The Outer Worlds is such a great experience. It’s so full of life and character, and it was the first time in a while that I felt attached to NPCs. Looking forward to the sequel.
But I played it around release and never did a second play through, it just didn’t seem to have the same depth that made early fallout great and so replayable.
Which isn’t a horrible thing. Look at great series and not many have amazing first games, it can take a minute to find your feet, and I’m pretty optimistic about OW2 now.
Like, I’m sure at some point I played fallout 1, but I can’t remember and FO2 I’ve got to be triple digit full games.
My own impression was the opposite – I didn’t like OW at all, felt that it missed what made Fallout click, and enjoyed FO4 a fair bit. OW felt like a slog to me.
OW’s perk system is really boring, in my book. None of the perks change gameplay much, just tweak numbers slightly. Interesting perks that affect how you play is a big chunk of Fallout.
OW had pretty much everything you run into in a city. Outside of cities, you pretty much just ran to a waypoint and back. There was virtually nothing to stumble across – running into encounters that opens up new content is what makes me feel like I’m constantly discovering new things.
While in theory the game is open-world, there was little reason to backtrack in OW. I went through it pretty much in order; it played pretty linearly.
The weapons were pretty underwhelming to me. The weapons within a class all work pretty much the same way. You don’t have a whole lot of variety. The unique weapons one gets aren’t all that potent, and generally, any weapon you get will only be used for a short time before it becomes obsolete. The weapons just don’t have a major impact on play.
All that being said, hey, maybe OW2 will be an improvement. There’s nothing there that’s somehow fundamental to the series.
I liked it quite a lot but all of these criticisms are more than fair.
I’d also like to add that while, in theory, it had multiple story branches in practice I’d find it hard to side with the Obvious Capitalist Baddies because they don’t practice disaster capitalism, or late stage capitalism, they practice idiot capitalism, which, sure, in the metaphorical sense has some value especially considering modern climate concerns but doesn’t leave a lot of room for even someone that wants to RP a ruthless greedbag.
You don’t need to believe in even enlightened self-interest to see their path, besides the “betraying your savior” angle, is a slow suicide fighting over dwindling resources.
It was especially disappointing because Obsidian made New Vegas. We know they can do a Mr House, or even a Caesar’s Legion, some baddies that at least have a good recruitment spiel to make you want to see their storyline if nothing else.
But, also, maybe they just figured that so many people missed the point of Caesar and House, hit them over the head this go around? Time is becoming a factor.
There was something crucial missing from Outer Worlds to make it a great game, and I really hope they find it for 2.
I try to keep preaching, Outer Worlds and New Vegas were written by different people. Marketing pushed the connection because of the shared studio, but the actual creative teams didn’t have much overlap.
Leonard Boyarsky wrote Outer Worlds, and if you look at his previous credits the structure for big choices makes more sense.
It’s not a bad difference, but it is very different writing from New Vegas, and people going in expecting New Vegas are going to be disappointed.
Sure, but that’s why Tim Cain coming in is great news, because at the end of the day I think what a lot of people really want is New Vegas 2: IN SPAAACE.
I actually compiled my thoughts into a review, but TLDR is that I found the setting and characters so good that they propped up a mechanically bland experience.
The Outer Worlds is such a great experience. It’s so full of life and character, and it was the first time in a while that I felt attached to NPCs. Looking forward to the sequel.
It felt like fallout 4 should have.
But I played it around release and never did a second play through, it just didn’t seem to have the same depth that made early fallout great and so replayable.
Which isn’t a horrible thing. Look at great series and not many have amazing first games, it can take a minute to find your feet, and I’m pretty optimistic about OW2 now.
Like, I’m sure at some point I played fallout 1, but I can’t remember and FO2 I’ve got to be triple digit full games.
My own impression was the opposite – I didn’t like OW at all, felt that it missed what made Fallout click, and enjoyed FO4 a fair bit. OW felt like a slog to me.
OW’s perk system is really boring, in my book. None of the perks change gameplay much, just tweak numbers slightly. Interesting perks that affect how you play is a big chunk of Fallout.
OW had pretty much everything you run into in a city. Outside of cities, you pretty much just ran to a waypoint and back. There was virtually nothing to stumble across – running into encounters that opens up new content is what makes me feel like I’m constantly discovering new things.
While in theory the game is open-world, there was little reason to backtrack in OW. I went through it pretty much in order; it played pretty linearly.
The weapons were pretty underwhelming to me. The weapons within a class all work pretty much the same way. You don’t have a whole lot of variety. The unique weapons one gets aren’t all that potent, and generally, any weapon you get will only be used for a short time before it becomes obsolete. The weapons just don’t have a major impact on play.
All that being said, hey, maybe OW2 will be an improvement. There’s nothing there that’s somehow fundamental to the series.
I liked it quite a lot but all of these criticisms are more than fair.
I’d also like to add that while, in theory, it had multiple story branches in practice I’d find it hard to side with the Obvious Capitalist Baddies because they don’t practice disaster capitalism, or late stage capitalism, they practice idiot capitalism, which, sure, in the metaphorical sense has some value especially considering modern climate concerns but doesn’t leave a lot of room for even someone that wants to RP a ruthless greedbag.
You don’t need to believe in even enlightened self-interest to see their path, besides the “betraying your savior” angle, is a slow suicide fighting over dwindling resources.
It was especially disappointing because Obsidian made New Vegas. We know they can do a Mr House, or even a Caesar’s Legion, some baddies that at least have a good recruitment spiel to make you want to see their storyline if nothing else.
But, also, maybe they just figured that so many people missed the point of Caesar and House, hit them over the head this go around? Time is becoming a factor.
There was something crucial missing from Outer Worlds to make it a great game, and I really hope they find it for 2.
I try to keep preaching, Outer Worlds and New Vegas were written by different people. Marketing pushed the connection because of the shared studio, but the actual creative teams didn’t have much overlap.
Leonard Boyarsky wrote Outer Worlds, and if you look at his previous credits the structure for big choices makes more sense.
It’s not a bad difference, but it is very different writing from New Vegas, and people going in expecting New Vegas are going to be disappointed.
Sure, but that’s why Tim Cain coming in is great news, because at the end of the day I think what a lot of people really want is New Vegas 2: IN SPAAACE.
Tim Cain isn’t “coming in”. The first Outer Worlds game was Tim Cain’s baby along with Boyarsky. It’s not a shock he’s working on the second one.
Tim Cain didn’t work on New Vegas.
The second game is likely going to diverge further away from New Vegas, not become more like it.
Ah, you’re right, I had recalled it being the other way around.
I actually compiled my thoughts into a review, but TLDR is that I found the setting and characters so good that they propped up a mechanically bland experience.
I liked your take. I enjoyed the setting and writing very much so I was willing to put up with fine but bland gameplay.
Huh? That game is among the least lively in its genre. Even Cyberpunk2077 NPCs were more immersive.