It's mediocre, tbh. And there aren't much texts to begin with. You get to talk and know more of the important NPCs, but for most others it's just a simple 2-3 lines of dialogue. It's definitely not their focus for the game.
Finally managed to make my way to the shipwreck. But the stash the guy put there was a little underwhelming.
Almost froze to death (well, not sure, but i was "very cold" and had a cold). But managed. I also managed to find all three doorways into the mountain. You can pretty much explore blue and red entirely from either direction (you can't exit out blue, though), but yellow is pretty much one way, outside to in.
Soon I have to decide which NPC (and thus I assume, main questline) to follow.
Was in the middle of a dungeon and tried to refuel my lantern and scrapped it instead looool. Tried to alt f4 recover for the first time but the game was too fast.
😓
Edit: when I hit continue the game dropped me from the sky back in and I died lol
And how do you discover the differences in the factions? Do they offer unique skills? All I know about them are the NPCs saying "hey my faction is cool you should join it"
And how do you discover the differences in the factions? Do they offer unique skills? All I know about them are the NPCs saying "hey my faction is cool you should join it"
You don't need to join a faction to get magic. Simply go to the center of the purple mountain (from the southern ground level). There'll be a short-ish dungeon to reach the center. However, each faction does offer something special, especially skills trainers. I heard the Blue Chamber is good for mages. Not sure about the other factions.
This game sounds really fun! I enjoyed how you needed to prepare each journey in Dragon's Dogma carefully, also nights were very very dark there, too. The light Souls mechanics also sound good even if the battle system itself is surely not as complex. Too bad the writing isn't all that great, but if the world building is anywhere close to Piranha Bytes, then this will also scratch the right itches for me. I enjoyed ELEX as well although that one had really good writing and factions, too.
Okay. I bit. PS4 Pro downloading now. I love me some EuroJank and think I'll be able to deal with the survival elements. Maybe we can organise some co - op play?
Who knew it took an indie game published almost a decade later to bring us back together? On another note, I feel sorry for folks who can't appreciate the Eurojank RPGs for what they are. Its like not liking awesomely bad movies. There is often alot of ambition and charm to those games...that while technically they are inferior, you can't help but like them.
I hope both of you have noticed that there is a Canadian developer behind Outward. I spoke out against the term Eurojank vividly a while ago and these two posts are perfect examples as to why these terms shouldn't be used. Janky RPGs, okay fine, but there have been janky RPGs from all parts of the planet.
Hi everyone. I'm new to this board although I post elsewhere (and this is also my gamertag). Big RPG fan and enjoy reading the threads here.
I've been playing this since Saturday on XB and gaining knowledge slowly, slowly to progress. I've got 2 characters on the go but appear to have hit a major snag. It's winter in the starting area, I've slogged all the way up from the southern forests with too much weight and a stinking cold to boot because I wanted to cash in some items, re-organise at the lighthouse and resume my task for the Holy faction, which is clearing out the Ghost Pass area, only to find
my way is blocked - the gates to Cierzo have been obstructed by a fallen tree, and there is no other way in that I know of (the storage exit to the beach is one way) which came as a bit of a blow to put it mildly
Anyone know about this? Is is something I did, or something I didn't do soon enough? Is it reversible when the season changes?
I've only been in 2 regions so far. In fact, there hasn't been any color palette changes in enemy designs. Enemies in the first region are completely different with the 2nd region, except the bandits. Each region has its own unique creatures.
I hope both of you have noticed that there is a Canadian developer behind Outward. I spoke out against the term Eurojank vividly a while ago and these two posts are perfect examples as to why these terms shouldn't be used. Janky RPGs, okay fine, but there have been janky RPGs from all parts of the planet.
I hope both of you have noticed that there is a Canadian developer behind Outward. I spoke out against the term Eurojank vividly a while ago and these two posts are perfect examples as to why these terms shouldn't be used. Janky RPGs, okay fine, but there have been janky RPGs from all parts of the planet.
I'm European and I use the word Eurojank as term of endearment, and it's a handy shortcut to describe the types of games it represents. I'm sorry it rubs you up the wrong way - I'm not quite sure why it does though. Feel free to put me on ignore - as I will probably use it again. But from now on I'm using the the term Canuckjank to describe this game.
Hi everyone. I'm new to this board although I post elsewhere (and this is also my gamertag). Big RPG fan and enjoy reading the threads here.
I've been playing this since Saturday on XB and gaining knowledge slowly, slowly to progress. I've got 2 characters on the go but appear to have hit a major snag. It's winter in the starting area, I've slogged all the way up from the southern forests with too much weight and a stinking cold to boot because I wanted to cash in some items, re-organise at the lighthouse and resume my task for the Holy faction, which is clearing out the Ghost Pass area, only to find
my way is blocked - the gates to Cierzo have been obstructed by a fallen tree, and there is no other way in that I know of (the storage exit to the beach is one way) which came as a bit of a blow to put it mildly
Anyone know about this? Is is something I did, or something I didn't do soon enough? Is it reversible when the season changes?
Cosmic Guru! :) Welcome. Hope you are well. No surprises that this Eu---Canuckjank game is in your wheelhouse. I couldn't resist it either. Can't offer any advice on your issue as I've only just done the mushroom cave, but I look forward to reading your wise words and opinion on here every now and again. Take care.
I'm European and I use the word Eurojank as term of endearment, and it's a handy shortcut to describe the types of games it represents. I'm sorry it rubs you up the wrong way - I'm not quite sure why it does though. Feel free to put me on ignore - as I will probably use it again. But from now on I'm using the the term Canuckjank to describe this game.
I would never put anyone on ignore for that, please, don't get me wrong. I just don't think that the 'Euro' tag grasps this type of game well. They are usually ambitious games but have been built with strained resources. I think they can come from any place in the world and this board is usually so much self-aware of stereotypes, be it racial or ethnic, that I think we should be more careful with this term. Witcher 3 and Divinity 2 don't fit in the 'eurojank' category but are actually from Europe, Outward might fit rather well but has its origin in Canada. The fact that people called this game eurojank without knowing it's country of origin tells you a lot.
Just call them enjoyable, janky RPGs if you like 😊
I would never put anyone on ignore for that, don't get me wrong please. I just don't think that the 'Euro' tag grasps this type of game well. They are usually ambitious games but build with strained resources. But they can come from any place in the world and this board is usually so much self-aware of stereotypes, be it racial or ethnic, that I think we should be more careful with this term. Witcher 3 and Divinity 2 don't fit in here but are from Europe, Outward might fit rather well but has its origin in Canada.
Just call them enjoyable, janky RPGs if you like 😊
The fact that people called this game eurojank without knowing it's country of origin tells you a lot.
Thanks for explaining. But your last line is kinda my point - the country of origin is irrelevant. The term describes a type of game and how it came into being - not a racial or ethnic stereotype or where it was made.
Thanks for explaining. But your last line is kinda my point - the country of origin is irrelevant. The term describes a type of game and how it came into being - not a racial or ethnic stereotype or where it was made.
After getting your first amount of mana the guy says he can teach you fire sigil or reveal soul. Well I was in my buddies save I choose reveal soul. He didn't get to choose anything, not even fire sigil.lol okay...
I would never put anyone on ignore for that, don't get me wrong please. I just don't think that the 'Euro' tag grasps this type of game well. They are usually ambitious games but build with strained resources. But they can come from any place in the world and this board is usually so much self-aware of stereotypes, be it racial or ethnic, that I think we should be more careful with this term. Witcher 3 and Divinity 2 don't fit in here but are from Europe, Outward might fit rather well but has its origin in Canada.
Just call them enjoyable, janky RPGs if you like 😊
The fact that people called this game eurojank without knowing it's country of origin tells you a lot.
The term "eurojank" can be construed as problematic taken at face value, but it defines a specific genre of RPGs that prioritize world building, systems and innovation over smooth player control and combat.
Gothic, Two Worlds, Technomancer, Risen, Vampyr, Elex, and now Outward fall squarely into this category. Personally, it is one of my favorite genres.
I'm all for changing what the genre is named, as long as the definition is the same so I'll be able to identify it.
Finished one the quest lines (Holy Mission), as well as all 3 "parallel quests". Can't really tell you what that quest line was about to be honest. Not just because of spoilers, but because at some point I stopped paying attention and just checked the 'quest log' afterwards to see where I'd need to go next. I would pay attention and read when presented with choices, also because most of the NPC dialog isn't voiced. It's usually the first sentence and sometimes the last, but most of the time text and speech don't match anyway. And there is A LOT of going back and forward between the zones, most of the time to talk to someone, or find information - and then report back of course.
To be fair, there were choices to be made, but since they made save-scumming such a pain, I didn't bother going back to see what could have happened. Since the quest line wasn't really about the player character, choices didn't feel very 'personal' though. In the end I was more excited about finishing without getting 'defeated' once. I can't really say that I'm looking forward to 2 more playthroughs, although I think I have a much better idea of how to deal with everything that seemed so daunting at first.
I'm really taking my time. At something like 35 in-game days and haven't picked a storyline yet. I wonder if there's any drawbacks to going so slowly.
And yea, the voice acting method is kinda weird. I think they should have stuck to one to three word 'chirps' instead of this weird half-voiced thing, which just makes it come across more like a series of errors. It doesn't bother me too much though, because I'm not really playing this for the character/NPC interaction.
I find myself thinking about this game a lot while at work. It frustrates the hell out of me at times, but I'm still drawn to it. I guess that's just part of its charm.
I restarted a couple of times because I noticed you can get some really good gear in the beginning in your house. I was able to get some good armor and found some bandages to heal some guy to get the tribal to pay off right away. As soon as I did that made some money bought a good backpack and gear I left and got ambushed by two bandits lol.
Not paying off your debt in 5 days? Losing your (light)house would suck, I was kind of surprised they went with that for a game that is so open ended. I've got half the money from the shield mushroom quest but I don't know how to get the rest other than finding the stash the dude you were shipwrecked with mentions. Couldn't find anything about the favours you can do for towns people to cancel your debt.
I see a lot of people playing on Steam and streaming, unusual for a game that came in middle of Sekiro, Division 2 and other big hitters. Great to have this jewels drop unexpectedly; at least it is for me--especially developed from a small group of people.
I find myself thinking about this game a lot while at work. It frustrates the hell out of me at times, but I'm still drawn to it. I guess that's just part of its charm.
Yup, exactly the same for me. I keep brainstorming on what to do and where to explore next. What item should I craft, and where can I find the mats, etc.
It has the charms of Gothic and similar RPGs, but Outward has less focus on story. Animation and combat in Outward is like the best in this particular group. Not that the bar is that high to begin with.
For anyone that's trying to clear their Blood Price debt in the first five days.... There's a really easy and quick way to do it.
You need one bandage for this so find some linen cloth to craft one or breakdown your starter hood.
If you go through the storage area of your starter town and come out the other side on the beach. Keep going straight ahead along the beach. There's a wounded guy next to a shipwreck. Talk to him and you'll find he's wounded. You can choose to give him a bandage. Do it. You'll get a town favor token from it. Take that back to the head town lady and your debt is cleared!
Watch out for the lightning shrimp. Just run away from them and come back later to fight them.
You can't go back through the storage route and will have to walk all the way back around to the town gates. Make sure to move the town favor item to your pockets/pouch. You don't want to lose it when you die.
I know people can be upset that there isn't a big focus on the story, but I was surprised there were even quests are storylines at all. There is some delving into the lore of the world, as well as some politics between the city-states, the main purpose of the quests are to give you an excuse to go out and do stuff.
Though so far the most fun I've had in the game was doing stuff that no quest told me to do. I went into an cavern with a friend containing workshops and electrical enemies, shut off some switches scattered about that turned off a shield that got me a pretty good Lexicon. Not to mention all the other loot we found. Then there was also the time we went into the Conflux mountain and got our first tastes of mana.
Now I'm about to now runic magic. I know two runes so far and doing runes in a certain order does a spell. The crazy thing is unlike recipes they aren't written down anywhere - I just have to remember them. For instance, the two runes I have allow me to conjure a handsfree light orb that follows me around for 300 seconds.
Also have to protect my town home for three warlords. I don't think I HAVE to kill them all, but I am about to disguse myself and sneak in as a Kazite pirate.
I've only played for about an hour. But the game has you pretty much either forced to leave or complete conditions to not be exiled. From there it's just NPCs who are like friends of the protagonist go off to see the world. So you decide if you want to follow and also see the world. Doesn't seem to be a huge goal right now.
I've only played for about an hour. But the game has you pretty much either forced to leave or complete conditions to not be exiled. From there it's just NPCs who are like friends of the protagonist go off to see the world. So you decide if you want to follow and also see the world. Doesn't seem to be a huge goal right now.
I just wonder if there's anything I'm aiming for else it might all feel a bit pointless after a while. I hear the game has dungeons where you can kill bosses(?) and gather new loot, but it would seem kind of purposeless to me if I couldn't work towards some higher level goal that benefited from strengthening my gear/character.
I just wonder if there's anything I'm aiming for else it might all feel a bit pointless after a while. I hear the game has dungeons where you can kill bosses(?) and gather new loot, but it would seem kind of purposeless to me if I couldn't work towards some higher level goal that benefited from strengthening my gear/character.
You are just a normal person. There is no world ending enemy that you as the chosen one must defeat. You are not the chosen one after all.
You chose one of three factions and do quests for them. There is some political stuff and threats that must be dealt with (bandit attacks, powerful monsters, etc). Haven't gotten too far into the quest line but I know every dungeon has something worthwhile in it. Either good loot, a unique item, or even a trainer with unique skills.
Making the trek to the other cities themselves feels like an adventure.
There's no 'boss' type of enemies that I've stumbled upon, but I found some elite/unique enemies that are pretty challenging. There are so many enemy varieties in Outward.
Plenty of enemies though if you aren't prepared for them they will lay you out. Some of these fights have gotten close with 2 of us cheesing them as much as we can. Friend is playing tank and I'm going hunter/dagger assassin.
My friend and I have fought a handful of boss-esqe enemies. Usually they are bigger versions of some other monster, though I think at least one had some unique animations/rigging.
Note that none of these were related to a questline, and we just stumbled on them on the way:
The First Cannibal - Wendigo
Hive Lord - Big version of a Hive Ogre (forest hive area)
Royal Manticore - Glowy version of a manticore
And there are Alpha Turanosaurs, or whatever they are called. Not really bosses but we treat them like it.
Some other random thoughts:
My friend and I are only about two quests into the "Blue Chamber" story, we've played about 25 hours. It''s slow going because we thoroughly explored the first area, then we thoroughly explored the Forest, and the second quest took place in the Marsh, so we've spent a lot of time there as well.
One thing we've run into few times though is having cleared a dungeon area and then told to revisit it for a quest. In once instance, the quest simply respawned monsters in the area, in another we were told to kill a few bosses we had already killed, and basically we just got the quest reward immediately after speaking to an NPC again.
I wish co-op partners would get skill rewards from the quests. I got a nice passive for helping the giants in the marsh but he didn''t. Even though loot on enemies and in chests isn't duplicated, there''s PLENTY of stuff to pick up so that it never really feels like we're shortchanging each other. Especially since we are focusing on different builds. We've even been splitting quest money and while we're not rolling in cash, it's never been an issue either. So just not getting quest reward skills is a bummer.
I LOVE THE MUSIC IN THE MARSH. It's cool to have an area that feels like a marsh and it's pretty and spooky at the same time without feeling like an oppressive souls zone.
We haven't been to the desert yet.
I really like the lighting in this game. For instance, you can light a torch, and then drop it down a dark shaft to see if it is a "fall down" point in a dungeon, or simply a pit you should avoid. I've also seen my friend from a long distance away runniing accross a bridge with his lantern on. It's some neat stuff.
I love that many crafting/cooking recipes give you multiple items per craft. It really helps sell the idea that combining basic items/food into better ones is rewarding and worthwhile.
Combat is frustrating in single player for us. Maybe we just have to "get gud" or something, but it feels a whole lot more rewarding to find cool synergies with your buddy (one inflicts pain and the other confusion, or one tanks and the other uses a bow/spells, etc). I don't think I would enjoy this nearly as much on my own simply trying to take care of conditions, damage, impact, and stability management in one build. Feels far more rewarding to specialize and play with someone that compliments that. And while buying skills does set you on a certain playstyle/path, the face that there's no inherent stats does mean that you have a lot of flexibility to try other weapon and gear types on a whim. Only exception to this would be switching to a magic-based build and back, since you have to travel to a specific place to do that.
Right now I've spent breakthrough points at the Spellblade in Cierzo and the Warrior Monk in Monsoon.
The survival aspects of the game really drop off eventually, especially if you get the warrior monk passive of Slow Metabolism. We're holding onto food ingrediants and teas not for survival management, but for their buffs.
Right our our generally favorite foods that are simple that we go back to again and again are Alpha Jerky (health + rage bonus, cook Alpha Meat with Salt) and Marshmelon Tartine (a great stamina regen). For Mana I dont cast much, but I like the Turnip Pottage, or whatever that's called. Mineral Tea is good for healing burnt health, and while other teas heal burnt Stamina, I feel like it's hard to beat a Greater Endurance potion to top off on that.
It's not really a survival game past a point, but I still love the heavy degree of item management, and the multiple small synergies that you can find between items, skills, weapon types, etc. Combat is pretty fun in two player, but it's not the focus, and I'm okay with that. It's still pretty fun to backstab an enemy after my friend gets their attention by opening the fight with a bow shot. I like the fact that dying usually has your body dragged somewhere either with or without your items is obviously inconvenient, but I like having to deal with that possibility rather than just loading a save and, idk, going into the exact same situation only with a dozen traps ready to go.
Some very basic tips for people who arent as far:
1.) Traps are super effective against most things. You can make five tripwire lines using simple materials like linen, wood, and iron scraps. And even just basic iron spikes (4x iron scraps) have been plenty to take a chunk of health out of even the nastiest looking shit. And then you can use other neat materials in traps that you wouldn't expect, like Alpha Deer antlers for a severe bleed trap.
I haven't unlocked pressure-plate traps yet, but they seem neat with the ability to do elemental damage.
2.) Save up and buy the passive health/resting bonus in Cierzo, it's a nice easy boon to be able to stay on top of your health.
3.) Skeletons/Ghosts are weak to ethereal, the "pink element" of the game. Ethereal varnish can be made with Gaberry Wine, Mana Stones, and Ghost Eye. It will really help against tanky red skeletons. Similarily, dinos are weak to lightning.
4.) Continued from above: Pairing an elemental rub/varnish with the boon that boosts that damage (ie, Fire Rag/Varnish + Warm Boon) is a huge way to do extra damage, even if you''re not focused on a skill line that uses that boon or using magic in that area
5.) The blue armor crafting in Cierzo does seem worth it btw, if you want to go into a semi-heavy armor build. I never replaced my armor in the Forest area. Maybe not a good idea if going to the desert though, due to the hot weather penalty.
6.) You can camp near butterflies to not have to spent hours guarding.
7.) As far as I can tell, outside of the actual skill trainers, there's also weapon trainers that will teach one skill per weapon type. Often found in an Inn, but generally anywhere in town.
Last thing: I generally like how the game looks. It's not the most technically impressive thing in the world and there's a lot of motion blur, but I like the lighting like I said and the overly-saturated look of everything.
I was supposed to get a free skill from the guy at the Leyline in the Conflux Mountain, but my coop partner picked it up instead. I wasn't able to get it at all. Later he tells me he was able to pick up the OTHER free skill from someone else's game and they ALSO got a free skill.
Should I go back to the Conflux to see if I can get Fire Sigil or something? Should it be in my game or someone else's?
Also you can miss the free skill from the gate guard if you leave the town from the beach side cave for the first time instead of the main gate.
