The Outer Worlds

First off, let's be clear that 5 stars means that out of a random selection of 5 games among what you'd expect of this genre, this game is likely to be the best of them. I don't mean to say that this is a perfect game and there are better. It is a first person action RPG, similar to games like Fallout, Cyberpunk, and Elder Scrolls. Stylistically, I think it most closely resembles Fallout, and I'm inclined to compare with that, because I consider Fallout to be a gold standard for this genre. If you're thinking about buying this game and haven't played Fallout (and thus this review isn't helpful), get Fallout 3 or 4 or Fallout New Vegas, instead. This is really a very similar game, and those are unequivocally better. This game has the same building blocks as Fallout -- a big (semi-)open world, levels, attributes, skills, weapons, crafting, NPCs, quests and side quests, and a rich narrative with many possible endings. The game has a fair variety of weapons -- blunt melee, sharp melee, guns, grenade launchers, flamethrowers, plus some quirky (and powerful) "science weapons". Your skills really affect your style of gameplay. Perks and armor are less interesting. Your companions have pretty complicated personalities, each with a story/quest arc that contributes to an end-game narrative. Some people complain that the game dries up about halfway through, and it feels true. This game has a shorter play-through than some games in this genre, and the majority of the game takes place on the first two or three of maybe 7 total areas. It feels like those additional locations could have gotten a similar treatment to the first few and doubled the play time. However, if you accept the fact that the first two worlds *are* the majority of the game, and the story moves a lot faster when you get past them, I don't think that's a serious problem, even though it feels like the pacing is uneven. You should be close to maxing your character at that point, though.

As someone who loves own pace RPGs, Witcher, Fallout, Mass Effect (the first one), Dragon Age etc - this scratches as a massive itch I didn't know I had but probably should have got checked out years ago. If you've played Fallout 3 onwards you'll pretty much be right at home with the game style, feel and vibe, only with a Firefly-esque theme instead of a post apocalyptic. There is a lot of secrets to and different things to find, with some interesting outcomes that will both shock and surprise you (but probably not shock, we're gamers and we've now pretty much seen it all). If you've been craving an RPG that actually, you know, KNOWS how to hand the RP over to the player - you'll love it. It's fun, it's colourful, it's ridiculous, sometimes dark and sometimes with a lot of heart, or you can just be an idiot that stumbles through (literally - you can be an idiot - it's great).

As I said in the title, this game is NOT 80% CAD worth of game. It's very good, but it's very short. I bought it when it came out on Gog and it was 40$; it was worth that. It's good all around. As usual, there's some game mechanics I don't like, but sadly not many mods out for this game. If you like colourful characters, different styles of play, a large variety of weapons, exploration and seeing a few large worlds, it's worth a buy when on sale.

Great writing and story, interesting world to explore, overall a great successor to Fallout NV.

I was a bit skeptical at first seeing some reviews but I am very happy I got it. The obsidian formula doesn't change, it's not Fallout but honestly it doesn't bother me. The game is not an open world in the true sense, it is divided into areas, but honestly it didn't disturb me. The skill tree and the characteristics are well structured, the difficulty in my opinion is well balanced. The story is engaging and the dialogues as usual are varied. I highly recommend the purchase. Welcome back Obsidian !!