The Outer Worlds 2

didn’t finish it.

the first outer worlds was a delightful surprise—a compact, witty rpg that felt like a spiritual successor to fallout: new vegas. it knew what it was and didn’t overstay its welcome. you could visibly see its limitations, both in terms of budget and scope, but the writing carried it.

the sequel is… bigger. that’s not always a compliment.

the writing is still sharp when it lands, and the world-building remains clever in its corporate dystopia satire. critics loved it—gamerant gave it a 9/10, gamesradar+ the same. “obsidian finally let the series become the space opera it always wanted to be,” they said.

but somewhere in my playthrough, the scope started working against me. one preview noted the game “feels bigger, not in the bloated sense of modern open worlds, but in its scope and density.” i think i found some of that bloat anyway. fetch quests dressed up in funny dialogue. combat encounters that went on too long. the loop became more of a slog than i expected.

another critic captured it: “the first game felt like an indie miracle dressed as a aaa rpg. this one feels like the confident follow-up from a studio that knows its voice but isn’t reinventing it.”

maybe i’ll come back to it. the bones are good, and i’ve heard the later acts pick up. but for now, it’s sitting unfinished in my library while other games grabbed my attention.