The Outer Worlds
I had largely written off The Outer Worlds for anytime remotely close to its launch day due to my avoidance of the Epic Store. Then I found it was available on Game Pass. A monthly service to play games might actually be cost effective for me long-term, depending on what's there, but even if I just cancel before the first month is done, it's a cheap way to play a major game like this. I actually feel a little guilty, as I'd like to be more supportive of generally good game and wouldn't have had an issue paying full price if it could have gone directly to the developer.
But yeah, the game's pretty good overall. It's a very "Bethesda-style" (without the negative connotations these days) first-person RPG. You awake in a distant star system that's steeped in satirical levels of corporate consumerism and... well, you're offered a chance to do a bunch of stuff. The main story involves finding out how deeply troubled the system's colony as a whole really is and you have some choices to try to help it. There are plenty of side missions large and small along the way.
The dialog is pretty good. There are a good number of choices in how to deal with things. Conversation skill are arguably overpowered, given how you can talk your way through a lot of situations and they can even have effects in combat. Combat itself is fine, though nothing really bar-raising. Many missions don't have a clear good or bad choice and outcome, and I appreciate those shades of gray. And you're allowed to kill off just about any NPC without totally derailing the game (though a couple spend much of the game protected behind video or walls).
Down sides? Well, I'm not fond of the palette. While the colorfulness is eye-catching, it makes it hard to distinguish enemies at a distance and the novelty wears off. Similarly, the quirky attitude of the setting is something I either just got used to or was a bit front-loaded, such that I felt less impact of it as time went one. I wish there was a bit more variety in weapon modifications. There are a few game-crashing bugs in the last area. And the game felt a bit short. I think for me it was probably less than 30 hours. That's not a bad thing, though it felt by the time I was unlocking some really good weapons and reaching the capital city, I was entering the endgame but wanted more time to relish these things.
Still, the game was a cool enough ride. And while it shouldn't be worthy of praise, in this era I feel like kudos must be given to Obsidian for not making a bug-riddled, microtransation-infested mess of it.
But yeah, the game's pretty good overall. It's a very "Bethesda-style" (without the negative connotations these days) first-person RPG. You awake in a distant star system that's steeped in satirical levels of corporate consumerism and... well, you're offered a chance to do a bunch of stuff. The main story involves finding out how deeply troubled the system's colony as a whole really is and you have some choices to try to help it. There are plenty of side missions large and small along the way.
The dialog is pretty good. There are a good number of choices in how to deal with things. Conversation skill are arguably overpowered, given how you can talk your way through a lot of situations and they can even have effects in combat. Combat itself is fine, though nothing really bar-raising. Many missions don't have a clear good or bad choice and outcome, and I appreciate those shades of gray. And you're allowed to kill off just about any NPC without totally derailing the game (though a couple spend much of the game protected behind video or walls).
Down sides? Well, I'm not fond of the palette. While the colorfulness is eye-catching, it makes it hard to distinguish enemies at a distance and the novelty wears off. Similarly, the quirky attitude of the setting is something I either just got used to or was a bit front-loaded, such that I felt less impact of it as time went one. I wish there was a bit more variety in weapon modifications. There are a few game-crashing bugs in the last area. And the game felt a bit short. I think for me it was probably less than 30 hours. That's not a bad thing, though it felt by the time I was unlocking some really good weapons and reaching the capital city, I was entering the endgame but wanted more time to relish these things.
Still, the game was a cool enough ride. And while it shouldn't be worthy of praise, in this era I feel like kudos must be given to Obsidian for not making a bug-riddled, microtransation-infested mess of it.
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