Fallout creator Tim Cain is consulting on The Outer Worlds 2

Since it was pretty much marketed as a Non-Fallout, Fallout game, I gave it a shot. I tempered my expectations though because let's be honest, most of the time copycats fall flat. So, I was actually pretty impressed with the game and ultimately found myself wanting more. It certainly felt like a freshman attempt but a really damn good freshman who's hopefully going places. The humor was good, if not a bit forced at times, the relationship system was fun although it being kinda 3rd party made the stakes a little lower, I enjoyed the gameplay and the story for the most part and IMHO it certainly looked good enough.

All in all, I'm a little excited for this now.

Obsidian is the studio that did New Vegas.

They got the rights because they were formed from the remains of Black Isle Studios, the developers of the original Fallout, and Bethesda had only been taken over by business majors enough to screw them on the performance bonus for what is widely recognized as the best Fallout game ever made, but not outright deny them the chance to make it at all.

They aren't copycats. They are the OGs, who sadly can't use the setting anymore.

Outer Worlds didn't quite live up to my hopes, and based on their company history I feel fairly confident in saying they had to publish ASAP or go bankrupt (seriously, their history is tragic) but Fallout fans had better hope 2 does better because the reality is 76 has made it clear Bethesda has no more interest in making a good Fallout.
- The Outer Worlds was made under the direction of some Fallout OGs, but the connection between New Vegas and The Outer Worlds only exists in any meaningful way thanks to marketing.
  
  New Vegas and Outer Worlds do not share main writers, leads, or game designers. The marketing for Outer Worlds pushed the connection, which was a detriment in some ways because it created certain expectations. I really wish people would stop thinking of it as “New Vegas In Space” because it’s not, and going in expecting that tints the experience.
Outer world has a great start, but it has a lot of recycled content and really crappy areas after the 10+ hour mark. It was like they rushed it.

In spite of that, I am looking forward to the sequel! And I hope they keep all the good things about the first game!
- Yeah, that’s kinda what I mean about being a copycat. Did feel rushed, and there was a lot borrowed; felt like fallout at times, bioshock others, even reminded me of some LucalArts SCUMM/GrimE games. But overall I think they accomplished what they set out to and managed to make a decent game. Hopefully this news means they are stepping up their game (literally).
The relationship system was good until I realized that it, like Cyberpunk, was really just forming really close friendships with characters. I want my space/future girlfriends!

The Outer Worlds is such a great experience. It's so full of life and character, and it was the first time in a while that I felt attached to NPCs. Looking forward to the sequel.

Man I just found the writing and overall humor so unbelievably ham fisted/try hard. I like over the top satire but it felt incredibly one-note. I lost interest after about 5hrs or so
- The satire really hit the mark for me. I can see how it's not for everyone, though.
- Yeah. It is/was free on epic. As you say, the story seems pretty boring.
  
  I don't know why, but it felt really dead and empty. Most of the missions are go fetch missions too.
  
  Cyberpunk, (modded) Skyrim, Fallout 4 or New Vegas, I actually enjoyed walking to the destination. Outer Worlds I found myself using fast travel as much as possible because I wasn't rewarded for taking in the scenery. Not truly open world.
  
  I mean, one of the companions, IRC I simply fast travelled to and from the ship 4 times to advance the quest. Go fetch at point A, go to ship to discuss, go fetch at point B, go to ship to discuss, etc.
It felt like fallout 4 should have.

But I played it around release and never did a second play through, it just didn't seem to have the same depth that made early fallout great and so replayable.

Which isn't a horrible thing. Look at great series and not many have amazing first games, it can take a minute to find your feet, and I'm pretty optimistic about OW2 now.

Like, I'm sure at some point I played fallout 1, but I can't remember and FO2 I've got to be triple digit full games.
- My own impression was the opposite -- I didn't like OW at all, felt that it missed what made Fallout click, and enjoyed FO4 a fair bit. OW felt like a slog to me.
  
  OW's perk system is really boring, in my book. None of the perks change gameplay much, just tweak numbers slightly. Interesting perks that affect how you play is a big chunk of Fallout.
  
  OW had pretty much everything you run into in a city. Outside of cities, you pretty much just ran to a waypoint and back. There was virtually nothing to stumble across -- running into encounters that opens up new content is what makes me feel like I'm constantly discovering new things.
  
  While in theory the game is open-world, there was little reason to backtrack in OW. I went through it pretty much in order; it played pretty linearly.
  
  The weapons were pretty underwhelming to me. The weapons within a class all work pretty much the same way. You don't have a whole lot of variety. The unique weapons one gets aren't all that potent, and generally, any weapon you get will only be used for a short time before it becomes obsolete. The weapons just don't have a major impact on play.
  
  All that being said, hey, maybe OW2 will be an improvement. There's nothing there that's somehow fundamental to the series.
I actually compiled my thoughts into a review, but TLDR is that I found the setting and characters so good that they propped up a mechanically bland experience.
- I liked your take. I enjoyed the setting and writing very much so I was willing to put up with fine but bland gameplay.
Huh? That game is among the least lively in its genre. Even Cyberpunk2077 NPCs were more immersive.

Damn. It really seems like people either freaking loved this game, or just thought it was pretty mid.

I don't know what it is about the game, but it just didn't really do it for me.

Edit: I think it has something to do with the game being extremely bleak (aside from some companion quests), even if you choose to all the good choices. The ending is basically "everyone lived happily ever after once you solved the mystery," but it doesn't really feel like you're accomplishing anything throughout the game. Even vanilla Fallout 4 makes it feel like you're actually making a difference in the game world as you progress through the story.

For me it felt like it said all it had to say on the first planet, and kept singing the same note for the rest of the game. Low weapon variety, non existent stealth, and not much ambience to see on the way to locations like fallout. It's the starfield before starfield, but at least I finished outer worlds.

Getting 2 a few months after release to see if they improved, this news makes me hopeful it's closer to classic fallout.
I remember being surprised at the end. Like it was just suddenly over and didn't feel like that at all. I liked playing through the game but it didn't leave much of an impression on me.
- This is exactly it for me. Everything else was really enjoyable -- but then it just suddenly ends. There's no freeplay after completing the main story. They went so far as to show a text warning, stating the game is about to end, and you have to confirm to proceed. After that, the only way back in is to load a previous save. I really wanted that unstructured exploration time, like you get after finishing the main story in Skyrim/Fallout/etc.
  
  !Also, I think the "slideshow" style presentation for the ending contributed to this problem. A nice cinematic ending would have had way more weight and felt less tacked-on for me.!<
The set and setting were nice. I kind of liked the story.

For me, ultimately, I had the same criticism of it as a lot of people have for starfield- it felt like a bunch of small rooms connected by a spaceship door. All of the planets were in this weird middle space where they were both too big to feel efficient and well crafted, but too small to feel truly open. So at the end of it, I was left feeling like it was a chore to get from point a to point b.
- That's a fair criticism and one that I agree with.
I noticed this too!! Some seem to really love it too.

It's funny because I enjoy the premise but it's just didn't fullfill my need as a shooter, adventure or rpg, it got like 75 percent there though, so I'm really hoping the second one will be awesome.

I couldn't enjoy this game. The world wasn't very believable to me. The whole thing is "corporations dumb", which to me got old very fast.

It's either just "corporations bad" or "corporations are the only way to survive and thrive"

Which is also bullshit.

The Outer Worlds 2: String Bean Thoery

Didn't fully like the first game, it doesn't even hold a candle to fallout, the worlds are awfully flat

I wanted to like this game so much as NV is my favorite game of all time, but it was just so incredibly bland and lacking in so many ways.

Fuck Microsoft.