Yeah, I kinda hated Star Wars Outlaws for the first couple hours.
Always a good sign! But that whole prologue heist on Canto Bight felt really pedestrian. Maybe I was still a little annoyed at being forced to create an Ubisoft account (always hate having to do that) and it took me a long time to tweak my preferred settings, but I was hoping for something a bit more impressive, some grand spectacle that would get my pulse going. Something akin to the beast fight arena from Bounty Hunter or the Clone Wars graveyard and runaway train set-piece from Jedi: Fallen Order. Just having Kay wake up and mooch around the streets wasn't exactly making me care much, and showing me one pretty vista didn't grab me, either. The game's tutorials are confusingly scattershot (constantly highlighting what ledge to jump to, but never telling me how to crouch) and Kay felt clunky to control through crowds and narrow alleys.
So, I put my controller down, got some food, made a phone call, and came back fresh to the game proper. Kay was now on Toshara, and as I rode my speeder bike away from my ship, I found the spectacle I was looking for. Despite wanting to explore, I decided to focus on story and, without any single moment making it an obvious change, gradually came to realise that I was having a heck of a lot of fun. I got used to the controls (which still aren't perfect, but they'll do) and began to make sense of where I needed to look amidst the convoluted menus. Nix became invaluable support in both combat and stealth, rather than just the fetch mechanic he represented to begin with. Characters began to take shape around me, and I could concentrate on them long enough to form opinions. I started to care and hey, that's half the battle, right there.
Being able to form said opinions helped when it came to making decisions between the factions. I realise it's never gonna go deeper than adding surface-level flavour (nobody at Lucasfilm would have given Ubisoft freedom to decide the fate of major characters or organisations from Star Wars canon) but I at least wanted to get to know the crime bosses, their underlings, and get a sense of their perspectives. For the most part, it feels like I'm being given the opportunity to do just that, to the point where I absolutely tanked Kay's reputation with Crimson Dawn in favour of supporting the Pykes and the Hutts. I'm a little annoyed that the best cosmetics I've seen (so far) are the reward for getting maximum rep with the Hutts. Why give me something so cool to wear as a reward for something that I'm clearly gonna attain ten minutes before the endgame?!
One thing that was great from the get-go? The sound design, and especially the music. Wilbert Roget II has been one of my favourite video game composers for a while now, so when I realised the soundtrack was his, everything made sense. It's a perfect blend of all the major musical styles featured across the franchise, built around one heck of a hummable central theme for Kay.
I'm playing in 21:9 letterbox, which looks gorgeous, especially when blasting across a wide open landscape or taking the Trailblazer into orbit. I have finished all the main quests on Toshara and Kijimi, and will spend a brief session tomorrow morning tidying up some of the more intriguing side quests I ignored before getting back to proper progress on Wednesday. Can't decide whether to hit Tatooine right away (one of my favourite Star Wars planets) or save it for later. We'll see.
Oh, and thanks to the DLC included in my Gold Edition (which I got cheap in a sale last year) I also have this hanging from the back of Kay's bike...
And I made Nix blue. He's adorable. If anybody hurts him, I will not be held responsible for my actions!
"If I let not knowing anything stop me from doing something, I'd never do everything!"
@Werehog I’m glad it’s finally clicking for you! Even if it took a few hours to warm up. I think it was a similar gradual simmer for me as well and before I knew it I had a pretty good connection to Kay and some of the companions (especially Nix, for sure!)
I do think you may want to prioritize Tatooine if you want to fast track your Hutt reputation. But honestly, there’s more and more opportunities to get in the good graces with the different factions as you progress. I was able to max out every syndicate, some sooner than others, and still have ample time before the ending to enjoy using the rewards you get, which are both cosmetic and practical. In fact, for the last third, or so, of the game I had many more things to outfit my Kay with than I could really use and sometimes the best looking outfits didn’t have the perks that I valued most for my playstyle. But getting to the highest reputation with all the factions definitely makes the game easier, so for no other reason than being able to roam more freely on the map, you should try to max them all out, imho. But I do think I pushed for the Pykes first and the others came later. Of course, sometimes siding with one group will automatically lower the rep with another group, but there’s other opportunities that simply build rep for one group without affecting any others.
Anyway, take all that for what it’s worth. I’m hoping that your time with the game gets even better as you move along! How do you find the basic gameplay and progression through the maps? I remember your saying that this is actually your first Ubisoft open world game. Does it feel familiar or entirely different than you expected?
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Werehog Happy to hear your opinion on Star Wars: Outlaws turned around eventually! I know how excited you must've been for an open world game set in this universe, so I can imagine it was incredibly disappointing at first to not feel the connection you hoped to have with it. I'm surprised to hear the game has a reputation system and choices. I didn't realise it had some RPG flavour to it. Are they at all meaningful choices within the games narrative/ensemble of characters or is it really just for cosmetic rewards and such? I also didn't know it had proper squadmates and such. It seems like there is more to this game than I previously thought! Have previous Ubisoft games done squadmates? If they did, I can't think of any.
Anyway, glad you're having a great time now! Hope it stays that way for the entire duration. Excited to see what screenshots you'll be able to grab.
@Th3solution Appreciate the advice, buddy! Which I was able to follow yesterday (didn't get to play any Monday, alas) and I have now cleared all of the main story missions on Tatooine. I also hung around and did the extra pre-order / deluxe edition mission for Jabba, which... was totally not worth it, and I can see why it caused a minor controversy around the game's launch window. But the upshot is, I'm now at max rep with the Hutts and Kay is sporting the colourful outfit I wanted, so yay!
Because I was keeping focus on the story, I didn't realise how easy it'd be to max out a syndicate's rep. Between the job brokers, collectible intel sales, and most side quests featuring some kind of last minute, "You know, you could always screw 'em over and help their rivals!" potential for a rug-pull, I have a much clearer idea of what's possible now and you're right, if I'm desperate to max out any of the remaining syndicates, it'd only take an hour of odd jobs to achieve. I'm happy to carry on for now (even though the Pykes and Crimson Dawn currently hate Kay's guts) and see where the story takes me. Should I end up tanking my rep with the Hutts at some point, it won't matter. Been there, done that, literally got the t-shirt!
The rep system is honestly the only major difference between this and all the other open-world games I've played before, so you're right, while this is technically my first Ubisoft sandbox, there's nothing here that's surprising me (or worse, confusing me). I mean yeah, there's a lot to keep track of, lots of sub-menus and ability upgrades and optional gadgets and whatnot, but I've played "busy" games before, so that's nothing unique. Most of the time I've had to double-check something, it's because the game is using Star Wars language to describe a common mechanic, and my brain lags between being a gamer and being a geek. I think we're at the point in AAA game development where it's less about bold new ideas and more about how successfully you can pull off your planned recipe using known ingredients. Despite still struggling with a few clunky moments here and there, I'd say Outlaws is being very successful in that regard.
Oh, and that mission to infiltrate Jabba's Palace? So much fun. Made me one heck of a happy nerd!
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@Tjuz Thank you! Knowing that Outlaws was gonna end up being a much larger, more sweeping multi-planet adventure definitely helped in that slow prologue, that's for sure. And I always try to allow for a degree of a "grump factor" the older I get, as well. I'd never criticise something for not doing what I want it to do, but I do find that I'm susceptible to the occasional, "This isn't what I'm used to and I'm pressing all the wrong buttons!" kind of irrational hatred. Which I never carry forward, but still, it's a thing!
As far as I'm aware (unless the endgame pulls out a surprise) no, Kay's choices between the syndicates aren't really meaningful. Like I said before, I sincerely doubt that Lucasfilm would have given Ubisoft permission to make drastic changes to the Star Wars galaxy's status quo. The game is set in a very specific time period as well, in the short gap between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. There's no way I'm gonna be able to overthrow the Hutts or dismantle the Pykes or anything, because they have to endure. There is a new syndicate unique to the game (which I have no influence over or interaction with outside of cutscenes) so my guess is that the story's major twists will impact them.
And also no, there aren't any proper squadmates, either! But I can totally see how my previous wording might have given that impression, sorry! Kay has Nix, who is a cute lil' fuzzball you can command to fetch items, distract enemies and security cameras, open doors, etc. but he's basically an extension of Kay's own abilities, albeit a very cute one. There is a bit of a "build your crew" element to the story, but this just gradually adds NPCs to your ship, a'la the Normandy or Tempest. They don't seem to accompany you anywhere outside of specific missions or scripted instances.
Not sure about previous Ubisoft games, as this is my first one! But it doesn't sound like something they'd do, at least not as a core game mechanic. From what I know second-hand, I think some of the Assassin's Creed games have things like an eagle companion. Nix feels like an extension of that.
Unfortunately, its Photo Mode can occasionally cause the game to crash! It's a known bug that can still cause problems, so I'm not taking as many screenshots as I'd like. Probably for the best, though!
"If I let not knowing anything stop me from doing something, I'd never do everything!"
@Werehog You might know this already, but if you’re going for the platinum you have to bottom out your reputation with at least one syndicate, so if you’re on the low side with one, you might as well go on a shooting spree in their territory and get the credit for lowest possible reputation. There’s trophies for maxing out rep with each one too.
I didn’t go through the trouble of the platinum as there’s loads of other combat specific trophies and minigames. Also, I don’t enjoy the Wanted status and there’s some specific trophies tied to doing things while Wanted and I didn’t mess with those.
How are you finding Sabacc? I dabbled in it but didn’t really spend much time doing the optional Sabacc tournaments.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution Oh, thanks, but I got the "lowest rep" trophy back on Kijimi...! Already hated Crimson Dawn before they showed up in the game, so naturally ended up tanking 'em pretty early. I have the Hutt's max rep trophy now as well, so figured there'd be more for each syndicate.
I remember you mentioned you stopped short of the platinum in your post-game impressions, and I totally understand you bowing out, since I have naturally unlocked some of the random trophies (such as beating my high score at an arcade cabinet and surviving a Death Trooper kill order) which give me a good idea of the full list. Funnily enough, sabacc is one of those things I consider a similar sort of "mop-up" activity. I enjoyed it as an atmospheric story beat, but then got stuck thinking I had to play it against that literal jarhead when all I'd done is accidentally trigger a side quest. When I realised my mistake, I was relieved to be able to back out with an, "I'll come back to this later, maybe." From what I gather, it plays a larger role in one of the two DLCs.
Speaking of which, did you get the DLC packs? I know you're not usually a fan of pre-planned expansions, and I know one of them doesn't unlock until you clear the main story, but the other's been sitting in my Journal for a while now, so I'm wondering whether to play it before or after the big finale.
Which is my next main mission. I cleared Anaxes earlier, and am all set for the point of no return. The creepy mission set in an abandoned Battle Droid factory was a new favourite!
I'm super-busy for the next few days, so it's gonna be a long wait to see how it all ends. Argh!
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@Jammer If the demo only covers the prologue, then don't use it to judge the whole game. Everything gets significantly more fun after the first few hours!
"If I let not knowing anything stop me from doing something, I'd never do everything!"
@Werehog Yeah, I do not have any of the DLC expansions, so unfortunately have no advice about the timing of playing them. I will be very curious to hear how you like them though! I think I recall that they were well received by fans of the game. And I’m also interested in your final thoughts when you’re able to get through the finale. You’ve made quick progress through the story so I really hope that it crescendos sufficiently for you.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Werehog I'm surprised Star Wars: Outlaws activated that ''not what I'm used to'' feeling of all things! As far as I thought, it's not doing anything particularly different from most modern open-world games. I guess if this is your first Ubisoft game however, maybe there's just some inherently accepted language to its gameplay that you're not familiar with yet! That said, I don't think it's very different from the likes of Horizon in how their open worlds are built up, so I wonder what specifically triggered that feeling for you then, as I know you're a fan of those games.
It's funny when a game based on a major licensed IP like this throws in their unique characters exclusively to have some playing room. It's necessary of course, especially if the license holder expects you to stick to the canon rather than letting you do whatever. It's like Telltale introducing a whole new house previously only mentioned by name as a one-off line in the books in their Game of Thrones game. Somehow, they were relevant to the major characters we all know and love and their journey does have implications on a larger scale, yet it never comes to any fruition within the multi-media canon. I honestly think it's better when they just let writers play with the story and acknowledge not everything needs to be some canon event. Especially with something like this, where I highly doubt its characters and unique faction will show up in any meaningful way beyond this game. Just let it be its own thing and play with the established arcs. It's what they let Eidos Montreal do with their Guardians of the Galaxy game for example. and I'd say it was for the better. Imagine if they'd have had to stick exactly to their movie counterparts or whatever.
And no worries! Thanks for the elaboration on the squadmate. I do love having a lil' fuzzball by my side in games, whether they're fully functioning squadmates or not. It's certainly better than having some boring eagle like in Assassin's Creed! I don't believe that they ever played an important role in any of the stories, so Nix is already ahead on them when it comes to that. It's still cool that they also will have NPCs on your ship as well as accompanying you throughout multiple missions however. It doesn't need to be freeform, but to have a continuous arc with them is always appreciated. Especially in sci-fi games which often can have the issue where you're visiting a ton of planets and no one reappears just due to the nature of no one having a reason to leave where you met them. Shocking to me that the photo mode remains a hazardous venture even this far from launch! I've never heard of any Ubisoft games having an issue like that previously, so that's disappointing. I'm sure I'll still be seeing whatever you manage to grab however, and I'm sure they'll still be great shots! I hope you've been enjoying your time all the more over the last week. It sounds like you have judging from your response to Th3solution!
@Th3solution Thanks! Opted to press on with the main story ASAP and then spent a very enjoyable extended session tidying up a few side quests and upgrades I'd missed along the way, before playing the first of the two DLCs this morning. Will play the second tomorrow and be done for now, as I don't reckon I'll be sticking around to earn the game's platinum... this time. Because I do intend on replaying it someday (when I'm a little less distracted by real life) and that'll likely be when I stop to smell the roses and 100% everything.
The story's ending was good, very good. It did feel slightly top-heavy, though. For the vast majority of the game, sure, stuff had happened, but none of it got in the way of the core gameplay loop. Missions were mostly singular and never really dragged on, with most clocking in under an hour. I was therefore surprised to get locked into a multi-mission three-hour endgame right after a pretty major development, an endgame which seemed to be hiding 80% of the plot and a fair few twists and revelations of its own. I know "pacing" is an overused word in gaming criticism nowadays (especially in open-world games where the player largely dictates their own pace) but it did make me wonder whether there might have been a better way to space everything out across the thirty-odd hours I'd taken to reach the Point of No Return.
It was also a little unpolished. Maybe that's on me, coming straight from two AAA first-party exclusives, but I spotted a lot of pop-in, level loading flickers, and pre-rendered cutscenes which failed to reflect my cosmetic choices. They might have been going on the entire time, but the breakneck pace of the finale made them way more noticeable. I tried not to let it impact my enjoyment of what was otherwise a triumphant and very satisfying fist-pumping rollercoaster ride, but unfortunately it did blunt its edge.
Did you play it on your PS5 Pro and, if so, did you use its Pro patch? Perhaps I'll be too busy to replay it until I'm on PS6 and the console will just power through those hitches.
Anyway, my favourite bit was the Terminator section (and I'm hoping you'll know what I mean by that) and while I know you didn't get along with the space combat as much as the on-foot action, I did think the choice for its final gameplay beat was a strong one. That kinda battle always makes for a spectacular finish! Who came to your aid? I got Jabba, which I was more than happy with!
The first DLC, 'Wild Card', is a lot of fun. Its second half is made of more predictable fare, lots of sneaking around vast environments and riding your speeder around Toshara, but its first half is basically Casino Royale in space, with Kay, Nix and ND-5 tasked with infiltrating and winning an elite sabacc tournament on an elusive casino resort starship. Lando Calrissian helps out, expanding on his minor role from the main game, and the presentation for the sabacc game really stepped things up a notch.
Should all go according to plan, I'll report back with a few thoughts on the second DLC over the weekend. It's the one I'm looking forward to most, as it stars the pirate Hondo Ohnaka, one of my favourite Star Wars characters from The Clone Wars and Rebels, so I'm sure I'll love it regardless!
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@Tjuz I was surprised, too. But it was more the kind of... well, y'know how every game puts the "grenade" button in a different place, so there's always that need to pay attention and re-adjust? Minor things that don't really matter, but if there are enough of them, it makes the whole game feel off-kilter. That was my first hour with Outlaws. And I'm sure that now, thanks to Outlaws, whatever I pick up to play next will equally suffer, because it won't be the same as Outlaws. Does that make sense?
I'll freely admit that occasionally Disney's insistence on "everything being canon" has ended up hurting Star Wars a couple times, to the point where I don't think they're as strict as they used to be, but when they have been able to thread the needle, it's had the desired effect. For example, Outlaws features a handful of cameos that most casual players (or even some dedicated fans) might not recognise as cameos, but they work perfectly as original characters unique to Kay's adventure. I understand why multimedia franchises still try to get away with that kinda "have your cake and eat it" approach because if balanced correctly, it's a lot of fun. Having said that, I do agree with you in that sometimes, if you can't get it right, it's better to cut loose. Star Wars has its Visions series for that kinda mayhem, but little else. From what I gather, Game of Thrones is more of a singular continuity, whereas Marvel (and DC) have thrived on fresh interpretations of its characters over the years, so I'd almost expect their videogames to be unique to themselves and therefore free to chart their own course. You mention Guardians of the Galaxy but I'm also thinking of Insomniac's Spidey games, and the upcoming 1943: Rise of Hydra (which I'm excited for). Isn't that why the MCU introduced its non-canon Marvel Spotlight label, so that it can park some of its experimental Disney+ shows off to one side?
Nix is absolutely one of the very best fuzzball companions in all gaming history, that's something Star Wars can do perfectly without even trying! My inner cynic wants to blame their marketing department but honestly, there's nothing wrong with a healthy dose of cute every now and again. And you're right, the immersion of keeping a crew close really helps, too. Outlaws is one of the most detailed games I've ever enjoyed, it's staggering the amount of environmental touches they managed to add. To have something like an ally magically appear on a totally different planet would spoil all that effort.
Thank you! I think I figured out what causes the Photo Mode to crash the game, and managed to avoid it as best I could, but then it still randomly crashed on me yesterday. I've been very conservative with my captures as a result, but I have a decent handful, which I'll share once I've finished the second DLC.
"If I let not knowing anything stop me from doing something, I'd never do everything!"
@Werehog I totally agree about how the story was backloaded. I enjoyed it all the same, but it’s a risky way to design the game because story-focused gamers may lose interest, drop-off, and otherwise miss a narrative journey that they would have otherwise loved. I believe a strong finish is what elevates a game from being simply ‘good’ to ‘outstanding’, but there needs to be enough enticement through the first and middle acts to help convince people to stick around for that ending.
I played the game on my base PS5, before I got a Pro. I didn’t note anything egregious as far as performance or visuals, but there was some of the hitching and pop-in, as you mentioned. There was graphical inconsistency at times too. In some scenes Kay and other characters looked a little strange and uncanny, whilst other times they looked really good. Apparently the game was in poor shape at launch, and there were technical and gameplay issues, even game-breaking issues. Fortunately patching has ironed out the worst performance offenders. But yeah, I had come from FF7 Crisis Core (a remastered PSP game) which is a nice remaster, but still is not comparable to strike the contrast like a polished first party PS5 game. I did notice some of the issues you mentioned though, like the cosmetics not being present in some of the cutscenes.
As far as the syndicate that came to aid there at the end, I think it was actually the Queen and the Ashiga clan, if I recall correctly. I had really high reputation with all the groups at the end and so memory’s a little vague as to who it was since I didn’t feel particularly connected to one over another. I’m glad you got your buddy Jabba though! 😄
I’m also happy to see your positive reception of the DLC so far. I do look forward to hearing how A Pirate’s Fortune turns out. And I’m pleased that Ubisoft hasn’t let you down. I think you now have a blueprint of how they handle their open world franchises, although as I mentioned, Outlaws is quite a deviation in many ways from the Assassin’s Creed games I’ve played, thematically and with the syndicate system and gunplay. Still, the bones of the formula are there, so perhaps you may feel an itch one day to try something else of theirs. Personally, I’m hoping to get back to some AC games I’ve yet to play like Odyssey, Valhalla, and Shadows. And I’m curious about the Avatar game too, especially now that they added a third person viewpoint. But first, Horizon Forbidden West. No, well actually — first, finish Baldur’s Gate! 😅
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Werehog I haven't been on the forum much since Christmas so it's funny to see you start and complete the game in less than a page of posts!
I only played the game last year and enjoyed it even if I got a little tired of it by the end. That wasn't helped by my completionist tendencies as I was chasing up every little lead for increasingly rubbish returns. Eventually I held my nose and just got on with the story and main side content. I got the platinum but still finished the game with 30+ things still to do.
I'm definitely with you on the music though and it had some incredible vistas too. It's just a shame so much of the bigger planets felt so empty.
A solid 7/10 game for me but one I'm sad to hear won't be getting a sequel.
'A Pirate's Fortune' turned out to be Outlaws at its best. Hondo was peak Hondo, with Jim Cummings relishing every line to reinforce his status as one of the greatest voice actors of all time. The story's piratical flair worked brilliantly with the game's underworld vibe (with references to Skeleton Crew being most welcome) and more effort was put into crafting unique locations and set-pieces. Aside from three major new interiors, it adds a whole new star system, a new space station and, most surprisingly, a new ship for Kay to fly (although its limited abilities came as quite a shock after getting used to zipping about in the modified Trailblazer... let's just say, I really missed my auto-turret). By locking itself to the post-story, it was able to include some nice character work between Kay and ND-5, which I appreciated after the comparatively breezy, happy-go-lucky 'Wild Card' adventure. It still played technically scrappy, but I didn't encounter anything game-breaking and honestly, its charm more than compensated.
All in all, a great ending for a pretty great game, and one heck of a brilliant Star Wars experience!
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@Th3solution Glad I wasn't alone in thinking that about the endgame, thanks! I never have a problem with a game (or any other story, really) saving up a big last-minute revelation to raise the stakes but yeah, Outlaws does hold almost all of its narrative cards way too close to its chest, and some of the occasional teases along the way (such as characters dropping hints about Sleero, for example) were fleeting and therefore easily forgotten. It's kinda amazing to me that the Star Wars game with the most cinematic presentation, story, and audio design would choose to be an open world sandbox in which players are free to wander about and lose track of everything! But then perhaps the incredible immersion of those spaceports might have been lost.
Ah, then we had roughly the same technical experience. That's also kinda comforting to know, thanks! I always get nervous and worry whether it's a problem with my console. And yes, I also noticed the inconsistency in character and object models! Anecdotally, I spoke to a friend who plays the Assassin's Creed series and she confirmed a couple of the funny bugs and glitches I encountered are common to Ubisoft's Snowdrop engine. One I even recognised from a clip she'd sent me before!
Speaking of which, yeah, it's been interesting to finally play "a Ubisoft open world game" but you're right, I feel like I picked one so unique, it wouldn't be fair to use it as any kind of yardstick. Between its Star Wars gimmicks and the fact that it's spread across multiple maps, not to mention how other developers have had plenty of time to play catch-up and incorporate successful features into their own sandboxes... I dunno, it's not like Kay had to climb any towers on Tatooine, is it? So I still reckon that an Assassin's Creed would feel fresh to me someday. I think I'd go back to Origins (so, just before the ones you're yet to play) because I gather that's the last time they made any major tweaks to the formula. That, and it's Ancient Egypt, a period I love!
(Oh, and that friend I mentioned? She's currently playing Baldur's Gate 3 and told me a little about it when we chatted yesterday. I do not envy you in the slightest! Best of luck seeing it through, and I'm not just saying that because I can't wait to read your thoughts on Horizon Forbidden West...!)
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@Thrillho Yeah, I have blasted through it pretty quick! Sorry about that! As much as I enjoyed a bit of aimless wandering the other day, I very much needed a story to focus on these past few weeks.
But indeed, when allowing myself to get distracted by side hustles or request for aid, I did notice that some of them held little to no value. I'm not surprised that you were able to platinum the game and still have so much left over. Some of it made certain planets feel overwhelming, and learning what was and wasn't essential might have contributed to my early reaction.
I'm glad you seemed to enjoy it overall, and a seven is a very fair conclusion. I'd probably go for a solid eight, with some individual missions or moments hitting a nine, but that's me speaking as an obsessive fanboi who just finished grinning all the way through the Hondo DLC.
Did you play the DLCs? Perhaps they also contributed to you feeling like it outstayed its welcome?
"If I let not knowing anything stop me from doing something, I'd never do everything!"
@Werehog Nah, I left the DLC as I felt I'd had my fill of the game. I kept an eye out for it going on sale whilst playing but it never did. I was ready to move on by the end of the main game anyway.
@Werehog@Th3solution weirdly, having seen a bit of activity on the forums about Outlaws my 'game to start the new year with' has now become Outlaws. I did the first few planets near release, but put it on the backburner at the start-(ish) of Tatooine. I assume I started a game I had been waiting for at that time and was hopeful for PS5 Pro upgrades in the future when I eventually came back to SW. Figuring out the controls again is something, but I feel like I could actually finish this one now (maybe I will even finish Hogwarts next, too. Hey, Sol 😅 actually Hogwarts with the new PSSR updates coming soon might be pretty nice as a game that looks nice with RT butbis a bit hit and miss)
It's one of those games that is pretty decent, certainly enjoyable, but could have been much better if they had longer to polish it.
But i'm looking forward to getting stuck back in to the flow of it. How much story was there between planets? I can't remember if many quests were relevant plot wise or if it was mostly doing random busy work to set up the actual ending? If so, I will probably have to watch a few cutscenes to refresh my mind of the general Toshara, Kijimi plots. But the jist of it is we are still quite wanted and are running about doing crime for people? Right?
I feel like most of what I remember is betting on races and playing Sabacc, and the odd uncharted style mission through giant spaceships and bases 😁
@Ravix Rog/Werehog will have a more recent and more accurate perspective, but the main story plot points in the early planets are rather straightforward and so I think you can catch up pretty quick with the narrative threads. Mainly collecting crew for the final run, and some sprinkle of story texture here and there. The real story reveals get going at the late game.
Here’s hoping it clicks for you this time around. And I’m curious what you think of the Pro performance compared to when you played it before.
Speaking of, I am curious to see Hogwarts with the full Pro enhancements, but as I rarely replay games, I don’t know if I will anytime soon. I thoroughly enjoyed the game though. Maybe when the remakes of the movies start coming out I’ll feel a push to go for another run and make a new character. Perhaps play as a witch instead of a wizard this time. 😅
Have fun with Outlaws. There’s plenty to wander around and do and if you like stealth it’s a pretty good time.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution I mean, it did click for me first time round, anyway. I was fairly positive about it, I think. But I do tend to 60/70% games that I like first time around, anyway. I assume something else came around, it might have been Dragon's Dogma 2, perhaps? If so, that would have just taken over my game time as I can't really play 2 games concurrently, not the way I play them.
As for the upgrades, I ended up just picking it back up on Xbox as it was on game pass so no upgrades to speak of, anyway. I was hoping it would have been on deep sale or on PS Plus as I beleive it is one of very few games where cloud saves can move across consoles as you can upload one save to your Ubisoft account. But i'm still not totally sure how that works so wanted to maybe not pay full price just to see if it worked without glitching out. It feels like it should be on PS Plus by now 😅
Cheers, anyway. I will probably see if anyone has a playthrough edited where new story beats are at the start and end of their videos. Or do a cutscene catchup or something.
@Thrillho Fair enough! Well, if you ever see it on sale and get tempted to return, I'd still recommend it, even if you did suffer burnout before. By themselves, they'd scratch the itch, for sure.
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@Ravix Honestly, if you can remember what happened in the playable prologue, you'll be fine. While there's plenty that happens along the way, it's all somewhat inconsequential and self-contained until you reach the Point of No Return (which hits at the end of Akiva, the only planet you haven't visited yet). It's like Sol rightly says, Kay is just building her crew and recruiting helpful assets for the endgame. If you were to watch one of those "full movie" edits on YouTube, you'd only need to catch the first hour, maybe less.
But in simple terms, you only really need to know that...
...Kay was down on her luck and joined a crew of strangers to break into a vault inside the palace of Sleero, the head of the criminal syndicate Zerek Besh. Thinking they were there to steal money, Kay was furious to learn that it was actually a Rebel Alliance operation, and that she'd risked everything to rescue Asara Deyn, a Rebel operative who'd gotten himself stuck inside Sleero's vault. When she complained, the Rebels stunned her and left her behind in the vault. Waking up in Sleero's clutches, she made a break for it, stealing the Trailblazer and escaping Canto Bight to crash-land on Toshara. While trying to rebuild her life and gain a reputation with the various Outer Rim syndicates, she was approached by freelance scoundrel Jaylen Vrax and his security droid, ND-5, with an offer to return to Canto Bight and pull off the original heist for real this time... and that's what she's currently recruiting for.
"If I let not knowing anything stop me from doing something, I'd never do everything!"
@girlversusgame asked how outlaws was going, and i'll tag in @Th3solution & especially @Werehog as my last chat about Dragon Age and Forspoken was a bit too negative from me, so this will be more positive and the game is still fresh in your mind so I'd like to know if it measures up with your own thoughts.
(We had a comment overlap too. As I now see you have replied to my earlier comment)
I'm definitely back in the flow with this one. I had only played an hour or so initially to relearn controls, but played a bit last night and started to tackle some side quests and then the main quest after first exiting Jabba's Palace area.
It's such a weird game. It is technically not great, it is very floaty and some effects and most characters just look like they have been added on top of a pretty decent looking and fucntioning game environment engine. But it is fun, i'm back to my original thoughts on it. It is hard to explain why, but it is just a good game to actually play and spend time with. It has its annoyances, its jank and its heavilly cloned assets, but it is so easy to ignore all that stuff and experience a fun game.
Tatooine is vast and kind of empty (obviously) but it is also awesome and has lots to do, and it is populated in all the right places.
I get the same kind of simple dopamine hit as I would when clearing bases in AC games (which definitely got too big for themselves, despite making it through 3 of the big open world ones and loving them at the time, it did kind of catch up to me by Shadows) it is hard to pin down, but Outlaws kind of gets back what AC went away from, even if the bases still bug out if you die and the gameplay for stealth isn't as complete as an AC game, which also have their own flaws, but are also fun in that specific base clearing aspect.
The quest 'Jabba's Favour' I did the entire base in a really satisfying stealthy way. But there was also an unrelated objective that I wanted to do, but by the time I remembered the alarms were going off and I couldn't, which is fine. But when I messed up the next speeder segment I got spawned back at the base and it was... empty... so I casually walked back in and did that part too (while the other character sat waiting) before initiating the actual chase scene. A total bug, but one that helped me out 😂 it was quite tense though, as it didn't give me an autosave, so I had 10 extra minutes of base looting riding on me not messing up the next part of the actual mission 😁
It's a good game with flaws, but still very enjoyable. We need more games like this, tbh. Even though I like perfectionist games where everything is really well thought out and the world's function properly and with a rule set that makes sense, a game with flaws that hides them with fun or other aspects is not a bad thing.
@Werehog we overlapped as I made another comment since playing it a bit. But... thanks 😄 and that is actually exactly what I did! I put on a cutscene and limited gameplay video last night and had it on in the background for maybe an hour and it refreshed my mind enough to get into the next story mission without needing to specifically catch up on every part of every planet.
I'd say i'm pretty much as invested as I need to be, now 😄 I have an idea of the characters that are still involved, remembered Kay had a mother, the main Zerek Besh and Empire/rebel stuff, the hunter who was chasing us, etc
Sometimes games can be tough to get back into, but its simplicity has probably helped it, here. I'll have to do the same for Hogwarts, one day.
@Ravix That's my fault, I was late in answering your question! Yeah, the bottom line is, it's Star Wars (and a Star Wars video game, to boot) so the story is never gonna be super-complex or heck, even that important to the overall experience. Flashy, accessible fun is fun. The rest will work itself out.
I'm real pleased to see you were able to slot right back in where you'd left off, though, and that you've found something that seems to be holding your interest. That's awesome! A lot of your post reads very familiar to me, glitches an' all. I think I even had that exact same bug happen to me, where Kay respawned and all the nearby enemies had disappeared, making what felt like a tough section of gameplay easy to sprint through. Hey, never look a gift horse in the mouth, right...?!
Here's hoping you continue to enjoy the adventure!
"If I let not knowing anything stop me from doing something, I'd never do everything!"
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Topic: Star Wars Outlaws (30-8-2024)
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