The Outer Worlds

This is a very good game ( and free?) amazing Story 8/10 Gameplay: 9/10 Graphics 8/10 ( no dlss option? forced FSR )

It's funny, it's fun, there's space, there's choices and there's guns 👍

I played this game as it was recommended by a friend. I was expecting something fallout-ish, but this just disappointed me. The story was OK, Gameplay and visuals reminded me of a cross between Fallout and Borderlands. I did finish the whole game but have no desire to go back to it or any sequels. I think my biggest gripe was the skill tree, it was just appalling, I remember leveling up and struggling to find anything worthwhile investing points into, which made the other mechanic of taking on flaws in order to gain extra points effectively useless as the penalty was always much worse than the actual gain. The loading screens took forever! I did play the PS4 version, so it may be better on PC, but there were so many and they took forever, even when going into a small area such as the spaceship interior. I can't remember anything fun about the weapons, they were functional, but that's about it. I personally wouldn't recommend it as there are other great games out there, but you might get some enjoyment out of it.

Played the game when it was out on gamepass and loved it so much I eventually ended up buying it through GoG. I wanted more and I just felt like the game was rather short. Understandable for what Obsidian had to work with then. Fast forward to 2021 and I've since started up a new playthrough with the DLCs adding a breath of fresh air. I honestly feel like the world building in this game is underated. The DLCs fleshed it out even more and I can't wait for how Obsidian handles the sequel now that they'll have a higher budget to work with.

The game has plenty to do and explore yes it is not as big as Fallout but the studio is also not as big as Bethesda. I didn't encounter any bugs while playing and found the ability to respec my character amazing especially after I accidentally took a perk that only worked when I was alone when I constantly had a companion with me. The game is definitely front loaded with content with there being a huge amount of side quests to do in the first few areas and not so much in the final zones however you are not constrained in the order you complete things. You can potentially go through the main story to unlock every area then go back and do the side quests separately to avoid this being an issue as plenty of quests have you planet hoping anyway. The companion stories were excellent at helping you form an attachment to the characters however it is clear more effort went into some than others which for me wasn't an issue as I stuck mostly with the same two companions. I would recommend getting the game when it is on sale however as there is no post game sandbox mode so you will always have one quest left in your log (as you have to load a save) if you want to play the open world after completing the story. There is also a lack of exploration once you have completed the quests you find as there are no random events and I didn't come across many "secrets" out in the world. Overall I would rate the game around 7.5/10 losing points for the fizzling out at the end and no open world post final mission it would have been good to see the world after I saved it from the board. I have not started the DLC yet so I am unsure if this adds much to the core game but as a stand alone it is worth getting if you can get it on sale.