Some examples of good, memorable DLC I can think of are The Witcher 3’s Blood and Wine/Hearts of Stone, Skyrim’s Dragonborn/Dawnguard, and Titanfall 2’s Monarch. When I think of a really good DLC, I judge it by 3 merits:ġ: Does this DLC implement old mechanics in a way that feels satisfying?Ģ: Does this DLC introduce new mechanics that still fit in with the old mechanics?ģ: Does the DLC meaningfully expand on the story or gameplay loop? But you find the courage to go there, supported by your trusty ship, jetpack, signalscope, and the friends you made along the way, instead of being overwhelmed by the darkness and the fear of the unknown.ĭLCs should be different from the main game, yes, but I don’t think this DLC was structured as well as it could have. You don't know if you're making the right choice by going to the Eye. You don't know what will happen when the universe dies. After completing the DLC, I did one more run to see the Prisoner at the Eye and that sequence was so much more emotional. At least for me, the DLC helped me appreciate the base game more. The choice to restrict or remove most of the tools you've become familair with is intentional it puts you in the same emotional space as the Owlks, asking yourself if you even want to keep exploring when it's scary, claustrophobic, and your discoveries may kill you.īoth together paint a more complete picture of the effect exploring has on explorers. The game is structured so that you mimic the Owlks' story - you sacrifice the familiar (their home, your ship) to delve deeper into the unknown only to find fear, horror and loss waiting for you. The DLC, on the other hand, is about cosmic fear - about what happens when your discoveries elicit horror. The tools you have for the base game are all designed to aid you in exploring - you can translate everything you come across, you have a variety of movement options, and your signalscope helps you keep looking for the next discovery. The Nomai reflect this excellently they're constantly developing technology to push the boundaries of what they understand and where they can go. The base game is about cosmic wonder - about the excitement of discovering the vastness of space with a collection of tools that help you connect with and understand the spaces around you. Its goal is instead to complement the base game by providing contrast. It's intentionally designed to elicit a different set of feelings in you, the player, than the base game was. I understand where you're coming from here - the DLC is really different than the base game. I don't regret my purchase but I probably went into it with my expectations a bit too high. when you enter the Stranger for the first time) and the story additions were good too. ![]() There are still some moments which have the classic Outer Wilds feel (e.g. Which is understandable since the base game is one of the best games ever made. This isn't to say the DLC is bad, it's just a big big step down from the base game. Adding what it is essentially a side mission to a game where everything is so interconnected kind of dilutes that aspect of the base game? Like I said maybe I'm being nitpicky with this point but I think I'd prefer if it was standalone and left the base game untouched. I might be nitpicking here but the new area also feels out of place, it's so disconnected from the main storyline. Here you can't do that, you have to solve things to progress, which doesn't suit the non-linear nature of the Outer Wilds. ![]() Also getting stuck in the DLC is incredibly frustrating, in the base game getting stuck isn't a big deal, you just went to another planet and came back later, probably with more info. Exploration in the base game was fun and visually interesting, in the dream world it's slow and you can't see anything. Restricting your movement options, taking away even more of your equipment, exploring in pitch black and don't get me started on the stealth sequences. ![]() The dream world is the complete opposite of what I want from the Outer Wilds. All this reduces how much variety there was in the base game and after the initial novelty of a new area wears off it starts to feel samey. Oxygen is no longer a concern, the gravity is basically always the same as Timber Hearth, even looping feels a bit out of place. Your ship is useless, your jetpack has turned into a glorified double jump, the signalscope is used once, the translator is never used at all. I really dislike how it basically throws away all your tools. Overall I still enjoyed parts of the DLC but it was in no way the same feeling of what I got from the base game. I found this comment on a gaming forum and parts of it echoed (pun intended) some of my feelings.
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