Games

This is ironically what I loved about Subnautica. The game does not hold your hand throughout. You don't have a map, you don't mindlessly follow waypoints, you are not being given a guided tour through the story like some ride at Disneyland. You have to learn to navigate the area yourself, memorize landmarks, and figure out what you have to do yourself with the clues around you. It is a bit of a whiplash at first when you are so used to being babysitted and guided throughout a game but I've found it to be the unbelievably rewarding once the "click" happens. You can absolutely miss important (and dope AF) events if you miss the timings that the game gives you. You are treated like an adult by the game. You really get the feeling of being a lone explorer, planning and going on expeditions to gather what you need whether it is resources or blueprints and it will all be you.

The risk-reward situation of exploring increasingly complex and disorienting ship fragments, slowly cutting through blocked doors with a laser while seeing your oxygen levels dwindle and hoping you can find your way back out in time were absolutely fantastic to me. The way the gameplay and the way you travel through the world entirely changes the moment you unlock the PRAWN suit, and one again with the Cyclops are absolutely amazing.

I wish this game clicked with everyone the way it did for me. It is easily my top 5 best single player experiences ever and I only wish I could forget it so I could discover everything again. But The Outer Wilds never clicked for me like that so I can understand why some people might not like it.

Your comparison to Satisfactory makes me think you're approaching the game with a completely wrong mindset. It's not supposed to be a chill sandbox playground with no difficulty where you rapidly conquer the planet and build cool stuff. It's intended to be an engaging survival game with a horror aspect of diving into dark depths and hoping that whatever lurks there doesn't notice you. It's meant to be atmospheric, with the threat of starvation, predators and later on some story aspects pushing you to explore further and deeper for materials and tech.

I hope you give the game anoher chance at some point because it really is a one of a kind experience. There's two things you should be aware of: First, in regards to another comment: there's no events for you to miss, IDK what that person is saying. There's two big plot points that happen in a playthrough regardless of your presence. Both of them give you a timer well in advance so you can show up to / observe the place when it happens. Everything else, like all the distress signals or abandoned bases? They're empty from the start of the game, even if you go there immediatelly nothing will change. You aren't missing out on anything.

Second, don't feel bad about missing out on upgrades or whatver. The vast majority of them are sidegrades. The important stuff that you need to progress both spawns much more often than the sidegrades, and you will often find it at the distress signal locations.

If you feel like you need more guidance, don't hesitate to look up a guide or for tips on how to get the most out of the game. If you're willing, of course.

Subnautica is one of those games where it needs to "click", and this moment is different for a lot of people. For some it never happens. I will say there is a scanner room you can get to scan for resources, but that will probably not sway you.

I'm not gonna tell you to keep playing because it will get better or something, but I want to address one thing: Subnautica is a game about exploration and discovery. If you do not enjoy these elements in a game, or get motivated by it, then you will probably miss the complex lore hidden in the logs or you will not value it as much as you could have.

Satisfactory is less of a crafting game and more of a factory automation game, so this might be another reason.

Might I suggest trying out Techtonica? It's like a mix of Factorio and Satisfactory in the sense that you build factories, but it's more on a grid and stuff is a lot smaller than in Satisfactory. I mention this game because some elements reminded me of Subnautica (like distress signals to find) but it doesn't have the survival element to it.

Speaking of survival: you can turn that off in Subnautica. You could try that. But again, if discovery and exploration isn't your thing, it would just put more focus on the feeling of aimlessly wandering.

I agree with you. The pace of crafting to progress is slow. The story forces you to uncover it by exploring further and deeper. The distress calls nudge you in the right directions.

My last playthrough I was determined to beat the game. It took 50 hours and at the end I got frustrated because just when I thought I was at the end, they wanted me to grind even more for some hard to craft materials which would require me to dive far and deep and look for things while things were dangerous.

Exhausted, I used a single console command to give myself the thing I didn’t want to grind for and bam. Completed. The games a marathon. It’s entertaining, scary, interesting, and tedious. I’m not interested in any sequels.

Replaying it now myself. Need to find some more cyclops fragments. Great game overall.

Subnautica's out of bounds always fascinated me, both with how creepy it is and way it works. The lore telling us that there's bigger things out there too makes it even better

I would suggest trying a new game without the food & water need. It really lets you focus on the plot. I also needed to look through a few YouTube videos at various points, because some things aren't obvious or are easy to miss.

Press F6 to get rid of the goggles :-)

My tip is: Beacons, beacons everywhere </Buzz meme>

Just stick with it. There comes a clear point where your base can self sustain unlimited food, water, and power. Then the game REALLY starts. You'll see. It's worh it.