The Outer Worlds devs on early development, making a compact RPG, Switch port, more

NE: "Switch is about to receive another big game with the arrival of The Outer Worlds. The RPG comes from Obsidian, the studio behind Fallout: New Vegas, South Park: The Stick of Truth, and more. Ahead of the Switch launch, we caught up with co-director Tim Cain and production director Eric DeMilt."

[Nacho_Z]

Cool game but as it got near the end I was more than ready to finish it and move on. Pretty much everything in the game got stale after a certain point.

It has the potential to be a great franchise it just needs more money spent basically which I believe is what will happen.

[averagejoe26]

This is how I felt pretty quickly. Could only force myself to get through about half the game before selling my copy. It was a let down.

[Sciurus_vulgaris]

I tried the Outer Worlds via gamepass, I never got more than 3 hrs into it. The game is very visually dated and not technically impressive. Fallout 3, New Vegas and 4 had more interesting worlds. I don’t think the Outer Worlds deserved much of the high praise it recurved. However, I never finished the game, so I can’t fully judge it.

[Profchaos]

Yeah felt the same way. It was ok and i could understand why some people were fans off it but there was to many old rpg tropes like a silent protag and written responses that didn't gel with me.
I didn't get more than 3 hours in once i got to the gates of the second world i got bored and gave up.

[Cmv38]

I really wanted to like outer worlds.... didn't have fun at all.

[No_Pantaloons]

Still waiting for this on steam hopefully the dlc will be out. And yes I have epic, but I don't BUY games on it, only grab all the freebies. They got a long way to go on improvements before i'll be dropping cash on that account.

[RazzerRedux]

Average game from average developer.

[King_Noctis]

Average developer? You do know that the Outer Worlds was nominated for GOTY, Best RPG and Best Narrative at The Game Awards 2019 right?

You do know Obsidian also developed other award-winning titles like South Park, Pillar of Eternity, Tyranny, Fallout New Vegas, Star War KOTOR 2, Neverwinter Night 2, Wasteland 2, Alpha Protocol, Icewind Dale, and Baldur’s Gate right?

[RazzerRedux]

South Park? Are you serious? They programmed a game based on a silly cartoon and none of the writing or ideas came from them. Pillar of Eternity. A poor mans Divinity Original Sin with a shit ton of reading instead of actual voice acting. Not bad, but not great either. Fallout? Just group that along with KOTOR 2 And Neverwinter Nights 2 where they were hired to do the hard work that Bethesda and Bioware had already laid out and created subpar versions, frankly, if I'm being nice. Alpha Protocol was horrible.

WTF did they have to do with Wasteland 2, Icewind Dale, or Baldur's Gate?

Obsidian is an average developer. Hopefully, MS money will make them better.

[timotim]

This same guy will try to tell you how underappreciated Days Gone was and how it deserved to be nominated for GotY LOL. We both know Outer Worlds won numerous awards and was nominated for even more, yet its average haha. And Obsidian has won so many awards as a studio its not even funny...his comment is easily dismissed.

[King_Noctis]

“ South Park? Are you serious? They programmed a game based on a silly cartoon and none of the writing or ideas came from them.”

This is so wrong on so many level. Do you know that Obsidian works with South Park creator to make the game? Or do you mean the story and the gameplay were made out from thin air?

“ Pillar of Eternity. A poor mans Divinity Original Sin with a shit ton of reading instead of actual voice acting”

Pillar of Eternity got 89% on Metacritic and won multiple GOTY awards. So how is it a poor man anything?

“ Fallout? Just group that along with KOTOR 2 And Neverwinter Nights 2 where they were hired to do the hard work that Bethesda and Bioware had already laid out and created subpar versions”

So why is Fallout NV still regarded as the best Fallout? Why do people still love playing KOTOR 2 and prefer it over some modern SW games? They were hired to make those game, so that mean they are the developer of those game, is it not?

“ WTF did they have to do with Wasteland 2, Icewind Dale, or Baldur's Gate?”

They codeveloped Wasteland 2 with inXile (which ironically, a company that MS also owns), and Icewind Dale was developed by Black Isle Studios, which was dissolved and key employees later founded Obsidian.

So basically your idea for Obsidian is “I just hate the company, so I just ignore and downplay every past accomplishments they they had achieved”.

[RazzerRedux]

Please. South Park was the TV show in video game format. Who do you think provided the most assets to that game? The creators of South Park or Obsidian. Oh.....I forgot who I'm talking to. Yes....of course, Obsidian created that from scratch and the creators were so thankful that they brought all their AAA graphical prowess to the table. /s

"Pillar of Eternity got 89% on Metacritic"

And? Alpha Protocol got a 63 on metacritic. Not that it really matters, but if you want to cherry pick metacritic scores then your argument isn't very good, now is it? I simply thought Pillars was overrated. Others disagree and that is fine.

"So why is Fallout NV still regarded as the best Fallout?"

By some. It is an ok game, but again, they have games where others have done the majority of the work and build on it. Sorry, but that doesn't impress me as much as studios who take an idea from nothing and make something. Hell, The Outer Worlds was just a poor man's Fallout.

"Why do people still love playing KOTOR 2 and prefer it over some modern SW games?"

I have no idea and I don't care. I'm expressing my own opinions. I'm not going to yapp about what "people" think as if I've just taken a poll or some nonsense like that. IMO, Fallout New Vegas, KOTOR 2, NWN 2 are inferior follow-ups to the originals. Disagree? Fine.

"They codeveloped Wasteland 2 with inXile (which ironically, a company that MS also owns), and Icewind Dale was developed by Black Isle Studios, which was dissolved and key employees later founded Obsidian."

Strange that they were not included in the credits on the games wiki pages. Ok....that's fine. Still follows the pattern I've laid out of being dependent on other studios. Hopefully now that they have MS funds then they accomplish this on their own and not be dependent on others.

"So basically your idea for Obsidian is “I just hate the company, so I just ignore and downplay every past accomplishments they they had achieved”."

Nope. That's your typical take though so I'm not surprised. I feel no "hate" whatsoever for Obsidian and said nothing "hateful" about them at all. You just pulled that out of your ass. I simply think their game output/quality has been average overall. Try to get over it.

[TekoIie]

Average comment from average gamer.

[RazzerRedux]

Just an opinion. It will be ok.

[King_Noctis]

“ Please. South Park was the TV show in video game format. Who do you think provided the most assets to that game? The creators of South Park or Obsidian. Oh.....I forgot who I'm talking to. Yes....of course, Obsidian created that from scratch and the creators were so thankful that they brought all their AAA graphical prowess to the table. /s ”

Do you know what other games are based on TV show/movie? Let me give you an example, Spiderman which was developed by Insomniac. Let me ask you a question, who do you think provided the most assets to that game? The creators of Spiderman or Insomniac?

“ Nope. That's your typical take though so I'm not surprised. I feel no "hate" whatsoever for Obsidian and said nothing "hateful" about them at all. You just pulled that out of your ass.”

I don’t know how old you are, not that it matters, but profanity seem to always be your go-to words whenever you engage in any sort of discussion.

[RazzerRedux]

" Let me give you an example, Spiderman which was developed by Insomniac. Let me ask you a question, who do you think provided the most assets to that game? The creators of Spiderman or Insomniac?"

lol.....are you serious? Insomniac had to develop an open world, populate that world, develop the mechanics/physics/controls of web slinging through that world, creating an effective and expansive Spidey combat system, as well as create an original story.

You are comparing that to South Park turn based combat, and the *amazing* effects of Cartman bouncing up and down the city streets, and stories written entirely by South Park creators?

So to you, Obsidian's efforts in South Park are comparable to Insomniac's in Spider-man? That is laughable.

"I don’t know how old you are, not that it matters, but profanity seem to always be your go-to words whenever you engage in any sort of discussion."

Your "go-to" seems to be creating a fictional narrative such as suggesting I am expressing "hate" for Obsidian. If I had to choose vices then I'll take profanity over engaging in blatant intellectual dishonesty.

[TekoIie]

"lol.....are you serious? Insomniac had to develop an open world, populate that world, develop the mechanics/physics/controls of web slinging through that world, creating an effective and expansive Spidey combat system, as well as create an original story."

So they didn't have any source material to draw references from? You think the characters aren't heavily inspired by their previous incarnations in comics/movies? You think the designs are completely original and use no reference point? This is literally the same thing as South Park. Taking an established franchise and creating a game for it. You're failing to discredit this analogy. Take the L.

Oh, and you're fooling yourself if you think the combat system wasn't heavily inspired by Arkham's freeflow system. How dare they build off a successful blueprint like that! In fact, how dare they take inspiration from it, and then not take the time to make sure it was balanced! Tut tut.

[RazzerRedux]

The inspiration of Spider-man being Spider-man is absurdly obvious. That isn't the point at all. The point is what kind of developer capabilities did it require to produce Spider-man vs South Park. I can't believe this is even up for contention.

And no, I wasn't talking about what inspired the combat system either. You tell me which requires more development effort. A Final Fantasy style turn-based system or Batman's combat requiring on-the-fly system in an open world? You tell me. What was more difficult? 2D Cartman bouncing up and down South Park streets or fully 3D Spider-man web-slinging through the entirety of open world Manhattan. What I am saying is ridiculously uncontroversial. South Park required a fraction of the development prowess as Spider-man or Batman.

South Park creators provided all the South Park content. Most indie developers could have implemented what was required for South Park. You can't say the same for Batman or Spider-man. That's the difference and it is huge.

[TekoIie]

@RazzerRedux

"The inspiration of Spider-man being Spider-man is absurdly obvious."

So not original. Thank you. They had a blueprint.

"And no, I wasn't talking about what inspired the combat system either. You tell me which requires more development effort. A Final Fantasy style turn-based system or Batman's combat requiring on-the-fly system in an open world? You tell me. What was more difficult? Cartman bouncing up and down South Park streets or Spider-man web-slinging through the entirety of Manhattan. What I am saying is ridiculously uncontroversial."

If you think Spider-man was a difficult game to balance you're fooling yourself. Or maybe Insomniac are just really bad at it considering they completely failed at it. You know what? I concede. Based off Insomniacs complete inability to balance the combat in Marvels Spider-man, I admit it is more difficult for Insomniac to balance a game than it is for Obsidian.

"South Park creators provided all the South Park content."

You think it's easy to faithfully adapt a beloved tv show in the way SoT did? If you want me to be serious I think you're just being childish and trying to downplay their accomplishments because you don't have anything else to do during the rona. Obsidian makes good games, if everything about Fallout NV that's worth mentioning was supplied by Bethesda then I suppose it's only fair to demand you provide sources to back up your knowledge on the details of the games development.

[RazzerRedux]

"So not original. Thank you. They had a blueprint."

I never said otherwise.

"If you think Spider-man was a difficult game to balance you're fooling yourself. Or maybe Insomniac are just really bad at it considering they completely failed at it. You know what? I concede. Based off Insomniacs complete inability to balance the combat in Marvels Spider-man, I admit it is more difficult for Insomniac to balance a game than it is for Obsidian."

I'm just going to laugh at this. Insomniac failed at combat with Spider-man? Ok....I'm not bothering with anymore of this. It has gotten so absurd that it is now boring.

[TekoIie]

"I'm just going to laugh at this. Insomniac failed at combat with Spider-man? Ok....I'm not bothering with anymore of this. It has gotten so absurd that it is now boring."

Because you don't know the game that well. After the half-way point of the game you can easily get 12 free takedowns per combat encounter MINIMIUM. Each takedown basically requires little more to press square and triangle at the same time. That is what basic enemies became in regards to gameplay in the mid to late game. Press two buttons, watch a little cinematic takedown, rinse and repeat. Run out of focus bars? No problem. Just use the suit ability to recharge it and spam web attacks and you've got yourself more easy takedowns.

The game was a breeze. Insomniac failed to balance this game even for the hardest difficult. Sorry that I know more about the game than you I guess....

"It has gotten so absurd that it is now boring"

Exactly what I said after finishing such an easy game.

[RazzerRedux]

So somehow your opinion of Spider-man makes Obsidian a better developer? lol....that's hilarious.

The biggest take away from this conversation is this incredibly idiotic notion that the development effort of South Park is on par with development effort of Spider-man. Simply hilarious.

[TekoIie]

"The biggest take away from this conversation is this incredibly idiotic notion that the development effort of South Park is on par with development effort of Spider-man."

Well you've completely deflected away from defending the games unbalanced combat, so you can take the L on that with pride. Also, I'm still waiting for that source of yours that shows how you're so knowledgable about Obsidians development across all their titles.

it seems you prefer to deflect away from actually backing up your claims. Not at all surprising. You can have the last word if you like. I think it's become clear you'd rather dribble out unsubstantiated claims to downplay developers you don't over actually backing up your claims.

[Poopmist]

Great game but definitely needed more budget and a bigger scope.

[dragongod64]

I tryed it on the ps4 and would say give me a refund. Pass 6/10 And there are much better games coming out to spend your money on.

[toxic-inferno]

6/10? So you're saying it's a slightly above-average game?

Sorry - it's been a while since I've seen a debate about how any game rated below an 8 is considered a poor game.

[RazzerRedux]

"it's been a while since I've seen a debate about how any game rated below an 8 is considered a poor game."

Well, that isn't what he said at all, now is it? He said "there are much better games coming out to spend your money on". I certainly wouldn't want to pay a full $60 for a "slightly above-average game". Thank goodness for Game Pass.

[toxic-inferno]

@RazzerRedux

I completely agree!

Just not sure rating a game 6/10 gives grounds for a refund!

[PMind]

The lack of weapon variety is what got me. Also the stat points were so generic just like +1 to strength. Didn't seem to have anything build defining or interesting to work towards. I thought the story and dialog was interesting but not enough for me to put the time in to finish it.