So I've been a fan of Obsidian ever since KOTOR2. Before that, if we count the games some of the folks there worked on back in Black Isle. Despite the tight schedules those early sequels were on and some resulting clunkiness and bugs, I loved (and still do) most of their games. The Outer Worlds though? Well, it's complicated.

Lets knock out the visuals first - graphics are about what you'd expect from 2020 game, still looking good. Visual design though? Not a fan. I feel like the whole retrofuturistic vibe doesn't fit the setting at all and is only there to emulate Fallout - where the 1950-60s vibe was much more fitting and plausible. Everything being oversaturated to the point of being painful to look at doesn't help in the slightest.

Alright, but RPGs should shine through the story, not visuals. Does the story hold up to Obsidian standards? Yes and no. There is some really great writing and fun quests in there, but it's in the minority. Overall impression the game left me with is "Stupidity written smartly." Dialogs are witty and competently written, but they hardly compensate for 85% of characters you meet being complete idiots.
Game actually touches on some serious issues - big corporations destroying environment and ruining people's lives for profit margins - but then goes out of its way to make a mockery of it all by turning stupidity to 11, from blabbering idiots of npcs and corpospeak emails present on every in-game computer to majority of sidequests being idiot plots (that is, stories which only happen because everyone involved has an IQ roughly equal to comfortable room temperature).
"Corporations. Pretty stupid, hehe." is the one and only note writing has for the majority of the game. It's most prevalent in Emerald Vale, the first area of the game - which might be why almost 30% of players dropped the game at that point.

The only time I actually noticed the brief respite from everpresent idiocy and some real, human emotions was during the Gorgon DLC. My companions' reactions to some horrifying experiments were written extremely well and it's probably the moment that stuck with me the most.

Gameplay wise - not much to say, it's still the basic Bethesda RPG game loop. Exploration, looting, some mediocre shooting, more looting, pick some quests, sell loot, some more shooting, some lockpicking and more looting. Loot is not all that exciting, as you'll rarely find meaningful upgrades, aside from unique Science Weapons, which are probably the most fun to play with. Enemy variety is nonexistent, consisting of about 4 types of animals, 3 types of robots, melee humans and ranged weapon humans with AI that's as basic as it gets.

There's now also a 'Spacer's Choice' edition, but it seems the only major changes are turning up color saturation even more and raising level cap from 36 to 99, so you don't have to make any build choices/sacrifices. At 9$ upgrade price, I'll pass.

Overall, The Outer Worlds is not a bad game and there is some fun to be had. Still, it's mediocre at best and definitely the weakest Obsidian game I've played, which makes it hard to recommend. At this point, I'm much more interested in Avowed than Outer Worlds 2.

So I've been a fan of Obsidian ever since KOTOR2. Before that, if we count the games some of the folks there worked on back in Black Isle. Despite the tight schedules those early sequels were on and some resulting clunkiness and bugs, I loved (and still do) most of their games. The Outer Worlds though? Well, it's complicated. Lets knock out the visuals first - graphics are about what you'd expect from 2020 game, still looking good. Visual design though? Not a fan. I feel like the whole retrofuturistic vibe doesn't fit the setting at all and is only there to emulate Fallout - where the 1950-60s vibe was much more fitting and plausible. Everything being oversaturated to the point of being painful to look at doesn't help in the slightest. Alright, but RPGs should shine through the story, not visuals. Does the story hold up to Obsidian standards? Yes and no. There is some really great writing and fun quests in there, but it's in the minority. Overall impression the game left me with is "Stupidity written smartly." Dialogs are witty and competently written, but they hardly compensate for 85% of characters you meet being complete idiots. Game actually touches on some serious issues - big corporations destroying environment and ruining people's lives for profit margins - but then goes out of its way to make a mockery of it all by turning stupidity to 11, from blabbering idiots of npcs and corpospeak emails present on every in-game computer to majority of sidequests being idiot plots (that is, stories which only happen because everyone involved has an IQ roughly equal to comfortable room temperature). "Corporations. Pretty stupid, hehe." is the one and only note writing has for the majority of the game. It's most prevalent in Emerald Vale, the first area of the game - which might be why almost 30% of players dropped the game at that point. The only time I actually noticed the brief respite from everpresent idiocy and some real, human emotions was during the Gorgon DLC. My companions' reactions to some horrifying experiments were written extremely well and it's probably the moment that stuck with me the most. Gameplay wise - not much to say, it's still the basic Bethesda RPG game loop. Exploration, looting, some mediocre shooting, more looting, pick some quests, sell loot, some more shooting, some lockpicking and more looting. Loot is not all that exciting, as you'll rarely find meaningful upgrades, aside from unique Science Weapons, which are probably the most fun to play with. Enemy variety is nonexistent, consisting of about 4 types of animals, 3 types of robots, melee humans and ranged weapon humans with AI that's as basic as it gets. There's now also a 'Spacer's Choice' edition, but it seems the only major changes are turning up color saturation even more and raising level cap from 36 to 99, so you don't have to make any build choices/sacrifices. At 9$ upgrade price, I'll pass. Overall, The Outer Worlds is not a bad game and there is some fun to be had. Still, it's mediocre at best and definitely the weakest Obsidian game I've played, which makes it hard to recommend. At this point, I'm much more interested in Avowed than Outer Worlds 2.