I love Obsidian, they're probably my favorite developer. Pillars of Eternity 2 is one of the best RPGs in recent memory and I adore titles like New Vegas, Alpha Protocol, and KOTOR 2. But TOW is probably open of the most disappointing titles I've played in some time.
It's a given that Fallout 4's cardinal sins are in its lessened emphasis on writing and storytelling with an extremely forgettable narratives. But I honestly don't think The Outer Worlds does this very well either. Outside of some pretty great companion quests and a few side quests, the main narrative completely takes a backseat until the very end where it comes to a screeching halt right as its finally picking up speed.
The game's anti-capitalist themes are shallow and rarely did I ever find myself questioning my decisions (big corporation bad, working people good). And I say that as a devout socialist. But what really stands out to me is the game completely failing to offer a sense of character or gameplay progression. Once you've played the first area, which is about 2-3 hours or so, you've played the entirety of what the game has to offer. Edgewater is a insanely representative vertical slice for the game at large. I quickly became an unstoppable god due to the game's inability to balance itself either through progression or design. I could persuade, hack, or lock pick my way through anything while also being able to easily dispose of any enemy with ease. Playing the game on Hard only made combat harder, but was still very easy.
This made the leveling my character and upgrading their stats feel trivial. I never felt like I was really progressing or felt any satisfaction from seeing that I gained a new level. This is compounded by the perk system, which is filled with wholly uninspired upgrades (X amount more damage, carry X more weight). In Fallout 4, I at least felt satisfied in knowing that my character was progressing towards some specific style of gameplay, doubly so with its unique perks that felt like they actually impacted how I was playing the game.
There's really not much satisfaction to be had at all in TOW, even when obtaining some of the games copious amounts of loot. There's very little variation in weapons and armor and they also never feel like much of an upgrade or change to the gameplay. There's nothing similar to the first time you get a suppressor in Fallout 4. Sure, there are perks like Cowboy that give you X damage improvements, but even those feel more substantial than the ones TOW offers due to its imbalance. Moreover, it has a lack of noteworthy adjacent to something like Mysterious Stranger.
Now I'm not saying Fallout 4 is a much better game by any means, it's still easily the weakest of the series. But I do think that for all the flack the game got (which was deserved), it still does a lot of why people play Fallout better than TOW.
It's a given that Fallout 4's cardinal sins are in its lessened emphasis on writing and storytelling with an extremely forgettable narratives. But I honestly don't think The Outer Worlds does this very well either. Outside of some pretty great companion quests and a few side quests, the main narrative completely takes a backseat until the very end where it comes to a screeching halt right as its finally picking up speed.
The game's anti-capitalist themes are shallow and rarely did I ever find myself questioning my decisions (big corporation bad, working people good). And I say that as a devout socialist. But what really stands out to me is the game completely failing to offer a sense of character or gameplay progression. Once you've played the first area, which is about 2-3 hours or so, you've played the entirety of what the game has to offer. Edgewater is a insanely representative vertical slice for the game at large. I quickly became an unstoppable god due to the game's inability to balance itself either through progression or design. I could persuade, hack, or lock pick my way through anything while also being able to easily dispose of any enemy with ease. Playing the game on Hard only made combat harder, but was still very easy.
This made the leveling my character and upgrading their stats feel trivial. I never felt like I was really progressing or felt any satisfaction from seeing that I gained a new level. This is compounded by the perk system, which is filled with wholly uninspired upgrades (X amount more damage, carry X more weight). In Fallout 4, I at least felt satisfied in knowing that my character was progressing towards some specific style of gameplay, doubly so with its unique perks that felt like they actually impacted how I was playing the game.
There's really not much satisfaction to be had at all in TOW, even when obtaining some of the games copious amounts of loot. There's very little variation in weapons and armor and they also never feel like much of an upgrade or change to the gameplay. There's nothing similar to the first time you get a suppressor in Fallout 4. Sure, there are perks like Cowboy that give you X damage improvements, but even those feel more substantial than the ones TOW offers due to its imbalance. Moreover, it has a lack of noteworthy adjacent to something like Mysterious Stranger.
Now I'm not saying Fallout 4 is a much better game by any means, it's still easily the weakest of the series. But I do think that for all the flack the game got (which was deserved), it still does a lot of why people play Fallout better than TOW.
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