With the sequel coming out for this game, I guess its a good time to post a review; this game clearly needed way more time in development, and perhaps a more solid gameplay bible. I can see why people who preordered it were upset. I got it rather recently awhile back when it was on sale, just out of curiosity, already knowing that the game wasn't well recieved, but wanting mostly to just support the devs and see first hand for myself.

It probably hurt pre-order folks more due to just how much raw TALENT is in here that just doesn't go that far. You can feel the love and enjoyment for their game that went into it. But as rich as the writing and design is? The gameplay itself is a shallow pool, as is the plot itself and the range of potential for actual world impact, which is VERY surprising given both the team involved and how CLEARLY this game is geared for repeat playthroughs. You get a very binary 'white/black' dynamic that doesn't exactly give you much wiggle room; great commentary, sure, and fun characters (the side quests were better than the main quests tbh due to this), buuuuut. That's about it.

Between that and a shockingly tiny weapon pool even including exotic science weapons, I'll be honest; it's hard as heck to want to go in for a second run, and I NEVER bothered to mess with the DLC content still. It's just sat there on my HD after my first run and a idly abandoned second run just due there really not being that much to explore in a game that WANTS you to explore. The intention is there, but the limited range of weapons and rather restrictive story progression and even more restrictive/non responsive world impact just makes it feel...meehh. Arkane's Prey from 2017 gave me a similar sensation; a world made with love and skill that wants you to explore and re-exploer it, but...the pool just ain't that deep.

Here's hoping the remake has benefited from their advertised "three times as long development", because I'd honestly love to see it. As it is, only check this out on a heavy discount, and with lowered expectations. Might revist this myself when the mood finally strikes.

With Outer Worlds 2 on the horizon, I see no better time to write my review.

I love this game. I feel the biggest thing that lead to it's bad reception at launch was that people were EXPECTING Fallout: New Vegas in Space, which it was never going to be, and was never trying to be. Sure, it has some SLIGHT similarities, but this isn't Obsidian working on some jank engine, that lead to them getting screwed over, this is Obsidian doing their own thing, not being tied down by Bethesda. I am aware the game had some technical problems at launch... but Obsidian went out of their way to listen to the feed back and fix a lot of the problems. Sure, there are still glitches, but hell, it's a far more polished and stable game in comparison to stuff like Starfield, where no one was happy. With this game, I could tell the devs were having actual fun with it, and not just saying they were having fun because they were being paid to. This game itches the scratch I've been having for a while... a good bethesda style RPG that ISN'T Skyrim. As while I love both Fallout and Elder Scrolls, if I play them too much, I just get sick of them. I've played through the game plenty of times. Doing a plethora of playstyles, even a full Chaos Everyone Dies run! Which with that last one, you have the freedom to do, unlike any bethesda game besides fallout New vegas, WHICH Obsidian made. I really hope to see more from this series of games, as we first heard about Outer Worlds 2 back in June of 2021, so, along with Spacer's Choice, they've been working on OW2 for a while, 3 years at least, and... this is odd coming from me, but I'm actually excited and might Pre-Order OW2, since... after all these years, Obsidian is still obsidian, and they actually put in the effort people wish they could see from other game devs. Hell, this game came out in 2019. and for the sequel to be announced in 2021, they've been working on this a lot longer than other companies do with their games.

I know this isn't a traditional review, and is mainly me glazing obsidian, but... if you play the game, without thinking of Fallout New Vegas or going into it with those expecations, you will see the devs genuinly had fun with the process of creating this game. The music, the modeling, the voice work, the attention to detail, the dialogue, they all just feel fun. Sure, some of the gameplay is a bit simplistic, but one must remember that this was a first attempt at a new IP. I can see potential in this. And hell, when Obsidian was still Black Isle Studios, they made the first 2 fallout games, which we all saw where that ended up. So, give the series some time to grow and mature, this game is it just the series taking it's first few steps, and I feel that it's in the right direction. Sure, the line isn't straight, sure they fall in some places, but that's fine, how are they supposed to get better without learning from their mistakes?

A great game although could have used a little more tlc. Game was fairly short, towns seemed empty. Npcs mostly just stood around doing nothing