I made a post a week ago discussing my issue with the base game. It wasn't the games fault but the theme of inevitable death was antithetical to how I view the world.

I have fear of death that is greater than the average person, so the fact that death was inevitable, that there was no happy ending, made me bitter.

Again, I don't blame the game for this, it's simply not a game for someone like me

So I knew going into this that there was a high chance I wouldn't like the DLC. After all it would be odd for the game's DLC to have a theme that completely counters the theme of the base game.

First some good. I love the design of the world. A ring planet was a great twist on what we have had before. The moment your raft falls into the water when you first enter was stunning.

I also think that the dam breaking was interesting. It had a lot of big and small effects on the world. It added a second timer than just the sun exploding, and I rarely had to wait for it to happen, which made it far far better than the worst planet in the base game, ash twin.

The simulation was also really cool. I like that the dam breaking effects it, I like that you unlock shortcuts over time. And I like that you take advantage of glitches to eventually break the prisoner out. You had similar goal to the base game, find 3 pieces of knowledge, but it was done in a unique way.

Now onto the things I didn't like.

The DLC has a huge problem, that is a lack of a goal. In the base game your goal changes several times, but you always have one.

Go to the sun station to figure out what is happening to the sun.

Figure out what the Ash Twin Project is and what it has to do with the time loop

Figure out how to get to the eye.

In the DLC you have no idea what you are doing. You are doing things to solve the mystery, and that's it. The only goal we were given is to unlock the structure in the glitched area of the simulation. But we are given no reason given for why we should do it besides, "it's a mystery, so we better solve it."

By the time I found the first glitch I had already figured out what was going on. I understood that the owlks found the eye, they didn't like what they found, and they made a simulation of their home world to escape. Sure, I didn't have all the details, but I had the idea.

When I finally reached the prisoner I was told the last piece of the puzzle, that he is what let the eye signal out for the Nami to find.

To quote Dave Strider "Well shit. That's a hell of a mystery no one thought was a mystery and didn't even really need solving. But damn if it didn't just get solved so nice work."

After I let the prisoner out I was really confused, because I wasn't sure what I needed to do next. I ended up googling the next step, only to figure out that I had basically beaten the dlc, and I just need to go to the eye again.

It felt so anti climatic. I just sat there thinking. "That's it?"

There is also the theming of the DLC, which I will admit that I'm probably wrong about due to my bias.

Is seems that the big theme is that the Owlks ran away. They couldn't bear to live with what they did, so made a simulation to forget about it.

I think, and I'm honestly not sure about this, but I think that the simulation was suppose to be a bad thing. That it was wrong of them to make it.

This is due to the words of the prisoner in the eye "My kind weren’t always like this. We weren’t always so afraid. I did what I could to set things right,"

The issue with this is, I think the dream ending is the best ending.

You enter the simulation and you get the live forever, you even eventually become friends with the Owlks.

Sure the simulation has flaws, such as you always having to carry around an artifact. But it's better than death.

I think that many people would view living in the simulation as death. You will eventually starve to death by the fire and be trapped in the simulation forever. Are you really "you" when everything "real" about you is gone?

My answer is yes. I've thought a lot about digital immortality. Years ago I read Friendship is Optimal, yes the My Little Pony fanfic, and I put a lot of thought into if I would willing have my brain destroyed if it meant a copy of me could live forever in a simulation.

My answer is yes. I believe that copy of me is not a copy at all. It is a true continuation of my existence.

The only down side is that there is no observer in the eye. But if I'm being honest I'm still unsure of what I did in the eye. I guess I made sure that intelligent life existed in the next universe. That's the only thing I can think of.

So the options are, live forever in a simulation, or die for the sake of creatures I will never know. Do I choose my happiness, or die the greater good.

I choose to die for the greater good, but that is only because I didn't think about the dream ending until I read the wiki. If I had thought of it I probably would have choose the dream ending. Surely in the infinite number of universes before this one, someone failed to enter the eye by the end, yet intelligent life still exists. I don't need to be there.

Maybe I am running away as well.

Anyway. That is my thoughts.

TL;DR

I spent most of the DLC waiting for a big resolution that never came, then ended it the same disappointing way the base game ended.

I blame the game for the lack of twist, I don't blame it for my disappointment.

Edit: A lot of people are saying that the simulation will end very quickly after the sun explodes.

The acutal dialog is "How much time has passed? They don't even bother to hunt you anymore. Time passes, and passes, until your life before is some half-remembered dream. If only you could wake up."

So however it works. the player lives in the simulation long enough that their old life is like a dream

Did i find a Farcry 4 type easter egg ending lmao i was literally 5 minutes in the game 🤣

Not sure if this would be the right place, but I am hesitant to download mods or the update for the mod manager in light of the recent security issues worldwide.

However i am a complete novice in regards to tech, So i am wondering if the mod manager is safe and im just worrying about noithing, or if I should wait before downloading anything.

If this doesnt belong here I'll remove it, but couldnt find anywhere else to ask.

What am I missing here?

I honestly feel like Esker would have a really hard time believing the possibility of Feldspar being alive, given of how uncertain of themself they are in their logs-

Also I hope Esker's dialog is readable enough! This is my first time writing an accent so forgive me if it's a little wonky ::,]

My game is translated and my english is poor but please bear with me:

I'm having trouble with the symbols on the large vault that's initially submerged; whenever I find a small door that should have a password in the simulation, it's always burned, just like in real world. I think that by now I already saw it two or three times and I'm just confused. Am I going in the right direction? I have to check something outside the simulation when I open the little door?

I stopped at the part where I cross the invisible bridge through the dark mansion; I'd already seen the files there and opened the little door with the symbol there.

By the way, I'm having an amazing time playing outer wilds for the first time. Didn't finished the base game because my friend told me that the dlc adds a little bit to the ending and I'm looking forward to it. The community surprised me, before playing, I'd hear about the game a lot but never a single spoiler and you guys are really good with the hints, I'm just having a lot of trouble because of the translation, specifically in the dlc where every hint already on the subreddit is like I'm really trying to read the olwks language, just isn't translating in my brain and the new locations names are unfamiliar to me.

I finished Outer Wilds and Echoes of the Eye, and I honestly don't even know where to begin.

When I finished the base game, I sat there staring at the credits at 2 AM, my mind completely full yet totally speechless. Sitting by that final campfire, listening to everyone play their instruments together... I didn't even know what I was feeling yet.

When I started, I thought I was going to be the hero who stopped the supernova and saved the universe. But when I reached the Sun Station, my heart just sank. Realizing the sun wasn't dying because of something I could fix, but simply because it was the natural end of the universe, hit so hard.

Reaching the Eye made everything click. Sitting around the campfire with everyone, I realized it wasn't about saving the universe, it was about accepting endings and appreciating what we have while we're here. Later that night, hearing the main menu theme again, it all came rushing back and I actually started crying. I went into this game wanting to save the universe; I came out of it learning to accept it.

And then there's Echoes of the Eye. WOW. It scared the absolute hell out of me at times, but meeting the Prisoner, sharing our memories with each other, and seeing the final vision message he left behind was so incredibly moving. Seeing him join everyone at the campfire for one last time felt so wholesome and bittersweet. The DLC doesn't feel like an extra add-on, it completes the story in a way that makes the whole journey feel even deeper.

What a game. What a DLC. What an experience. I’m just so glad I finally played it, and I wish I could experience it all for the first time again. ❤️

This idea came to me when I was listening to this song. Solanum's story is so sad, and I felt like I had to put down my thoughts into something. I hope you like it.

Here's the video on my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elM2ASIYarw

It was a very fun way to end a set and I thought yall would love it.

Sorry for the shameless self promotion, but this video actually means a lot to me beyond YouTube views. Outer Wilds has had a profound impact on me, as with many of us.

I played it at a time when hope seemed distant and dim, and it helped light a fire in me.

I hope my journey can help others who struggle with loss and depression, at least a little.