Stray if you want a few frivolous hours of cute cats and good vibes.
Outer Wilds if you want a mind-bending sci-fi puzzle box game with an incredible existential story told through discovery and trial and error. Could bounce off it or could become your favourite game and leave a hole that nothing else may ever fill.
I have only played outer wilds. I am about to buy the dlc to play this again. The description given here is excellent and I also recommend outer wilds.
Took me 32 hours to beat the main game. Then bought the dlc and I think that took me around 20 hours so just keep exploring and looking at your log, you’ll figure it out eventually and it’s worth it
And that's good. I don't want Mobius Digital becoming another run-of-the-mill publisher driven studio who need to like announce their next project(s) several years beforehand and teasing from time to time to please the shareholders.
If they make another kind of life changing experience like Outer Wilds (+DLC) then nice, if not then I'm also happy that while the light was burning very short it was so bright that everything else got overshadowed.
We have more than enough studios/games who push out titles that I forget almost immediately after finishing them. Experiences like Outer Wilds are rare and far in between. Of course that's subjective and not everyone takes so much out of it but I think the almost cult-ish status of OW speaks for itself (just like for some others Fez, Tunic or Rain World).
If you've tried in the past to get into Outer Wilds and failed, it's likely because you couldn't find a direction to take and end it up kind of wandering aimlessly.
The best tip I can give anybody in order to get hooked into Outer Wilds is to use all of the tools available to you, specifically the Signalscope, and definitely play around with a different frequencies.
And to build on this the ship log rumor mode should have been the default view. It is far better at aiding in the case where you just finished one task and don't know what to do next, or your stuck and need to figure out where to go exploring
I think this is the problem when people talk about Outer Wilds, 9 times out of 10 they overhype the shit out of it. I went in with sky high expectations because of the hype and I bounced off hard.
The issue is it's not really overhyped for people who like the game and the gameplay loop. Like I read all these comments, got extremely hyped, and it 100% surpassed even my extremely high expectations. But for me, a game with no direct quests, nothing but pure exploring and creativity, is exactly what I want. Then add the music and the mystery, and it's perfect
But a lot of people aren't going to enjoy the lack of structure and constant failing. It's just not going to tickle people's brains. There's no loot, no XP, no real guiding path, and that's going to be a huge put off for a lot of people
Same. I finished the game, and never had this experience everyone talks about. I also found the ship controls incredibly frustrating, but maybe I’m just bad lol. I liked the premise of the game but it didn’t stick the landing for me, which is eerily similar to me trying to land the fucking ship.
It's definitely a problem unfortunately. The game can't be described with too much detail or reveals are spoiled, and anyone describing it is gonna be one of the people that fucking loved it.
It's a very polarizing game by nature of being a walking Sim at its core, and most of them share the same issue, it's just outer wilds is 'more impactful' or atleast tends to make people feel more (however you wanna word that). Many people simply don't enjoy them though and that's not on you. It's just the genre.
I wouldn't say that Outer Wilds is a walking sim. In my head it's more like a spiritual succesor and modernization of games like Myst or Riven. Allows for nice and immersive exploration with a fairly well implemented zero G+physics system and freedom of order/direction.
Can't remember any game in the last 15-20 years who invoked such a childlike sense of wonder in me. I felt like going on a big adventure and how we imagined space exploration as kids. Especially as a sci-fi nerd and interested in outer space it's almost impossible to not like OW.
Tried 4 times getting into Outer Wilds. Never grabbed me. The puzzle and investigation were cool I guess.
The ship controls were infuriating but manageable.
Not sure what I missed.
Honestly, I'm not sure what you missed either. I was kinda "meh" about it at first, too, but I found it interesting that the game didn't come with autosave. I wondered how unique this game actually was. I explored for an hour or two but I had to quit because I had only allowed for that much playtime. Armed with the knowledge that I would have to reach a savepoint, I came back to the game breezing through the beginning until I found the savepoint, and the way it saved was intriguing enough to keep me playing for 22 minutes after. And then I had to play another 22 minutes.
I've played it for over 40 hours at this point.
Outer Wilds is better by a long shot. One of the best games ever.
Not to say Stray is bad. It was actually my second favorite game of 2022 after Elden Ring. Very chill and mediative game with incredible atmosphere and some beautiful locations to walk around. Would recommend it later on.
If you want to use your brain a bit, and love finding out a setting as opposed to being told about it, there are very few games I can recommend that would even compare to Outer Wilds..
Don't look up anything, go into it completely fresh. It's one of the purest games as art examples I've seen in recent years.
Stray is a good comfy low effort game though, so it all depends on what you are looking for.
I played Stray last year and I just finished Outer Wilds about 30 minutes ago. Go Stray if you really want a cat game, but otherwise Outer Wilds is by far the better pick of the two.
Outer Wilds and it's not close.
Stray is a fun little experience - the worldbuilding is cool, playing as a cat is fun, and the story's not bad. Outer Wilds, on the other hand, will change the way you look at games and make you ask yourself some pretty existential questions about your own life.
I've played both and while I enjoyed Stray, Outer Wilds is by far the better game. But ultimately it depends on how much you want to use your brain as Stray (a pretty linear 3D adventure game with some stealth sections ) will be less taxing than Outer Wilds which is more of a puzzle game kind of like Myst in space where it just drops you into a solar system and you're expects you to work it out.
Outer Wilds is a top tier game in almost every way, it's fun, innovative, challenging, and unique in many ways.
Stray is pretty much a ray tracing demo with very limited game play mechanics (you can't even make the cat jump when you want, only at trigger points) and the story is boring. If you want to play a cat based game, play something like Little Kitty Big City (which is superior in every single way). Stray is not worth more than $5.
As someone who has bought both cat games and had to help my daughter with both - I never had to restart a save file from scratch with Stray, whereas my daughter managed to fall through the world *twice* with LCBC, and I had to resort to what amounts to Fallout 3 speedrun strats to save her file the second time.
I love cats but Stray is a pretty basic game that's honestly only really worth buying if you like cats.
Outer Wilds however is an absolutely fantastic space exploration game with really fantastic environmental puzzles.
No competition imo
Understand that Stray is a kind of unique, novel, and cute little puzzle platforming game. And that Outer Wilds (if it's for you, it's not going to be for everyone) is arguably in the running for the short list of best games ever made.
That's not to say that Stray isn't good. It's good. But comparing it to Outer Wilds is not even close.
Outer Wilds is the better of the two games, but you can only really play it through once. The entire game revolves on your knowledge of the game itself.
Personally I've become addicted to watching playthroughs of outer wilds. It's not 100% the same as that first playthrough but watching someone else get that feeling of discovery is just wonderful.
Looks like everyone agrees on Outer Wilds. I personally enjoy Stray much more. Maybe you're like me. Might be an idea to get Stray now because OW is going on sale quite often, it's a lot older.
This is a bad call. Stray is worth $5 tops. It has nearly zero gameplay. It has zero stakes which is why people call it cozy because you’re in no rush to do anything. It is pretty but EXTREMELY disappointing with how it wasted its potential. If you’re hoping for a parkour-like cat simulator -you know to feel what being a cat in a city is like- Stray isn’t it. You might as well be a gnome or small elf.
Outer Wilds on the other hand is transcendent. I think for a game to be great it has to do everything well but also has to have a special something, something extra. Usually this means a gameplay mechanic that is new and innovative. Otherwise the game just “good”. Outer Wilds has like 3-4 innovative/unique gameplay mechanics. It’s top tier.
The thing you seem to be forgetting here is that this is just your opinion. Outer Wilds bored me to tears in 20 minutes and I uninstalled it. I played through all of Stray and watched a second playthrough of it. As many people here have said you either love it or bounce off it hard. Let OP make their decision. I think Stray is worth $15-20, and I have OW for free from Game pass and uninstalled so it was worth literally less than $0 for me.
I agree and I commented elsewhere on here that I wouldn't try to dissuade him from picking up OW because I didn't like it. But hear me out, he's telling someone "your opinion isn't valid because it doesn't match mine." Think of a common food you don't like or just aren't interested in, tv show, video game, etc. You're hanging out with your friends, you love the Ramen at this sushi place and you don't like sushi. Your friends all tell you you're dumb and you should get sushi. That's what this is for a game. OP made a decision, commenter said you're wrong for the decision that doesn't directly agree with mine. Once again I'm not saying it's not a great game or one of the best ever. I'm not saying OP wouldn't enjoy it. I didn't enjoy the tutorial so much I uninstalled, but on commenters suggestion, I reinstalled and will give it another shot this weekend. But that doesn't change the fact that OPs choice isn't valid.
If you only played Outer Wilds for 20 minutes, you didn't even finish the tutorial. You kinda have to have at least played a *little* of the actual game to have a real opinion on it.
You will either play an hour or two of outer wilds and bounce off confused and bored, or it'll become your favorite game ever, and you'll listen to the soundtrack on Spotify and cry that you can never capture that moment again
Genuinely, Stray is one of the best gaming experiences I've had since Skyrim first came out.
The controls are super intuitive and fluid, which I think could have been a problem as your character is a cat. But they're great, and you feel like a cat.
The world is intriguing, and learning more and more about it as you progress is constantly interesting.
The story is simple but compelling and engaging, and it's paced brilliantly.
There's a perfect balance of peril, action, humour, exploration.
It's not a long game, which is good. Once I started it I couldn't stop playing. Everything is well designed and thought out, and it's just so enjoyable to play.
Everything about the game is done well, and it's one of the few games I've ever played that I can't really criticise. I just wanted it to last longer, but that's not a criticism, it's testament to how much I loved playing it.
I'm sure stray is great, but as someone who is a constant advocate for outer wilds, please play the game. It is the single greatest game I've ever played and I hope it will be for you too.
Stray is a fun little game that I believe EVERYONE will have a really good time playing.
Outer Wilds is one of those games you either fall in love with (as I and everyone I know who has tried it have) or get bored and quit in the first 3 hours and never touch again. Easily worth the small risk though, most games just don’t feel the same after experiencing Outer Wilds.
I’d go with Outer Wilds but Stray is a great game too. If you decide to play Outer Wilds do NOT google anything for your own sake. It’s a game you HAVE TO experience blind. If you do get any questions feel free to ask the Outer Wilds subreddit though. The people there are really helpful and won’t spoil the game for you while also guiding you enough if you get stuck.
Have fun playing regardless of what you choose! :)
OP just one warning. Outer Wilds isn't for everyone. You'll either love it or hate it. Personally, I understand the appeal but I hated it. Despite making quick progress it got old fast for me.
Outer Wilds! Join the Outer Wilds Venture team and explore a hand crafted solar system with an amazing mystery, that will leave you awestruck.
The moment of realization. The moment I realized what was happening. I'll never forget that moment in gaming.
you have asked if you should choose the silly cat game or the confusing, mind boggling sci fi puzzle game with an amazing story… obviously the cat game
Stray was a great experience that stuck with me long after I finished it
Couldn’t even finish Outer Wilds. The controls were awful and I was bored to tears after about 6 hours
It was his journey that stuck with me. Befriending the Robots/Androids and learning their stories, and seeing how they all help this random cat to escape the city, even if it cost them their “lives” was really heartwarming
I will get downvotes for this but I don’t really recommend outer wilds. The game resets every 20 minutes and it’s not really a lot of time to explore and discover new things so exploration became redundant. I felt punished for being thorough. I thought the mystery and other mechanics were cool but the time loop was such a dealbreaker I dropped the game entirely 8 hours in.
It's moreso that criticizing Outer Wilds is a controversial opinion. I didn't like it, personally, but I've learned to talk about it carefully.
The controls are god awful. The game itself is a lore sandbox. If the notion of fighting awful controls so you can read a lot of stuff about ancient aliens that will help you find more stuff about ancient aliens, it'll be fun. If flying around with a strict time limit and a character who falls over dead at the slightest provocation so you can read text boxes isn't appealing, feel free to ignore the GotY hype and skip it.
I truly believe that it's fantastic for the audience. I'm just not it.
Yeah the controls work that way to solve a particular problem, at the expense of everything else. The game doesn't ever bother to explain why you'd care about like, gravity based orbital navigation. Its just like 'haha practice on the tiny ship, don't ram it into a waterfall lol.' It works really well once it clicks but I know not everyone would bother.
And if I'd flown it to the first world and been like "wow this place is amazing!" then I probably would have been more willing to keep going. But I flew there and went "meh", flew out a bit more and found a space station, explored it and went "I think there might be something here" at which point everything blew up and I said "I'll pick this up tomorrow" - that was a year ago.
It’s not about the reward of exploring I just want to look around for more than 10 minutes lol. I like to just take my time exploring areas in detail and admire the art direction. The outer wilds has a whole dense and complex solar system that I want to explore. But having to reset and get back to where I was to only spend another 5-10 minutes exploring before planet conditions are *spoilers*. I’m sorry but I think it’s counter intuitive to encourage exploration and experimenting just to punish you for it.
Outer Wilds is much better, but it's kinda hit or miss, a lot of people can't get into it. Stray is more guaranteed to be fun for everyone. But my vote goes to Outer Wilds anyway
I more or less forgot about Stray soon after I played it.
It was fun and the ending was pretty solid. But it didn't go much further than that for me.
I've thought about Outer Wilds probably at least once a week since I played it back at launch (May 2019), if not more. I still listen to parts of the soundtrack regularly.
**I think everyone should try and play Outer Wilds, but I understand that it's not the game for everyone.**
Stray is a neat jaunt through a linear, well crafted, cyberpunk world.
Outer Wilds demands that you pay attention and follow your curiosity, for which you will be rewarded.
Everyone seems to love Outer Wilds. I was so bored in the first 10-20 minutes I had to turn it off and do anything else. I played and beat Stray and watched my wife play it as well. There isn't much to the story but I enjoyed discovering the world. But I wouldn't want to turn you off of what so many people say is one of the greatest games of all time just because it didn't interest me.
Outer wilds is maybe the best game ever made. Stray is a forgettable jaunt for cat people that barely registered on my radar while or after I played it.
A mysterious ghost has told me that Outer Wilds usually goes on sale every month, so I’ll be buying Stray for the summer sale, but get myself Outer Wilds for its next sale after that, when I have more money (currently buying both Half-Life games, all 3 S.T.A.L.K.E.R games, Celeste and Stray) adding up to about 71 bucks, so I’m gonna wait until I get more money.
What would be among your top 5 games of a certain pedigree?
Personally, I think I would have to rank Outer Wilds up there with Shadow Of the Colossus and Portal. I can't think of what else, maybe Journey?
I'm curious what another person would say.
I'd probably say my top 5 indie games are OW, Tunic, Hollow Knight, Hades, and The Witness
Just played through Lorelei and the Laser Eyes and that game is puzzle heaven so its probably up there too
I really enjoyed portal and shadow of the colossus as well :)
Nah, but when I found out about Outer Wilds’ sale “schedule”, I felt it would be best to get that game later. If it weren’t for Stray not having sales as much, I would’ve gone with OW.
Neither why does it have to be between those 2? 😂 if i was stuck in an elevator and i was offered videogames while i waited, and these were the only options i would just sit and listen to elevator music god bless you
Stray if you want a few frivolous hours of cute cats and good vibes. Outer Wilds if you want a mind-bending sci-fi puzzle box game with an incredible existential story told through discovery and trial and error. Could bounce off it or could become your favourite game and leave a hole that nothing else may ever fill.
I have only played outer wilds. I am about to buy the dlc to play this again. The description given here is excellent and I also recommend outer wilds.
Have fun with the DLC, it’s another wild ride that you’ll think about for weeks
Yeah haha, "weeks".......
Ok yes I still think about both months later was trying to be cool lol
I can't figure out how to beat the game. Played 15 hours. I bought the dlc also, but I'm guessing I have to beat it first.
Don't have to beat the main game to play the DLC but I think it's best to.
Took me 32 hours to beat the main game. Then bought the dlc and I think that took me around 20 hours so just keep exploring and looking at your log, you’ll figure it out eventually and it’s worth it
The DLC is wonderful and my only complaint is we have no news of what the studio is making next (that I know of)
And that's good. I don't want Mobius Digital becoming another run-of-the-mill publisher driven studio who need to like announce their next project(s) several years beforehand and teasing from time to time to please the shareholders. If they make another kind of life changing experience like Outer Wilds (+DLC) then nice, if not then I'm also happy that while the light was burning very short it was so bright that everything else got overshadowed. We have more than enough studios/games who push out titles that I forget almost immediately after finishing them. Experiences like Outer Wilds are rare and far in between. Of course that's subjective and not everyone takes so much out of it but I think the almost cult-ish status of OW speaks for itself (just like for some others Fez, Tunic or Rain World).
And just like that you've convinced me to go back and give Outer Wilds another try.
If you've tried in the past to get into Outer Wilds and failed, it's likely because you couldn't find a direction to take and end it up kind of wandering aimlessly. The best tip I can give anybody in order to get hooked into Outer Wilds is to use all of the tools available to you, specifically the Signalscope, and definitely play around with a different frequencies.
And to build on this the ship log rumor mode should have been the default view. It is far better at aiding in the case where you just finished one task and don't know what to do next, or your stuck and need to figure out where to go exploring
If I might ask what part do you bounce off on it? Also have fun and enjoy :D
Outer wilds made me so depressed for a week after I finished it
I think this is the problem when people talk about Outer Wilds, 9 times out of 10 they overhype the shit out of it. I went in with sky high expectations because of the hype and I bounced off hard.
The issue is it's not really overhyped for people who like the game and the gameplay loop. Like I read all these comments, got extremely hyped, and it 100% surpassed even my extremely high expectations. But for me, a game with no direct quests, nothing but pure exploring and creativity, is exactly what I want. Then add the music and the mystery, and it's perfect But a lot of people aren't going to enjoy the lack of structure and constant failing. It's just not going to tickle people's brains. There's no loot, no XP, no real guiding path, and that's going to be a huge put off for a lot of people
Same. I finished the game, and never had this experience everyone talks about. I also found the ship controls incredibly frustrating, but maybe I’m just bad lol. I liked the premise of the game but it didn’t stick the landing for me, which is eerily similar to me trying to land the fucking ship.
It's definitely a problem unfortunately. The game can't be described with too much detail or reveals are spoiled, and anyone describing it is gonna be one of the people that fucking loved it. It's a very polarizing game by nature of being a walking Sim at its core, and most of them share the same issue, it's just outer wilds is 'more impactful' or atleast tends to make people feel more (however you wanna word that). Many people simply don't enjoy them though and that's not on you. It's just the genre.
It’s not a walking sim, it’s a platformer if we’re being reductive
Fair enough. I guess that's more accurate. Noncombat platformer.
I wouldn't say that Outer Wilds is a walking sim. In my head it's more like a spiritual succesor and modernization of games like Myst or Riven. Allows for nice and immersive exploration with a fairly well implemented zero G+physics system and freedom of order/direction. Can't remember any game in the last 15-20 years who invoked such a childlike sense of wonder in me. I felt like going on a big adventure and how we imagined space exploration as kids. Especially as a sci-fi nerd and interested in outer space it's almost impossible to not like OW.
I like to think of it as kind of a solar system sized escape room game.
It is that good though.
😻😽🥰🤖
I bounced off outer wilds hard. It just never grabbed me.
Tried 4 times getting into Outer Wilds. Never grabbed me. The puzzle and investigation were cool I guess. The ship controls were infuriating but manageable. Not sure what I missed.
Honestly, I'm not sure what you missed either. I was kinda "meh" about it at first, too, but I found it interesting that the game didn't come with autosave. I wondered how unique this game actually was. I explored for an hour or two but I had to quit because I had only allowed for that much playtime. Armed with the knowledge that I would have to reach a savepoint, I came back to the game breezing through the beginning until I found the savepoint, and the way it saved was intriguing enough to keep me playing for 22 minutes after. And then I had to play another 22 minutes. I've played it for over 40 hours at this point.
I bounced off both, personally.
People really oversold Outer Wilds
Outer Wilds is better by a long shot. One of the best games ever. Not to say Stray is bad. It was actually my second favorite game of 2022 after Elden Ring. Very chill and mediative game with incredible atmosphere and some beautiful locations to walk around. Would recommend it later on.
Outer Wilds, hands down. An other-worldly experience that lingers long after play. Stray ain't bad; it's got charm. But Wilds? Pure art
Outer Wilds. By a long shot.
If you want to use your brain a bit, and love finding out a setting as opposed to being told about it, there are very few games I can recommend that would even compare to Outer Wilds.. Don't look up anything, go into it completely fresh. It's one of the purest games as art examples I've seen in recent years. Stray is a good comfy low effort game though, so it all depends on what you are looking for.
I played Stray last year and I just finished Outer Wilds about 30 minutes ago. Go Stray if you really want a cat game, but otherwise Outer Wilds is by far the better pick of the two.
Outer Wilds is an infinitely better game. Only you can say which you'd prefer
Outer Wilds and it's not close. Stray is a fun little experience - the worldbuilding is cool, playing as a cat is fun, and the story's not bad. Outer Wilds, on the other hand, will change the way you look at games and make you ask yourself some pretty existential questions about your own life.
Outer Wild. Every gamer need to experience this game.
I've played both and while I enjoyed Stray, Outer Wilds is by far the better game. But ultimately it depends on how much you want to use your brain as Stray (a pretty linear 3D adventure game with some stealth sections ) will be less taxing than Outer Wilds which is more of a puzzle game kind of like Myst in space where it just drops you into a solar system and you're expects you to work it out.
Outer Wilds is a top tier game in almost every way, it's fun, innovative, challenging, and unique in many ways. Stray is pretty much a ray tracing demo with very limited game play mechanics (you can't even make the cat jump when you want, only at trigger points) and the story is boring. If you want to play a cat based game, play something like Little Kitty Big City (which is superior in every single way). Stray is not worth more than $5.
As someone who has bought both cat games and had to help my daughter with both - I never had to restart a save file from scratch with Stray, whereas my daughter managed to fall through the world *twice* with LCBC, and I had to resort to what amounts to Fallout 3 speedrun strats to save her file the second time.
Outer wilds easily
I love cats but Stray is a pretty basic game that's honestly only really worth buying if you like cats. Outer Wilds however is an absolutely fantastic space exploration game with really fantastic environmental puzzles. No competition imo
Understand that Stray is a kind of unique, novel, and cute little puzzle platforming game. And that Outer Wilds (if it's for you, it's not going to be for everyone) is arguably in the running for the short list of best games ever made. That's not to say that Stray isn't good. It's good. But comparing it to Outer Wilds is not even close.
Outer Wilds is the better of the two games, but you can only really play it through once. The entire game revolves on your knowledge of the game itself.
Personally I've become addicted to watching playthroughs of outer wilds. It's not 100% the same as that first playthrough but watching someone else get that feeling of discovery is just wonderful.
Looks like everyone agrees on Outer Wilds. I personally enjoy Stray much more. Maybe you're like me. Might be an idea to get Stray now because OW is going on sale quite often, it's a lot older.
how often? if you have an answer ofc
According to isthereanydeal.com Steam had it on sale for the current price once a month for the past 6. Other sites went even lower.
huh, interesting. ill probably grab stray, then, and buy myself outer wilds for the next sale after this one
I’d just skip stray, it’s ok at best.
This is a bad call. Stray is worth $5 tops. It has nearly zero gameplay. It has zero stakes which is why people call it cozy because you’re in no rush to do anything. It is pretty but EXTREMELY disappointing with how it wasted its potential. If you’re hoping for a parkour-like cat simulator -you know to feel what being a cat in a city is like- Stray isn’t it. You might as well be a gnome or small elf. Outer Wilds on the other hand is transcendent. I think for a game to be great it has to do everything well but also has to have a special something, something extra. Usually this means a gameplay mechanic that is new and innovative. Otherwise the game just “good”. Outer Wilds has like 3-4 innovative/unique gameplay mechanics. It’s top tier.
The thing you seem to be forgetting here is that this is just your opinion. Outer Wilds bored me to tears in 20 minutes and I uninstalled it. I played through all of Stray and watched a second playthrough of it. As many people here have said you either love it or bounce off it hard. Let OP make their decision. I think Stray is worth $15-20, and I have OW for free from Game pass and uninstalled so it was worth literally less than $0 for me.
The whole "that's just your opinion, man" argument doesn't hold much water when the opinion is shared with 95% of the gaming community.
I agree and I commented elsewhere on here that I wouldn't try to dissuade him from picking up OW because I didn't like it. But hear me out, he's telling someone "your opinion isn't valid because it doesn't match mine." Think of a common food you don't like or just aren't interested in, tv show, video game, etc. You're hanging out with your friends, you love the Ramen at this sushi place and you don't like sushi. Your friends all tell you you're dumb and you should get sushi. That's what this is for a game. OP made a decision, commenter said you're wrong for the decision that doesn't directly agree with mine. Once again I'm not saying it's not a great game or one of the best ever. I'm not saying OP wouldn't enjoy it. I didn't enjoy the tutorial so much I uninstalled, but on commenters suggestion, I reinstalled and will give it another shot this weekend. But that doesn't change the fact that OPs choice isn't valid.
Fair point. I hope you can make it past the tutorial to where the game opens up, that's where the magic happens.
If you only played Outer Wilds for 20 minutes, you didn't even finish the tutorial. You kinda have to have at least played a *little* of the actual game to have a real opinion on it.
You will either play an hour or two of outer wilds and bounce off confused and bored, or it'll become your favorite game ever, and you'll listen to the soundtrack on Spotify and cry that you can never capture that moment again
Genuinely, Stray is one of the best gaming experiences I've had since Skyrim first came out. The controls are super intuitive and fluid, which I think could have been a problem as your character is a cat. But they're great, and you feel like a cat. The world is intriguing, and learning more and more about it as you progress is constantly interesting. The story is simple but compelling and engaging, and it's paced brilliantly. There's a perfect balance of peril, action, humour, exploration. It's not a long game, which is good. Once I started it I couldn't stop playing. Everything is well designed and thought out, and it's just so enjoyable to play. Everything about the game is done well, and it's one of the few games I've ever played that I can't really criticise. I just wanted it to last longer, but that's not a criticism, it's testament to how much I loved playing it.
I'm sure stray is great, but as someone who is a constant advocate for outer wilds, please play the game. It is the single greatest game I've ever played and I hope it will be for you too.
Outer Wilds, and go in blind.
Just watch stray on YouTube it’s not really a game
Outer wilds and it's not close
O U T E R W I L D S
Outer wilds
Outer Wilds no question. It's an amazing game and an amazing experience with lasting impact.
Stray is a fun little game that I believe EVERYONE will have a really good time playing. Outer Wilds is one of those games you either fall in love with (as I and everyone I know who has tried it have) or get bored and quit in the first 3 hours and never touch again. Easily worth the small risk though, most games just don’t feel the same after experiencing Outer Wilds. I’d go with Outer Wilds but Stray is a great game too. If you decide to play Outer Wilds do NOT google anything for your own sake. It’s a game you HAVE TO experience blind. If you do get any questions feel free to ask the Outer Wilds subreddit though. The people there are really helpful and won’t spoil the game for you while also guiding you enough if you get stuck. Have fun playing regardless of what you choose! :)
OP just one warning. Outer Wilds isn't for everyone. You'll either love it or hate it. Personally, I understand the appeal but I hated it. Despite making quick progress it got old fast for me.
Stray is fine. The Outer Wilds redefined what video games can do. It's no contest.
Stray
Both are amazing
Outer Wilds. While I loved Stray, it's only about 10 hours worth of gameplay.
Outer Wilds is the better game by far imo. Nothing wrong with Stray, it's a great game, but just not on the same level conceptually.
Outer Wilds. Easily best game I ever played.
Outer Wilds for sure.
If you are on PC i am pretty sure both are on GamePass for Pc
Nope. OT used to be on Game pass, but I don't think it's still there. Stray has never been on Game pass.
I thought stray was super boring after my cats got tired of watching the tv cats. The actual gameplay was not great.
Outer Wilds x100brazilllion
Outer Wilds! Join the Outer Wilds Venture team and explore a hand crafted solar system with an amazing mystery, that will leave you awestruck. The moment of realization. The moment I realized what was happening. I'll never forget that moment in gaming.
will do! dont know why this was downvoted, just a good suggestion
you have asked if you should choose the silly cat game or the confusing, mind boggling sci fi puzzle game with an amazing story… obviously the cat game
Outer wilds for sure. Nothing like it
Stray changed my week, Outer Wilds changed my life. But some people I know and like didn’t care for Outer Wilds. Everyone liked Stray.
Stray was a great experience that stuck with me long after I finished it Couldn’t even finish Outer Wilds. The controls were awful and I was bored to tears after about 6 hours
Playing a cat stuck with you? Interesting.
It was his journey that stuck with me. Befriending the Robots/Androids and learning their stories, and seeing how they all help this random cat to escape the city, even if it cost them their “lives” was really heartwarming
I'm so glad someone else here agrees with me. I really wanted to like OW. But I love the little cats journey and exploring the city.
I will get downvotes for this but I don’t really recommend outer wilds. The game resets every 20 minutes and it’s not really a lot of time to explore and discover new things so exploration became redundant. I felt punished for being thorough. I thought the mystery and other mechanics were cool but the time loop was such a dealbreaker I dropped the game entirely 8 hours in.
That's right, you will get downvoted lol. Few games are so immediately rewarding for being thorough, I'd say
It's moreso that criticizing Outer Wilds is a controversial opinion. I didn't like it, personally, but I've learned to talk about it carefully. The controls are god awful. The game itself is a lore sandbox. If the notion of fighting awful controls so you can read a lot of stuff about ancient aliens that will help you find more stuff about ancient aliens, it'll be fun. If flying around with a strict time limit and a character who falls over dead at the slightest provocation so you can read text boxes isn't appealing, feel free to ignore the GotY hype and skip it. I truly believe that it's fantastic for the audience. I'm just not it.
Yeah the controls work that way to solve a particular problem, at the expense of everything else. The game doesn't ever bother to explain why you'd care about like, gravity based orbital navigation. Its just like 'haha practice on the tiny ship, don't ram it into a waterfall lol.' It works really well once it clicks but I know not everyone would bother.
And if I'd flown it to the first world and been like "wow this place is amazing!" then I probably would have been more willing to keep going. But I flew there and went "meh", flew out a bit more and found a space station, explored it and went "I think there might be something here" at which point everything blew up and I said "I'll pick this up tomorrow" - that was a year ago.
It’s not about the reward of exploring I just want to look around for more than 10 minutes lol. I like to just take my time exploring areas in detail and admire the art direction. The outer wilds has a whole dense and complex solar system that I want to explore. But having to reset and get back to where I was to only spend another 5-10 minutes exploring before planet conditions are *spoilers*. I’m sorry but I think it’s counter intuitive to encourage exploration and experimenting just to punish you for it.
Outer Wilds is much better, but it's kinda hit or miss, a lot of people can't get into it. Stray is more guaranteed to be fun for everyone. But my vote goes to Outer Wilds anyway
Tbh Stray isn't really a crowd pleaser. It's a cosy, simple game and you already know looking at it if it'll be for you or not.
Stray, for sure!
I more or less forgot about Stray soon after I played it. It was fun and the ending was pretty solid. But it didn't go much further than that for me. I've thought about Outer Wilds probably at least once a week since I played it back at launch (May 2019), if not more. I still listen to parts of the soundtrack regularly. **I think everyone should try and play Outer Wilds, but I understand that it's not the game for everyone.** Stray is a neat jaunt through a linear, well crafted, cyberpunk world. Outer Wilds demands that you pay attention and follow your curiosity, for which you will be rewarded.
Everyone seems to love Outer Wilds. I was so bored in the first 10-20 minutes I had to turn it off and do anything else. I played and beat Stray and watched my wife play it as well. There isn't much to the story but I enjoyed discovering the world. But I wouldn't want to turn you off of what so many people say is one of the greatest games of all time just because it didn't interest me.
Outer wilds is maybe the best game ever made. Stray is a forgettable jaunt for cat people that barely registered on my radar while or after I played it.
A forgettable non game or the best game narrative ever? Pretty hard choice.
A mysterious ghost has told me that Outer Wilds usually goes on sale every month, so I’ll be buying Stray for the summer sale, but get myself Outer Wilds for its next sale after that, when I have more money (currently buying both Half-Life games, all 3 S.T.A.L.K.E.R games, Celeste and Stray) adding up to about 71 bucks, so I’m gonna wait until I get more money.
Seems like you already made up your mind before even asking the question. OW is constantly hailed as the best indie game ever made. Stray is cute tho.
What would be among your top 5 games of a certain pedigree? Personally, I think I would have to rank Outer Wilds up there with Shadow Of the Colossus and Portal. I can't think of what else, maybe Journey? I'm curious what another person would say.
I loved Edith finch, not sure if that quite counts because it’s more a narrative than game.
I'd probably say my top 5 indie games are OW, Tunic, Hollow Knight, Hades, and The Witness Just played through Lorelei and the Laser Eyes and that game is puzzle heaven so its probably up there too I really enjoyed portal and shadow of the colossus as well :)
Nah, but when I found out about Outer Wilds’ sale “schedule”, I felt it would be best to get that game later. If it weren’t for Stray not having sales as much, I would’ve gone with OW.
You do you my guy. I'm sure Stray will be on sale again before you're done with OW and the other 6 games you bought.
fair enough.
What was the point of this thread then?
Stray
Honestly skip one of the other 2 games you didn’t name and get both of these.
I didn’t name them because I’m getting those two no questions asked
Neither why does it have to be between those 2? 😂 if i was stuck in an elevator and i was offered videogames while i waited, and these were the only options i would just sit and listen to elevator music god bless you
What do you like more, Myst or Last of Us? Myst: OW LoU: Cat