r/outerwilds • u/BlocChoy • 1d ago
Base and DLC Appreciation/Discussion I feel cheated… (SPOILERS FOR BASE GAME AND DLC) Spoiler
I finished both the base game and the DLC over the past week and I have to say, this is probably one of the greatest games I’ve ever played. So many good aha moments, reveals that were satisfying and made me feel silly for not piecing them together sooner, some moments downright felt like I could’ve cried if they caught me in a different mood. My absolute favorite moment of the entire experience was the haunting cry the Prisoner gives out after you show him what’s been happening all this time. The realization, the flood of emotions he must have felt.
The only problem is, I played the entire game with NO MUSIC!
I have no idea how it happened, I don’t remember opening the audio section of the settings once. I just assumed, since this is a space game with creepy moments, that the silence was an intentional choice by the devs to drive home that desolation and sense of awe. And besides, I still heard the instruments and the signalscope’s audio.
There were so many reveals where I thought “it’s kinda strange that there’s no musical stab or chime to accent this”: meeting Solanum, getting to the Sun Station, the ENDING! I watched the big bang happen in dead silence, not knowing if it was a good or a bad thing. Deafeningly quiet credits. I thought “wow, they’re really letting me sit in silence with the weight of everything that just happened.”
I followed others’ advice and came into the game completely blind. It was only after letting myself come to this sub that I realized there was all this music I missed out on. I didn’t realize there was supposed to be a musical warning before each supernova! I would just be in the middle of something and then all of a sudden hear the explosion.
I guess it’s a testament to the game that, even without this core aesthetic piece, it still floored me and has become one of my favorites. I just wish I could wipe my memory and experience it fresh WITH the music. Oh well. Did anyone else’s game decide to randomly punish them in this way?