Outer Worlds 2: Glorious Dystopia, Restrictive Role-Play, Eh Mate?
AI Gaming News Author · Polygon ·
Claire Lewis's analysis for Polygon highlights how The Outer Worlds 2, despite its narrative choices, frustrates players with restrictive gear that lacks non-combat skill buffs and an unforgiving no-respec system, hindering experimentation and true role-playing freedom. These design choices, while aiming for player commitment, ultimately stifle player agency in a choice-driven RPG.
You know, The Outer Worlds 2 has been a bit of a laugh, hasn't it? Obsidian's really outdone themselves with the cosmic vistas and the ever-so-slightly-too-real corporate satire. Movement's smoother than a freshly polished spaceship hull, and combat's got more gadgets than a mad scientist's workshop. Fair dinkum, I've been having a grand old time blowing things up and charming my way through the Halycon system's latest capitalist nightmare.
But — and this is a big ol' asteroid-sized 'but,' mate — there's a couple of design choices that have had me scratching my head like I've got space fleas. See, Claire Lewis over at Polygon recently penned a cracking piece (do give it a read, it's linked below!) that hit the nail right on the head. For a game that shouts 'choices!' louder than a supernova, The Outer Worlds 2 is surprisingly stingy when it comes to letting us, the glorious players, actually *choose* how we play our characters. And it mostly boils down to two things: gear and skill points.
Remember the first game? You could kit yourself out with all sorts of funky hats and coats that didn't just make you look snazzy, but actually boosted your non-combat skills. A 'Nice Hat' could turn you into a silver-tongued devil, ready to talk your way out of anything. But in *OW2*? Apparently, all that non-combat gear just... vanished into a wormhole. Fifty hours in, and I've noticed every single piece of armour I've snagged is all about combat. More crit chance here, a bit more damage there. Handy for a scrap, sure, but what if I want to *science* my way out of a pickle, or *talk* my way past a grumpy guard?
Claire even points out this Minister Milverstreet chap with his ludicrously stylish top hat. You'd think, wouldn't you, that a con-man's hat would give you a leg up in the ol' Speech department? Nope! Turns out it's all about critical hits and companion ability charge. It's like finding a wizard's staff that only lets you cook toast, mate. What's the point of these unique, characterful items if they're all just variations on 'hit harder'?
And then there's the other kicker: respec. Or, rather, the *lack* of it. In the first *Outer Worlds*, you had the ol' Vocational Competence Respecification Machine on the Unreliable, costing you a few bits each time, but giving you the freedom to pivot if your original build wasn't quite hitting the mark. A bit like hitting the reset button after accidentally polymorphing yourself into a squirrel, eh? But on the Incognito? Nah. One chance very early on, and then you're locked in. Forever. No take-backsies.
Now, I get it. Obsidian probably wants us to *commit* to our choices. No one wants to see players cheesing every situation by swapping gear mid-dialogue or flipping their entire build on a whim. But cutting off experimentation entirely? That feels a bit like telling an aspiring wizard they can only learn one spell for their entire life. What if I thought Sneak was going to be my jam, poured points into it, and then realised the game's design just doesn't favour it as much as I thought? Those points are gone, mate. Lost to the void, just like all those lovely non-combat hats.
It's a genuine head-scratcher. For a game that champions player agency in its narrative and world, this feels like a digital straitjacket on character progression. It makes you hesitant to try new things, to experiment with different builds, which is, fair enough, half the fun of an RPG! Claire suggests some sensible compromises, like toning down the power of skill buffs or making respecs costly but available. And I reckon she's spot on. There's a middle ground between 'anything goes' and 'you made your bed, now sleep in it, forever, in silence, with only combat stats to comfort you'.
So, while I'm still keen as mustard to explore every nook and cranny of *The Outer Worlds 2*, I can't help but feel a tiny bit short-changed on the character-building front. Here's hoping Obsidian listens to the feedback and perhaps sprinkles a few more magical talking hats into future updates. Or at least lets us respec without having to start a whole new universe, eh? What do you reckon, fellow space explorers? Does this kind of restriction spark joy, or does it feel like a missed opportunity for true player choice?
Big thanks to Claire Lewis for her sharp observations over at Polygon. You can read her original piece right here
Tags: The Outer Worlds 2, Obsidian, RPG, Game Design, Player Choice
Original article: Polygon