A Physicist's Outer Wilds Supercut 

Original Video: ✯ ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-iN-Nqq8qgRs.html ✯

Not really sure how the ending wasn't going through your journey. Each planet had one of your friends that helped you along the way. Maybe you might have not spoken to them all that much but each one actually has a lot of dialogue. Additionally if you never make it to the sixth location and speak with solanum she never shows up in the ending (which also reflects your journey). Obviously it's a little cryptic but the idea is that the ancient glaive was basically all in his mind. The best evidence for that is the fact that solanum is speaking to you. She doesn't really know the language and you needed stones to communicate before but there she was talking with you in the end. One of the main themes of the game is accepting the end and moving on to something new. I think the ending perfectly reflected that, it was basically one final goodbye before jumpstarting a new universe.

I also didn't "get" the ending at all on my playthrough, I didn't spend much time bonding with the other characters, even skipping through some dialogue I thought was boring (a friend who loved the game basically forced me to play Outer Wilds and I'm usually not the right player for a game like this, whatever "type of game" Outer Wilds even is). But over the past few years I've come to love the ending and I wish I had been more attentive during my playthrough. Reading more carefully instead of just brute forcing my way. The instrument collecting and campfire scenes reflect the journey well while being weird enough for players to insert their own interpretations and memories - It's comparable to 2001 A Space Odyssey's ending, which I'm sure the devs were alluding to in no small part. The big bang and the post-credits scene at the end are so much more meaningful than the "you managed to prevent the supernova and the Hearthians live happily ever after" route, which I was expecting and hoping for back then. Regardless, I enjoyed your supercut and thoughts!

3:10:30 - Welp. He has harmonica-based PTSD now. First time I've seen that one.

43:10 Just for the record, you actually can get to the core of giants deep through diving straight in. You just have to have enough speed. Like coming in hot from the edge of the solar system speed.

I think to "Get" the ending you need both the deep thought required to get there and the deep feeling/attachment to the world. I've watched WAY too many playthroughs of this game (it's a common addiction) and I think for people playing through with an audience it's a lot harder to connect emotionally to the ending. You're not going to do a close reading of every conversation, and fully explore every dialog tree because you're trying to keep the viewers engaged so there's something keeping you from getting fully immersed. For me the end was about coming to terms with the things you can't change, accepting loss, mourning, but knowing something new and amazing can come from it. If you're too analytical about the game design or the physics of the Eye then I can see the ending missing for you.

40 minutes in this is my favorite outer wilds play through in a looong time. The mix of terror and excitement is very fun and your cheeriness is just pleasant to be around. I'm gathering from the other comment that you didn't enjoy the ending, which makes me sad ahead of time. But for what it's worth I didn't originally like the ending that much. I felt that it was too out there and the mechanics of going through it felt like an unnecessary hindrance. And I got emotional without really understanding why, which didn't help. It's only on watching other people play through it and hearing other people's perspectives on it that it really grew on me. Clearly my issues with it weren't the same as yours, but I have so much appreciation for the ending now. edit: Hm, I'm surprised you didn't feel more of an affinity to the characters with how clearly you enjoyed the writing, but I guess that I've also gotten more and more attached to them with this endless search of more blind playthroughs to try and relive the first experience. You did read the discussion of the modern Nomai about how there are fewer and fewer star systems that haven't gone supernova, and most people notice *constant* supernovas in the sky throughout the loop and come to the conclusion the universe is ending. If you talk to Chert (especially close to the end of the loop) they do draw way more attention to it. Also I don't quite agree with your opinion that a piece of art that you need to continue thinking about is in any way lesser than one you completely process while experiencing it. ps. This ended up sounding more critical than necessary. I really enjoyed retroactively following along your journey!

🤓☝️