The Outer Worlds (the first one) certainly isn't open world, but it does feature fairly large environments that promote side questing and general exploration. With The Outer Worlds 2, it looks like Obsidian has leaned a lot more into that side of the experience.
In a fresh preview from IGN, the developer reveals that the sequel will boast bigger planets — and that expansion is apparently based on player feedback.
"One of the very first things we were targeting when we started The Outer Worlds 2 was to make these big, expansive areas. It's what players told us they wanted," says director Brandon Adler.
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The preview specifically mentions that there's a "greater sense of scale" to the game, with larger locations tempting players towards points of interest that aren't necessarily tied to your main quest.
Thankfully, though, it sounds like these environments won't just be bigger for the sake of it.
"We made sure of that with big open sightlines and we spent a lot of time and effort on making really cool looking points of interest out in the distance to really draw players and really bring them off the beaten path," Adler explains.
Apparently, the developer's made an effort to stuff these areas with worthwhile pursuits, from side quests and storytelling elements to loot and collectibles.
What's more, Obsidian wants each location to feel different from the last — these are largely alien worlds, after all.
Adler goes into the thinking behind this design: "We intentionally design each of our worlds to feel different from each other. It's a unique landscape every time you land on a new moon or new area. So it shouldn't be like, you go somewhere new and it's a little bit more of the same.
"These other areas are completely different from the last moonscape you just came from, and the next one you're going to be visiting is completely different as well." Sounds good!
Based on everything we've seen of The Outer Worlds 2 so far, it feels like this could be a proper sequel, improving upon its predecessor in (hopefully) all the right ways.
At the very least, Obsidian's comments are helping sell its vision. Just earlier this week, the studio outlined its commitment to in-depth role-playing.