Outward ps43/8/2023 ![]() ![]() The funny thing is, once you get a handle on the complex stuff, the game is quite a thrilling ride and highly replayable because of the many options open as you try and die (or die less than you think). Waking up in an enemy camp with all your stuff gone after a ton of hard work is no picnic when you need to figure a way the hell out of Dodge and not die (again) in the process. ![]() Sometimes this can be beneficial, other times, eh, not so much. The game also handles dying in a unique way, as you’re going to be revived in a random manner, ending up in one of a number of places without your pack or sometimes, any gear at all. Even the common act of hoarding what you think you need is penalized somewhat significantly as carry weight matters and yes, you’ll be dropping that precious storage pack in order to fight more efficiently. ![]() Just about everything can and will kill you from bad food to enemies that will chase you down and poke at you or hit you with spells until your stamina and life run out. The game will also truly frustrate certain types of players from “save-scum” addicts who rely on reloading to progress past the hard bits (the game has a sole save file that overwrites as you play), those who like jumping or grabbing ledges to get away from danger (there’s no jumping in the game), and anyone who simply despises crafting and/or survival elements in any game they play. Oh wait – hold on a sec… someone’s at the door… What, so early in the day for this? Gyaaaaah.Ī quiet moment to contemplate, but don’t spend too long thinking, as darkness brings a whole set of problems you’ll not want to deal with. Still, even after you get used to the preparation aspects, expect death to come calling regularly like early morning doorbell-ringing proselytizers cheerily chatting on about the end of the world the moment you poke your head outside. Do you have your traps prepared? Got enough clean water? What are you wearing for the weather? Did you pack your lunch? Clearly, this isn’t a game for those who don’t like to be reminded that rote carelessness other RPGs let you get away with won’t be rewarded by anything but an easier demise in this game. Once you’re out in the open world of Aurai, your brain needs to go into invisible mommy mode before you get busy with that questing, so get ready to take *everything* under consideration. In fact, preparation for every obstacle the game will throw your way is a huge part of surviving, to the point where you’ll be playing this with a keener eye to (at least) staying alive for as long as possible. That said, prepare for a completely punishing game experience that combines fantasy RPG, survival game and simulation elements with a very welcome two player split screen mode and the option to play online with a friend or total stranger. There are still a few pesky bits, but I’ll get to those later. Over the last few updates the game became much better and is now a solid recommend for those who want something fresh and furiously challenging. That waiting turned out to be a good thing. I decided after a random death that had me unable to locate my bag when I resumed, to stop playing for a bit and move onto a few other games while I held out for a patches to correct these issues. There were a few other issues with the game, such as items randomly vanishing from the bag I was carrying, my character or an enemy getting stuck in certain parts of the map when doing certain actions, and a few textures that could have used a bit more polish, among other things. Fortunately, they did (well, for the most part). I recall my eyebrow arching up and letting out a “Great.” before resuming play with the hope things would go more upward before I got too far outward. During my digital near-death experience, I ran away to recover, only to return and find he’d just *poof!* simply disappeared from the spot where he and the other guard I’d dispatched were placed. For the record, I wanted to dislike Outward ($39.99) less than 15 minutes in after nearly dying during the tutorial thanks to an near-invincible enemy guard whose health never seemed to drop past a certain point and kept regenerating far too quickly to be reasonable. ![]()
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