I gave Outer Wilds a try when it released, and I simply didn't find it entertaining. I played one or two loops, and it just wasn't interesting. I'm not really a fan of story games, and I very much dislike playing the same content over and over. How could something like this be fun? Why would I ever want to revisit the same planets every 22 minutes?

A few years passed, and I gave it a second try with an open mind, and it quickly became one of my favorite games of all time. In fact, I began playing the banjo because of it.

My biggest complaint with open world games - especially new releases - is that the area between points of interest are filled with nothing. Its usually just procedurally generated terrain and trees. The neat thing about Outer Wilds is that the areas between the points of interest quite literally are filled with nothing. It's empty, open space. This means that the areas of interest are not only obvious, but they are very well designed. Without needing some direct instruction via quests or waypoints, I felt incentivized to explore every inch of every planet in the solar system.

Somehow, despite never really unlocking new content, It felt very satisfying to slowly piece together the several mysteries that the game throws at you. The game never felt boring and I always knew what had to be done next, even if I didn't know how to do it.

Outer Wilds is a masterpiece, and If I were trying to convince someone that video games are a form of artwork, this would be the game I show them. I cannot recommend it enough.