Playing Outer Wilds for the First Time a Second Time

This video is a video essay discussing how I was able to relive Outer Wilds through a different lens.
Please check out my brother on Twitch: / chemicalgreen0
And check out his KZbin:
/ @chemicalgreen0
All music used in this video comes from the Official Outer Wilds Soundtrack by Andrew Prahlow.

[@ExtraNormally]

What’s your favorite Outer Wilds experience?

[@JustSnopea]

I streamed my playthrough for some friends and discovered one of the 3 uhhh secret functions (avoiding specifics just to be safe) in the DLC in my first visit into the dream world. The friends were a mix of people who had played the game before and people who weren't interested in playing themselves but wanted to watch and uhh...they were all going "WHOA" "WHAT??" "OH MY GOD" when I did it. At the time I thought everyone was just reacting to the wild visual effects but after finishing I learned that the ones who had played the game were actually going "YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO KNOW HOW TO DO THAT YET" 😂 It's definitely a game you take a risk on by streaming since you might get bad actors trying to spoil stuff, but compared with other similarly spoilable games it's great that the community of people who are likely to *watch* a stream are SO good at keeping quiet hahaha.

[@ExtraNormally]

without a doubt, I love how the community is so conscious about keeping that initial experience pure

[@SideQuestStories]

Trying to chase the probe. Turning back and pointing signalscope at the sun and hearing the full music.

[@ExtraNormally]

Such an incredible feeling to hear each of the disparate pieces in their proper places. Being so far away from the solar system yet being able to hear all of your friends like some distant memory. The music in Outer Wilds, like the cold vacuum of space, is truly breathtaking.

[@KingChao]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/qp3QhoaOaq-mo8Usi=N9PMscEvISvtoFOM Genuinely the best 20 seconds of anything I've ever seen, not for what it actually looked like, but for what it represented.

[@adridoesthings]

the way i see outer wilds is: once you finish the game, you show it to someone my brother was shown the game, he showed it to me, n i show it to my friends it is something to be grateful for, that we can share these memories

[@dany_fg]

outer wilds fans after getting a concussion: "Finally! a second chance to play!"

[@JkittycatTheDork]

my sister & i played together because i had a head injury & couldn't manage the controls. she hit a couple loops, then started methodically going through each signalscope channel finding EVERY OBJECT a year later, i acted as my mother's hands to play through the game. she'd tell me what she wanted to see & i'd let her work her way through the puzzles. once we'd completed it, my sister played through the DLC with both of us for moral support (we all hate jumpscares). having another first-time player on the couch is actually a rewarding experience! a second set of eyes and another perspective can make all the difference.

[@ExtraNormally]

@@JkittycatTheDork That’s absolutely amazing. I’m glad you were able to get a parent to play. I can’t imagine mine touching a controller

[@obiwanpez]

@@ExtraNormally Hers didn't. ;)

[@captainchaos7706]

Got my lobotomy scheduled for next week so ill be experiencing it again soon!

[@ExtraNormally]

When the lobotomy is scheduled for next week 😏

[@juke9674]

I love living vicariously through my friends by forcing them to play outer wilds

[@SideQuestStories]

Couldn't click on this video faster. I played the old version of Outer Wilds, backed the Fig crowdfunding and played the full game for the first time when it released. In 2020 I suffered a head injury that resulted in a fair bit of recent memory loss. I remembered loving Outer Wilds but only some vague things about the game itself. There was also a blurriness between the new and old versions. I was able to replay the game in 2022 as if it was the first time, but every time I discovered something it felt familiar like a half remembered dream. There was a major kick about the sense of rediscovery, like I wasn't just experiencing the game, but I was piecing together a proper history and remembering myself. There is actually a massive way to get extra enjoyment out of Outer Wilds - and that's in collating a personal wiki. There are so many interwoven details in the game that few people pick up on in the span of playing through the game or might not make sense until getting the full picture of what's going on in this solar system. For instance - Figuring out the full timeline of the stranded Nomai and the individual people. How the Hearthians managed to outlive them (and why that even worked). Why it's a 22 minute cycle and not any other period of time. The full timeline of the Prisoner. How the cataclysmic series of events across the system tie together. What it actually means to be an observer inside the Eye of the Universe and why it looks and acts the way it does. How the Stranger and Nomai timelines interweave and the full picture of the multi-system Nomai. The differences and similarities between the three species. The backstory of the anglerfish skeleton. Pick a question and go find the answer. There are almost certainly several revelations left in store for you. And when you fully exhaust Outer Wilds of its secrets, a similar thing you can do is apply that same investigative mindset to figuring out the full backstory of Breath of the Wild through its incredibly well thought-out world design.

[@ExtraNormally]

@@SideQuestStories This is such an amazing comment. Funnily enough the original script for the video mentioned head trauma as a way to possibly go about playing the game for the first time again, so reading this comment struck me as ironically relevant. As for the wiki, I’ve done a bit of browsing, but now I’m sure to do more! And I’m glad you mentioned Breath of the Wild because it’s a goal to someday make a video on that game 🍕

[@tonoornottono]

i never even considered that the anglerfish fossil might have an explanation but now it feels obvious that it needs explaining.

[@menegy2982]

On one hand its obviously not a good thing to get this kind of trauma, but on the other I kinda envy you for it. This game messed me up.

[@CasualCoreK]

"like I wasn't just experiencing the game, but I was piecing together a proper history and remembering myself." bro... T^T

[@fomalhaut_the_great]

note to self: get traumatic brain damage

[@foxtp]

I absolutely loved slingshotting myself around planets, it was half the fun of the exploration

[@ExtraNormally]

@@foxtp the momentum in Outer Wilds is so incredibly fun to master, but it also leads to a whole number of silly deaths

[@nirn_]

true beltalowda

[@quantumblauthor7300]

Trajectory prediction mod + Real Solar System mod = endless peaceful orbits

[@ZACKSITOPRO]

I feel very identified with this video, when my brother started playing outer wilds on my recommendation I would simply go into his room and stay for 2 hours watching him play and trying to decipher puzzles

[@ExtraNormally]

@@ZACKSITOPRO much of my fondest memories are sitting alongside my brother watching him play games, so I’m glad I could strike a chord with you

[@thekookoa9001]

Bro self caused amnesia only to do this 😭🙏

[@ExtraNormally]

@@thekookoa9001 a rock to the head yes

[@mistercreep2002]

some people just there... not knowing what they're missing... i'm sad for them A friend told me it was his life best game, i decided to play, now it is my best too, i even got a tattoo of all the planets on my forearm. I've watched 5 friends playing the game in the span of 2 years, always feel like i'm playing it again

[@ExtraNormally]

An Outer Wilds tattoo is amazing. I’ve debated getting either an Eye of the Universe or the coordinates to it

[@mistercreep2002]

@@ExtraNormally both were in my own debate too xD

[@Axegarden]

3:12 this game is art

[@ExtraNormally]

@@Axegarden W take

[@dany_fg]

my exploration was the classic "explore a planet until the end of a loop a few times and then move to the next" my favorite experience was finally understanding the towers puzzle

[@ExtraNormally]

@@dany_fg ooooo that one is really satisfying to figure out

[@KingChao]

Can attest that this works: I've shown 3 people in person Outer Wilds from start to end. It has mattered every single time to the same degree as my playthrough. Knowing everything while watching someone who knows comparatively nothing. Every person with their own quirks and differences in priorities, logic, reactions, and conclusions. It's been a year and a half since my original playthrough, and I still can't get enough of Outer Wilds and it's amazing but slightly less perfect DLC Echoes of the Eye. By the way, if anyone watching this video is looking for other games that expand upon or otherwise have similar themes, ideas, feelings, and/or mechanics to Outer Wilds (note that "similar" is doing a lot of heavy lifting because this game truly is one-of-a-kind), here's some that I've found that have worked for me. Worst case scenario: I'm wrong and you've still got a list of some pretty good games to play. SOMA: Sci-fi puzzle/horror game about robots, consciousness, choice, and what it means to be human. Subnautica: Sci-fi survival crafting game about an alien planet with relics from a forgotten civilization. UNDERTALE: Fantasy(?) RPG/puzzle/bullet-hell game about monsters, pacifism, choice, and love. Also LOVE. The Witness: Abstract puzzle game with somewhat similar knowledge-gated progression as Outer Wilds has. Haven't beaten this one yet. Everhood: Sci-fi/fantasy hybrid RPG/puzzle/bullet-hell/rhythm game about immortality, divinity, knowledge, and infinity. Superliminal: Dreamy puzzle game about perspective. Perspective is EVERYTHING. Will You Snail: Sci-fi puzzle/platforming game about robots, consciousness, recursion, and infinity. The Talos Principle 1 & 2 + both DLCs... Sci-fi puzzle game about...almost too much: robots, consciousness, immortality, divinity, knowledge, curiosity, religion, philosophy, infinity, and yes: what it means to be human, but also what it means to be alive in general. If you are looking for a game series that near-perfectly expands upon the feeling of pure appreciation for living that the Outer Wilds ending has likely given you, as it has given me: I highly recommend you start with either SOMA or The Talos Principle and go from there. I'm sure you'll find other games or media that works for you too, and if you've got any recommendations I'd love to hear them. All of these games have affected me in a similar way, and some to a similar extent as Outer Wilds. My playthrough was completely on a whim: a game I had barely played once and then given up for years, only returning to find an experience that completely rewrote my understanding of what it means to be alive. It is truly a tragedy that I will never get to play this game again, but maybe I will get another chance to show this amazing work of art with someone I care about. That is enough. Great video by the way! I'm a first-timer to your channel so I wasn't too bugged by the apparent topic change. I think you articulated something a lot of the fanbase has known for a while, but you did it in a way that still feels fresh, new, and unique; ironic given the subject matter. And I completely agree that Outer Wilds is about how relationships shape reality, because I think in a subjective sense they absolutely do. Everything that we experience in life is in the context of other people, and they are a part of what make life so great. Not all of it, but enough for it to matter more than anything else. And...yeah I cry every single time I see this ending too, and I've seen it enough times to count on two hands. It really just never gets old, and I hope to make a video like this explaining why one day, but that's then and this is now. Loved the video, keep it up!

[@ExtraNormally]

@@KingChao thank you for the lovely comment! Regarding games you’ve mentioned, I will go out of my way to play them at some point. Undertale is one of my favorite games, and I’ve heard of the others. I’m glad you enjoyed the video! I hope to deliver similar content in the future 💫

[@KingChao]

@ExtraNormally if you particularly like UNDERTALE, Everhood is a pretty similar experience that still manages to carry it's own identity and message. Also both are Earthbound-likes with a 2d pixelated art-style so there's that. I'd also recommend OneShot, though the connection to Outer Wilds is starting to get pretty thin.

[@Ver1Sus]

This is why I watched all outer wilds game plays by entire KZbin...

[@mpd9089]

"this isnt art content" this is art

[@mustapapa3217]

10:14 so heres an interesting thing about the projection stone on giants deep, I believe one of the Nomai saw through the projection stone but could not figure out what the model for the tornadoes were presenting and there is a dialogue between the Nomai at giants deep and the one who created the tornado model on the southern observatory saying something along the lines of “hey I cant see the model clearly I wanna make the trip to the Southern Observatory to get a better look” and the one at giants deep explains how to get there under the surface. I’m pretty sure your brother figured it out the original intended way (through the projection stone).

[@ExtraNormally]

@@mustapapa3217 that’s lovely. Honestly, I forgot about that.

[@100nodog]

I figured out what this video would be about, because I've felt it too. Streams for blind Outer Wilds playthroughs will ALWAYS get watched by people who've played Outer Wilds before

[@ExtraNormally]

@@100nodog bingo!

[@KhufuhK]

Eelis posts a ton of Outer Wilds supercuts. I watch them as soon as they're released

[@ExtraNormally]

@@KhufuhK I’ll have to check them out

[@JustSnopea]

Lovely video! Feeling very lucky that the KZbin algorithm knows how obsessed I am with this game and put this on my homepage just a day after you uploaded ::) I've been having much the same experience recently - about a year and a half after playing it myself now, I watched someone stream it with a friend of theirs hanging out with them sort of like you did with your brother and it sent me down a rabbit hole of watching let's plays (I'd already exhausted most of the video essay content immediately after playing lol) and every one just leaves me thirsty for more. I'll have to make your brother's playthrough the next one because it sounds like a wild ride 😂

[@ExtraNormally]

@@JustSnopea Definitely in the same boat! There’s not a day that goes by where I’m not thinking about this game

[@yosephus8624]

I love watching people interact with media that I like for the first time. Games and TV/Movies. Like watching someone play Celeste and talking about the story, or Hollow Knight, or so many more. It kinda gets me that feeling I had when I first consumed any of them, but different. A joy of seeing it through their eyes while also sharing it with friends.

[@ExtraNormally]

@@yosephus8624 oh for sure. I get the biggest kick watching people experience things I love for the first time.

[@wesleyaustin6119]

You may love Outer Wilds, but I love you ExtraNormally

[@ExtraNormally]

@@wesleyaustin6119 you’re making me feel some sort of way

[@AninoNiKugi]

My love for this game grew and grew as I watched more videos and/or playthroughs of it. It's so open and non-linear, every playthrough is basically unique. You also learned new things and even now after years and dozens of playthroughs, I still learn new things and also witness very unique moments in the game 😄 I have to say though, I'm always more excited to see the DLC reveal and the DLC reveals in general. Sometimes I catch myself grinning moments before the player discover something 😄 How I wish I can watch someone in person play it though. So far, no one I know played it :(

[@ExtraNormally]

@@AninoNiKugi If I could go back and drop into the Stranger for the first time. . . Echoes of the Eye fascinates me beyond belief, so I’m glad my brother played it as well!

[@LukeStrife]

Absolutely enjoyed your brother's reactions to things, so funny. I'm going to try and get my sister to play this. She's normally only into horror games, but I think once she gets truly stuck into this I think she would love it.

[@ExtraNormally]

@@LukeStrife Outer Wilds is technically a horror game in disguise, so I’m sure she’ll love it

[@LukeStrife]

@ExtraNormally It definitely bloody is once those anglers get involved

[@jongyon7192p]

Play the game shipless, and play it suitless. Everything becomes so much bigger

[@ExtraNormally]

@@jongyon7192p I don’t know if I’m that brave

[@jongyon7192p]

@ExtraNormally They're not about if you can beat it, but how much you can do. Outer Wilds was always a horror game anyway. I started it not as a challenge but to research how much is possible. The game is so big when you can't fly.

[@PaladinGaymer]

I’ve watched so many first time playthroughs for this exact reason, and I see or learn something new and amazing and incredible every single time. ^_^

[@1vantankist426]

watching other people play outer wilds is an interesting experience. i'm pretty sure a lot of players urge others around them to play the game for the experience you described. and i think so many people talk about how the others are geniuses unlike them (at least i noted it in the group i'm in). watching others play also made me regret not recording my game so that i could see how i reacted or how i solved certain areas, since videos are a lot better than memory in terms of keeping track of certain tings. also i thought the video would be about you getting a really bad concussion that made you forget or something. great video (also, final thing, you look quite a bit like Marcus from detroit become human in my opinion lul)

[@ExtraNormally]

@@1vantankist426 the concussion route would be a more interesting story, alas my skull is too thick, so I’ll never get one

[@1vantankist426]

i mean. as much as outer wilds anew would be great, i still would think a thick skull and lack of brain damage is a bit more of a positive lul. hope you never get anything serious like that

[@menegy2982]

Outer wilds is the only game that has ever died on me... The only game I had to bury... And yet I keep coming back to these memories...

[@schadowsshade7870]

10:15 wow I already thought he’d do it by accelerating to 20 km per second and crashing into giants deep 😅 It work and give you an achievement btw

[@ExtraNormally]

@@schadowsshade7870 I’m surprised he didn’t do it either

[@benrichetti1360]

I appreciate you mentioning the quantum mumbo jumbo as central to the structure of the game. Having watched several play through a now, it’s amazing to see how the game changes when someone else perceives it. I was wondering the other day what “lesson” the quantum grove shard is supposed to be teaching and realized it was just “the game you are playing is quantum art - viewed differently, it’s a different thing, and that’s beautiful.”

[@ExtraNormally]

That’s a much better articulation of what I was getting at, I think. One of my favorite parts of discussing media is the insight others can bring to the table. Thank you!

[@8TheLord9]

I did more or less the same. I saw a planet then didn't go to another until I learnt everything I needed there, makes you feel very confortable.

[@ExtraNormally]

I can see how it would 🐴 I guess I just relied on the log too much to remind me of stuff I missed in the future

[@Manoxone]

Very nice video bro, DO NOT STOP POSTING, you have something man

[@Manoxone]

cheers from France ahahah

[@Manoxone]

Actually, hearing you speak about your brother made me think about one thing, i did the game with my girlfriend (only been 2 month of relationship) and it was amazing, as i'm an hardcore gamer and she's not a gamer at all, she had a completely different view than me, and i always asked her what to to, and let her play sometimes, it was a new experience for both her and me, i discovered a new type of game, one that makes you really think, and appreciate the landscape and the story of every npc, and doesn't tell you shit to help you. She was really lost at first asking me "what do we need to do" "what's the purpose of the game", and when she finally understood, she was so hooked she wanted us to play without even me asking. In the end we shared an amazing experience, through a totally different lense, and it allowed us to know each other better, which is something i can never forget in my gaming experience.

[@ExtraNormally]

@@Manoxone ah j’ai étudié le français à l’université, mais je ne suis pas courant parce que je ne practique jamais…

[@ExtraNormally]

@@Manoxone I do love Outer Wilds for this very reason, how it hooks you with its central mysteries and wacky game physics

[@Manoxone]

@@ExtraNormally il faut pratiquer pour garder la langue, personnellement pour continuer à avoir un bon niveau d'anglais je suis obligé de parler/écrire souvent

[@TyCollage]

27seconds in WHEN do I start *forgetting* everything dammit I can't wait another second!

[@ExtraNormally]

Ehrm lol!

[@mob8502]

Thank you for the video

[@Moonbane]

I was kind of like the brother here, but not to the extremes that he went. I did MOST of the stuff on a planet before moving on. That being said, I saw that flying comet and my first thought was "I'm going to land on that" And so, The Interloper was the second place I went, right after the Addlerock

[@ExtraNormally]

@@Moonbane that’s absolutely insane

[@HitodamaKyrie]

My parents visited a few months ago and I really wanted to show my dad the game as he's really into space and stuff. Unfortunately as soon as he found out you have to read he gave up on the game. :(

[@ExtraNormally]

It’s crazy how many people are turned off by reading. Couldn’t be us!

[@dylanoarkie4674]

i've talked 3 of my friends and my brother that's 2 years younger than me into playing outer wilds and it was so much fun to watch. how they did things different or the same. when they would ask something i'd just go "idk man never played the game" I also played the dlc with my brother and it was so much fun discovering everything together

[@ExtraNormally]

@@dylanoarkie4674 Backseat gaming can be such a joy. Growing up it was always me watching my brother play games, so having streaming to still have that experience is so convenient

[@AlanM1106]

I feel like my experience with outer wilds was very unique as I was never shown the game by anyone neither did I see it online I was surfing through the catalog of free ps plus games and it immediately clicked with me, I only found some else who played the game after beating it and he helped me discover the dlc which (I bought after falling in love with this masterpiece) because there was no shot I would’ve figured it out myself I think I spent like 3 loops just sitting at the deep space probe but nothing. I was a mix of you two I would visit each planet quickly and then I would do a deep search of each until I fully completed it, I think I manually landed on the sun station before finding out ash twin was a teleporter planet or I got the achievement for harmonic convergence or breaking the fabric of space before discovering all of the interloper but although I had this much fun with this game I have been unable to convince anyone to play it as one friend downloaded it played for like 30 min and closed it never discovered the ship the zero g cave or half of the stuff in the tutorial because he refused to give the game a proper try ( he plays fifa and Fortnite all day) so all he did was complain about the graphics or the amount of reading so I’m sad I’ll never be able to have a second first experience like you guys ❤ Edit: I haven’t finished the dlc yet so no spoilers please 🙏

[@ExtraNormally]

@@AlanM1106 appalled that you managed to land on the Sun Station. I haven’t even managed that

[@AlanM1106]

@@ExtraNormally you wouldn’t believe how long it took. I didn’t know there was another way so I spent a good few hours crashing into the sun funny thing is once I got on I messed up the jump to the second part and fell into the sun didn’t come back until I discovered you could teleport there

[@macbatizzle]

I love this guy!

[@ExtraNormally]

@@macbatizzle and I love you!

[@orangepixel290]

I have terrible memory so I get to play it for the first time a couple times a year.

[@ExtraNormally]

@@orangepixel290 I’m hoping this is the case with me

[@BobbyCorwen42]

I just had my friend conk me over the head repeatedly until I forgot the game. Also a doctor's appointment, the name of my dog, and a few other things that really don't matter compared to the experience of replaying it for the first time.

[@ExtraNormally]

@@BobbyCorwen42 all those other things are trivial

[@BenInGame]

Great video

[@ExtraNormally]

@@BenInGame Thank you friend

[@davidmilligan1233]

The goat makes another one

[@EmilyTestAccount]

One of my top favorite games, I kept coming back to it and thinking about it for weeks - Signalis hit me in a similar way, for somewhat different reasons

[@ExtraNormally]

@@EmilyTestAccount oooooo I’ve seen some of Signalis. Definitely on my radar

[@ralseithelonely]

In my unique experience, I turned all of my button prompts off. Including the repair suit prompt. This means that any time my suit got damaged, I was on a borrowed time. I assumed I could only repair at the ship. I played that way the whole game, and after finding out, I am of the opinion this should have been in the base game.

[@ExtraNormally]

@@ralseithelonely oh wow

[@eppielicious]

good video

[@ExtraNormally]

Thanks!

[@raylionheart9540]

It sounds like you're a Chert, and your brother is more of a Feldspar lol

[@ExtraNormally]

@@raylionheart9540 precisely haha

[@zehvedits3267]

Bladerunner 2049 mentioned so I gave it a like

[@ShAdoWj1995]

Shout out to Ellis

[@Amogersuser]

11:20 my dumbass did the same thing😭

[@heyheyitsjay]

Try playing the game on randomizer mode. Not quite same as playing it for first time, but does make every playthrough unique!

[@ExtraNormally]

That’s a great idea 🤔

[@zohzie]

You can also play quantum space buddies, a co-op mod!

[@ExtraNormally]

@@zohzie woah!!!

[@joppemin]

I would really want to see someone going into the game without ever opening the console. just a notepad and a beeg brain

[@ExtraNormally]

@@joppemin watching my brother play was sometimes like that on account of him refusing to check the log lol

[@carpro-qp3xg]

bruh how do you not have even 100 subs

[@ExtraNormally]

@@carpro-qp3xg we’re working on it…

[@alangreen5220]

Good video me!

[@ExtraNormally]

@@alangreen5220 haha you’re so funny

[@viteav208]

Good review! Yeah, I agree - you could watch how someone plays Outer Wilds and has different path than you.

[@ExtraNormally]

@@viteav208 thank you partner!

[@jeremydalton348]

Where is the brothers let’s play?

[@ExtraNormally]

@@jeremydalton348 In the video description!

[@obiwanpez]

7:35 - "because of this... ... ... 'method'..." Left a bad taste in your mouth saying that, did it?

[@Sup_Aqualine369]

You should play animal well

[@ExtraNormally]

@@Sup_Aqualine369 it’s definitely on my radar. I’ve heard it’s the first animal-type well

[@ryanhall7527]

He fell off

[@ExtraNormally]

@@ryanhall7527 extranormally did NOT fall off