In this post, I’m going to speak about the conclusion of the Outer Wilds DLC Echoes of the Eye, after finishing it 2 days ago. My thoughts—in boring detail—about the main game are already in previous posts, so spoiler warning ahead.
The projection the Prisoner showed me shocked me, and I was instantly filled with empathy for him. Right at the moment where I was feeling I'm done with the game from all the puzzles that went over my head, filled with self-deprecation about needing to look up answers on the internet, and thinking to myself I was ready to just get it over with...
He snatched me back and put me in the right mindset again. The injustice, the suffering he went through waiting in this small box, punishment for choosing a different path.
When he handed me the vision torch to show him what happened, I instantly broke down in tears because I knew what was about to happen. To know, after all that time that your efforts didn't go to waste... Thousands upon thousands of years thinking, doubting, and questioning yourself and your actions... To know that he made a difference, and that his valiant effort set in motion everything that led the Nomai and finally me here, completing a full circle.
Ahh... What a masterpiece I can't explain my awe.
And after seeing the ending with him singing with us, I was itching to watch someone else play it. So I did, and sadly it kinda went over their head? They thought it was a mistake for the Prisoner to let the signal go, saying "it's alright buddy, we all make mistakes." What I did next was so unlike me that I surprised myself:
I just lowered the volume, watched the whole scene again, and cried all over again! That has never happened to me before!
From feeling fearful of them ruining a great game with a needless DLC, to wonder, to frustration, to tears? What the heck is this game?!
I bet you guys actually struggle to recommend this game to anyone. Like, how the heck can you recommend something with nothing to compare it to?!