The focus on light is also a clever choice because it ties perfectly into Echoes of the Eye’s spookier vibe, often forcing you to wander through the dark and occasionally making light a luxury you desperately wish you could afford. The focus on light ties perfectly into this DLC's spookier vibe. It’s a neat little twist that sets how you navigate this area apart from the others, but it also maintains that same sense of wonder as things change in surprising ways at set times during each loop. That includes the rafts you’ll be riding between locations, which have orbs you can shine your flashlight on to float in a specific direction, as well as locked doors that open when illuminated. The bulk of this side adventure is basically a haunted river-rafting trip (which absolutely rules), with many of its puzzles and new mechanics built around using light. This setup does mean that Echoes of the Eye won’t have you bouncing around the solar system trying to piece together distant clues, which does make its discoveries a little more straightforward to unravel, but there are still plenty of intertwining secrets to find in this area alone. A new exhibit in the museum on Timber Hearth will point you toward a nearby research station monitoring a photo-taking satellite, and following that simple but exciting lead will eventually land you in a brand-new area with just as much to do as any of the base game’s planets. Though it can be confounding at times when events don’t unfold in precisely the right way, the feeling of discovering something new about the story, or following a couple of facts to something totally unexpected on a faraway planet far outweighs those hiccups." - Mike Epstein, Score: 8.4Įchoes of the Eye cleverly integrates its new mysteries by pretending they’ve been there all along, hiding in the shadows. Its very specific brand of active storytelling differs wildly from highly guided open-worlds that many of us think of when we talk about non-linear gameplay. "Outer Wilds’ tricky exploration and puzzle solving is definitely an acquired taste. Echoes of the Eye is no exception, and I am going to preserve that surprise as much as possible, but those looking to go in entirely fresh should be warned that some of it will be mentioned by necessity. Anyone who has played the base game knows that much of the magic of Outer Wilds can come from the surprise of stumbling upon a thrilling discovery or witnessing one of its timed events from just the right spot. That’s not exactly what I ended up wanting from more Outer Wilds, and its siloed nature does make it a little more linear to explore, but Echoes of the Eye is still a great reason to revisit this ever-exploding star.īefore I dive in, a quick word about spoilers: I’m not going to get into specific plot points or puzzles solutions here, but I will discuss some of the new areas and mechanics. Echoes of the Eye weaves one more thread worth pulling into the already complex tapestry of Outer Wilds, handily recapturing its charming, woodsy-sci-fi aesthetic and intricate time-loop puzzle solving, but this time with a creepier tone and a few sections that fully shift genres from adventure to horror game. Exploring Outer Wilds’ stunning clockwork solar system in 2019 was truly something special, so getting the chance to return in a DLC expansion feels like Christmas came early – or, in this case, more like Halloween.
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