I went into The Outer Worlds 2 wanting the same thing I wanted from the first game: sharp writing, flexible quests, and a world that lets you solve problems your way. What I found is a sequel that plays to Obsidian’s strengths, trims a few rough edges, and then occasionally reminds you it is still very much an Obsidian RPG. It’s funnier than most blockbusters without trying to scream about it. It’s more confident with guns without losing the satire. And it’s comfortable enough with its own formula that you can see the seams if you stare too long.
The rift above Arcadia
Arcadia is a good setting for this kind of story. You arrive as an Earth Directorate operative and discover a colony balancing on several knives at once. Space-time rifts are ripping through the sky, Auntie’s Choice wants to privatize the solution, the Protectorate wants to control the narrative, and a numbers-obsessed Order treats calculus like scripture.
The rift crisis is the headline, but the best material lives under it. The game is most alive when a scientific emergency collides with a policy meeting or a corporate press release. That’s where the satire bites and the quest design opens up. It’s unmistakably Obsidian, dense, cynical, and weirdly human beneath the neon gloss.
Your companions carry most of the narrative weight, and they earn the screen time. They’re messy, talkative, and genuinely useful once you invest in their trees. I like that they aren’t just moral wallpaper for your dialogue choices. Push them too far and they won’t just sigh, they’ll leave. Sometimes they come back, sometimes they don’t.
It makes faction deals feel riskier and gives the companion quests more urgency than simple loyalty errands. It also helps that their banter hits more often than it misses, bringing levity to long stretches of dialogue and keeping every journey unpredictable.
Guns that finally feel right
Minute to minute, The Outer Worlds 2 is a much better shooter. Guns finally have some heft, recoil, reloads, hit reactions, it all clicks. The skill system is streamlined and easier to parse. You still specialize, but without drowning in endless numbers. Perks arrive at a steady rhythm, and most of them actually shift your approach rather than just adding percentages. The Flaw system, which I mostly ignored in the first game, finally feels worth engaging with. Taking quirks that twist your playstyle instead of punishing it adds personality to your build. My favorite was a flaw that punished me for reloading late, forcing me into this rhythm that felt deliberate, not restrictive.
Checkpoints can be bluffed, hacked, bribed, or blown apart. Skill checks pop up naturally in quests, and many come back later to surprise you. The rift plot itself didn’t hold me the entire way, it’s functional but predictable, but the way those rifts intersect with corporate schemes and ideological cults is where the story thrives.
This is still Obsidian at its best: making you think you’re fixing a problem while you’re really just rearranging the furniture of a broken system. I like that the game knows it and lets you have fun with it.
Arcadia feels alive
Arcadia’s zones follow the same design logic as Halcyon: compact but packed. They’re built to be explored in loops, not endless biomes. Every planet feels distinct enough to remember, Paradise Island’s warmth, Cloister’s frost, the industrial sprawl of the Protectorate capital.
Visually, it’s still retro-futurism at heart, polished with Unreal 5 sheen. It’s not chasing realism. It’s chasing personality and it nails it. Even the advertisements look like punchlines. You’ll never mistake The Outer Worlds for anything else, and that’s worth something.
That being said, some habits die hard. The inventory screen is still an exercise in patience once you start hoarding loot. Modding weapons feels clunky. The map cursor refuses to highlight the icon you’re actually aiming for.
Companion AI has a strange death wish, often sprinting into combat like they’re auditioning for a memorial plaque. Enemies aren’t much smarter, alternating between hiding and charging. It’s playable, but you can feel the seams, especially when everything else around it has been refined.
Bigger, not always better
The sequel’s biggest strength is its scope but that’s also what makes it feel slightly safer. It’s bigger, better paced, more refined, but less surprising. The first game felt like an indie miracle dressed as a AAA RPG. This one feels like the confident follow-up from a studio that knows its voice but isn’t reinventing it. That’s not necessarily bad. The structure works, the loop is addictive, and the world is worth exploring. But the element of shock, the sense that this weird little game shouldn’t be this good, is gone.
Conclusion:
Even with its familiar structure, The Outer Worlds 2 is easy to recommend. The combat is tight, the writing cuts, and the player agency still feels substantial. It’s a smarter, smoother, and more technically reliable sequel that doesn’t lose the soul of the original. If you loved the first game, you’ll feel right at home. If you skipped it, this is the perfect place to jump in. Build your misfit, pick your lies, and see who believes you.
