The Outer Worlds - Early Impressions

[AgentBJ09]

From what I have seen from walkthroughs and livestreams, The Outer Worlds is a typical newer Obsidian game where you either love it or you hate it. Sadly, I have not like the newer stuff coming from Obsidian. Tried Pillars, didn't click for me. As such I didn't have much of a interest when Dreadfire came out. Tyranny interested me with its concept but again, like Pillars, it wasn't able to hold my interest.
I can however see why people are singing this games praises in just to piss off Bethesda. It was a smart move on part of Obsidian's marketing to really push this game around the time of Fallout 76's subscription debacle. I imagine that Tim Cain is quite satisfied and smiling like the Joker that his game is doing well with gamers and Metacritic while Bethesda deals with one PR disaster after another. Seems to be the perfect revenge towards Bethesda massacring his boy.

Now if only George Lucas could get an equal revenge for Star Wars this year.

 

[AgentBJ09]

Jimquisition is a show I generally hate but I enjoyed this one.

Likewise. He makes good videos sometimes.

 

[Gizmojunk]

Now if only George Lucas could get an equal revenge for Star Wars this year.

This was interesting; old news, but I had not seen it before.
https://www.businessinsider.com/george-lucas-says-he-sold-star-wars-to-white-slavers-2015-12

I imagine that Tim Cain is quite satisfied and smiling like the Joker that his game is doing well with gamers and Metacritic while Bethesda deals with one PR disaster after another. Seems to be the perfect revenge towards Bethesda massacring his boy.

While I have to take Tim Cain's public comments weighed against an unsure future in the industry—you don't burn bridges lightly... He did say that he liked FO3*. Do we know from his past posts & comments, that he resents [the obvious affront of] Bethesda's wretched (but undeniably profitable) treatment of the Fallout IP?

Spoiler: *

Strictly speaking, not exactly; he said that he 'enjoyed playing the game', and with a very odd emphasis that might suggest reservations, or a double meaning.

I recall that Leonard Boyarsky once described it (of Interplay) like that of an ex-wife selling off the kids (after the divorce).

 

[AgentBJ09]

This was interesting; old news, but I had not seen it before.
https://www.businessinsider.com/george-lucas-says-he-sold-star-wars-to-white-slavers-2015-12

I remember that, and I agree with him. Disney and K. Kennedy, among others, turned the IP into a near unrecognizable Frankenstein, spit in the faces of the old fans, and still expect people to support them. If Rise of Skywalker flops, and I hope it does, I'd love to see George make a public statement about his direction for the final trilogy and rub salt in the wounds. Disney deserves it at this point.

 

[Chud]

Agreed. I just took a break from playing it for hours, and I felt like Buck Rodgers righting the wrongs on a space station. That's an itch younger me has been wanting scratched for a long time. The game in a way reminds me of earlier games where you have a new area, do stuff and clear it out, and then move on to the next area. It's a very satisfying loop that gives the player a sense of accomplishment. I was so-so on the combat and iffy perks, but I'm finding myself liking the game more and more. The companions aren't bad at all, and I like having a foul-mouthed vicar on my team.

This game may not be for everyone, but I'd say it accomplishes what they set out to do. With a bigger sequel and improvements, I can easily see this game filling the void of Fallout, Mass Effect and the like. Given that Obsidian should have the proper financial backing should hopefully mean the next entry gets the polish and fleshing out it deserves. With all things considered, this game's a beaut.

 

[RangerBoo]

I recall that Leonard Boyarsky once described it (of Interplay) like that of an ex-wife selling off the kids (after the divorce).

I imagine that Leonard is also quite pleased with Bethesda's blunders and is having quite the schadenfreude. The old school Fallout team deserve to have some revenge at Bethesda for not only screwing them over but for also massacring their IP and turning it into a parody of its former self.

This game may not be for everyone, but I'd say it accomplishes what they set out to do. With a bigger sequel and improvements, I can easily see this game filling the void of Fallout, Mass Effect and the like. .

The thing about The Outer Worlds that puts me off the most is the humor. It reminds me quite a bit of Old World Blues. For most of the people here that is fine as many consider Old World Blues to be the best of the New Vegas DLC's. I however am not one of those people but to each their own.

 

[CT Phipps]

IThe thing about The Outer Worlds that puts me off the most is the humor. It reminds me quite a bit of Old World Blues. For most of the people here that is fine as many consider Old World Blues to be the best of the New Vegas DLC's. I however am not one of those people but to each their own.

As mentioned, I think it felt very much like Borderlands 2's humor with all the parodies and idiots to the point that I'm fairly sure saving these people is only delaying their death by a year or two due to them sticking their tongue in a wall socket.

 

[TorontoReign]

Just curious but is there any kind of food/crafting mechanic like New Vegas?

 

[TheGM]

especially if one looks at capitalism throughout history.

Just curious but is there any kind of food/crafting mechanic like New Vegas?

The closest thing I've seen is mixing stuff you put in your inhaler but I haven't seen any crafting.

 

[Norzan]

He did say that he liked FO3*.

Oh lord, when he said that he thought Bethesda understood what the universe of Fallout is like and even claimed he thought they did a good job understanding the lore. Bethesda didn't understood the lore and universe one bit and it bums me out that he thinks they did.

It has been 9 years so maybe his stance on that has changed, or i hope it has. I don't mind that he enjoyed the game, but those two comments really made me scratch my head. I would be at the very least very disappointed with what Bethesda had done with the universe and lore if i was one of the creators of the series.

 

[SquidWard]

but the one thing I can not get over is how cartoonishly evil the corporations are in this universe. Forcing people to pay the rent of dead people? Forcing a man to wear a mask he cant take off, see out of, or eat normally with, and force him to live his life as a walking advertisement?

Definitely with Ranger and Chud on this. Corporations can be comically evil in real life from time to time. I couldn't see it really being an issue in a game that is critical of megacorps. Kinda like cyberpunk dystopias. You get what comes along with it.

Oh lord, when he said that he thought Bethesda understood what the universe of Fallout is like and even claimed he thought they did a good job understanding the lore. Bethesda didn't understood the lore and universe one bit and it bums me out that he thinks they did.

I mean, we could still take that with a grain of salt. Did he play it vanilla? How much did he play? I mean, I'd say they understood Fallout on some level but only in a superficial sense. I do hope has changed his mind about that but something tells me he plays nice like Chris does. Why would they badmouth the owners of the IP they want to work on? Keep it short and simple, "I liked it, they did a good job." Fin.

 

[Risewild]

While I have to take Tim Cain's public comments weighed against an unsure future in the industry—you don't burn bridges lightly... He did say that he liked FO3*. Do we know from his past posts & comments, that he resents [the obvious affront of] Bethesda's wretched (but undeniably profitable) treatment of the Fallout IP?

Here's what he said about Fallout 3 and New Vegas in a Codex Interview:

I did enjoy both Fallout 3 and New Vegas. I know that surprised some of my fans, who wanted me to hate the games and rail against their design choices (which I have repeatedly pointed out were different than the ones I would have made), but there is no arguing that more people enjoy the modern versions of the franchise than the older ones.

If I were to compare the two games, I would say that Fallout New Vegas felt like it captured the humor and style of the Fallout universe better than Fallout 3, but I have to hand it to the FO3 designers for developing VATS, a cool twist on called shots for a real-time game. I also loved the set decoration FO3. There was so much destruction, yet obviously everything had been meticulously hand-placed. So much story was told entirely through art. I ended up naming these little art vignettes and creating side stories in my head about what had happened. There was "The Suicide", a dead guy in a bathtub with a shotgun, and I figured he just couldn't handle life after the bombs. There was "Eternal Love", a couple of skeletons in a bed in a hotel room, forever embracing each other. There was "My Last Mistake", the corpse in the temporary one-man fallout shelter which obviously didn't do its job of keeping out the heat and radiation. My favorite was "Desperate Gamble", where I found a feral ghoul in an underground shelter filled with lab supplies and lots of drugs... except for Rad-X. I imagined that a scientist found himself irradiated and desperately tried to synthesize some Rad-X to cure himself before he succumbed, but he was too slow. I did notice that whatever was left of his mind sure did seem to enjoy toilet plungers.

If I had to pick something I didn't like about FO3, I would pick its ending. I hated the ending. There, I said it. I didn't like the sudden problem with the purifier, and I especially didn't like the lack of real, meaningful multiple endings beyond what I chose in the final few minutes (FEV or not, me or Lyons, and that was it?). But the worst thing about the ending was there was no mention of the fate of places I had visited. In my head I had already imagined slides for Megaton, the Citadel, Rivet City, Underworld, GNR, the Enclave or the mysterious Commonwealth. But I got... pretty much nothing.

I liked FONV's ending much better. It had a nice set of slides at the end of the game. They covered everything I was wondering about. I went with Mr. House at the end... and that seemed a worse choice after the slides, but still OK. It led to a law-abiding but somewhat impersonal Vegas. I wish I didn't have to kill the BoS, but I want House to control the future, so I had to do it. It was a great morally ambiguous choice, and the decision made me pause. That's a sign of good design, right there.

 

[Norzan]

He makes it sound that hating the ending of Fallout 3 is an unpopular stance, it's actually the opposite. I know people that liked Fallout 3 thought the ending was terrible.

At least he acknowledges New Vegas as the better game, but really sucks that he's giving any merit to the VATS system. It's easily one of the worst mechanics in the 3D Fallouts.

I do see why he wouldn't badmouth the game if he wanted to work on the IP, but he could have just said he liked the game and thought they did a decent job.

 

[CT Phipps]

Weirdly, I mentioned the dynamic storytelling of skeletons and devastation in my defenses of Fallout 3 all the time. I think Tim Cain is literally the first person who seems to have noticed other than me. Most people actually said that I was insane for mentioning it and clearly seeing things that weren't there.

 

[Walpknut]

I wish Survival mode in the game was more like in New Vegas where it is independent of the other difficulty. Also for saving to not be affected by it, because I just don't have the time to be at the mercy of having to save in the ship. I was gonna play on SUpernova until I saw the stuff with saving listed.

 

[RangerBoo]

While I may have not liked The Outer Worlds I am glad that the others here on NMA are having a good time with it. I thought I would make something that would both make you all smile and give you a great feeling of schadenfreude.

Not you Todd.

 

[Alphons]

I wish Survival mode in the game was more like in New Vegas where it is independent of the other difficulty. Also for saving to not be affected by it, because I just don't have the time to be at the mercy of having to save in the ship. I was gonna play on SUpernova until I saw the stuff with saving listed.

Mods will fix it.
https://www.nexusmods.com/theouterworlds/mods/8

 

[Gizmojunk]

Weirdly, I mentioned the dynamic storytelling of skeletons and devastation in my defenses of Fallout 3 all the time. I think Tim Cain is literally the first person who seems to have noticed other than me. Most people actually said that I was insane for mentioning it and clearly seeing things that weren't there.

I saw what was there; and I could even forgive that outside the context of Fallout, it would never have [still] been there by the time the PC discovers it. That was a big peeve; that the whole world seemed to have stopped in state—awaiting the player character to investigate its stories... As though no one at all, in the decades before, hadn't lived their lives scavenging the world for its resources—like medical supplies in a box labeled First-Aid.

I didn't much care for the vignettes with implied stories. I got to the bottom of Dunwich, and spent twenty minutes looking for a point to it... then left in disgust.

**I should mention an interesting coincidence in my game that might have ruined a big part of Dunwhich for me though: I discovered it—and completed it before ever reading about it—and my PC just happened to be wearing the Ghoul Mask for the duration of it.

 

[Chud]

The humor that I've seen really isn't anywhere near as wacky as Old World Blues. When you really dig in with a conversation I'd say it's satire, that these people are compliant to corporations to a fault. Even the moon-headed mascot is a really, really sad sack when you dig into his mini story. It's nothing like the brain-dead humor of Bethesda. It's more in the vein of Fallout, including the products you find. Is there really that much of a difference between the companies in Fallout and The Outer Worlds? They're both symptoms of a failed structure that contributed to one ending in nuclear war and the other with colonies on the brink of collapse. The Groundbreaker station felt mostly serious and miserable for those who are trying to make a living there, mainly because they're independent of the corporations who are trying to squeeze them.

There's a mix of levity and brevity here that conveys humor and the share sadness of a warped future.

I'd say if you have a friend who has a copy, or you can check it out from a library, give it a try. I was somewhat hesitant about the game when I first started, but it grew on me the more I played it. It's more like the narrative balance of vanilla NV, in that there is some humor, but the story at it's heart is deadly serious.

Real quick about Tim Cain "liking" Fallout 3. Why would he not be a gentleman? The guy from what I hear is a professional who doesn't speak ill of others. One thing to note about him is that in an interview he mentioned he writes scathing reviews of games, which he will never release. I highly doubt he gave Fallout 3 a "Glowing" review. But man, I'd love to see his reviews and what he really thinks of other games.

 

[Gizmojunk]

I would like to play the game—but it isn't offered on GoG... and (more seriously) the demonstration videos gave me simulator sickness.