Outer Wilds is about going into, understanding, and loving the unknown, and its broader message is beyond powerful: You are not alone in the universe, and at the end of all things, there are greater forces beyond our imagination at work trying to protect us and because we are all a single moment in infinity, all we can do is try to understand each other, where we came from, and where we’re going.Guide to Nomai Shuttle Piloting Introduction It’s a sappy and cliche reminder, but true all the same. Outer Wilds helps me contemplate and understand death, makes me want to take risks and live life to its fullest, and make the most of what we have. I don’t know that I’ll play anything better or more meaningful for some time.

I’m grateful to have played something like this in 2019. This makes the recurring heat death of the universe less of a tragedy - we get to see how others lived, learn from them, and use that to create something new because of what we did together. Our actions are driven by impulses, yes, but also empathy.

We aren’t simply discovering who the Nomai were, we’re living their existence alongside them across time. You harness incredible technologies to complete a bizarre but beautiful plan. You follow distress signals they couldn’t do anything about, no matter how hard they tried. It’s fascinating that in your travels, you breathe the same oxygen that kept the Nomai alive. You are not just an explorer, archaeologist, and historian. What better way to make a player the ultimate hero? You will save the universe where cosmic beings of indescribable genius failed, because you must complete what they started. The worlds that grow over the next 14.3 billion years are manifestations of your memories. You bring all of that with you to the Eye of the Universe, which creates a reflection of your specific experience.

Your 22 minutes of exploration invariably end in death, but the grand scheme orchestrated by the Nomai is a rejection of that.Īt the end of all things, you are the sole inheritor of all Nomai knowledge, and the secrets of a galaxy teetering on the brink. As the puzzle pieces of this galaxy slot into place through your discoveries, it becomes absolutely clear that Outer Wilds is about the rescue and creation of existence. And all these planets are unique characters, each with their own voice and history, connected by a separated species’ desire to rebuild a collapsing universe.Īs everything in Outer Wilds is annihilated after 22 minutes, it initially feels like the tragic destruction of existence, ushered in with musical serenity. Because of what I learned from and about these individuals, I found myself wanting to return to worlds I’d visited, because I realized I’d only scratched the literal surface - missing vital wonders below, inside, and in orbit. Nomai record tells us of crucial emotional connections between these people, some stranded together, others isolated and alone, all desperately trying to connect with each other across a solar system they never meant to call home, unified in their singular goal to locate the Eye of the Universe. Outer Wilds wields a marvelous marriage of narrative and design that makes me equal parts envious, delighted, and impressed.

It motivates exploration and adventure in ways exposition simply can’t, because it belongs to you, the writer of your own story. Knowledge is our fuel, reward, and progress. In your hands is a lens to absorb Nomai history, but the context you discover reveals specific intention, scientific breakthrough, and leads to other worlds with new secrets waiting to be unraveled, over and over as the galaxy is obliterated, until you understand everything at once. These are invitations to investigate what happened to the alien Nomai species, and Outer Wilds trusts in your curiosity and impulsive exploration to discover so much more.Īrmed with a translation device, you can witness history and learn about an important people who had grand goals and lived in tragic circumstances, all through their writing. You stumble blindly onto something mysterious an isolated and inaccessible structure, a roaring comet, gravity beholden to violent oceanic tornados, the ever-changing shape and scale of soulbound planets. A color, shape, sound, movement, mistake grabs your attention, and you’re suddenly on an adventure. You follow your instincts, not instructions. Instead of guiding you by the hand, Outer Wilds provides you with the tools necessary to understand the universe, then propels you into orbit to achieve exactly that.Įverything from that moment relies on your whims, observations, and willingness to absorb information. You do not have answers because you have barely formed questions. The foundation of Outer Wilds’ design is trust, which is not a common creator-audience relationship.

Outer wilds nomai