Obsidian's Sequel Fails to Reach the Heights
Bigger doesn't necessarily mean better. That's a tired saying, yet it's also the best way to encapsulate my thoughts after investing many hours with The Outer Worlds 2. Developer Obsidian added more of everything to the follow-up to its 2019 futuristic adventure — additional wit, adversaries, firearms, traits, and locations, everything that matters in titles of this genre. And it operates excellently — initially. But the burden of all those grand concepts causes the experience to falter as the game progresses.
An Impressive Opening Act
The Outer Worlds 2 makes a strong initial impact. You are part of the Terran Directorate, a well-intentioned institution dedicated to restraining corrupt governments and companies. After some capital-D Drama, you wind up in the Arcadia system, a settlement divided by conflict between Auntie's Choice (the outcome of a merger between the first game's two big corporations), the Protectorate (groupthink pushed to its most extreme outcome), and the Ascendant Order (similar to the Catholic faith, but with mathematics rather than Jesus). There are also a series of rifts tearing holes in the universe, but at this moment, you absolutely must reach a communication hub for urgent communications reasons. The problem is that it's in the center of a battlefield, and you need to figure out how to get there.
Like its predecessor, Outer Worlds 2 is a FPS adventure with an overarching story and numerous optional missions distributed across different planets or regions (large spaces with a plenty to explore, but not sandbox).
The first zone and the task of reaching that communication station are spectacular. You've got some funny interactions, of course, like one that features a rancher who has given excessive sugary treats to their preferred crab. Most lead you to something helpful, though — an unforeseen passage or some new bit of intel that might unlock another way onward.
Memorable Moments and Overlooked Opportunities
In one unforgettable event, you can find a Guardian defector near the viaduct who's about to be executed. No task is associated with it, and the only way to locate it is by investigating and paying attention to the environmental chatter. If you're swift and alert enough not to let him get killed, you can preserve him (and then save his defector partner from getting eliminated by beasts in their hideout later), but more connected with the task at hand is a power line obscured in the undergrowth in the vicinity. If you follow it, you'll locate a concealed access point to the relay station. There's a different access point to the station's underground tunnels hidden away in a grotto that you may or may not observe contingent on when you follow a specific companion quest. You can find an readily overlooked character who's crucial to preserving a life much later. (And there's a plush toy who implicitly sways a squad of soldiers to fight with you, if you're kind enough to protect it from a danger zone.) This beginning section is packed and engaging, and it appears as if it's brimming with rich storytelling potential that compensates you for your curiosity.
Fading Hopes
Outer Worlds 2 doesn't fulfill those opening anticipations again. The second main area is arranged like a location in the first Outer Worlds or Avowed — a big area sprinkled with points of interest and side quests. They're all story-appropriate to the conflict between Auntie's Selection and the Ascendant Order, but they're also vignettes isolated from the primary plot plot-wise and spatially. Don't anticipate any environmental clues directing you to fresh decisions like in the opening region.
In spite of compelling you to choose some difficult choices, what you do in this zone's side quests is inconsequential. Like, it truly has no effect, to the point where whether you enable war crimes or direct a collection of displaced people to their death results in merely a throwaway line or two of speech. A game doesn't have to let every quest impact the narrative in some significant, theatrical manner, but if you're forcing me to decide a group and pretending like my selection matters, I don't believe it's irrational to expect something further when it's finished. When the game's already shown that it is capable of more, any reduction appears to be a trade-off. You get more of everything like the developers pledged, but at the expense of depth.
Daring Plans and Lacking Stakes
The game's second act endeavors an alike method to the main setup from the initial world, but with noticeably less panache. The idea is a courageous one: an interconnected mission that covers multiple worlds and encourages you to seek aid from various groups if you want a easier route toward your goal. Beyond the recurring structure being a somewhat tedious, it's also lacking the drama that this type of situation should have. It's a "pact with the devil" moment. There should be hard concessions. Your association with any group should count beyond earning their approval by doing new tasks for them. All this is absent, because you can merely power through on your own and achieve the goal anyway. The game even goes out of its way to provide you means of accomplishing this, highlighting different ways as secondary goals and having allies inform you where to go.
It's a side effect of a larger problem in Outer Worlds 2: the fear of permitting you to feel dissatisfied with your decisions. It frequently goes too far in its efforts to ensure not only that there's an different way in many situations, but that you realize its presence. Secured areas nearly always have multiple entry methods marked, or nothing valuable inside if they don't. If you {can't
