'Outer Wilds' Nintendo Switch Version Impressions
After initially launching in 2019, developer Mobius Digital and publisher Annapurna Interactive’s open-world sci-fi game Outer Wilds made its debut on the Nintendo Switch a week ago. The base game retails for $10 while the Archaeologist Edition, which includes the base game and the Echoes of the Eye DLC, retails for $30 on the eShop. I’ll share some of my thoughts after having spent some time with the base game.
Outer Wilds starts off in a rather unconventional way by giving you free reign to explore. After waking up and going through your home village to look for the launch codes for your spaceship - a process that also doubles as an optional tutorial - you are off exploring planets within your solar system. There are no objectives, just the ability to roam and explore across the planets.
As you do so, you gradually learn that each of these planets holds mysteries of its own, from cryptic ruins to ancient scripts. In addition, you’ll shortly realise that the solar system itself is in a time-loop. What is the cause of this anomaly and what are the answers to the mysteries of each planet? You’ll have to piece these together by exploring the game’s various locations and solve their puzzles in first-person.
Developer Mobius Digital took a bold approach with the exploration-focused aspect of Outer Wilds. Once you obtain the launch code of your spaceship, practically every area of the game is accessible for you to visit. This can lead to a freeing experience that emphasises the importance of self-discovery in a way that’s not common in most games.
However, the fact that there are no clear objectives from the get-go can be divisive. I personally found it frustrating at the beginning, as I was unsure what to do other than try to haphazardly steer my spaceship and attempt a landing. Indeed, being motivated to continue exploring was further a challenge as the ship’s controls offer a learning curve, especially when trying to land on a planet. Then there’s the fact that once you die, you’re respawned at the starting point. This can be frustrating, especially at the beginning when you are still getting a grip on the controls, manage to land, but only to be met with an untimely demise by an alien planet’s hostile environment.
Luckily, discoveries that you make and puzzles that you solve during an outing carry over to the next loop or when you respawn. Solving puzzles and learning more about a planet’s secrets does feel satisfying, especially as these help you see the bigger picture and elucidate some intriguing mysteries. However, it will take some resilience to experience such a satisfaction as there is a learning curve to the controls.
The controls translate well on the Nintendo Switch, and the looping nature of the gameplay makes it adequate to play in bouts on a handheld. The port holds up in terms of performance and I encountered no issues. However, the Switch version does suffer from a noticeable (and expected) visual downgrade.
Outer Wilds can be considered as an acquired taste as it gets incrementally better the more time you spend with it. If the prospect of unrestricted sci-fi exploration appeals to you, it’s definitely worth checking out for $20. But if you’re looking for a more streamlined experience or a game that offers more guidance (this one offers the basic minimum, if any), then you should expect some initial (if not perpetual) frustrations going into this game.