I don't use the word 'masterpiece' that often when describing games, as this word seems to be undermined by countless video game journalists that misuse this word to fit their boss’s agenda.

But to me, this game is different. Outer Wilds presents an experience unlike any other games within the medium.

Without venturing too far towards spoiler territory, the basic premise of this game is that your species’ space program has recently made a breakthrough and invented a new device that enables perfect translations of an ancient alien language, and it is your job to seek out these alien scripts around your solar system to uncover the mystery behind an ancient alien civilisation that once inhabited your planetary system.

I will not say anything beyond this synopsis, as I truly believe that this game is best experienced without any sort of background knowledge whatsoever.

The game places heavy emphasis on space exploration, and it rewards you with being curious with every unique landmark that each planet has to offer. However, you’re not rewarded with XP or rare items. The game doesn’t hold your hand in that way. Instead, your sense of progression is staged by your own knowledge of the game’s universe and mechanics, which will be acquired as you translate more of these alien scripts around the solar system. The more progress you make uncovering the fantastically designed world of Outer Wilds, the sooner you’ll realise that you can actually use the knowledge you’ve gained throughout your adventure to solve planetary puzzles or to visit new areas that were previously inaccessible due to your lack of knowledge of the game. In a sense, you can still level up within the game, but instead of your character leveling up, you yourself gain ‘XP’. You then realise that every single clue and hint in this game was already there from the beginning, it was just waiting for you to slowly uncover the secrets that the solar system has to offer.

Despite this game being more of a mystery sandbox, Outer Wilds can easily be labelled as a horror game and it would still be correct. It evokes the primal fears of the unknown that many horror games fail to achieve. The sense of dread in some of the areas of the planets were frankly overwhelming; I even had to physically take a break for a couple minutes to regain my composure a couple of times. The game wasn’t even designed to be this harrowing in the first place, but this just shows how space is just innately terrifying if you think about it long enough, and Outer Wilds did an impeccable job inadvertently conveying this idea to the player. Your own curiosity will fuel your endeavor towards the great unknown, however frightening it may be.

The way that the narrative unfolds in this game is just plain mesmerising. There are many games that try to capture the feeling of wonder and curiosity into its gameplay, but very few try to use explorative gameplay as a narrative device to drive the story forward and excel at it. It is such a unique way to design a game that revolves around this concept, since it forces the narrative to be told in a nonlinear fashion. This nonlinear nature of the narrative can only be executed in the form of a video game, and Outer Wilds uses this to its advantage to ensure that its players will be emotionally impacted even further once they have pieced together the clues behind the mysteries of its solar system.

It is rather difficult to encapsulate my thoughts without giving away any spoilers, but if you’re a fan of sci-fi, space exploration, mystery, quantum mechanics, or the movie Interstellar, this game will be right up your alley. It truly is a one-of-a-kind masterpiece, and I hope more people start to recognise the sheer genius that this game is.

Considering that this is Respawn's first foray on developing a non-shooting game, they did an excellent job on creating a great playable experience for all Star Wars fans alike.

The game derives heavily on popular concepts you see on many triple A games: Uncharted-style platforming, Souls-like combat (albeit more forgiving), Metroidvania-style progression of skills, all under a thematic sheen of good ol' Star Wars.

Sure, it doesn't try to innovate many things within the action-adventure genre, but not all games should have the need to be innovative in the first place. Ultimately, it needs to be fun, which Jedi Fallen Order accomplished pretty well in that regard. The feeling of force pushing a stormtrooper down a pit or parrying blaster shots back with your double-bladed lightsaber is quite like none other.

Perhaps the biggest shortcoming that this game has is its lack of purpose on exploring more of each of the game's detailed planets. The rewards of defeating a secret boss or solving a hidden puzzle are measly at best. Unless you're a big fan of ponchos in different colours, you'll find that the rewards are pretty much near meaningless and unrewarding.

Despite this, there is still a genuine joy to be had in this 17 to 20 hour adventure, especially if you're a Star Wars fan. Ultimately, I feel that this game is a jack of all trades, master of none. It doesn't truly excel in any of the mentioned concepts from inspired games, but it does blend these concepts together to make up a unique single-player focused Star Wars game, which is already quite a rarity nowadays.

A thought provoking experience; pushes the boundaries of how a video game can portray a meaningful story to the player.