The Outer Worlds: Spacer's Choice Edition - Obsidian's first-person sci-fi RPG set in a corporate space colony

[Junmarko]

Just finished. Started last weekend on Supernova, got to Groundbreaker and dropped to Hard this weekend (need dat F5!).

Third act is a big let down and soured me at this point. Byzantium is the most uncooked hub. Bit of cloak and dagger against the HHC which was a welcome change after Monarch (some nice Deus Ex vibes here) unfortunately the whole zone is short lived. Can see where the art team started some urban layout and drew up unique building names, yet 90% of them are "closed off". I would hope for a Byzantium content patch, but I doubt they'll do anything outside selling some DLC with tacked on side stories/zones.

Overall the game had enough c&c on a mission to mission basis which kept me going. But the faction system seems like a giant smoke and mirror show in the end, especially when measured against FNV.

Hard to justify a second playthrough when none of the choices seem to matter much long term.

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

It's funny how me saying that Deadfire has better loot than Pillars 1 caused so much butthurt among the edgelords. Because first Pillars on launch had exact same itemization problems as TOW - modded generic weapons were often better than uniques and with few exceptions most uniques had nothing unique about them except for the description. Meanwhile Deafire has numerous disctinct weapons and each of them has it's own specialized mods instead of generic +10% damage ones.

I guess enough time has passed for first Pillars to stop being a deeply flawed game and transform into cult classic protected by nostalgia glasses.

Byzantium is the most uncooked hub. .

Yeah Byzantium goes from WOAH to meh really quickly.

 

[Junmarko]

Yeah Byzantium goes from WOAH to meh really quickly.

I want to know how Tim has done 16 playthoughs...

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Yeah Byzantium goes from WOAH to meh really quickly.

I want to know how Tim has done 16 playthoughs...

He was trying all the different playstyles he could come up with. So probably a run with each of the weapon options as the main choice plus a run for stealth, full talker, dumb character, pacifist and full murder. Can probably amount to 16 runs altogether.

 

[Atchodas]

PoE1 never stopped being deeply flawed game but Deadfire is not much of an improvement and in some cases is even more flawed than PoE1

 

[Excommunicator]

ensure Obsidian [...] continue to make the kind of games they really prefer to make, like Tyranny and Pillars of Eternity.

Oh sweet child

 

[Junmarko]

Couldn't help but feel Scylla was meant for something much bigger too. Whole thing feels like they forgot about it.

 

[toro]

Yeah Byzantium goes from WOAH to meh really quickly.

I want to know how Tim has done 16 playthoughs...

Tim is the passive one.

 

[Atchodas]

Whole thing feels like they forgot about cut it.

 

[Riddler]

Yeah Byzantium goes from WOAH to meh really quickly.

I want to know how Tim has done 16 playthoughs...

You can finish the game in under 30 min.

 

[Morgoth]

It still boggles my mind how Ferg managed to pitch his company to Microsoft.

 

[Child of Malkav]

Goddamn it, there's no aliens. Fuck. The one interesting quest.

 

[HoboForEternity]

PoE1 never stopped being deeply flawed game but Deadfire is not much of an improvement and in some cases is even more flawed than PoE1

Deadfire is better than p1 in majority of aspect. Some exception like vancian removal and more retarded story, but imo maps, quests, enemies, loot dungeon are all better in deadfire

 

[Kaivokz]

Supernova is shit. I played it to level 16 and it wasn't worth the headache babysitting companions brings. If you're doing Supernova you have to do it solo. But have fun with the HP bloat.

And good luck telling your companions to stay anywhere. The moment combat begins, they kamikaze right in and get killed. Every time.

...do you have your companions set to aggressive?

This is the problem when people assume a game is shit because the hivemind told them so and then look for reasons to shit on it. You can set companion behavior in the menu. Aggressive (attack right away), defensive (attack when ordered and the continue attacking until combat ends), or passive (only attack when ordered).

How did you get to level 16, struggling with companion deaths, and never even look through the companion page?

Supernova isn’t impossible with companions. If you go for a companion focused build, they can literally handle every encounter for you on Supernova with a slight bit of instruction (directing their abilities).

The average post in this thread is as superfluous and banal as the “10/10 GOTY really outdid themselves” reviews on metacritic.

I can understand Prime Junta ‘s criticism that since it came from people who have demonstrable talent, it should have been better and is thereby more than a mediocre disappointment. But it definitely isn’t a BAD game and some parts of it are even good. From here it’s a separate argument as to whether or not “bits of design that made old fallout good but not realized to their potential” is a reason to enjoy it or a reason to despair, but at least try to use your brain for a second while you play it so you can form your own opinion. (Sorry Fluent)

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

They need a free DLC to add more unique weapons and more interesting perks.

Also why on earth would anyone think the enemy is bullet sponge? Other than some of the big creatures I can pretty much melting everyone's health on Hard difficulty. I'm starting to feel like adjusting the companion's AI so the enemy can survive longer.

they are, at supernova, the only meaningful difficulty level, the only one with survival elements which become non-existant after an hour into the game. all the other difficulty levels are a joke, and a very bad one.

 

[Junmarko]

It still boggles my mind how Ferg managed to pitch his company to Microsoft.

Easy sell. Microsoft hates the PC gaming platform. Buying Obsidian and InXile is a no-brainer to them when it means they steal PC exclusive developers and put them to work on the Xbox.

 

[Quillon]

Supernova is shit. I played it to level 16 and it wasn't worth the headache babysitting companions brings. If you're doing Supernova you have to do it solo. But have fun with the HP bloat.

And good luck telling your companions to stay anywhere. The moment combat begins, they kamikaze right in and get killed. Every time.

...do you have your companions set to aggressive?

This is the problem when people assume a game is shit because the hivemind told them so and then look for reasons to shit on it. You can set companion behavior in the menu. Aggressive (attack right away), defensive (attack when ordered and the continue attacking until combat ends), or passive (only attack when ordered).

How did you get to level 16, struggling with companion deaths, and never even look through the companion page?

Supernova isn’t impossible with companions. If you go for a companion focused build, they can literally handle every encounter for you on Supernova with a slight bit of instruction (directing their abilities).

The average post in this thread is as superfluous and banal as the “10/10 GOTY really outdid themselves” reviews on metacritic.

I can understand Prime Junta ‘s criticism that since it came from people who have demonstrable talent, it should have been better and is thereby more than a mediocre disappointment. But it definitely isn’t a BAD game and some parts of it are even good. From here it’s a separate argument as to whether or not “bits of design that made old fallout good but not realized to their potential” is a reason to enjoy it or a reason to despair, but at least try to use your brain for a second while you play it so you can form your own opinion. (Sorry Fluent)

Is there really a hp difference in supernoway vs hard? What about enemy damage?

 

[IHaveHugeNick]

Supernova needs a full rework altogether. It adds timewasting busywork instead of difficulty.

 

[Wesp5]

Now that we saw what the game entails; either Leonard is that naive or he was powerless to influence the writers working under him or he's changed since VTMB. Pick one.

Or maybe Mitsoda was really the one behind the great story and writing in VTMB? For now I am missing any kind of mystery and surprise in TOW. As far as I know the story ends exactly as you get told in the intro unless you betray Welles. We will probably see if Mitsoda can handle his writing better once VTM2 is released !

As for TOW and the power of female underlings, go into the Edgewater Constabulary after you resolved the conflict: you have three strong fighting women in one spot! Having Parvati being a sweet female engineer is fine in the tradition of Firefly and Transformers, but having the chief of Groundbreaker be another sweet female engineer who falls in love with her is just pushing it.

 

[Drakortha]

Supernova is shit. I played it to level 16 and it wasn't worth the headache babysitting companions brings. If you're doing Supernova you have to do it solo. But have fun with the HP bloat.

And good luck telling your companions to stay anywhere. The moment combat begins, they kamikaze right in and get killed. Every time.

...do you have your companions set to aggressive?

You can set companion behavior in the menu. Aggressive (attack right away), defensive (attack when ordered and the continue attacking until combat ends), or passive (only attack when ordered).

How did you get to level 16, struggling with companion deaths, and never even look through the companion page?
(Sorry Fluent)

Aggressive means attack without being ordered to do so. Give your companion a sniper rifle and they won't stay put and shoot from range even after repeatedly ordering them to stay put. They'll always run into aggro range of mobs and get cut down. That's been my experience with this braindead AI. And I did look through the companion page plenty of times, so nice assumption there. The game has a flaw but you want to sweep it under the rug. If you think babysitting companions all the time instead of them actually being of any help is fun then more power to you I guess. The worst quests in any RPG are always the babysitting quests - Supernova is basically a full game length version of that shit.

 

[DalekFlay]

Finished this last night. I kind of rushed to the end when I hit level 25 because... well the game is kind of meh, but also I played a ruthless corporate merc and I felt like that questline was pretty shit. The game is obviously designed around you being a freedom fighter, and the Board path felt weaksauce. Especially at the end where insane stuff happens off screen to push you into a copy/paste finale with the rebellion path. Anyway... game is a 3 out of 5 mediocre New Vegas in space. I was hoping for actual New Vegas in space, and it's hard not to be disappointed at the result. It's funny because I kept saying "can't wait for indies to reach Morrowind/Deus Ex level" and I guess this is somewhat close to that, but wow does it show the limitations. Even putting aside the writing not being up to Obsidian's standards, I think a lot of the flaws are budget and scope based. Monarch gets closest to what I expected, but even it feels neutered.

Anyway, not saying it's a terrible game just a sort of boring one. It really is to New Vegas what Pillars was to Baldur's Gate.

 

[Grotesque]

 

[Jasede]

Mr. Potato Head!

 

[Taurist]

A few hours in and I've hit a bug. I have no option of open the doors in the Geothermal Plant, even while having the passcode. I assumed initially that this was just more of the game trying to railroad me into backing the deserters, but seemingly not.

Its not a great game so far. The setting makes no sense. Outside said plant theres a big billboard for Spacers Choice guns. WHy would they be advertising to their own company town? Why billboards when no one has cars? WHy does everyone have dyed hair? Are these things ever explained?

 

[Kaivokz]

Supernova is shit. I played it to level 16 and it wasn't worth the headache babysitting companions brings. If you're doing Supernova you have to do it solo. But have fun with the HP bloat.

And good luck telling your companions to stay anywhere. The moment combat begins, they kamikaze right in and get killed. Every time.

...do you have your companions set to aggressive?

You can set companion behavior in the menu. Aggressive (attack right away), defensive (attack when ordered and the continue attacking until combat ends), or passive (only attack when ordered).

How did you get to level 16, struggling with companion deaths, and never even look through the companion page?
(Sorry Fluent)

Aggressive means attack without being ordered to do so. Give your companion a sniper rifle and they won't stay put and shoot from range even after repeatedly ordering them to stay put. They'll always run into aggro range of mobs and get cut down. That's been my experience with this braindead AI. And I did look through the companion page plenty of times, so nice assumption there. The game has a flaw but you want to sweep it under the rug. If you think babysitting companions all the time instead of them actually being of any help is fun then more power to you I guess. The worst quests in any RPG are always the babysitting quests - Supernova is basically a full game length version of that shit.

I don’t know why your experience is like that. I played with robophobia using SAM set to far follow distance and set to only use ranged attacks. He shot things from as far back as he could and barely ever triggered my phobia unless I ordered him to rocket boost onto someone.

Sometimes the AI is wonky (for some reason Max wouldn’t use the prismatic hammer for me; he just stood by enemies and didn’t attack, but this resolved itself eventually). Maybe you’re getting some kind of bugged behavior, but setting follow distance far, use only ranged attacks, your companions should have no trouble standing back and shooting things.