Humdinger
Member
I'm a little over 20 hours into The Outer Worlds, well into Monarch, I'm guessing halfway through. I'd like to share a few thoughts.
I like the humor and light touch. None of it is laugh-out-loud funny, but some of it is amusing.
Lots of options to fiddle with. A little too many, tbh. It's been a while since I played an in-depth RPG like this. I'd forgotten how much of your time goes into inventory management, tinkering, selling stuff off, breaking it down, comparing weapons and armor on multiple characters, and so forth. It gets a little tiresome sometimes, and I wish for a more action-oriented, less stat/detail-oriented approach. I suppose some of the fiddling is optional, though, so I'll take some responsibility. I don't necessarily need to do as much fiddling as I do.
The quest log is really good. Well done.
Very dialog-heavy game. It's been years since I played a game with so much dialog. I find that setting the dialog display to "minimal" helps the experience. If the text is displayed in full immediately, I have a tendency to read it before the character is finished talking, then cut them off, which makes it less immersive. With the minimal setting, you just hear the character speak, then at the end, the last couple lines of dialog are displayed.
I wish you could change companions more easily.
There are a lot of loading screens.
I wish there was an easier way to tell what type of damage your weapon does. I specialize in handguns, so I carry three of them, each with different damage types. It's hard to tell them apart visually, so I have to consult the menu to see which gun I'm holding and what the damage type is.
There is a "woke" vibe to the game. It's subtle (usually), but it's there. For example, most of the positions of power are occupied by women, and most of the "tough, strong" characters are women. Most of the corrupt or psycho characters are men. Not all, but the tilt is clear. A less subtle example is Parvati's asexual lesbian companion quest, which comes right up front and in a very non-sequitor sort of way. There is no story explanation for it, no bridge -- one moment she's being tutored in engineering, the next she's madly in love with her teacher, and telling you, uninvited, about it and about her asexuality. It's not just awkward (boundaries, anyone?), but it's transparently woke/feminist/whatever you want to call it. (edit: see post 21 for more examples).
The leveling up is done well. Plenty of choice and flexibility.
Combat is pretty good, at least for an RPG. I like that increasing dialog also affects combat.
Overall, I'm enjoying the game, but I'm not thrilled with it. I'd give it a B, at this point. Although I am engaged enough to play it every day, and it's keeping me "hooked" in that regard, it feels like the hook is more or less mechanical, not emotional or personal. That is, I'm playing the game to complete the quests and check them off the list. The moment-to-moment gameplay is okay -- the combat is engaging, although all the inventory and stat management can get a little tedious. The story is kind of meh, and I don't feel particularly connected to my character or any of the others. I kind of like Parvati, our lesbian asexual, but the others could get shot into space and I wouldn't mind.
It's not a bad game, by any means. Like I said, I'm playing it regularly, and it's keeping me engaged. In a lot of ways, it's well done. It's just missing that special something that makes me immersed in the world and story.
Anyhow, just thought I'd share some thoughts.
I like the humor and light touch. None of it is laugh-out-loud funny, but some of it is amusing.
Lots of options to fiddle with. A little too many, tbh. It's been a while since I played an in-depth RPG like this. I'd forgotten how much of your time goes into inventory management, tinkering, selling stuff off, breaking it down, comparing weapons and armor on multiple characters, and so forth. It gets a little tiresome sometimes, and I wish for a more action-oriented, less stat/detail-oriented approach. I suppose some of the fiddling is optional, though, so I'll take some responsibility. I don't necessarily need to do as much fiddling as I do.
The quest log is really good. Well done.
Very dialog-heavy game. It's been years since I played a game with so much dialog. I find that setting the dialog display to "minimal" helps the experience. If the text is displayed in full immediately, I have a tendency to read it before the character is finished talking, then cut them off, which makes it less immersive. With the minimal setting, you just hear the character speak, then at the end, the last couple lines of dialog are displayed.
I wish you could change companions more easily.
There are a lot of loading screens.
I wish there was an easier way to tell what type of damage your weapon does. I specialize in handguns, so I carry three of them, each with different damage types. It's hard to tell them apart visually, so I have to consult the menu to see which gun I'm holding and what the damage type is.
There is a "woke" vibe to the game. It's subtle (usually), but it's there. For example, most of the positions of power are occupied by women, and most of the "tough, strong" characters are women. Most of the corrupt or psycho characters are men. Not all, but the tilt is clear. A less subtle example is Parvati's asexual lesbian companion quest, which comes right up front and in a very non-sequitor sort of way. There is no story explanation for it, no bridge -- one moment she's being tutored in engineering, the next she's madly in love with her teacher, and telling you, uninvited, about it and about her asexuality. It's not just awkward (boundaries, anyone?), but it's transparently woke/feminist/whatever you want to call it. (edit: see post 21 for more examples).
The leveling up is done well. Plenty of choice and flexibility.
Combat is pretty good, at least for an RPG. I like that increasing dialog also affects combat.
Overall, I'm enjoying the game, but I'm not thrilled with it. I'd give it a B, at this point. Although I am engaged enough to play it every day, and it's keeping me "hooked" in that regard, it feels like the hook is more or less mechanical, not emotional or personal. That is, I'm playing the game to complete the quests and check them off the list. The moment-to-moment gameplay is okay -- the combat is engaging, although all the inventory and stat management can get a little tedious. The story is kind of meh, and I don't feel particularly connected to my character or any of the others. I kind of like Parvati, our lesbian asexual, but the others could get shot into space and I wouldn't mind.
It's not a bad game, by any means. Like I said, I'm playing it regularly, and it's keeping me engaged. In a lot of ways, it's well done. It's just missing that special something that makes me immersed in the world and story.
Anyhow, just thought I'd share some thoughts.
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