Discovery

I discovered Outer Wilds in 2019 via a Pseudoless video. It appeared to be an exploration game based on reflection and translation, which seemed quite complicated. That same year, I learned that one of the game's character was asexual. Took me years to realize that that was not Outer Wilds but The Outer Worlds. Apart from that, I did not really think about the game again.

In 2022, my good friend Cat started playing Outer Wilds. Sometimes, when I came to his flat, he would ba playing it, which lead me to see its void, anglerfish, and quite a lot of the DLC. According to messages from the time, he also spoiled a lot of things that I completely forgot in the two following years. Given his passion for the game, I put Outer Wilds in the category of "games I might play someday even if I can't play it on anything right now". I even put aside the TheGreatReview's video to avoid being spoiled.
At the end of 2023, the game was ported to Switch.

First try

In February 2024, I finally get my hands on the game (and on my controller). I start the game, listen to the title screen's music, go through the tutorial.
I am not impressed.
I struggle with the controls (if the interaction is not the A button, I'm lost), I struggle with the physics, and the first Nomai writings I find don't really pique my curiosity. The first planet I visit is Brittle Hollow, where I spend my time falling in the black hole or getting stuck because I keep getting lost. The neverending loading times don't help with this feleling of frustration.
I stop playing for two weeks and, when I try to pick it up again, I've forgotten the controls. I give up.

A simple melody

September 2024, 8th ZEvent. Several streamers attempt to play Travelers. For some reason, it convinces me to give the game another chance.
But this time, I don't give up.

I go back to Brittle Hollow, I find out why I was stuck, I stop falling every time, I stay alive longer and longer, until finally consistently reaching the 22-minute limit.

And I start wondering.

How cn I stop the sun's explosion? How and why did the Nomai disappear? Who's the third mask? How can I reach the top of the Tower of Quantum Knowledge? (Turns out, I had the right technique, but it somehow didn't work so I gave up. Which means I completely missed Solanum).
And what's all this about an Eye of the Universe?

Exploration

Timber Hearth

In the middle of my time on Brittle Hollow, I realize that it's completely stupid to have never visited Timber Hearth and the Attlerock. So I do it.

On Timber Hearth, I find the first mention of the Ash Twin project. For some reason, it takes me 3/4th of the game to realize that the Ash Twin Project might have something to do with the planet of the same name. I am smart.

Giant's Deep

I went to Giant's Deep for the first time because, unlike Brittle Hollow, it looked all smooth and not prone to falling into a black hole. A nice and peaceful place.

I changed my mind once through the cloud layer. It's hard to explain the disillusionment and panic I felt when I came face to face with three giant tornadoes and realized I had to say goodbye to my hope for some respite.

Giant's Deep will never be my favorite planet (Brittle Hollow hehe), but it was definitely the funniest. The statue Island falling on my head which made me solve a mystery I didn't even know the existence of, Gabbro, or that time my ship was so damaged that I accidentally entered the cyclone protecting the Tower of Quantum Trials... yes, it was a pretty good experience.

Quantum Moon

I never reached Solanum. I saw that it was impossible to get out of the tower when the Moon was on the sixth location, and wrongfully concluded that it was a dead end. I should have known this was not the kind of game to do that, but one of my biggest regret for my whole playthrough was to not be as patient as I should have been.

Hourglass Twins

I liked Ember Twin. Because of the sand, I had to take the same path to the City a number of times, and doing it over and over again made me so smooth at it that for a short period of time I understood why speedrunners do what they do. I never took any of the shortcuts.

This planet is probably the one that had the most emotional impact on me. Following the children's writing to the anglerfish and finding their skeletons there. Then, slowly realizing that the Nomai were playing with forces greater than I had imagined, and hoping, maybe, that they had the solution, and had just been stopped before they could implement it.

Reaching the solar station, something that felt both like hope and hubris. But no, it was all in vain. They never managed to trigger a supernova and, shortly thereafter, they would be swept away by ghost matter.

At the end of one of my first cycles on Ember Twin, I tried to talk to Chert.

"Oh, why did we have to be born at the end of the universe?"

I wanted to tell them that no, it wasn't the end, we were at a static point, but I would find how to get out of it, and it would not be the end. Because that's how stories go, you go through trials and challenges that seem impossible, but in the end, you find something, a miracle, you overcome the odds, and everything can move forward again.

Right?

i could have noticed the stars dying in the sky, I could have seen how one small alien can't do anything against a supernova, let alone the death of the all universe. But even then, there was still hope. I was just one small being, but the Eye o the Universe, that was something that was bigger than planets, unique in the whole universe, and it seemed somewhat conscient, maybe benevolent. It could be a refuge, or a solution. It had to be something.

Dark Bramble

I finally explored Dark Bramble. The quantum shards had been the scariest thing in the game until now. How silly.

"Of all the lifeforms who will perish in the oncoming death of the universe, we will miss the anglerfish the least."

I am bad at stealth, I do not have the patience for it, and I panic easily. Needless to say, I did not have a good time in this planet.

Final Voyage

It took me a few tries before reaching the Eye. My succesful attempt was not really different from the previous ones: I was completely stressed, I did some stupid mistakes, like damaging my ship when I entered Dark Bramble (I almost gave up right then, but still pushed on) or being too loud and almmost getting eaten by an anglerfish. But I did it. I reached the ship, I scrambled for the coordinates without realizing that the game was giving them to me and I didn't actually need to write them down, and I found myself at the other end of the solar system.

Walking to the center of the Eye managed to take the top spot of the scary competition. The sound, flashes, and my fear of accidentally doing something wrong went crescendo until I jumped into a hypnotic and ominous hole and fell down, down, down until I reached-
The Museum. That's when I started crying. Signs acknowledged everything I had done and discovered, but there was no one to read them.

A forest of galaxies, disappearing before I could reach them. I think that's when I really understood that this was truly the end. There was nothing to do but find echoes of all the travelers I had encountered during my adventure.

Esker, alone and lonely on his moon.

Riebeck, the first and only one I met months ago.

Gabbro, my fellow loop prisoner.

Feldspar, the adventurer that wanted some respite.

Chert, the one that still haunts me.

With one last song, everything ended. And started anew.

“Even if it’s over now, I had a good time learning. But I think the rules are about to change.”

I cried during the credits. And for thrity minutes after that, on the title screen, listening to its music as the universe slowly fell apart.