The Outer Worlds (2019)

This was a good game. I expected more though. For the last 7 hours or so, I kinda wanted to just be done with it, even though by this type of game's standard, it's pretty short.

One things that sort of bothered me was the tone of the story. It was just steeped in sarcasm to a point where it didn't really feel 'grounded' at all, at any point. I know that's weird of me to say, given the creators behind this, not to mention that that's probably exactly what they were shooting for with the story. But for some reason, it just felt like it missed its mark. You can have this sort of sarcasm and overt commentary on larger themes, but it seemed to me that's all this game had, which in turn made me care less for the characters.

I honestly got this because I read it's fairly short and I just wanted something new to play while waiting for the new Animal Crossing. I expected it to be a good waste of time but nothing to write home about. Instead, I was surprisingly impressed and completely sucked in.

First off, Outer Worlds gets props for being an RPG where you actually get to role-play. I suck at FPS games, so I loved the idea that I could create a character who sucked at combat abut could still get through the game by using other kinds of skills. In fact, that's exactly what I did. Although there were times where combat skills would have been nice, it never made me regret my choice. In fact, I think someone could have made a completely opposite character and felt the same way.

The game also gives you the ability to make decisions which matter. So many games with choices don't actually mean anything until the final choice where you get a "good" or "bad" ending. Not here. The path you set has consequences, and while there are overarching good and bad paths, you can end up with a mixed result. Between this and the previous point, the game has a high replay-ability which I didn't expect.

My only grievance with the game is that it is very short. I know that's why I played it in the first place, but even after completing every side quest I could find, I estimate I only played about 30 hours. Plus, if you go about just doing quests, you won't even necessarily see every area of the game. Then, there's the fact that some quests seem to have something missing. Almost all can be completed in multiple ways, but there are a few that can only be done one way. It almost seems like the game developers just didn't finish making the quest, like there should have been other choices or methods available to you they just didn't put in. Between all those things, there's an incompleteness that becomes apparent.

Still, this game was super fun. I think any fan of action, FPS, or RPG games will get a kick out of these, even it's a short one.

I really enjoyed Daggerfall and eventually, I spent so much time in Morrowind it would be embarrassing to mention. So I have been playing this sort of open-world thing for a very long time.

This is interesting in it obviously does not have the resources of a proper one-of-those so the scale and scope had to compromise in a variety of ways. It is not a large map but a series of Mass Effect style "planets". This allows a change of scenery and a sense of magnitude while just being a bunch of maps.

For me, there are too many useless and vestigial bits that connect it to the massively single-player games it comes before. The ammo is simplified and you cannot pick up everything and there is lingering tedium to how it does so much but never goes... that far.

Story-wise, it is another of those broadly """progressive""" plots that moment-to-moment shows its "maybe both sides" sort of centrism that really says nothing at all. Too self-aware for nihlism but too cynical to be profound. I guess it is part of having a binary choice system but it never really allows you to take a firm stance... unless you just kill everyone and not engage with the text.

It is fine.

Played it on xbox game pass for pc. 3,5/5 my actual rating. The title sums up my feelings for this game. First of, I had fun playing this game, i'd definitely recommend it to rpg lovers. However im going to point out what i didn't like about it.

The gameplay and combat could've been better. More variety of enemies, monsters, weapons, lack of grenades, AI sometimes behaving stupid. I would also like another one playable planet/map. Story was good but kind of predictable, i'd like it a little bit longer and more twists in it. The sidequests were meh, some of them were good but the others not so. And that's all about it. Obsidian are surely on a good track with this one.

This is pretty nice and i like it ok so far. its' a nice blend of the elements I like and woven together well. No hype warranted here though really. it seems everyone is talking about this one around me... I've got a few games on my radar that look similar to this. in some ways this feels a bit streamlined, even dumbed down. it also has a few rough patches i dont like. I dig what they've done with the character building and role playing system though. (Don't think i've played an Obsidian game where I did not feel that way)

The RPG stuff is kind of like 'along for the ride.' Curious how Atomic Heart will compare to this, they look similar in play and style. Haven't played Signal from Tolva but it also looks similar in some ways.

Whats nice about this is it just doesnt feel like an ubisoft or bethesda cardboard cutout, yet lets your romp around somewhere, lol

Enjoying this. Structurally, it's a little by-the-books. NPCs talk to you, they need you to run errands for them, you do so, and then you get some cash. It gets a little laborious at times, I even started actively ignoring new NPCs because I didn't want to go run errands for them. It's also way too easy on the normal difficulty setting. I haven't even come close to dying once. I'll probably play this again in a year and put it on hard (which I normally don't do).

I feel like I'm almost done with this because I'm starting to pop achievements for "Finish all _____ quests" so I probably have 5 or 6 more hours left. I assume.

Good game so far, and it's TOTALLY worth the $1 Xbox game pass deal. I'll probably buy a boxed copy once the price drops.

Thanks to the XBAX gamepass I am checking out The Outer Worlds. I never really got into the fallout games so I am giving this a go-to see how it is. Already I like it a bit more and of course, as is a tradition we have to check out some of the food textures.

Those are some mighty fine nanners.

Alpha's back bellyaching about role playing.

I think my biggest issue thus far with Outer Worlds is with its character creation. I wanted to role play and create a dumb but charming spacer. Curiously, lacking intelligence doesn't rob you of dialogue options, it just adds a 'dumb option.' So, so very often I can now choose between a masterful engineering/medicine option or a dumb option. I'm role playing a very qualified idiot who can pick and choose when she wants to be an idiot or the smartest person in the room.

Not to mention, the game punishes you for selecting these extremes. For low intelligence, I believe I don't cause any critical damage for aiming at body parts. So I should detract a single point from my overly high other traits and ensure headshots exist, right?

It seems clear that these attributes are for gameplay not role playing. Which is fine. The kind of outcomes I'd best relish from my 'dumb charmer build' would need to be tailor-made to allow my spacer to weasel out of low intelligence situations. That's simply a lot to ask of the devs.

Perhaps I'm wrong and some of you have felt able to role play with Outer Worlds? Let me know! I certainly need to play more of it.

Got some 10+ hours in over the weekend and so far I'm loving it. Very interesting space-western setting with great humor and criticism of corporate culture, so I'm happy to be roleplaying a space-communist set on dismantling the corporations.

Despite my open-world fatigue, I found the initial area of Edgewater a bit too constrained. At some point the engineer girl Parvati who tags along commented "I've never come this far!" -- and we're literally 300 meters outside of town.

I like the combat/gunplay well enough (though I did crank up the difficulty to hard, this pushes you to utilize the game's systems a bit more). I do feel bad about all the marauders I'm shooting into oblivion, I wish I could get them on my side against the corps, but most marauders shoot you on sight. Minor spoiler: Later, in Roseway, you get to talk with a Marauder gang leader who needs you to get her ass out of prison.