I will give Obsidian credit where it's due. Outer Worlds 1 wasn't a bad game. However, it had issues. Limited weapon selection, pure dt system, bullet sponge enemies on higher levels.
As for 2? I will do the same thing as with other games. Wait for full release and then see what I think. There is no point getting angry or excited for a game. It's just a game after all. Plenty of things are available in the market or might be coming out soon.
Still, I will give them benefit of the doubt. However, never preorder!
That is the most fallout looking thing I've ever seen. Tons of other games have "tried to be Fallout" but never committed but that one right there? Man it nailed the aesthetics for Fallout perfectly. If it comes out and is good with its writing and actual RPG mechanics then in my personal headcanon Fallout is going multiverse and this is an alternate universe kinda thing. The guy making it, is he a part of Microsoft? Cause I mean... He could make a Fallout game then, right?
I have a really hard time getting excited for this since not only do I feel that it's a bit too soon to announce a sequel yet, but I felt TOW was pretty average all things considered. It was a fine game, but I get Fallout 4 vibes from it in terms of gameplay and sometimes the writing.
While I'll never play it, I found the announcement of The Pitt in 76 to be more interesting if only because I enjoyed The Pitt as a location in Fallout 3, so getting to see more of it is welcome. It won't have as good writing obviously, the writing will probably be shit, but the location itself grabs my attention more than TOW2 can.
I'm excited about this. MURDER ON ERIANDOS showed the game franchise could great.
The problem of the Outer Worlds was that it couldn't land on a consistent tone and the budget restrictions were REALLY tight. If you hadn't played Murder on Eriandos, it's the best of the game as it manages to make the corporations menacing yet believably ridiculous as well as has a goofy yet not Futurama-esque plot. If the entire game had been like this then it would have been much better received.
I kinda feel like some vehicle sections would be good for the game? maybe not, I'd like a mako type thing going on, or underwater sections next time. Fix the issue with never feeling like you've travelled to another planet as opposed to a hundred miles or so. Maybe that was just a me issue? Gameplay needs an improvement, but doesn't need to be a cod level shooter either. Level design just wasn't that good for me. just didn't scratch the itch, but was close.
That image was most likely made in photoshop. I bet there are no real assests yet. That image was really dickish. It's as bad as the Outer Worlds 2 teaser. No real gameplay. Just get peoples hopes up then crush it.
Anyways about Outer Worlds 2. Don't care for it. When I heard rumors that obsidien was making a Fallout successor; I remember being really excited, especially with those teasers they made. Then I was dissapointed as fuck when the trailer was shown at the game awards. I wanted Fallout but what I got was bordorlands instead. With twice the tumblr users and cringey high-school humor. Seems like OW2 will be more of the same. Maybe it's my fault for getting my hopes too high.
Gotta say, despite the trailer being a parody, I really liked the shots they included, with the rocky world with the crystals, and the creature they introduced.
I don't know if any of that will actually be in the game or not or if it was just part of the joke about impressive looking trailers, but I hope so. That may give it some promise.
My biggest grievance with the Outer Worlds by far is that it has a good premise, but it fails to deliver anything interesting. The Marxism in Space concept was pretty cool, and I feel like the quests were good in that regards (Collecting people's funeral fees in advance, distributing stolen medicine, ect.), I also liked the two fictional religions, the capitalism one was pretty funny, and if we're going for a Marxism game the "Material Conditions generate ideology" was a good place to take to the extreme.
But the thing is, everything gets subsumed in to the single overarching theme. Right at the start of the game you're having to choose between the Corporate Town and the Commune (With a "It's not that simple" twist). This is fairly consistent with the rest of the game. Nothing seems to exist outside of the rigid conflict they've created, and while they deliver on the conflict well, it just doesn't have much charm. This is a thing I feel has been a problem with Obsidian games for a while: Pillars of Eternity 2 had very limited interesting things outside of the faction quests, Tyranny made you choose who you're going to side with right at the beggining, ect., in doing so they ironically fail to recognise what made New Vegas good, which is the complex and multifaceted nature of everything.
I've also found increasingly as time goes on, I've become a lot more skeptical of what a game is "delivering" with it's setting, mostly because I've played too many games which I've loved. Nowadays if I play a Sci Fi game, I fully expect it to have some wild crazy shit. Sci Fi is basically a free excuse for devs to go nuts with creativity, and Outer Worlds never really delivered on that: There were a few interesting tidbits, like there was a creature with some unique properties to it's skin or something, but nothing memorable.
If you're going to make a sci fi setting, make use of the fact that if we're playing on alien worlds, creatures can be whatever you want, and the planet can have whatever unique atmosphere you want. Do something cool with that at least.
Do you think TOW's main issue had to do with creativity or lack of resources (time, budget, workforce)? Because I'm thinking M$ will take care of the second part for the sequel.
Do you think TOW's main issue had to do with creativity or lack of resources (time, budget, workforce)? Because I'm thinking M$ will take care of the second part for the sequel.
Creative Sci Fi can be done on a small budget (Think about how many Star Trek aliens are straight up just people in masks, and how many episodes take place entirely on one set)
I wonder if the first OW, was just Obsidian creating the ground stones for them to expand heavily upon in the sequel.
How long time has passed between the first and the second game?
And will the events of the first game have a major if any impact on the world(s)? Like how VD helped Shady Sands, become the NCR. "Hawthorne" will probably have some cult/mythical status. And NPCs will probably discuss on wither Hawthorne, was actually the protagonists name at all. And perhaps the companions we aquired in OW went separate ways after the game ended and started each their own factions with different or even conflicting agendas?
Obsidian could with benefit use the same recipe for immersive world building they've used in FO 1&2.
I wonder if the first OW, was just Obsidian creating the ground stones for them to expand heavily upon in the sequel.
How long time has passed between the first and the second game?
And will the events of the first game have a major if any impact on the world(s)? Like how VD helped Shady Sands, become the NCR. "Hawthorne" will probably have some cult/mythical status. And NPCs will probably discuss on wither Hawthorne, was actually the protagonists name at all. And perhaps the companions we aquired in OW went separate ways after the game ended and started each their own factions with different or even conflicting agendas?
Obsidian could with benefit use the same recipe for immersive world building they've used in FO 1&2.
Don't bet on that. The Obsidian who made TOW is not the same Obsidian/Black Isle that made FO1&2. Most of the guys who made the first two Fallout's what they are aren't at Obsidian anymore. It's very much a "Bioware situation" where the public give the company tons of respect from their prior work unaware that the actual talent who made those works no longer work there.
Don't bet on that. The Obsidian who made TOW is not the same Obsidian/Black Isle that made FO1&2. Most of the guys who made the first two Fallout's what they are aren't at Obsidian anymore. It's very much a "Bioware situation" where the public give the company tons of respect from their prior work unaware that the actual talent who made those works no longer work there.
I have to say that Tim and Leonard's impact on TOW's execution was also not really felt throughout the game.
Or it has changed so much since their days at Iplay and Troika that it is not directly recognizable to fans and players of their previous games.
There were some hints here and there perhaps, but a lot of the world building and quests were handled by different people, some of which I felt lack a certain 'intellectual curiosity' to really come up with complex/complicated situations that lead to challenging decision making.
Rather it was very superficial, the situation with the corporations and their mismanagement of their colony, a corporate created religion, employees basically being brainwashed.
If Tim and Leonard are working on TOW2, be it just in a producing role, the question remains if they have learned from the mistakes and failing to work with and getting the most out of the ideas they set up at the start.
Recently someone gifted me the original Outer Worlds, if I really wanted it is another question, and as we had the announcement trailer for the sequel this year I thought that we might as well start a thread about it.
Unfortunately the trailer for the sequel was pretty useless, it more being a joke about how self aware the developers are than telling us anything at all about the content.
All we have is what we can take from some of the visuals.
While I have not played The Outer Worlds myself yet due to my current machine not be able to handle it, I have picked up feedback and comments from people who played it who felt that the original game's design and gameplay could use some improvements and fixing.
I rather do not go into detail about the game's setting, storyline, characters, quests, and dialogue as I think these have already been discussed here and on the RPG Codex sufficiently.
All I can say is that the Outer Worlds uses themes and ideas that could have been used to make a very interesting world that doesn't feel like a lot of the settings of many other science fiction games.
Or perhaps one that has not been used that often.
However the execution is rather lacking such as corporations not only being the driving force behind space colonization, but also having integrated themselves into people's culture and ideologies.
The attempt was made to raise this to absurd dystopian levels, but it falls somewhat short when the player discovers that most of the corporations are just stupid evil.
And a lot of the characters were written as being pretty stupid as well in general.
Rather I would just like to focus on the gameplay and what we would like to see different in a sequel.
I read in various feedback posts that a lot of players felt that the world is not very interactive unlike that of Fallout New Vegas. Though of course there the physics could be rather 'wonky'.
Perhaps the problem with TOW was perhaps the engine itself. Or there not that much interest in creating a very interactive world outside of the quests.
Changing this could perhaps improve the feeling that the player is in an interactive world, and not some stage with only a few interactive props.
It doesn't mean that I am suggesting that the sequel should have an expanded crafting mechanic for which they need to collect every that is not bolted down.
But that the scenery is more than just there to fill the screen.
A lot of people also felt that the weapons level and upgrade system was average, new weapons often being improvements of old ones, but just putting out some more damage because their level rating says so.
And if the player managed their existing arsenal well that the player never needed to upgrade their guns.
It was not even necessary to buy new guns or upgrade them if I remember correctly as the player could often just find better versions laying around, or easily stolen from cabinets, weapon lockers, and people.
The negative trait system also did not have the impact that it was told that it would have.
By taking a negative trait that the player not only gets some skill points but that it also affects the gameplay in interesting ways.
I don't think it needs to be done away with but it could use some improvements to make it interesting to experiment with.
What suggestions do people here have to fix it?
I don't want to make players feel punished by forcing negative traits onto them, but perhaps it doesn't work when it is just optional.
If people who have played the game know of more flaws regarding the gameplay and design, please post it in this topic.And of course when there is any news regarding the sequel.
What I would liked to have done with the storyline based on what I saw in the trailer.
– Rather than taking place in the Halcyon system, the setting this time is a completely different star system.
– Like the Halycon system a large number of corporations have established their presence here, and they set up the infrastructure, and also did the terraforming where it was required.
Unlike the Halcyon system, this system is administrated by a governor and his/her staff assigned by the Earth government.
Originally the corporations were suppose to answer to the governor and they were to check on the corporations to prevent them from over exploiting the planets and the colonist population for the sake of profit (the Earth government did not want the colony to turn into a dystopian toxic hellhole within a few generations)
However the governor's administration has been weakening for some time now. It is no longer the force of influence that it used to be.
– There is a major intercorporate war taking place between two power corporations (lets call them corporation A and B), with other corporations having sided with one or the other side.
To prevent widespread destruction and casualties, both corporations have agreed to certain rules and restrictions.
Most of the fighting between the two sides is done through infantry, robots, and fighting vehicles/machines with capabilities not surpassing the established limits.
Both sides will not use nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons, or non ABC weapons of mass destruction like kinetic kill weapons (asteroids or tungsten rods fired from orbital mass drivers)
Despite the restrictions however the colonies in the system are suffering from destruction caused by the conflict, and the increasing shortages of important resources.
– One of the two main corporations has brought a line of robots and machines on the market that function like mobile refineries and manufacturing plants.
These can take unrefined resources such as metals, oil, plants, animals, and convert these directly into products like food, fuel, tools, machines, houses, weapons.
They can also convert already existing manufactured and build goods like vehicles, machines, houses, and so on, and reuse the materials these are made up off to make new things.
They can also recycle trash and broken things.
It are these robots that have prevented the colonies from having totally collapsed as these continuously keep rebuilding farms, cities, factories, and so on. They are also the source of the weapons that are used by the sides of the corporate war.
– There is a growing underground organization or movement made up by colonists and employees of the various corporations with somewhat socialist/communist vibes that seek to overthrow the ineffectual Earth government and the corporations.
– The main campaign would also follow up on what happened to Earth and the Solar System.
– The intercorporate war is a sham. Both main corporations involved are actually part of the same company.
It started the war to increase its influence over the colony and the inhabitants of the system in order to weaken the Earth government and then fully take over the system to make it another corporate controlled system like Halcyon.
The war also helps to weaken smaller corporations and townships so that these can be taken over company, establishing a monopoly over various lines of businesses.
The company does not care that the war causes thousands of casualties and shortages/famines
– No one really understands the robots and their unique internal recycling/manufacturing technologies. Their workings are so exotic and unique that it could not have been designed by humans.
When confronted about it the scientist/inventor who according to news has invented the robots, admits that he did not create them at all. Their technologies go beyond his understanding.
Rather he managed to access and subvert their original programming, turning them subservient to humans and manufacturing things based on human created templates.
The inventor was brought in by the corporation that supposedly made the robots, to study a robot of unique design the corporation had somehow gotten its hands on.
After thoroughly investigating its design and internal workings the inventor managed to learn that the robot is a clanking replicator; a robot that can make more of itself and other machines once it has access to the right materials.
Coming with these conclusions to the corporate heads, the inventor was given the assignment to turn the robot into something the corporation could use to make money with.
The inventor managed to rewrite some of the robot's programming so that it would make lesser copies of itself that would accept human programming and manufacturing templates, but that would not make more of themselves.
The inventor however believes that it is only a matter of time before the robots' original programming will re-emerge and that they will start doing what they were originally created for.
- The Earth government has been focusing its effort on re-establishing contact with Earth as without support from the government back on Earth the governor is unable to regain control over the star system and put an end to the corporate war as well as the growing rebel movement.
A ship that was sent out by the governor did actually return, but brought very disturbing news; Earth and the rest of the Solar System is being dismantled by a swarm of self replicating robots who use the material to make more of themselves and to build some kind of mega structure.
The Earth government tried to stop the robot invaders, but the corporations who believed that the robots would provide new technologies and business opportunities delayed an effective counter attack to destroy the robot swarm when it was still possible.
The only chance the colonies have of not suffering the same fate is by banding together and prevent the robots from getting a foothold in the colonies.
At this point the player would realize that the robots are already present in this star system; the original model that is kept in a corporation factory to make more of itself, and its lesser copies that have been sold and spread all over the various planets and moons.
- Alternatively, the clanking replicators were created by one of the corporations on Earth, but insufficient safety measures and the company heads having no idea what they were messing with lost control over their creations.
Originally the corporations were suppose to answer to the governor and they were to check on the corporations to prevent them from over exploiting the planets and the colonist population for the sake of profit (the Earth government did not want the colony to turn into a dystopian toxic hellhole within a few generations)
The lore of Outer Worlds makes this a highly unlikely scenario in my opinion. The Earth government is no more than an “alliance” of corporations, and they don’t have any interest in regulating outer space at all beyond preventing wars between corporations.
One problem I had with the game was that there wasn’t much diversity in enemy types. There’s only about 3 or 4 different types of alien creatures.
The lore of Outer Worlds makes this a highly unlikely scenario in my opinion. The Earth government is no more than an “alliance” of corporations, and they don’t have any interest in regulating outer space at all beyond preventing wars between corporations
I have not played the original game yet, but from what I understand the Earth government, though deeply under control of the corporations (alternative history in which the Gilded Age of the 19th/20th century never ended), was not completely under corporate control.
The Halcyon system was an exception as it was the first completely corporate controlled system.
But when I play the first game and I am corrected on this I would of course change my idea.
And this is of course just an idea
Definitely would like to see more variety of creatures being added.
Native ones. Ones that perhaps come from genetic labs, being custom made. And mutants that are a result of dumping of waste and biological materials, and perhaps the result of the corporate war.
