Not for everyone, but it was my GotY for 2025, no doubt.

There’s a very valid criticism that the roguelike randomness can introduce a long delay between when you realize the solution to a puzzle and when you get to execute it, which is usually a mood killer for puzzle games. The game balances that out really well, I think, by just having SO MANY puzzles for you to juggle at once, that you can just make a note of the idea you had, and then refocus onto something else, instead of the frustration of not being able to execute your idea right away.

That DOES drop off in the late game, though, when you’ve only got a few puzzled left to pursue. The game tries to balance this by adding more and more ways to manipulate RNG in your favor, the longer you play, but I think it still falls on the side of not enough.

On a more fundamental note, just the puzzles themselves are all REALLY well-made. And they all get a big buff to satisfaction by being woven into a really fascinating narrative.

Every gamer owes it to themselves to try Outer Wilds.

How often do the two studies disagree, casuing the drug to be rejected or revised? If it’s “never” then this is probably actually a good move.

Yes, exactly.

Yes, definitely. I definitely had more trouble justifying running around the world doing side shit, when there was a clear and pressing goal I should have been doing.

Excellent read, thank you.

Yeah, I’m hearing about several commercials today that I didn’t see, this one included.

The article appears to have been changed, since I read it. For one, there’s now a paywall that wasn’t there before.

It’s cause they used some AI bullshit do the redactions, isn’t it?

Of course, I’m still just guessing because the article that opens with “Now we know why” never actually explains why.

Up-logic

Tools. Finish Shakra’s questline.

EASIER than the flower? Not a chance. Flower was a way shorter trek, that can be cleared of all hostile enemies, with only a small section of risky platforming at the end.

His encounter with Carol seems to have clued him in to the idea that “wait, maybe there IS some value in interacting with them, in order to learn about them” so he’s not completely dogmatic. And yo ve fair, Carol definitely treated them the same, at first.

Badass, for sure, but I get the distinct impression that he’s NOT a terribly good dude, either.

I could be proven wrong, since we still know so little about him, but he seems to have NO personal reason to hate the joined, like Carol does, and yet he is SO much more extreme about all this than she is. From refusing food to refusing medical care to burning his car to the extreme physical peril he puts himself through, none of his actions with regard to the joined seem like those of a reasonable person. It makes me think he’s more than just highly motivated, he’s got a few screws loose, and eventually we’re gonna see this expressed in ways other than just resisting the joined.

Looking forward to either option.

I don’t hate Carol as a person, but I certainly don’t like her much. LOVE her chatacter and portrayal, and LOVE seeing someone unlikeable thrust into the situation.

By doing something every human naturally does, that she’s been trained for like 40 years to understand is harmless.

The fact that all of humany was PUT in a position where something normally harmless could kill them is NOT her fault.

On top of that, Clawline reeeeeeally has some mechanical issues. You’re not getting to that gauntlet at full health, on your first attempts at using Clawline.

Banger track, tho.

Too easy. Make him suffer the rest of his life in prison.

Case in point: I’m just engaging NOW, after finally catching up with the show.