Outward - open world RPG where you are an ordinary adventurer and survival is harsh

[DoomIhlVaria]

I've been back twice and can add mana, though I didn't (and am only at +2).

Though remember there are skills that you can get that also increase mana without needing to sacrifice health/stamina.

edit: also, I apparently have a pet pearlbird.

wut.

Yeah it's early copy bonus, along with the fireworks emote.

Huh, weird, I didn't get an early copy. Not that I mind either way.

If you bought it on Steam, they were giving out the "pre-order" bonus for several days after release.

 

[Old Hans]

ive been playing co-op with my friend & once you get over the fact that it looks like someones neverwinter nights mod, its pretty fun, but holy shit what is the deal with lack of sound effects. Just steal them from Neverwinter Nights or something. im sure there is a public domain sound effect for a door opening

 

[Deleted Member 16721]

I just had an incredibly heart-pumping battle in the Cabal of Winds Temple in Enmerkar Forest. Wow! 2 armored horror things and about 6 illuminated horrors spitting acid at me in a tight corridor. It took me several tries and I still can't believe I was able to kill one of the armored beasts (needed his chitin), grab the loot and got KO'd right at the end, but it helped to get the heck out of there. What a fight, though! Don't go to that place unless you have serious firepower and defense, wow.

 

[Deleted Member 16721]

The level of replayability from this game might be the most I've seen, maybe ever. 3 factions which are each unique, each having choices to make within their questlines, as well as timed things you can miss both in faction questlines and non-faction questlines. I've already squandered several things within the Holy Order, so I could even play this faction again a 2nd time as well as make new choices and have a different experience. Times that by 3 and you have incredible replayability, so much so that it's shocking a team of 10 people were able to do it.

 

[Deleted Member 16721]

I'm bored and it's late so I'll post some things I find interesting about the game.

1 - Reaching your destination is a *thing* and an accomplishment. There is no Skyrim fast travel here, you walk everywhere against the perils of the world, the weather, the enemies and more. Making it to your destination in one piece is actually *exciting*, rewarding and satsifying.

2 - Satisfaction is the name of the game here. Got an upgraded armor you had crafted? It's satisfying. Kill a tough enemy in a way that you hadn't expected? It's satsifying. Survive the elements, develop a playstyle in combat, learn a new seemingly simple spell that is effective? It's all satisfying. The game rewards you well.

3 - No level scaling means Gothic-esque progression with loot and skills. A weapon upgrade feels like it makes a huge difference. Adding a poison or lightning element to a weapon with a rag or varnish it makes a big difference. Upgrade your skills via trainers and you will see and feel the difference in combat.

4 - Loot is just about perfect in the game. Kill bandits, sometimes you get a little silver, or a piece or armor, maybe some food, but it never feels like too much. One nice mechanic is the weight limit backpack, which makes you make tougher decisions about what to carry. Do I carry this steel sword to sell, even though it encumbers me a bit? Or maybe I'll just take this raw meat instead so I'm good to go with food. It makes you have to consider more elements in the game than a typical game does.

5 - Open-world RPGs will never be the same to me after this game. I don't think the Skyrim design cuts it anymore, once I've experienced what these worlds *could* be, it's going to be hard going back to lesser-crafted open-worlds.

There's more but those are a few key points I've noticed while playing. Hopefully this informs some people who may be interested about the game into what they would be getting into. Peace!

 

[HoboForEternity]

Finally got magic and trained myself in rund magic. It is awesome so far. Both rune and regular magic is pretty creative approach to magic. From castinv fireball within sigil circle to magic combinations really fun. The sword from rune magic is really powerful too. I used +2 mana which get me 40 mana, then use my breaktrough point in cierzo that added +15 to each stat and +40 mana in berg so i have 95. Seems plenty so far. I never have run out of mana in a single fight plus i have gears that in total decrease mana usage up to 50%. I never even use astral potion. The turnip pottage thing is enough for my mana regen.

I wonder is the mana regen passive is worth my last breaktrough point.

 

[Murk]

So playing more and having visited every major area and town and cleared about 3 of the larger maps, the one thing that's actually disappointing to me is the lack of interaction with NPCs. Not that I would want a huge storyline or tons of branching quests in a game like this, but even basic banter is missing in most cases; with 'place holder' like responses from those who even have the option to talk to them.

In Monsoon, one NPC (who can train you, which is why he even has a dialog option) says "the old jade quarry is empty and monsters have moved in, but I bet you can find some valuable stuff still" and that's it. That's perfectly fine, for a single NPC, but not fine for what is basically 15% of all NPC interactions that aren't trading in that area.

I think just having more lines like that spread throughout, maybe some that cycle local gossip, would work wondrously. Not all NPCs would need it, but just pressing interact with them should give at least a spoken line or some kind of interaction. Many NPCs walk around with stuff in their hands, looking like they're doing something, why not add more life?

Off the top of my head, things that matter in a game like this could easily be communicated with NPC lines.

For example -- did you know that in the swamp area you can feed the fireflies to the large flowers that then produce firefly powder -- which is not only pricey, but a neat example of environmental interaction? An NPC in town, perhaps the alchemist or one near him, could say something like "Those fireflies sure are helpful at night, makes me feel bad when I feed them to the large flowers..." -- it gives a hint of something you can do without spelling it out tutorial tip style.

Or maybe something like "Careful of that foul water -- it's not just muck, there's something vile about it. It poisons things if you linger too long... and that poison doesn't seem very natural." -- this not only gives a hint that the rancid water will poison you if you stay in it a few seconds but also hints at the setting/lore of the corruption and the plague doctor's role.

There's just so much potential in a game like this, and I hope they capitalize on it _hard_.

Similarly, putting more neutral/friendly NPCs around the game world to give it a greater sense of life. It's great you can run into the nomad trader, but why not have some camps of neutral people? Maybe the bandit clans are warring? Maybe you meet some prospectors who need protection? None of this requires any immense scripting, just plop them down and have them give you a quest the way all other NPCs do.

Also, I was very disappointed the paladin dude from the ley line didn't recognize me in Monsoon. I thought we were bros man =(

 

[polo]

At this point i keep my original impressions, this game is really nice, but i cant help thinking about what it could've been with a AAA budget.

 

[Elex]

there is an npc that ask for firefly powder and tell you how to obtain it.
is for join elatt so i suppose the quest disappear if you join another city.

 

[Deleted Member 16721]

More impressions are that there is just a huge variety as to how you play the game. What options you use in combat, specifically, as well as some out-of-combat decisions on tents, backpacks, armors, weapons and items. But combat specifically, there's a ton of unique builds and you're going to create your own unique build when you play. Almost nothing is cookie-cutter here, everything boils down to you creating a tight package of combat skills and preferences. Very neat. Been reading a lot on the Steam forums about other people's builds and there's some really interesting ones. Don't forget you get to choose from 8 classes and can have any 3 of those classes, plus mutually-exclusive skills within the classes themselves (you'll have to choose one out of a few skills usually and can't get the others), and also faction armors and all that inventory/equipment stuff. Crazy this game was made by 10 people.

 

[Murk]

there is an npc that ask for firefly powder and tell you how to obtain it.
is for join elatt so i suppose the wuest disappear if you join another city.

Ah, I hadn't started any of the faction quests (other than accidentally doing the hunting one in Berg) so that would explain it. Though I am leaning toward joining up with the holy mission. There are other NPCs that explain how to make stuff... but it's always for a quest, and it's always directed "combine X and Y at an alchemy set" -- this is why I think having more subtle hints that aren't tutorial-tips like instructions would be better and sell the setting more.

Actually, I was hoping to go through the Vendavel fortress sequence (and have intentionally left off doing that area) but it looks like I have to join the Blue Chamber Collective for it... any confirmation if that sequence can be done without joining?

Also, realizing that the city can be _destroyed_ is pretty intense. Wish there was more _small_ stuff like that where things get altered due to your choices (or inactions).

 

[polo]

How do y'all deal with the long distances? Speed gear + stamina potions?

 

[HoboForEternity]

The birb mask and potions + raw gabbery

 

[Murk]

How do y'all deal with the long distances? Speed gear + stamina potions?

Planning trips and memorizing where merchants (nomad ones, especially) can be to offload gear.

Buy lots of gold when possible to save space with money.

Otherwise yeah -- I roll in the full master trader set, despite being a pseudo caster-2hander.

 

[Old Hans]

At this point i keep my original impressions, this game is really nice, but i cant help thinking about what it could've been with a AAA budget.

I love the backpack concept and visual representation so much. My character looks like something out of the old 1st edition warhammer fantasy roleplay book, BUT there is a serious lack of polish. For some reason there is voice acting in the game, but no sound effects when you're walking around in the water. also from my observations in the starting zone..a lot of the areas feel incredibly bare bones & look very empty. like someone was sitting at the computer thinking "I want to make a cool bandit camp, but I only have like 4 unity props to use"

I wish I could just go in to the editor and change things around.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Lack of NPCs wandering the world really sucks
Feels closer to a tech demo than a game.

 

[Jinn]

Lack of NPCs wandering the world really sucks

This I agree with totally, and is something I'm sure they wanted to add but just didn't have the resources to make it work properly.

Feels closer to a tech demo than a game.

This is a small feeling that would occasionally creep into my play sessions the first 10 hours or so. After playing 50+ hours, there is no way I could agree with this. Like I said in a prior post, the game gives off a bad first impression. Just because content is more sparse than one might be used to in an open world game (or may be disappointed to find if people are expecting Gothic 2019) does not mean it isn't there. The meat of the game is really the discovery once you reach your destination - and often times when you exit it - rather than the overworld being chock full of things to find. I'm not really trying to convince you to play more, because if this game doesn't grab you in someway in your first 10 hours of playing it, it probably won't in the long run. Saying that it's unfinished to the point of feeling like a tech demo is misleading and off-point however. The game would be absolutely amazing if it was fleshed out more and given more of a living, breathing, feeling. But it's not a complete failure in the absence of this. Far from it in my opinion.

 

[Murk]

The Chersonese region is also not the best, in my opinion, though the weather change thing is cool if you stick around long enough to see it.

The forest and swamp are much more interesting both visually and in terms of atmosphere; though I can appreciate that starting off in Chersonese is easier in that there's less stuff to overwhelm you right off the bat.

They could have fixed this by having the starting/intro quest be more structured -- it already has about 2-3 built in parts, but it could do with more guidance. I think having an NPC ally support you, like the pirate pimp dude, would be a good call -- perhaps to join you to retrieve the stash he mentioned.

 

[Deleted Member 16721]

51 hours and I feel like I haven't scratched the true surface of the game yet. I haven't done any dungeon-diving really besides what was required for the main questing and maybe a side quest or two, so I probably am missing out on a ton of cool stuff. The game has so much replayability though that future runs can cover some of that. I've been to maybe one main location in each map, like the Stone Titan Cave in Abrassar (and didn't even solve whatever weird riddle puzzle was there) and the Bandit Camp in Chersonese. There's just a lot here, and I feel the survival aspects will be felt even more if you go around dungeon-diving a lot. Has anyone else here put a lot of hours in and feel like they still haven't seen a lot of the game?

 

[polo]

Yes, specially because i started a new char cause i fucked up the first one spending breaktrough points not knowing what they were. But between both chars i explored most of chersonese, and a little of the swamp and the forest. Didn't even set a foot in the desert yet. Game is pretty huge.

 

[Deleted Member 16721]

Yes, specially because i started a new char cause i fucked up the first one spending breaktrough points not knowing what they were. But between both chars i explored most of chersonese, and a little of the swamp and the forest. Didn't even set a foot in the desert yet. Game is pretty huge.

Do you find random dungeons to be doable with your character(s)? I've been afraid of them because my dude was weak for a long time in the game until I discovered Runic Magic capabilities, so I haven't tried to survive in most of the dungeons. I guess I should try some of them out and see what happens.

 

[Murk]

Worth noting in light of the above that the temporary buff items (potions, rags, rage boon, discipline boon, etc.) make a huge difference for many enemies.

Also, some weapons are ridiculously broken -- the Brutal Club (1h) has a strong attack that depletes over half of nearly every enemy's impact gauge -- even the shrimp or stronger humanoid enemies.

 

[polo]

Yes, specially because i started a new char cause i fucked up the first one spending breaktrough points not knowing what they were. But between both chars i explored most of chersonese, and a little of the swamp and the forest. Didn't even set a foot in the desert yet. Game is pretty huge.

Do you find random dungeons to be doable with your character(s)? I've been afraid of them because my dude was weak for a long time in the game until I discovered Runic Magic capabilities, so I haven't tried to survive in most of the dungeons. I guess I should try some of them out and see what happens.

Yes, dont want to spoil but random dungeons are very doable, the game helps you to it. Ghost pass in chersonese is full of ghots, but also full of varnish to kill them. There are some really strong enemies tho.

Have anyone here fought the golem in the heroic kingdom conflux pass? I fought it early on and that fucker was TOUGH.

 

[Deleted Member 16721]

Worth noting in light of the above that the temporary buff items (potions, rags, rage boon, discipline boon, etc.) make a huge difference for many enemies.

Also, some weapons are ridiculously broken -- the Brutal Club (1h) has a strong attack that depletes over half of nearly every enemy's impact gauge -- even the shrimp or stronger humanoid enemies.

I don't use weapons, only thing I use is Runic Magic Arcane Traps, running around the battlefield like a madman while enemies chase me. I don't think I can pull off using the decay claymore or ethereal sword, but I did upgrade my Runic Magic so spells are more potent now. Only 80 Health and Stamina though...

 

[Deleted Member 16721]

Wow, ornate chests are nice! Just cleared a dungeon and I believe that was my first ornate chest find. Had a "Prayer Claymore", a ritual mask that boosts stamina usage and a chunk of change silver. Pretty cool stuff.