How The Best Video Game DLC Changed Me Forever

This has been a long time coming. Finally a video about my least favourite thing to do, play horror. Outer Wilds might be an all in one masterpiece, but Echoes of the Eye truly is the best video game DLC i’ve ever experienced.
In this video I talk about more than just the story of Echoes of the Eye, but delve deep into the mechanics and game loops that tie so perfectly into it's story, as well as how these horror elements taught me an incredibly important lesson.
A massive thank you to my brother from another mother ​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠‪@DarkDax‬ for getting me into Outer Wilds in the first place, let alone getting me to try this master piece of a DLC and push past my crying and swearing.
Please go and check out ​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠‪@DarkDax‬ and follow his twitch which is where I got the clips from.
Watch my playthroughs on twitch! / geolbaker
#outerwilds #echoesoftheeye #gameanalysis #videoessay #horrorgamin

[@DarkDax]

One of the best retrospectives on Echoes of the Eye I've watched. Ever so eloquently put mate! (bias aside 😉)

[@Pseudoku_RL]

This game is a masterpiece. The DLC is so creative that it blows me away every time I delve into it. Everything was so well thought out, so intentional, and so masterfully executed. I just wish it wasn't so friggin hard to convince people to play it

[@wormothy]

the thing that really helped for me in dealing with the horror was thinking about the whole situation from the owlks’ perspective. it was a realisation that stemmed from the initial, abject terror of realising that they could conceal their artefacts too-that unless i turned on my lantern to look around, thereby giving away my location, i would have no idea where they were. i’m sure i’m not alone in having that experience. but from there i started thinking about the fact that like… they’re in the exact same position as we are. it’s probably WORSE for them, really, because they’re literally hearing the shrieks of their dying kin from the other areas-and with no auditory cues from the real world, they have no idea about the dam breaking. from their perspective, the other owlks are dying after hundreds of thousands of years of that Not Happening, and literally the only thing that’s changed is the presence of the little blue thing creeping around their simulated paradise, turning off the lights. the natural conclusion is that this thing is going around and killing them. their bodies are so terribly vulnerable in the real world, after all. and the only way they can see the little creature is to turn on their lights, thereby giving away their position. i have an unfailing belief that the little coos/hoots the owlks make in the dark are the equivalent of humans saying “hello?” into dark rooms when they’re frightened, and we just can’t understand their language. needless to say, this “they’re more scared of you than you are of them” mentality very much helped to curb my fear during the dark sections.

[@Vinzaf]

It takes guts to design a game that actively tries to scare people from playing it.

[@aok76_]

The fact that you have to DIE to be able to see the end of this DLC was such an incredible idea on its own to me, but coming after suffering through so much darkness and horror to trust that plunging yourself into the complete darkness of death knowing what you want to do was simply masterful. With the DLC outer wilds really became the best game of all time for me.

[@jackowen5631]

I would give absolutely anything to go back and play the base game and dlc for the first time. Just for the soundtrack alone, it’s so moving I can’t put into words

[@mattjk5299]

As someone who loves horror, you are correct. Generally speaking, horror is not a vehicle or a genre, but an aspect or angle. Something to induce through presentation, writing, atmosphere, not loud sounds.

[@geolbaker]

Thank you for everyone new, which is 99% of you! My average view per video before this was 4… haha! I’m glad you’re all liking this, if you have any ideas for future content, please let me know and I will maybe, possibly, potentially do it 😅

[@captncuddlybear9404]

One of the aspects that I love about Outer Wilds is that almost every time I click on this type of video, I find some new perspective on the game that I haven't seen before, or a new way to think about a perspective that I already knew, but hadn't though about thinking about it that way.

[@Softlol]

You can’t believe how skeptical I was when I first learned they where making a DLC to Outer Wilds. I was skeptical right up until i entered the Stranger, and I knew immediately that this was gonna be something special. And my god its a masterpiece of an DLC.

[@arnarogbjorn]

A very good comment from the "echoes of the eye" soundtrack youtube comments:

[@mastermind9393]

Fear is knowing the forest is full of monsters.

[@yzbrian]

The link you make between The Strangers running from their fear and you as a player having to embrace that fear to beat the game is amazing. Especially when you stated that holding onto the lantern is resembling you holding onto fear, and by embracing said fear by putting the lantern down and walking into the dark you overcome your fear and gain a new perspective of the world. Just like how you enter The Stranger in the first place (flying into the dark and unknown).

[@WastePlace]

The kalimba in the song rivers end is like a gut punch of nostalgia for me. Genuinely might be the best DLC I’ve ever played from a game, re-contextualized the original story and shocked me by how well it was executed. I was wondering what an outer wilds dlc would even accomplish because of how perfect the base game seemed to end things off, but I couldn’t anticipate how strong the storytelling and thematic messaging was going to be. The fact that they were able to tell this part of the story without any words and just the slide show imagery stunned me as well, it’s just an all around amazing experience that I’m not going to be able to forget anytime soon

[@RevenantMain1]

“And these fucking things”

[@Wholesome_Dungaree-Wearer]

I love the fact that the stranger is, in hindsight, completely harmless, and there's actually nothing there trying to hurt you. Seeing the empty 'seat' in the simulation room made me feel like I was being followed whilst in the stranger, and those damn doors that close behind you when you find the hidden reels shook me really badly. But the stranger itself is safe, there never was any danger, instead it was when I first extinguished the lights in the third simulation, the place that I can just leave at any time, and heard the inhabitants collectively howl in response to there being an intruder that I was like "ahhhh ok, so this is where the creepyness ends and the actual horror part begins."

[@jhawley031]

I wish i was better at horror. Had to have a friend play the dlc with me. Id tap out and have him take over whenever it it got too stressful

[@jasonkeats931]

my brother and I played through the DLC at the same time (I'd play on my save then while I wasn't playing it he's tag in and play on his save)

[@Ojojinho]

This needs to be seen by more people, it's insane how a video this high of quality has this low of views. Great video man, please keep going

[@victor-ling]

Man I love this so much, this is such a well written and well thought out video, but it's all completely wrong ... to me ... and that's so cool! Seeing this completely foreign perspective on the game is so interesting. I just finished the DLC myself and I had such a different experience, it's so weird hearing about how good the horror elements are in the DLC because when I was playing the DLC I wasn't afraid at all, and not even in some bravado "I'm better than you" kind of way. I just didn't even know it was supposed to be scary! The section where you talk about noticing the missing Owlk by the fire and then being worried about getting jump scared by one of them the rest of the exploration was just surreal to me. When I was playing I would have killed to come across an Owlk because I so desperately wanted to meet them! Yes eventually I see one walking around in the woods and immediately run up to it and get jump scared by it blowing out my lantern ... but even that didn't feel "scary" ... I mean I am a weird 4 eyed bug thing running around their home ... peacefully blowing out my lantern seems almost timid a response in my mind.