Outward Definitive Edition

I played Kenshi with the "Rock Bottom" start, so I don't mind when the beginning of the game gives you a hard time. That's actually the most fun. Outward may appear to do the same, but instead of challenging it just felt annoying. I could not immerse myself/connect with the character, so I don't feel motivated to continue playing. Awful character creation (see "Proteus Effect" why this matters). Collecting berries from a bush (and any other interaction in this game) is very tedious because your character has to stand in a very specific spot. The "sleepcrawl" animation when lying down on a bedroll is very awkward. Lots of ladders but impossible to jump or climb. The story makes no sense. Why go on a voyage to earn money when you can simply loot everything in the village. The people/bullies of Cierzo are horrible so I was planning to leave without paying them, and return later to burn the place down. But it seems it's not possible to kill NPCs. Which means I'd have to go along with their extortion... meh.

This game does not hold your hand at all, for some that's the greatest appeal, for others its biggest drawback. Me personally? I like a lot of it. The only system I'm not a fan of is the timed quests system, I think it adds too much pressure for a game that already demands a lot of attention and diligence from the player, but from what I can tell in these early stages, they don't really matter all that much. There's consequences sure, but you won't trigger a fail-state, and understanding that was what got me to keep playing. Same with death, you don't reload to a checkpoint but instead have to worm your way out of whatever scenario the game put you in as a result. What IS here however, is a neat little survival RPG that requires you to be patient and cautious. There's lots to explore, gear to get, builds to make, and some neat twists on some formulas that I think could be even further refined in other games. I like the backpack system, the death system, I like making camps around the world to rest at, cooking foods to buff me up for a dungeon, and I like that the progression isn't tied to the story, or EXP. It's tied to how much you're willing to spend on gear, skills, as well as…

Love unleveled worlds. Fire.

It is a good game with some quirks. It treats you like an adult in a way that is rare. It is not difficult with gotchas and tricks, it is difficult because you do not understand the system. When you do, the world is your oyster.

I've sunk 100s of hours into this game, both the Steam version and GOG (because I like sandboxing modded versions). I can tell you this - its different. For example, a lot of its difficulty (and this seems intentional by the devs), is actually built into its UI/UX. Case in point - you have gauges for health, stamina, and mana, but no numeric indicators on them. For a game where maximizing efficiency is key, you notice the lack of numbers pretty quick. Similar with buffs, critical for gameplay but don't have time values easily viewable on the HUD. The buff you are relying on could have 10 seconds or 2 minutes remaining, and without a clunky menu interface you can't check. Mods can fix this, and thats what I do, but unlike any other game I've played, these Mods feel like both a QoL improvement and cheating, at the same time. Worst all is the hotkeys for skills - you get 8. Thats it. The skills and items you want to use have to be in there for easy access. You CAN use skills without assigning, but those go though the menu... and you can't just click, you have to right click and click use. You dont want to do that with a mob trying to actively kill you. But you will need that menu …

YESS YESSSS so far this is me and my wife favorites!