The Outer Worlds... what a disappointing ride. I know it's cliché but I really wish we had a mixed review option because this game has its merits but it ultimately fails in being what tries to be -- a very uncharismatic Fallout game, but I can still recommend it for people who enjoy cool companions. Long text ahead:

So, for starters, I do love the first impression the game gives and honestly, it doesn't really get better than that after wrapping up the first area but hey, it doesn't get worse either.

Edgewater is where we land first and the game has time to unravel its issues and introduce people for us to talk to, understand the situation and do what we feel like, whether it's best for you or the people's future. It does not matter what you do, the only thing that changes is a powerpoint slideshow at the end explaining what happened to everybody and that's about it, so don't worry about your choices having an impact because they really don't. Here's where the RPG comes along, you just pretend the morals and ethics of your character actually matter in your headcanon because that's what I did.

However, the attention to detail shows how important the first hub is to the game with quite a lot to explore, fun quests and two characters to recruit right away, Parvati and Vicar Max. Parvati is just a bundle of awkwardness but I love her, she's super funny to keep around and her skill is actually sick, oh yeah the companions have active skills-- more on that later. Max is... okay, he's a 'holy' man who swears a lot which can be funny but I was never invested in his story. I won't spoil but savour the first area of the game because like I mentioned before, it does not get better than that-- storywise (writing, characters, world building) and gameplaywise (combat, exploration and overall 'feel' of the game).

Groundbreaker is the second hub and this is where the game started to lose me. Here I just walked around fetching quests and talking with a bunch of very shallow characters, just barely interesting to keep me going but I decided to see what the meat and potatoes of the game was, and so I did. I recruited Ellie, the snarky doctor and Felix, some dude and I was headed to Monarch and did some sidequests for exp and hopefully better loot. You can improve your weapons and gear on a workbench anywhere you can find it (there's one in your ship) but it's very barebones. Tinker levels your gear up but there's no option to instantly level em to the max, so I had to spam click EVERY TIME.

In Monarch... I mean, it's almost Edgewater's story but worse with a lot of running around and the same boring enemies. There's a conflict but both parties just suck so do whatever you feel like while exploring this Borderlands-esque barren wasteland full of nada. My quest for peace bugged at the end so I just killed both MSI and Iconoclasts; fk you Monarch, what a waste of time. Anyway, the story kinda picks up from here because we finally have an objective with Phineas being more present in the game. I won't elaborate any further for spoiler reasons, just know the story started to get interesting to me only AFTER Monarch.

Lemme talk about the companions! Parvati and Ellie were my go-to because I liked them more than the dudes, and on Monarch I got my last human companion, Nyoka, who is also a badass. You can talk to your companions and do their personal quests if you so desire, if you don't then they get a bad ending during the ending powerpoint slideshow. Anyway, I found all of the companion quests hit or miss with Parvati being the cutest but also a drag to finish and Ellie's being somewhat anticlimactic. Max's is just so out there and Felix's has some more emotional baggage with Nyoka's being the heaviest in terms of sympathy towards your companion. You can also unlock SAM, a dumb robot and that's it; it's just a robot, zero character development.

The regular sidequests involve a ton of "go there and kill that guy" but you can use and abuse the fast travel system so be sure to explore a lot before doing anything if you want an easier time; In Supernova difficulty you can't fast travel so I recommend playing it after you finished the game once. My fav sidequest was the one to rescue unique named sprats, the mutated rats of this game. They're so CUTE lmao they all have stupid names like "Iskander Immanuel Sanchez"or "Vonda von Vermington" and I'm still obsessed with them.
My least favourite was Celeste's in Byzantium. I hated the ending; it felt so stupid, just like Byzantium, the last hub of the game, where the wealthy and snobby live in pure ignorance to the rest of Halcyon falling apart. It's 'okay' but it also doesn't overstay its welcome.

Also there's no romance options, which I believe it was a dev choice not to include it but I think something could've been done there if they wanted to. I helped Parvati ask and go on a date with someone which is very cute but, there's nothing else about the companions that you get to know better because the devs just decided to not develop their characters any longer. For example, Ellie has a VERY interesting conflict in her quest and after I finished it, she said she finally trusts me now but if I go talk to her in the ship, there's no new dialogue options after doing the quest. You all really half-assed the companion writing too, huh? This sucks. I thought the characters would feel more comfortable with my character but nope, it felt like nothing changed (because it didn't).

Just to get more of my disappointments with the game out of the way -- there are unique named 'miniboss' monsters but that's it, there's no "Hunt" system like in Final Fantasy 12 for example which I love dearly; they just... exist. You find a slightly bigger canid with a sick name but there's no quest related to it-- it's very lame.
Also your character has a VATS bullet-timey shoehorned into the game. It's fine, it gets more use on higher difficulties but that's it. Oh, you can steal sh*t with zero consequence if there's no NPCs watching you and you can also pickpocket people with the same idea in mind.

Now, here's where I feel the game shines the most. You can level up skills like hacking, engineering and whatnot and they actually serve a purpose in the game with dialogue options and ways of opening safes and doors which I love; what I don't love is the amount of crap you loot from these places that are almost never worth using lockpicks for. I caved and used a trainer to not use my items as I unlocked safes and doors so I could just open them for no reason other than hoarding items.
If you level up intimidate for example, it can scare enemies during combat which is awesome. The combat is REALLY cool, it's like Fallout 4 so I personally adored it. Using the companion skills is very rewarding as well, especially Parvati just hammering down the ground and killing multiple enemies at once.

For the DLC, well... Gorgon is okay, it's boring for the most part and the main quest is just uneventful. It's whatever but Eridanos is actually very fun. Be warned, there's a LOT of walking around, this is why I enabled 'super speed' on my trainer of choice because wow, that was a lot of walking but the story is a rich murder mystery and interesting to follow. Make sure to do the NukaC-- I mean the Spectrum Vodka quest (or whatever the name is) to unlock a DOPE GATLING GUN. My fav weapon.

I managed to get all the achievos and some I had to grind to, but others I just saved-scummed and used a trainer to make my life easier. This game can drag a lot but the gameplay loop isn't terrible. I like lootershooters I can hoard junk items and the atmosphere and humour do scratch that Fallout itch that Starfield does not. You can be an a**hole towards any NPC for no reason but some really deserve it which always result in a funny remark. I recommend being a c*nt in this game, I highly encourage if anything. lmao

[h1] Halcyon is at best a forgettable experience.[/h1] The Outer Worlds... what a disappointing ride. I know it's cliché but I really wish we had a mixed review option because this game has its merits but it ultimately fails in being what tries to be -- a very uncharismatic Fallout game, but I can still recommend it for people who enjoy cool companions. Long text ahead: So, for starters, I do love the first impression the game gives and honestly, it doesn't really get better than that after wrapping up the first area but hey, it doesn't get worse either. Edgewater is where we land first and the game has time to unravel its issues and introduce people for us to talk to, understand the situation and do what we feel like, whether it's best for you or the people's future. It does not matter what you do, the only thing that changes is a powerpoint slideshow at the end explaining what happened to everybody and that's about it, so don't worry about your choices having an impact because they really don't. Here's where the RPG comes along, you just pretend the morals and ethics of your character actually matter in your headcanon because that's what I did. However, the attention to detail shows how important the first hub is to the game with quite a lot to explore, fun quests and two characters to recruit right away, Parvati and Vicar Max. Parvati is just a bundle of awkwardness but I love her, she's super funny to keep around and her skill is actually sick, oh yeah the companions have active skills-- more on that later. Max is... okay, he's a 'holy' man who swears a lot which can be funny but I was never invested in his story. I won't spoil but savour the first area of the game because like I mentioned before, it does not get better than that-- storywise (writing, characters, world building) and gameplaywise (combat, exploration and overall 'feel' of the game). Groundbreaker is the second hub and this is where the game started to lose me. Here I just walked around fetching quests and talking with a bunch of very shallow characters, just barely interesting to keep me going but I decided to see what the meat and potatoes of the game was, and so I did. I recruited Ellie, the snarky doctor and Felix, some dude and I was headed to Monarch and did some sidequests for exp and hopefully better loot. You can improve your weapons and gear on a workbench anywhere you can find it (there's one in your ship) but it's very barebones. Tinker levels your gear up but there's no option to instantly level em to the max, so I had to spam click EVERY TIME. In Monarch... I mean, it's almost Edgewater's story but worse with a lot of running around and the same boring enemies. There's a conflict but both parties just suck so do whatever you feel like while exploring this Borderlands-esque barren wasteland full of nada. My quest for peace bugged at the end so I just killed both MSI and Iconoclasts; fk you Monarch, what a waste of time. Anyway, the story kinda picks up from here because we finally have an objective with Phineas being more present in the game. I won't elaborate any further for spoiler reasons, just know the story started to get interesting to me only AFTER Monarch. Lemme talk about the companions! Parvati and Ellie were my go-to because I liked them more than the dudes, and on Monarch I got my last human companion, Nyoka, who is also a badass. You can talk to your companions and do their personal quests if you so desire, if you don't then they get a bad ending during the ending powerpoint slideshow. Anyway, I found all of the companion quests hit or miss with Parvati being the cutest but also a drag to finish and Ellie's being somewhat anticlimactic. Max's is just so out there and Felix's has some more emotional baggage with Nyoka's being the heaviest in terms of sympathy towards your companion. You can also unlock SAM, a dumb robot and that's it; it's just a robot, zero character development. The regular sidequests involve a ton of "go there and kill that guy" but you can use and abuse the fast travel system so be sure to explore a lot before doing anything if you want an easier time; In Supernova difficulty you can't fast travel so I recommend playing it after you finished the game once. My fav sidequest was the one to rescue unique named sprats, the mutated rats of this game. They're so CUTE lmao they all have stupid names like "Iskander Immanuel Sanchez"or "Vonda von Vermington" and I'm still obsessed with them. My least favourite was Celeste's in Byzantium. I hated the ending; it felt so stupid, just like Byzantium, the last hub of the game, where the wealthy and snobby live in pure ignorance to the rest of Halcyon falling apart. It's 'okay' but it also doesn't overstay its welcome. Also there's no romance options, which I believe it was a dev choice not to include it but I think something could've been done there if they wanted to. I helped Parvati ask and go on a date with someone which is very cute but, there's nothing else about the companions that you get to know better because the devs just decided to not develop their characters any longer. For example, Ellie has a VERY interesting conflict in her quest and after I finished it, she said she finally trusts me now but if I go talk to her in the ship, there's no new dialogue options after doing the quest. You all really half-assed the companion writing too, huh? This sucks. I thought the characters would feel more comfortable with my character but nope, it felt like nothing changed (because it didn't). Just to get more of my disappointments with the game out of the way -- there are unique named 'miniboss' monsters but that's it, there's no "Hunt" system like in Final Fantasy 12 for example which I love dearly; they just... exist. You find a slightly bigger canid with a sick name but there's no quest related to it-- it's very lame. Also your character has a VATS bullet-timey shoehorned into the game. It's fine, it gets more use on higher difficulties but that's it. Oh, you can steal sh*t with zero consequence if there's no NPCs watching you and you can also pickpocket people with the same idea in mind. Now, here's where I feel the game shines the most. You can level up skills like hacking, engineering and whatnot and they actually serve a purpose in the game with dialogue options and ways of opening safes and doors which I love; what I don't love is the amount of crap you loot from these places that are almost never worth using lockpicks for. I caved and used a trainer to not use my items as I unlocked safes and doors so I could just open them for no reason other than hoarding items. If you level up intimidate for example, it can scare enemies during combat which is awesome. The combat is REALLY cool, it's like Fallout 4 so I personally adored it. Using the companion skills is very rewarding as well, especially Parvati just hammering down the ground and killing multiple enemies at once. For the DLC, well... Gorgon is okay, it's boring for the most part and the main quest is just uneventful. It's whatever but Eridanos is actually very fun. Be warned, there's a LOT of walking around, this is why I enabled 'super speed' on my trainer of choice because wow, that was a lot of walking but the story is a rich murder mystery and interesting to follow. Make sure to do the NukaC-- I mean the Spectrum Vodka quest (or whatever the name is) to unlock a DOPE GATLING GUN. My fav weapon. I managed to get all the achievos and some I had to grind to, but others I just saved-scummed and used a trainer to make my life easier. This game can drag a lot but the gameplay loop isn't terrible. I like lootershooters I can hoard junk items and the atmosphere and humour do scratch that Fallout itch that Starfield does not. You can be an a**hole towards any NPC for no reason but some really deserve it which always result in a funny remark. I recommend being a c*nt in this game, I highly encourage if anything. lmao