Having spent a lot of time on the very intense Cyberpunk/Phantom Liberty, I though I'd go for something fun and silly. I played the original Outer Worlds a few years back and really enjoyed it. This looks to be just as much fun.

One thing I have noticed is that the game tells when you've made a dialogue choice that will matter in some way down the road. I assume that some of these will actually matter in the overall story arc.

I haven't got very far in the game, but apparently it rewards you for picking a lane and staying in it, skill-wise. No jacks of all trades, in other words. I've chosen my usual hack/sneak/lockpick options and will add medicine, luck and engineering as the game goes on.

Anyway, so far, so fun.

My son finished this game a few days ago and he really enjoyed it. He thought it was a very solid, more old-school RPG.

It feels that way. Lots to do, and many fateful decisions to make along the way.

I also enjoyed the first game, so I bought this at full price (first time ever I bought a game at $70). An unusual mechanism is that dialog doesn't only have the usual skill checks, but also what I would call "item checks." That is, you can only pass certain dialog checks if you're carrying specific inventory items. This rewards players who explore and find things. Sometimes this is tricky. Most notes and journals can only be read. But some can be read AND taken, and you can bet it will be needed later in some "item checks" in dialog. So you just have to do more looting than usual to make sure you don't miss anything. But you will missing something, because you have no way to be sure you would find the item before encountering the dialog check, due to the semi-open world setting. I've missed many such checks because I found the item only after (or just after) I found the NPC with the dialog. And you only have one shot in passing the check too.

Decisions matter. I realized too late that I needed a certain skill to recruit a companion who is now dead.

So far I'm managing quite well with emphasis on Lockpick, Hack, and Engineering with a few points in Leadership and Sneak. Combat is brutal, even on Normal, because my character is not a combat build, and resources seem scarce for some items.

One thing I appreciate is the exploration. I thought I'd uncovered the whole of the first map, then started walking around the very edge and realized there was a lot more that I had missed.

Anyway, so far it's a lot of fun.

I play at very hard difficulty, and that pea shooter we get at the beginning does tickle damage. But I'm spec'ed in stealth melee, which allows me to two-hit enemies with a knife in the early going. And that slow-motion gadget makes some fights manageable. I've since got a shotgun and a rifle that do greater damage. Some vendors have good stuff, such as a holster that unlocks an extra weapon slot. The holster is installed on the helmet, which is the game's attempt at humor, I suppose. The companion system is much simplified. There is less micro-management in their gear. Sadly, there seems to be not much conversation among the companions, which was a highlight in the first game. And I have to say that the dialog, banter, repartee, etc., are not as funny as in the first game, even though it has the same writer, Leonard Boyarsky.

I've been pondering sneak/melee. Sneak is great for thieving except now I have *that* piece of armour, which renders sneaking mostly useless unless I commit more points to it.

It's really nice being able to lockpick and hack, and my engineering skill is high enough to be really useful, but combat remains problematic. I might have to put some points into either melee or guns.

EDIT: I think I might have to start again, My character simply cannot handle the combat on the second planet. One of the quests has me in an area that must have 100 Mantis things, and they are one-shot killing me, though I can't work out how.