The Outer Worlds

[jedidia]

I recently stumbled across this and it looks good, but that release fumble

It's not a fumble. The game is an epic exclusive for one year on PC. Excluding microsoft store, because microsoft owns Obisidian.

I think Epic has been throwing money at developers to get them into temporary exclusive deals to use the Epic (Fail) Games Store, otherwise I can't think of an explanation for some of the release schedules I've seen around the internet.

That is correct, though in this case Epic payed the *publisher*, not the developer. Obsidian had no say in the matter. To make things more complicated, Microsoft isn't the publisher either. Microsoft merely owns Obsidian, but they do not publish the game in this case. The one getting the money in this case (and making the decision) is pirate division, who publish the outer worlds.

Im personally very glad the Steam monopoly is being reduced by Epic.

I'd rather have steam challenged by somebody actually competent and service focused, instead of someone that just throws money around. Unfortunately, that doesn't work that well, as GoG clearly shows, which is by far the best and most customer oriented store out there. So epic is trying different tactics, and they're just bad for customers, and while they boast about how they are better for developers, they have also refused to take games onto their store completely after the developer refused an exclusivity deal. So I'm really not thrilled about the way they do business...

But I guess if benevolent business practices would make for good competition, itch.io would be ruling everybody...

[King of Worms]

Aside from the store topic..

This game. Makes me feel stupid. I cant keep track of quests I have, Im completely lost. I know its good, but the story is confusing, too much things to do, too many ppl want something, I dont remember what they wanted etc. Yes theres too much talking for me. The text logs... I cant do them, after I listened to some talk about I dont know what for 5 minutes.. cant get to read some texts after all that.

Damn.

Also, Im handgun skilled, yet I found a hammer early in the game, which puts all my shooting to the shame. So my lvl 15 melee char does more dmg with hammer than utilizing its lvl40 gun skills. How so pls? But that can be dealt with, its early in the game.

What bothers me is really the sense of being lost and overwhelmed. So yea, feeling stupid as Ive said... I do things yet I have no idea why Im doing them. Character voices are too low volume as well. Companion is speaking something few meters behind me, she speaks to me, I cant hear her. I can see the voiceovers, small texts... texts..

How u feel about the game?

[Hazelnut]

I'm loving it. Combat is not the best, but not awful either. The talking is great, and I've laughed quite a few times. The journal is a bit confusing at first, but after a while it makes sense. I certainly don't feel overwhelmed, but then I am taking my time and not rushing. Don't think I am even level 10 yet, not sure. There is a lot of dialog and maybe is easy to skim and lose sense of what is goin' on.

[ByteMixer]

I still don't know how this one flew in under my radar. I usually enjoy open world things, and getting lost/exploring those types of things. Sadly, my personal money is a bit small right now, so I'll wait a bit before diving into this one. I'm usually appreciative of what Obsidian develops, though sometimes the publisher forces them to rush the end of the development cycle, and stuff gets cut or rushed in the end game. (Looking at you NWN 2 and KOTOR 2 !!!!) New Vegas was great, though. I also enjoyed Tyranny and Pillars of Eternity for what they were. (didn't get around to PoE 2)

Anyway, I'll dive into this one when I get a chance.

[King of Worms]

I will not succumb easily tho so I will try to get my grip of it. I lost it when I left the 1st planet and arrived to Groundbreaker.
Still, I love the simplicity of Grimrock mechanics Simple rules, but very complex world and riddles... and not so much talking

[Narf the Mouse]

Yes they pay them for exclusivity. And they give them more money than Steam. Plus after the exclusivity ends, they can release on Steam and get another pile of money. Im personally very glad the Steam monopoly is being reduced by Epic.

Yeah, the competition is good; and I guess pumping money into exclusives makes sense. I just don't like exclusives.

[King of Worms]

I should honestly refrain from a discussion about gaming stores, because - shame on me - last game I have bought was Morrowind (to save Bethesda!!)

So my opinions on the vendors are lets say, theoretical

Just a general observation from life - more vendors - more competition - good thing gor a customer. On the other hand, any kind of monopoly - things turn sour quick.

[King of Worms]

Cant compare the Armor I want to buy to what Im actually wearing... is this nowadays standard in games heavily revolving around... eh equip?
The inventory is messed up in this way. You cant really tell what you and your companions are wearing, in some times, like... shopping, uh.

Also, why so many consumables, its again confusing to have 50 things to eat, where many of them do the same thing.

I still like the game, but the mechanics are not really THAT good. It actually prevents me from playing the game right, managing the armors, weapons correctly, using the consumables accordingly etc. On the other hand, the game is EASY on hard, so if I set my character and group 100%, it would be too easy.

I have 1000s of bullets, never ending supply. Why?

This game needs reballance a lot. Its a bit sad, so much work was poured into the game, I can see it clearly. But the ballance keeps the game from shining and really showing what it and its systems can do.

[jedidia]

It actually prevents me from playing the game right, managing the armors, weapons correctly

Well, I've heard people say that it is a bit of a throwback to Mass Effect 1, but I didn't expect that to also apply to the inventory...

[King of Worms]

It actually prevents me from playing the game right, managing the armors, weapons correctly

Well, I've heard people say that it is a bit of a throwback to Mass Effect 1, but I didn't expect that to also apply to the inventory...

There are deffo some things which prevent you from managing the gear efficiently. Like what Ive mentioned, you cant compare the armor you are buying to the armor you are wearing. What?

Also, when shopping, you cant see your weight. Thats cool in a game where you get encumbered often. You get encumbered, go to shop to sell stuff. You sell something and you wonder, how much you weight now? Great, exit the shopping window, open you inventory and look. Than repeat.

I really like the game, but these things... make me play in a shallow way.

And the consumables, dear god the consumables. 10 items do the same thing. You cant even select them as junk. I spend like half hour trying to clean the consumables inventory from stuff I dont like. After a major headache I did that, selected stuff I dont like as a junk, hoping the game will remember my settings, so next time I press "sell junk" it will sell these items. No. You cant even sort them by effect.

And so many things like this. It really undermines what the game really is. What a pity.

The inventory sorting is atrocious. To make things worse. The icons for weapons - most of them look too similar. Etc etc etc, I can go on for ever.

The inventory is what really takes this great games potential down.