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

[Jedi Exile]

I tried Outward yesterday. First thing I've learned was that you can't walk in this game (if not encumbered), so I had to install a mod from Nexus for that which took some time. I raged a bit at the developers who can't do such simple thing as to enable walk toggle, then started playing and really liked the game. It is really unique and although it feels like Skyrim at first, this is an illusion because Outward is really focused on survival and this is the true hiking simulator where you can die from illness after ingesting uncooked food. I haven't played much, but the world feels big and well-crafted. This is an indie game, so I wouldn't expect very much from it when it comes to graphics or animation. I also doubt that I can progress far in Outward, because I've heard it could be really hard and there is not save scum option.

 

[Sloul]

I just finished the Blue Collective main quest, it's pretty much happy ending.

You can walk with a pad.
The world isn't so well-crafted, some stuff are a total hit, some other are total miss, but if you're new to the game I don't want to spoil you.

Spoiler

- For instance, I don't see any reason for the blue collective to exist, since it is subsiervent to Elatt. And New Levant only exists through Elatt's will. So, I don't understand why everything isn't already united under Monsoon.
- ''What do they eat?'' is another issue I had. For instance the Leyline mages don't seem to have any trade route, and are just there standing near they crystals like autists.
- No farms, no outposts, caravans, etc.
- There is a big war between Levant and The Blue Collective, many tribes involved, many casualties: only, well, all those casualties and soldiers and skirmishes are pretty ghostly, as there is nothing happening in the world.
- There is an event in Berg where Levant mercenaries are occupying the crypts, and once you deal with them and finish this event, well, those mercenaries will respawn in the crypt. That's pretty anticlimatic, and I am pretty sure it's easy to avoid respawn.
Well there are a ton of things like that.

On the other hand, the quest fallowing Roland shows that the game has some very interesting reactivity, as, every action with this NPC will count toward the resolution of Whispering Bones, even actions that occred before the quest starts. I like to feel double guessed, and it occurs many times in the game.
The crazy thing is that there is no turning back, if you fail part of a quest, it's done. Deal with it. If you loose too many days, if you miss some clue etc.
Btw, one of the few games with the balls to make timed quests.


Although I explored the world quite a bit, I am pretty sure I only resolved around 30% of all its mysteries and intricacies. But I am pretty burned out though, I'll postpone further playthrough joining Monsoon and Levant.
Meanwhile I'll try some coop to chill.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Outward does suffer from limited resources, such that it isn't fully Open World (4 distinct zones, with fast travel between them) and civilization is confined almost entirely to one city per zone, with the rest of the territory inhabited by bandits and monsters. I remain hopeful that Outward enjoyed enough commercial success that the developers will create a sequel or successor that will take advantage of greater resources and the experience gained from their first game, allowing them to improve on world-construction and other aspects.

 

[Sloul]

https://steamcommunity.com/ogg/794260/announcements/detail/1592514285827598831

New Experimental Branch Update
We are releasing a new patch on the experimental branch. Unlike the previous patch which was focused on new content, this one is meant to make the game more stable and easier to support in the long term. It also attempts to fix the long loading times when there are too many items in a scene.

Changes

• Game engine upgraded from Unity 5.6 to Unity 2018.4*
  
• Changed how save games are cached on startup to reduce memory usage and reduce boot up time.
  
• Change how items without durability stacks/are saved to improve loading time.**
  
• Open Stash interaction reverted to 'press' instead of 'hold'.
  
• Changed Leyline Connection's description from 0.15 to 0.34.
  
• Summon Ghost now change zones (loading)
  
• Steel Shield Durability 175 instead of 220
  
• Tower Shield Durability 250 instead of 175, Weight 9.0 Instead of 10.0, Dmg/Hit 18 instead of 14.
  
• Dragon Shield doing Burning instead of Burn.

Fixes

• Can now buy/sell bullets and arrow individually instead of full stack.
  
• Runic Claymore will allow runic casting while active. 1h Runic Sword will not anymore. (They were inversed)
  
• Added PT Serif font as fallback font for missing characters.
  
• Map Markers won't be reset if an area is being reset.
  
• Map Markers are now being saved/loaded properly.
  
• Kirouac being visible in Levant even when left to Monsoon during the Mouth to feed quest.
  
• Imbue effects timer will not tick down while in a loading.
  
• The two guards in Vendavel (in the same zone as Croc), now spawn on the right side of the gate.
  
• Changed all instances of Orochi to Oroshi.
  
• Calixa's Shield should not block her pistol shot anymore.
  
• Fix weapons dropped by enemies in the camping events that cause infinite decraft/sell bug.
  
• Added invisible collisions along the walls to avoid players trying to pass on the side of the wagon while its moving at both locations.
  
• Fix bow not shooting issues encountered when emptying quiver, or when switching area when a projectile is still in the air.
  
• Fixes various typos.

*This should reduce stutters issues and crashes on some PC configurations.

Important note: this version does not support mods since it was made using il2cpp (previously mono). From our initial testing, it results in better performance and better stability of the game. This is still subject to change.

**Even though we already strongly suggest to make backup of your save files when switching for the Experimental branch, returning to the Default branch with a save open in the Experimental branch will result in your stack of items to be set back to 1.
Also note that if you had long loading times in the current version of the game, the first loading of each area you had long loading times will still be long, but the following one will have the changes applied.

 

[Jedi Exile]

Played the game for a bit. I failed miserably first two tries, but then figured out what to do. Stole a Mushroom Shield and got enough silver to complete the first quest. Whacked those glowing bastards in the head with my quarterstaff, made bandages from cloth they dropped. There was a little spring in the cave, so I could fill up my waterskin. Game is amazing. Now planning to strike for the mountain to get magic. Then I will go to the Ghost Pass and show those ghosts who is boss.

 

[Sloul]

I wouldn't recommend Ghost Pass so early, more so because there is no reward that might serves you right now.
Also, go softly on mana, you don't need so much even as pure caster.

 

[Deleted Member 16721]

i went full mana, as much as i could get. It worked well for my glass cannon build.

 

[Sloul]

Yeah, well, you don't need to be glass cannon to achieve pure mage. Just spending 1 or 2 points is enough.

 

[Sloul]

I'm trying to find a buddy to enjoy coop with, and it's pretty tough, any codexer interested?
Region/TimeZone: EU, GMT+1
Available from 7pm to 22'30pm during the week, more open during week-end
Normal mode during the week, open to HC during week-end.
Discord: Sloul#1885

 

[Murk]

Ghost pass has...

Spoiler

good loot, and a trainer/merchant available there, so IMO worth checking out, but the ghosts are harder to deal with without some elemental damage.

I played a hybrid fighter/mage and had a blast, especially once you get the combo of skills that let's you drain mana from souls. Also, pistols are fun.

 

[Sloul]

You really don't fluent, if you have light mender's set + jade sword + mender's lexicon you've enough mana reduction + passive buff of Philosopher, you never need to replenish mana.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

Tried this out and ... So timed counter skills have a several minute cooldown? Wut? Who came up with this brilliant design decision? Let's just parry once every minute or two, shall we?

 

[Sloul]

You can parry whenever you want (based on stamina) but skills are on cd. Thus parry skills such as mace infusion are on cd.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

Parry means a timed block, not that holding up your block thing that video game developers think is an actual thing.

 

[Dishonoredbr]

Is this game any good ? Seems neat.

 

[Sloul]

You got it right, it's pretty cool.

 

[HoboForEternity]

pretty cool in the beginning. the end kinda drag because of how chore travel became. still good game tho. would be better if it have more content.

 

[toro]

I had to choose between this and Nioh. I choose the latter.

Now, tell me how wrong I was!

 

[Siveon]

I had to choose between this and Nioh. I choose the latter.

Now, tell me how wrong I was!

Who cares? It's your life, dude.

 

[polo]

I had to choose between this and Nioh. I choose the latter.

Now, tell me how wrong I was!

Very different games bro. Both are good, and both got me bored after a while, i think outward lasted longer tho.

 

[Jenkem]

Might grab this before the Steam sale is over since it is 60% off and I've been interested since launch... I remember reading a lot of mixed things about this game, have any of the updates fixed/changed/added anything? Or is it more of a love it or hate it kind of thing? I like exploring and the survival aspects are intriguing, seems like something to get lost in. Is there enough content to warrant playing? I don't care if there aren't enemies every second to kill but are the quests decent? Meaty enough?

 

[jebsmoker]

Might grab this before the Steam sale is over since it is 60% off and I've been interested since launch... I remember reading a lot of mixed things about this game, have any of the updates fixed/changed/added anything? Or is it more of a love it or hate it kind of thing? I like exploring and the survival aspects are intriguing, seems like something to get lost in. Is there enough content to warrant playing? I don't care if there aren't enemies every second to kill but are the quests decent? Meaty enough?

it's a curious fusion of gothic 3 and dark souls in terms of gameplay design. there's a lot of content to wade through, but some of the low-budget blemishes might turn you off

 

[nyjsu]

How does this compare to Elex?

 

[Sloul]

It's less Rpg, it's more survival.
Mechanics are far better overall than in Elex, and writing isn't brain dead.
Also you cannot god mode like in Elex.
Overall I vastly prefer Outward.

 

[toro]

Just refunded this shit.

Faces in character creator are unbelievably ugly. Reminded me of The Outer Worlds.
Animation and graphics are dope for a 2009 release however they suck balls in 2019. Think F76 level of quality.
I like the crafting dialogue but the rest of the UI is fucking retarded.
Combat is clunky and brain dead.

It's an unpolished single player MMORPG designed to waste your time.
I can see why some fluent people would love this but fuck it.