The Outer Worlds [Gameplay #3] - Murder Incorporated [ENDING]
0I rushed through The Outer Worlds inbetween other late 2019 releases and barely spent 20 hours with the game in total. I was reasonably thorough while exploring the environments and managed to hit the max XP level during the last mission, but the game time was significantly reduced on account of me skipping through a ton of dialogue (even with important quest givers and reasonably interesting companions).
There was a zen-like enjoyment to be had from rapidly ticking off quests and stealing everything that wasn't nailed to the floor, but nothing really stood out about the experience. Despite some decent writing and voice acting (Ashly Burch as Parvati!) there was a general lack of pathos and emotional resonance to the story and characters, and the tonal split between light satire and Fallout-esque world building didn't exactly help in that respect. The combat had its moments, but I got frustratingly stuck in bullet sponge territory several times during the campaign. The weapon customization, equipment durability and elemental weaknesses were clearly intended to add RPG micro-management and tactical considerations, but those elements felt more like chores than anything else.
In short, I don't see myself returning to Obsidian's sci-fi experiment anytime soon...