I really enjoyed my time with The Outer Worlds, but I also went in having set my expectations accordingly. The game's budget – or lack thereof – was something mentioned in just about every piece of pre-release coverage. Despite looking like a New Vegas follow up, The Outer Worlds has nowhere near the scope of it.
While it's far from a perfect game I do see it as an IP with great potential. With DLC confirmed, and a higher budget sequel looking likely I'd like to hear what everyone would like to see improved in the future.
Here are some of my thoughts:
A Stronger Connection to the Player Character
The Outer Worlds starts off with what I think is a pretty damn good character creator – one that is even given narrative context in the form of Phineas searching the Hope's database. You're character is chosen out of hundreds of other colonists. Unfortunately, the rest of the game doesn't make good on making your character feel truly unique.
One of these issues comes from the budget: the game is first-person only. This means outside of the initial character customization, the inventory screen, and an idle animation, there is no opportunity to see your character. I ended up missing the third person view more than I thought I would. Maybe its partly because the game gives off heavy Mass Effect/KotOR vibes, but I also think there's just something nice about being able to see your character in an RPG. I understand that implementing a third-person view is a lot of work (animations, design implications, etc.) but I do wish there were more chances to actually see my character. Perhaps a simple shot/reverse shot during dialogue instead of the typical Fallout 3/New Vegas-style camera? I hope a sequel gives us a proper third-person option.
The other issue I have has to do with attributes and skills. While you can specialize your skills and try to role play your character in certain ways, I found the game made it far too easy to be a jack of all trades. Speech options related to Medicine, Science, Engineering, etc. don't feel special when I've barely put any points into them and I'm able to select them. Rarely did I ever feel the need to use any of the consumables in the game to boost my stats. This is more of a balance issue and one that could be corrected fairly easily. I just hope they keep it in mind for the future.
Keep the Tight Experience, Improve the Pacing
One design choice Obsidian absolutely nailed was the decision to make The Outer Worlds a shorter game focused on replayability rather than a 100+ hour adventure. The Mass Effect trilogy was similar, with each game begin ~30 hours. I'm happy to see that this is likely the route they will continue with.
At the same time, I do think The Outer Worlds could benefit from having a few more planets to explore. Having only two main planets hurt the pacing. I don't think I'm alone in saying that Monarch dragged on. I would rather the game focus on tighter experiences on a variety of planets than have one overly long quest line in a single location.
Embrace the Sci-Fi/Space Setting
Space is such a great setting for an RPG. I would like to see The Outer Worlds be more than "Fallout with a space skybox." I could take or leave the 50s style retro-future look at this point.
There are general improvements I'd like to see too, like a better UI and more combat options.
A potential Outer Worlds 2 is a few years off, but I'm excited at the future for the series.
While it's far from a perfect game I do see it as an IP with great potential. With DLC confirmed, and a higher budget sequel looking likely I'd like to hear what everyone would like to see improved in the future.
Here are some of my thoughts:
A Stronger Connection to the Player Character
The Outer Worlds starts off with what I think is a pretty damn good character creator – one that is even given narrative context in the form of Phineas searching the Hope's database. You're character is chosen out of hundreds of other colonists. Unfortunately, the rest of the game doesn't make good on making your character feel truly unique.
One of these issues comes from the budget: the game is first-person only. This means outside of the initial character customization, the inventory screen, and an idle animation, there is no opportunity to see your character. I ended up missing the third person view more than I thought I would. Maybe its partly because the game gives off heavy Mass Effect/KotOR vibes, but I also think there's just something nice about being able to see your character in an RPG. I understand that implementing a third-person view is a lot of work (animations, design implications, etc.) but I do wish there were more chances to actually see my character. Perhaps a simple shot/reverse shot during dialogue instead of the typical Fallout 3/New Vegas-style camera? I hope a sequel gives us a proper third-person option.
The other issue I have has to do with attributes and skills. While you can specialize your skills and try to role play your character in certain ways, I found the game made it far too easy to be a jack of all trades. Speech options related to Medicine, Science, Engineering, etc. don't feel special when I've barely put any points into them and I'm able to select them. Rarely did I ever feel the need to use any of the consumables in the game to boost my stats. This is more of a balance issue and one that could be corrected fairly easily. I just hope they keep it in mind for the future.
Keep the Tight Experience, Improve the Pacing
One design choice Obsidian absolutely nailed was the decision to make The Outer Worlds a shorter game focused on replayability rather than a 100+ hour adventure. The Mass Effect trilogy was similar, with each game begin ~30 hours. I'm happy to see that this is likely the route they will continue with.
At the same time, I do think The Outer Worlds could benefit from having a few more planets to explore. Having only two main planets hurt the pacing. I don't think I'm alone in saying that Monarch dragged on. I would rather the game focus on tighter experiences on a variety of planets than have one overly long quest line in a single location.
Embrace the Sci-Fi/Space Setting
Space is such a great setting for an RPG. I would like to see The Outer Worlds be more than "Fallout with a space skybox." I could take or leave the 50s style retro-future look at this point.
The end slideshow suggests the next game will take place farther in the future with more technological advancements, so I'm hopeful we'll get something a bit different.
There are general improvements I'd like to see too, like a better UI and more combat options.
A potential Outer Worlds 2 is a few years off, but I'm excited at the future for the series.
