The Outer Worlds 2 has a solid story, but tech issues are spoiling the fun

Obsidian’s latest RPG, The Outer Worlds 2, has all the strengths and weaknesses I expect from the studio. This kind of game is pure comfort food for me, and I loved the first game, so I made a gamble and picked it up on day one. I don’t necessarily regret that — I am managing to have quite a bit of fun — but I am running into enough technical issues and mishaps that I’d recommend other players wait and give it a bit more time in the oven to iron out these wrinkles.

The Outer Worlds 2 is a narrative RPG set in the Arcadia system. I play an agent of the Earth Directorate, someone who is meant to protect the innocent and eliminate the unjust. Of course, I get to choose how much I live up to that standard, and I can play anything from a rigid boy scout to an unrepentant psychopath. The writing and environmental design is very strong; I keep comparing the game to Starfield as I progress. Both games feel like they had similar technical limitations, but Obsidian made some smart choices with scope and direction to create a more fulfilling sci-fi adventure.

Sounds great, right? It’s a romp, except when I run into a barrier, like a NPC refusing to accept my side quest, or my companion getting stuck in a wall, or the inventory system being super annoying to navigate so I’m constantly having to search for the weapon I just got. Every time I trigger Inez’s companion ability, she doesn’t just use one of her barks: she uses three to five of them in quick succession. Every. Single. Time.

Most of these are small issues that are irritating, but there are a few gamebreaking technical issues. A recent patch made it so my game, on PC, crashes 80% of the time unless I shut down my browser and Discord before launching the game. A friend had a similar problem where the patch locked her save down to a 2FPS slideshow. 

I also feel like I’m not getting the full Obsidian experience one would expect. My comparisons hang out on the ship or support me in the field, but I can’t trigger their banter for the life of me. I know there’s supposed to be banter. I have five characters with huge, clashing personalities, and I’ll deliberately take the two I think will hate each other the most. I ran around the world for forty minutes last night, hoping to see these messy bitches brawl. I got one line of dialogue for my trouble — not even a full interaction!