this dlc
The nomai left their texts to be deciphered by us the player, they wanted to seek the truth and they left their findings to a species that could finish what they started
The alien species of echoes of the eye tried to erase their history, you can't read their language, as it has not been deciphered and so all you have to contend with are slides and, as we know, 1 image can mean 1000 words, so as we see the burned slide reels, it's as if you are finding a nomai text that doesn't make sence until you find another text that completes the context
It's amazing how the main game is mainly story telling by words, while echoes of the eye is visual story telling, I really liked that contrast as soon as I realized it
Masterful work on this video! I recently finished Outer Wilds, and I had unexplained feelings about this game. I wanted to understand why this game meant so much to me. Thank you explaining it so succinctly and perfectly.
Wow! This was so well done!! Nice work!
Really love the writing for these videos, concise explanations for insanely complex things
Great video, you hit the bullseye in explaining what makes this DLC so good
I played the Main game back when it first released and I just replayed and 100% it with the DLC.
Not a fan of the horror and darkness of it but it still was an amazing DLC giving you the same feeling of exploration, how you slowly figure out mechanics that were right there from the very first time you visited the new area and could always stumble upon.
It's an amazing design that I can't think of many other games doing as well or at all
Thank you for this beautiful video. Made me all emotional about my experience with this game again
Im in awe with your channel and how you piece together and present your thoughts. I hope to see you take off
Your first video was so amazing, I couldn’t believe it was your first and only upload! And I was extremely excited to see this pop on my feed. Thank you!
playing this dlc without seeing nothing... was the best choice i made in my life, i spoiled to myself the original experience of outer wilds... but the feeling of overcoming my fear and freeing the prisoner are something more