Having finally experienced The Outer Worlds 2 firsthand, it's evident that Obsidian has prioritized deepening the RPG elements. While the first game offered more accessible, streamlined systems for character development, the sequel aims to break away from uniformity and encourage unconventional gameplay. The goal isn't complexity for its own sake but rather to inspire creativity and specialization in player choices.
"We're looking for ways to incentivize the player to experiment with different builds, either traditional or non-traditional," explained design director Matt Singh, discussing the revamped RPG mechanics. He emphasized the team's focus on synergies, where player Skills, Traits, and Perks interact to create unique builds that enhance gameplay. This approach was evident in our exclusive 11-minute gameplay footage, which showcased new gunplay, stealth mechanics, gadgets, and dialogue. In this IGN First exclusive coverage of The Outer Worlds 2, we delve into the intricate details of these revamped systems and what players can anticipate.
Rethinking the Skill System ---------------------------"We would often see characters good at everything, which by the end of the game, minimized your personal experience with your character," reflected lead systems designer Kyle Koenig, discussing the shift from the first game to the sequel. Obsidian is now moving away from Skill categories that grouped stats together, opting instead for individual Skills with more significant differences. "We wanted to focus on making each individual level-up and investment really important. There's less confusion on when I should invest in one Skill or the other. If I want to be a player that's all about guns and using medical devices, I know which Skills I really need to care about. By having them separated and not in groupings, it lets characters be more specialized."
Singh added, "There's more than just a traditional stealth-focused build, combat-focused build, or speech-focused build. There's a lot of blending of concepts, playing with other systems and incorporating those into a pretty broad, but unique range of different player profiles." He highlighted how certain Skill investments could manifest in other ways, such as Observation, which can reveal hidden elements in the environment like secret doors or interactive objects, leading to alternative paths.
The Outer Worlds 2 Character Creation - Screenshots
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While this approach might seem standard for RPGs, The Outer Worlds was unique in grouping Skills together. In the sequel, the revised Skill system aims to create more distinct character builds, particularly in conjunction with the revamped Perks system.
The Perks of Getting Experimental
Obsidian's focus on specificity and unique gameplay paths is clear. "We've significantly increased the number of Perks with over 90 of them – each of those requiring various Skills to unlock. As you invest in Skills, it changes how you can invest in Perks and leads you down many different paths," Koenig explained. He provided an example with the Run and Gun Perk, designed for players using shotguns, SMGs, and rifles, allowing them to fire while sprinting or sliding. When combined with Tactical Time Dilation (TTD), bullet-time action becomes a part of your arsenal in The Outer Worlds 2. Another Perk, Space Ranger, enhances dialogue interactions and grants damage boosts based on your Speech stat. "The way we looked at them when designing them was to look at what are all the different modes of gameplay the player has, and what are all the actions they can take and how can we modify them," Koenig stated.
The Outer Worlds 2 encourages creativity, specialization, and even embracing unconventional choices. "We have a lot of Perks that are catered towards non-traditional play styles," Singh noted, citing an example of a build for players who prefer eliminating every NPC. Such players can lean into this approach with Perks like Psychopath and Serial Killer, which offer bonuses such as permanent health boosts. "Especially in an Obsidian game where we allow you to kill anybody – the game's going to respond, it's going to roll with it, and you're going to still be able to complete the game. It's actually a really fun way to play in a second or third playthrough just to see how far you can take it."
For more traditional playstyles, Koenig discussed builds that exploit the elemental aspects of combat. "Even if you want to mix and match them, you can be a character that's all about plasma and burning things alive while getting healing from it – or using shock damage to scramble automechs and have them fight for you temporarily while paralyzing creatures and humans – or using corrosive damage to take away all their armor and make it so all your attacks against them are critical hits that deal insane amounts of damage."
Singh emphasized other experimental avenues, including opting into detrimental effects that enhance other aspects of your character. He discussed mechanics that reward players for taking damage, asking, "How do I construct a build where I'm actually incentivized to get in there and take damage so that I can then do other things effectively? I really like those kinds of creative builds that allow you to play with that idea and convert something that might be negative into a positive aspect of your build." This design philosophy, a hallmark of the original game, is now a driving force in The Outer Worlds 2, particularly concerning Traits and Flaws.
The Positive and Negative Traits
"One of the things in The Outer Worlds that was a key off of Fallout was you could have negative attributes that would be actively detrimental to your character, but you get a few extra points to spend somewhere else," Koenig noted, referring to the Flaws system in the original game, where players could accept permanent effects in exchange for Perk points. In The Outer Worlds 2, this concept is expanding significantly.
The system of Positive Traits and Negative Traits is central to this give-and-take dynamic, allowing players to choose a negative trait to unlock an additional positive one. For instance, selecting Brilliant grants extra Skill points during character creation, while Brawny enables knocking down targets by sprinting into them. To gain more positives, players might opt for negatives like Dumb, which locks out five Skills, or Sickly, which permanently reduces base health and tolerance for toxicity. These are just a few of the options I encountered in the early stages of the game.
The Outer Worlds 2 Gameplay - Screenshots
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While I will explore the revamped Flaws system in greater detail in a future article, it's clear that The Outer Worlds 2 introduces creative and clever Flaws. In the original game, I often declined Flaws as the trade-off for extra Perk points wasn't worthwhile. Now, the game tracks player behavior and habits, offering Flaws with both positive and negative conditions that appear based on gameplay. Players must opt into these Flaws, which then become permanent character traits.
Guiding Players and Ditching Respec
With numerous intricate elements, Obsidian aims to make these aspects clear and understandable through in-game explanations and UI elements. "Right from the get-go, from character creation, we really wanted to put in the forefront what are the differences of these skills and what they do," Koenig stated. This clarity extends beyond help text to include short videos in the menus that demonstrate gameplay impacts. A notable feature is the ability to mark Perks as favorites before unlocking them, aiding in planning specific progression paths or builds. The requirements and icons in the menu help signify a Perk’s general playstyle and associated Skill.
"We're looking for ways to incentivize the player to experiment with different builds, either traditional or non-traditional," Obsidian's focus on meaningful player choices is evident, particularly with the absence of a respec option after the introductory sequence. Once a Skill, Perk, or Trait is chosen, it's a permanent decision throughout the playthrough. "By removing respec, we really incentivize it to be your experience. It is a part of your experience that no one else had, and I think that's really special about RPGs and something that respec tends to lessen," Koenig explained.
Singh concluded, "Philosophy-wise, we really feel all of your choices should matter. They should be meaningful changes to your gameplay experience. This is just one of those ways where we're asking you to make a choice, stick to it, and see how that plays out in interesting and fun ways."
