stranger in a strange solar system

This isn't going to be a review of Outer Wilds. I've tried at least three times to write a review but it feels wrong every time, and so I'm going to do something easier: I'm going to briefly write about what Outer Wilds (and more specifically Echoes of the Eye) means to me. This will still contain spoilers for Outer Wilds, so I implore you to go play it first. There's nothing else like it, and it's a glimpse into the future of video games as a medium of storytelling. Go, the spoilers are next.

Outer Wilds is a game that deals with hope and curiosity. The thing that ultimately allowed for the universe to reset safely is that the Nomai, no matter what, kept moving forward. Despite numerous failures, the Nomai continued to fight for their curiosity and had an unshakeable hope in that same curiosity. The great tragedy of the Nomai is that they died out immediately after their greatest failure, never getting to see the fruits of their labor. That's not where the story ends though, because the player manages to finish their journey using the stepping stones they left behind. Because the Nomai built everything for a future they didn't get to see, they managed to succeed long after they were no longer able to try. The central idea is that no matter how bad it is, if we push for the world to be a better place then it eventually will be. We might not get to see it, our kids might not get to see it, it might even take 14.3 billion years, but it's going to be ok.

I find that narrative (and the way it was delivered) beautiful. I still listen the Outer Wilds sound track when I need to be reminded that it doesn't all have to work out today, and by itself that would be a compelling thematic exploration. Then I played Echoes of the Eye, and I gained a whole new appreciation for Outer Wilds.

If base Outer Wilds is about hope and curiosity, Echoes of the Eye is about nostalgia and fear. The inhabitants of The Stranger (from here on known as the Owlks) started off curious, and were even willing to sacrifice their entire hope planet in order to make it to the eye. Then they got there, and they didn't like what they saw. They were afraid, and instead of pushing forward they retreated into visions of home. They even went so far as to cut off the eye's signal to make sure nobody could reset the universe and disrupt their dreaming. They acted as the antithesis to the Nomai, shying away from reality and blocking off future discoveries. Once again, that's not how the story ended, and this is where it really hits me. One Owlk was willing to face the future, and he woke up and let the Eye's signal loose for just a moment before being imprisoned. That moment was just enough to attract the Nomai and start the events of the main game, and in so doing that one brave Owlk effectively saved the universe from an infinite heat death. He also didn't know and thought he failed, but his hope was enough.

The reason this affects me as deeply as it does is because I understand the Owlks. It's not something I love talking about, but my childhood hometown in America may as well no longer exist; it has been taken over by fentanyl and was then ravaged by a hurricane. Add to that the recent political polarization which has taken over the States, and you get to the place where last time I visited a few years back I could hardly recognize it. Moving far away from where you remember you childhood is itself already hard, but knowing since then that the place you left no longer exists is a different kind of hard. There's a despair that sets in, especially if you don't feel at home wherever you ended up, and that's how I felt living here for the first few years. Heck, during those first few years I (like the Owlks) used computers to fill the void in the center of my being, and I can attest that it only continues to drive the fear/nostalgia cycle of hopelessness. The story of Echoes of the Eye is that you can be afraid and fall back into nostalgia. You don't need a society of innovators who all are united in hope, you just need one person to be willing to make one brave decision. Obviously more things get done if everyone works together, but an antagonistic culture isn't enough to break the chain as long as there's 1 person keeping the spark alive.

Masterpiece.