God man, shits so sad but I’d be lying if I said I was surprised at all. The first one was very OK, like it was certainly a game that I played and bothered completing. They were very lucky someone had the idea to make Parvati in the first game, the rest of the crew was a snooze fest (at least for me). But then I see the shitty commercial they made for the companions in the 2nd game, and no fucking wonder it didn’t sell! They tell you nothing, play that god awful song over some shitty footage and crack a joke about how none of them are romance-able. They then charge 80 bucks, and make fun of you if you pay for their premium edition, yea go fuck yourself obsidian, and stop taking credit for new Vegas, none of those team members are still around.
Obsidian's The Outer Worlds 2 Underperformed, and There Won't Be a Third - IGN
Submitted 2 weeks ago by iamthetot@piefed.ca to games@lemmy.world
https://www.ign.com/articles/obsidians-the-outer-worlds-2-underperformed-and-there-wont-be-a-third
Comments
TheGreenWizard@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
VerilyFemme@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
Might just be me but… I really like the companions in the Outer Worlds 2. They’re way better than the first game. The inability to romance them was actually a selling point to me, because I assumed that meant each character’s arc would focus on their own story unrelated to their relationship with the player, like in New Vegas.
So far, I’ve loved how Inez especially expands on the history of Auntie’s Choice. There’s one companion that’s just a little goofy, but I also don’t know how you’d do that character without making them extremely naive.
The game as a whole actually is much more fleshed-out than the first, at least thus far (halfway through). I highly recommend getting it on a sale.
SoloCritical@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
This is an accurate take haha.
BigBananaDealer@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
dude parvarti was like 95% of the reason i kept playing outer worlds 1 until the end 😂
AlexanderTheDead@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I’m not sure which of you is right, but another comment below said JSawyer is still at Obsidian. That’s the name for me, and probably for a lot of people.
TheGreenWizard@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
I’ll be real, I did not know he still worked there, that’s what I get for saying things without looking it up. That being said, according to Wikipedia, he didn’t have a hand in OW1, Avowed, or OW2. Why brag about having JSawyer if he isn’t even working on it you know?
BlameTheAntifa@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
$70 for a game is mad. Even if it was critically acclaimed and award winning who can afford that when most people struggle to live? Even $50 is a lot of money. Big game developers have lost the plot.
DarkFuture@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I mean I play the games either way.
So whether companies learn to make their games affordable for the vast majority of Americans who are cash strapped or not is irrelevant to me.
I’m just wondering how long it takes these companies to realize how many others like me there are out there and that they could be making a lot more money if they just made prices reasonable.
I actualy finally have a decent income and I still do what I do if the price isn’t fair, just out of spite.
LifeLikeLady@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
This will be the new normal for a couple years. Then when no one in the US can afford a $30 game. They’ll set the prices back for $60.
Sarmyth@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
This for me too. It is too high a ticket price for a game I want to play but and not excited about. My hardware will possibly also struggle with this title, so that was too high of a barrier for me.
MyDarkestTimeline01@ani.social 2 weeks ago
Haven’t they lost almost all of the staff involved with the good games? At this point they’re in the same boat as BioWare. All the old guard is gone.
Yarny@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
Didn’t mind the first one, but you are out of your mind if you think I would pay $70 for this game. Especially after they tried to sell it for $80 at first. Thank god that didn’t fly. Fuck you Microsoft.
It’s crazy too, because most games that launch for $70, you can just wait 3 months and then they’ll have a 30% sale. I will be picking it up this March, should go on sale for like 40%.
thingsiplay@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
On Steam store.steampowered.com/app/…/The_Outer_Worlds_2/ the lowest price it had was 2 month ago (approx. 1 year after release on Steam I think) at 30% cut, which is 49 Euros down from 70. So it might take another 6 or even 12 months before going lower than that.
Yarny@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
The Outer Worlds 2 came out October 29th, 2025 (not even 4 months ago). So for it to already be at 30% gives me hope that it’ll go down much more next sale. I’m assuming it didn’t sell that well on steam just looking at number of reviews and all time player count peak.
CallMeAnAI@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
The first one was mostly terrible and coasted on, 'not Bethesda ’ and fallout vibes. But it was shallow and janky.
Kolanaki@pawb.social 2 weeks ago
I remember getting it because the hype around it being better at RPG storytelling than Fallout 4 which was still new was the number one thing I heard about it.
While it is better written, I’ll give it that, it very much suffers from the same lack of interesting choices that Fallout 4 has. You have rebel, capitalist, and maybe sometimes a neutral 3rd option. Having two of those three choices just make one side happy and the other mad at you isn’t exactly the kind of depth I was hoping for.
Gladaed@feddit.org 2 weeks ago
Shallow and janky is peak fallout.
Coelacanth@feddit.nu 2 weeks ago
I’m afraid you’re conflating “Fallout” with “Bethesda”. Fallout 1&2 are peak Fallout, and they are neither shallow nor janky. Well, maybe slightly janky but more in the sense of “dated” than Bethesda type jank.
TheFeatureCreature@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
No way in hell I’d pay its nearly $100CAD asking price.
sad_detective_man@sopuli.xyz 2 weeks ago
For how phoned in the story was and how badly it runs in UE5 it’s kind of insane that they charged above $50
Passerby6497@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Honestly, the first one was Ok, I’m kinda surprised there was a second one.
Ok, not really surprised,since every IP needs to be a franchise, but you know what I mean.
CosmoNova@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I didn‘t like the first one so this was a hard pass for me. However I didn‘t even know the sequel was out yet. This thing completely drowned among better priced indie games.
chewables@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
I ended up pirating it because the price was just out of the question for me at the time I found out it was released. Which was purely by chance
Overall it was an okay experience but I didn’t like the cast as much as the original, had to download some mods for my first playthrough (not something I usually do) to fix some things I found annoying, and was just kinda bored. If I’d had anything else to do I probably wouldn’t have finished it, and I don’t see myself going back for a second playthrough. Indie games just seem to be doing everything better rn
commander@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Outer Worlds 2, Avowed, Mass Effect Andromeda, Dragon Age Veilguard - each one of these games were touted for their improved combat, at least improved movement. That’s not to say any are great, just that they’re not as clunky as previous games. They are not standout in that regard. So for Bioware and Obsidian, it is still the case that their draw is writing in a higher budget RPG than the startup indie scene. Pretty much where Owlcat is now getting to with Warhammer and the Expanse licensed games, that’s where Bioware and Obsidian were 20-25 years ago. Narrative games
Bioware and Obsidian games aren’t so fun to play to appeal with mediocre writing. I think like an 80+% reduction of irony, snark, sarcasm, eye rolls, modern slang, knods to modern culture would do wonders for their games writing. Don’t have to get rid of all of it. Just have them be more fun finds in a dialog tree while the rest of the narrative takes itself seriously
Devmapall@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
I couldn’t get into veil guard. The combat was pretty good and it looks pretty. The characters were annoying and seemed… Type cast? All their dialogue seemed corny. Maybe they get better throughout the story but the story also didn’t grab me.
I played all the others and the mass effect series multiple times. I even enjoyed Andromeda for what it was (though I quit at the final mission save for some reason).
commander@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
My guess on Veilguard is that after the original creator left, now it was up to remaining writers to maintain passion in lore that they didn’t formulate. So Veilguard, it all gets watered down and anticlimactically rolled out and the focus ended up being relationship drama which still sucked. A Dragon Age game that wants to be Lifetime channel medieval teenage fantasy romance but the characters are all seasoned combat veteran adults so it’s very weird for them to behaving so childish and unprofessional or even blase about the world ending/faith shattering reveals in the story
I played DA1-3 a bunch of times. Veilguard just sucks. ME1-3 I never liked like KOTOR 1and 2 but good enough. Andromeda, it’s not interesting. Dropped maybe halfway through. Good gunplay and movement but overly big uninteresting worlds. I don’t remember what any character wanted. At least Inquisition, the different areas were visually memorable
Zaraki42@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
I enjoyed it… sorry.
iamthetot@piefed.ca 2 weeks ago
Don’t apologize for enjoying a game.
zod000@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Your extremely expensive try-hard sequel to a just OK game didn’t blow everyone away? Womp womp. Obsidian died when MS bought them.
zebidiah@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
Not shocked. this seems like, at best, it might be a $10 steam pickup… Same as the first game
fyrilsol@kbin.melroy.org 2 weeks ago
I got the first Outer Worlds for free...on Epic.
The sequel will probably also be given away for free at somepoint.
EtAl@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
I’m not surprised. I was going into the final stretch of Outer Worlds 1 and realized I just don’t care. It wasn’t a bad game but New Vegas it was not.
trebor8201@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Right. An hour after maxing out my character I realized I wasn’t really having fun anymore, I was just trying to get it over with.
greedytacothief@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Outer worlds 1 was fine. It was goofy, had character, but no depth to it’s story. The gunplay was not good, not for me anyway. Can we not do bullet sponges and leveled lists? Can levels give you abilities instead of numbers? Honestly would have been a better game if it was an isometric RPG, which obsidian is good at making.
yakko@feddit.uk 2 weeks ago
Was. But I do agree.
BaraCoded@literature.cafe 2 weeks ago
Tried it 🏴☠️, they seem to have gone for “It’s bigger than the first one!” and indeed it is. Big, empty spaces to run through with nothing happening. Uninstalled. 70€ saved.
Stop making huge environments full of nothing.
TalkingFlower@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
For some reason, I just felt the humour was trying too hard, plus the price tag made the overall package unappealing to me.
Acidbath@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Is the second game really “meh”? I enjoyed the first one but that was because I got stupidly high everytime I play. There has been moments where I would sober up and question why everyone in a town hates me and why is everyone dead. Don’t remember the details either, epic games corrupted my save and I gave up.
P00ptart@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
The first was meh. Dunno about the second, but I have to assume it was also meh.
ieGod@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Yeah the first was alright, like a small scale Bethesda game with pretty ok gunplay. I got my copy for free (thanks epic) but it still wasn’t enough to interest me to buy the second.
kryptonianCodeMonkey@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I kept getting mixed up with Outer Worlds and Outer Wilds, and got really excited then disappointed when I heard about Outer Worlds 2, thinking that Outer Wilds was getting a sequel. So it was always a bummer to me even without actually playing the game.
alchemy88@feddit.uk 2 weeks ago
Shame. I really enjoyed playing this on gamepass. It wasn’t amazing but I completed it which is rare these days.
tiredofsametab@fedia.io 2 weeks ago
There were unpatched issues in the first one (it's been so long now I don't remember them all but there was one in a DLC where you're supposed to be able to give an item to a robot NPC but it was just broken in addition to several others).
Looking at the price and thinking of that, it was a "pass until decent sale" for me.
I do like the setting generally (at least based on the first one). It might be neat to have someone else take over the IP and go somewhere with it.
P00ptart@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
They were a little too heavy handed on the preachyness imo. I agree with the point but that doesn’t mean I want to be hit with a metaphorical hammer for 20+ hours.
Kazumara@discuss.tchncs.de 2 weeks ago
I didn’t realise it came out already. Whoops.
termaxima@slrpnk.net 2 weeks ago
I mean, there’s no great secret, right ? The Outer Wilds is just an alright-ish franchise. Bethesda without the incompetence, but also without the hype.
BigBananaDealer@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
and without the fun
Kazumara@discuss.tchncs.de 2 weeks ago
The Outer Wilds
That’s the wrong game
kalpol@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
And just to be clear, The Outer Wilds is way more than just alright.
termaxima@slrpnk.net 2 weeks ago
Yeah sorry, very easy to confuse ! Outer Wilds is one of the defining masterpieces of gaming, Outer Worlds is just alright.
purplemonkeymad@programming.dev 2 weeks ago
I don’t often see people making the mistake that way around. I mostly saw people not realising that the outer wilds was a different game to the outer worlds.
Kjell@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I liked the first Outer Worlds but didn’t even look towards Outer Worlds 2 because it was other better or more interesting games that was released last year.
It feels like it was to much to release Avowed, Outer Worlds 2 and Grounded 2 in the same year. They should have spread out the games more to polish them more before the release.
RainbowBlite@piefed.ca 2 weeks ago
I much prefer their isometric titles anyway.
bigmamoth@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
But i thought capitalisme le bad with reddit humor was very popular ?
What happenned ? Does the dev that was proud to publicly said he did racial discrimination to recruit new talent was wrong once again ?
whitecollarcry@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Saw it came out and thought for a second “I want to play that” but in reality there was nothing redeeming from the first to bring me back
SmokyOrange@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Thats where I’m at. I’m just now wrapping up Outer Worlds 1 and its just not that good or memorable.
scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 2 weeks ago
I think it was good, but not memorable. It was… Fine. It was a fun romp, I don’t feel like I wasted it, but I don’t think there needs to be a huge franchise either.
I’m all for fine games. Not everything needs to be red dead levels and they did that with outer worlds. That said, I was shocked when Microsoft wanted 80 bucks for it when the first one was clearly a 40 dollar game
BigBananaDealer@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
i finished the first one but couldn’t even push past 2 hours on the second. Just awful
anamethatisnt@sopuli.xyz 2 weeks ago
I’m waiting for the game to be released on gog.com. I really enjoyed the first game.
CannedCairn@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
This reminds me to finish the outer wilds.
kalpol@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
You gotta finish. The ending sticks with you a while
stoy@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
It underperformed due to them overcharging for it.
I had my sights set on buying it shortly after launch, then they decided to charge €80 for it on launch, and still charge €70 for it.
I would be fine with €60, but more is just greedy.
And yes I noticed way too late that they had it on sale for €50 this december, and I missed that opportunity due to other expenses.
Warl0k3@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
It’s a great game imho, but I was gifted my copy - in no world is a game worth €80, it’s completely divorced from reality. Fucking tragic the publisher just killed it on delivery.
stoy@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Yeah, the price for new games had been fixed for a long time at €50, and then the industry decided to whack it up to €70 just as the cost of living reached even higher.
And now they are standing around scratching their heads asking why their games failed…
Now, I realize that the cost of living also affects companies and their staff, but come on, you don’t whack the price up by 40% in one go, you start earlier and raise it by 10-20%, let it stabilize and go from there.
That is more in line with the inflation rate.
Damage@feddit.it 2 weeks ago
Aside from it being a high price for any game, the first game also was very meh, you can’t expect lots of sales from its fans
P00ptart@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
The first one felt very forced as far as the leftist story goes. I’m as leftist as there is but it still felt really heavy handed. I got maybe 3 hours in and never picked it up again.
Kirp123@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I feel that the game would have been fine if it was an actually game worth playing. The first game already was kinda meh and I don’t even know who demanded a sequel. Nobody is going to pay 80 Euro for a mediocre game when they could get a bunch of indie games with that money.
stoy@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
I really enjoyed the first one, and am looking forward to the second, but first it needs to get a better price, and preferably get on GOG.
Mister_Feeny@fedia.io 2 weeks ago
They actually walked back the 80 to 70 BEFORE launch, but the bad press about it stuck anyway.
I skipped it myself cuz even though I generally like Obsidian games, I don't spend money on microsoft anymore.
Prove_your_argument@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
I basically refuse to pay more than $50 for a game.
The outer wilds had some good press but by the time I was interested it was given away for free. Guessing that’ll be the case here too.