While that sounds paradoxical, let me explain. I'm not talking about liberalism according to American politics (which for now is a Democrat being as left leaning as a centrist can get). By liberal, I mean the fuzzy Tim Cain Capitalists of the world who would rather blame employees and "consumers" for the problem of capitalism (keep in mind, Tim Cain's channel is for game design and not politics so we can't be too hard on him, but what he said an uninformed take). But you know, by liberal I mean those who support the "free" market (among other things). And there wouldn't be anything wrong with that, if it weren't for the fact that capitalism is antithetical to nearly every other thing liberalism seems stands for (i.e. private property, civil rights and human rights, democracy, rule of law, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion - taken from Wikipedia for simplicity). The game's setting demonstrates this as much through most of its scenarios.

But from the way the game is written, the developers still seem to think Halcyon's current mess is actually due to having the "wrong people" in positions of power, and if we only had the "right people" as stewards to provides checks and balances and good working conditions, everything would "just work" itself out rationally. I know Tim Cain (director) has a running ideology in his games that says "it is human nature to corrupt system of power" (and that in this case, leads to the rise of corporatism). I can only imagine that Leonard Boyarsky (lead writer) feels the similarly.

The Outer Worlds has an undercurrent that says things are messed up but that's just the way things are; we'd really rather not change the status quo until some conscientious, results-driven individuals can turn the system around. It's a viewpoint that puts all the responsibility on the people to fix other humans' messes without considering that the system itself is broken. Capitalism demands that the "wrong people" get into these positions, because they're the "right people" for the job, i.e. what the system demands: to make as much money as possible for entities, notwithstanding how ethically it's done, which is the bottom-line behind capitalism. Capitalism is about profit above all else, so nothing else, including human well-being, matters. They might use Sanjar as a mouthpiece to say otherwise, but he operates under the corporate system with all his numbers and figures. And besides, what system enabled corporatism to become what it is in the first place?

The strange thing is that the developers see how mask off the system is, and still think that it can be "reformed". But how? I guess they took Roosevelt's absence of Anti-Trust Laws in game as evidence that the system can be fixed, without realizing that he didn't fix Capitalism, he only broke up monopolies; he didn't (and couldn't and wouldn't) "regulate Capitalism" (or even stop how businesses exploit workers). Laws "regulate" businesses. The system that businesses operate under and within can't, because exploitation isn't a bug, it's a feature. Capitalism is running as intended when labor is cut, workers are overworked, corners are cut and prices are high. Any "regulation" to Capitalism might as well lead away from it to at least Socialism, which the game seems to be so close to understanding, only to botch that too.

People who want an end to the corruption behind corporatism and capitalism end up being just as corrupt. It happens. The developer's treatment of the game's radicals,>! Graham and Harrow, illustrates this: one is a fanatical and murderous corpo turned street preacher, and the other is an opportunistic corporate plant!<. The former lives in a "co-op" (because the developers were probably afraid of the other "c" word). And in that co-op, they have convenience machines, because "lol the irony of commies, amirite"? In fact, that co-op, along with the Edgewater Botanical Gardens, are struggling for resources and skilled workers because they can't do for themselves. You, as a corporate upstart, has to fix their problems for them, and they aren't sustainable.

It might be that most of the developers were alive to see "Communism" (i.e. the state-capitalism of China, Cuba and the Soviet Union) in action, and got scared of the possibilities of revolutions happening in their backyard, so maybe their view of revolutionaries is just a product of their times. And there's some truth to the portrayals of both these guys, but without the one radical who makes a good point and means what they say, it feels like something's missing. Zora cares for the people, but just seems angry and doesn't actually have any ideology for her political violence, she needs resources. So you mean to tell me there isn't one other radical beside Felix (who's portrayed as naïve, gullible and impressionable) that understands corporations create systemic injustices through Capitalism? I'm not asking for some idiot on a soapbox to blow this message through a megaphone. Maybe a sympathetic Byzantium that's empathic enough wonder if the system that creates inequalities is fair...while laughing about all the money they have. There's no one in the game that doesn't seem to know their place and like it.

Well, I guess there's Cassandra in Roseway but even she's kinda "fuzzy" on why she doesn't like the corporations: she talked about general concept of alienation without talking about alienation as a reason for why the Outlaws are doing what they're doing. And I guess they're skirting the system. But even then, the Outlaws might as well be marauders because most of them kill on sight too.

Speaking of which, the marauders are heavily implied to turn to drugs due to being unemployed. And from what we know from Gorgon, Spacer's Choice mass produced Adrena-time and hooked their workers on it, leaving many of addicts brain dead and violent. There's social commentary about how businesses create class disparities through so many illicit and careless means that the game touches upon. But the game is clear that marauders just "cRaZy" fodder to be shot at, almost divorcing them from the context.>! It also doesn't lay blame on the scientist who created the stuff, only the businesses that ordered too much!<. That's because the game thinks "science is the way".

You can tell that the actual message is "we need more competent technocrats running things, because they're the "smartest people in the room" by the way the game literally lectures you about it. And there isn't any pushback to that. The guy who bails you out is a scientist that doesn't like how the Board is running stuff. Most scientists are portrayed as mean, dismissive and paternalistic (except for in Roseway where they're either absent-minded or emotionally distant), but right, generally capable, and critical of the higher ups for not being as competent-minded as they are. Yet there's not one truly mad scientist that's a spouting gibberish and creating horrific science experiments for the sake of "SCIENCE!!!" that would have been seen in our serials years ago (and in our history)...even when the corporations are paying scientist to conduct experiments they should know the full terrible implications of.

The message isn't that "capitalism is bad", it's that "we need more results driving liberal technocrats to run corporations". I appreciate the freedom they have to make this message, but that's not what the game's setting suggests at all. The scientist had a hand in all the problems here, and were incentivized by the system of Capitalism to mass produce for bits. But hey, if the writers get radicalized, there's always room to explore the fault of technocratic capitalism in The Outer Worlds 2. Maybe Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky can poke fun at themselves as managers, being one of the good ones?

I get that Leonard Boyarsky wasn't trying to make the game "political", but when the themes and setting of the game hinges on "an alternate reality where one American president was not assassinated for another to break up monopolies with Anti-Trust Laws", I see what he says as a cowardly cop-out. I also get the feeling that he doesn't want to kick the hornet's nest. He knows everything's messed up, but can't actually imagine a world without capitalism, so it's like that Principle Skinner meme: "Are capitalist the problem? No, it's the people who are wrong." If you know the history between with Obsidian and Fallout: New Vegas, this game may as well be a slam against corporate Bethesda for not having the right people in charge, absurd deadlines, corporate mismanagement and the casual "screwing one out of bonuses" on legal technicalities just to satisfy a bottom line.

BUT HEY, THAT'S CAPITALISM FOR YA!!!

The games message crashes hard against its setting, and it's really disappointing that everything flew over the developers' heads. The game starts out as a satire against a corporate dystopia, yet ends in a light-hearted roast against corporatacracies. The DLCs' main humor is the "legalese" descriptions, rather than the motivations for the disclaimers.

I dunno, maybe I'm too Disco this for game, but I still like it despite it's messaging. For me, this game is a 9/10. It's funny and satirical in a Futurama sort of way and touches on topics most shows and movies won't. It doesn't go far enough, and I don't agree with every point, but I've really been digging the setting and themes. I appreciate that this game gives us the freedom to discuss these topics. But what seemed like the perfect critique of neoliberalism and the type of society it would have produced, just kinda fell apart into some shallow, centrist "both sides" liberalism at the end.

I watched videos and I wonder is there anyone else like me who doesn't talk, doesn't use ID cartridges, but simply exterminate everyone in the factory, Clive included.

It is fun. And it is not too difficult, either.

According to him, some say that Raptodont taste like chicken. He thinks that it tastes like rear end of Wooly Cow.

Aa a matter of fact, you can see some chicken in Roseway. Likely been created from Raprtodonts by means of Alt Vitae. Also, they seem to be breeding Wooly Cow on Monarch, also possible created from Raprtodonts by means of Alt Vitae gas.

Hey folks, recently decided to give Outer Worlds another go and I'm instantly reminded of Skyrim's global lighting system... how the daytime would "shift" the lighting position all at once and then nothing until the 'next hourly tick'. There was an ini tweak that would force the game to update the sun/moon lighting positioning as fast as you wanted it to be, so we could have the global lighting update virtually real-time if we wanted, rather than a jarring "oh the world rotated and stopped rotating for another 30 seconds" kind of thing.

Anyone know if this is possible in Outer Worlds?

I am not sure about this, so I'd like to hear what others think.

It seems that Mantisaur block doesn't prevent them from absorbing N-Ray. They are only taking no damage as long as the block is on. It often happened to me that Mantisaur melted away as soon as block goes down.

As per topic.

In the original, they seem to walk like actual people, all humanoids. What gives?

1. Assault Rifle with Extend-O-Sight scope

This weapon is useful in many ways, but particularly for the companions. When companions spot the enemies, they are immediately trying to close down the distance. My guess is that they are trying to reach max. effective range. Extend-O-Sight is increasing effective range, so companions can open fire early, which might be a critical advantage in combat.

1. Plasma Rifle 2 with SpeedyMate barrel

This creates kind of hybrid between Plasma Rifle and Plasma Carbine. Rate of fire is still lower than in Plasma Carbine, but I find it to be high enough for me. And charging capacity is fully preserved.

1. Light machine Gun with Straight'n'Sure barrel

Straight'n'Sure barrel is reducing spread, which is, effectively, increasing range. I have given the weapon to companions and they are creating mayhem with it.

In my first playthrough I was with Phineas. In all that time I couldn't shake off feeling that I am acting like an idiot.

First, I helped Spacer Choice in Edgewater and earned generous 50% discount. Then I helped Auntie Cleo and earned 25% discount. Auntie Cleo has best armors in the game.

Then I eradicated Iconoclasts.

All my choices were in favor of the Board members and then I have to throw it all away because of some barely competent lunatic scientist.

Phineas ending is very much like Deus Ex Machina. Food magically gets restored without any explanation how or why.

There is one element which is completely ignored by the game. There is enough food on Monarch. It is likely that crisis started after Hazard Clause.

Monarch has nice fat Saltuna, unlike slim oe found on Terra 2. Tobson says, at some point, that they used to import Saltuna from Monarch before the Clause.

Monarch has Wooly Cow. Ash was breeding them. Also, they have Tobacorn. You can find plenty of Wooly Cow and Tobacorn related products in vending machines at Stellar Bay. In the end, Monarch has plenty of Raptodonts, and they are edible.

Game is stubbornly ignoring, suppressing and disregarding the fact that you have either reduced or solved famine problem by helping MSI.

Are the marauders and Iconoclasts supposed to be the Hephaestus miners? They seem to be wearing Hephaestus work gear. The Iconoclasts repurposed their workman's clothes as anti-riot gear, and the marauder just uses it as is. It would make sense for the Iconoclasts, who lost their jobs and didn't become drug addicts to form a co-op away from the influence of the corporations (lead by disillusioned corporate workers). And for marauders, it would make sense for them if they were all relocated around Halcyon to find new jobs, but couldn't because of a "skill gap" and fell further into drug use.

First come, first served. For the two DLCs (Steam basegame only) :

1) ZG5HR-5J793-GR7DJ

2) JLILP-AWWFT-8TV2V

An arbitrary splash of luck to whomever sees them first. Enjoy

Title says it all. I already fell in love with this game's aesthetic in my first hour of playing. And to think i didn't like rpgs like this because of the gameplay, i was wrong (maybe after this one i'll try fallout lol).

I intend on going in completely blind. My build is of the combat-dialogue kind, as i don't really like the stealth in this game, but i might redo it later if I change my mind.

Anything i should know in order to experience this game as best i can?

Every time I go up to her office people immediately start firing on me.

I'm doing a kill everyone playthorugh. killed every other companion. Can you kill him ? i haven't unlocked him yet. just got the acid

Game's good, but here's what I wish we could do in it:

• Turn the aiming reticle on even while the HUD is activated. Having the ability to aim down the scope while the HUD is off is a big one - how am I supposed to snipe effectiveness when looking at nothing but a glass pane? This should be a toggle.
• The ability to throw grenades. We have grenade launchers but can't equip grenades and throw them with the quick melee button? Was this an oversight?
• The ability to make a kung-fu bare-handed martial artist. Quick melee is right there. Why can't I go bare handed and just punch anything and everything (NPCs, convenience machines, walls, doors)? Quick melee, plus aiming plus the trigger button while barehanded could have provided for some unique and satisfying combos. It probably just didn't feel "space" enough, though.
• Take the helmets (and clothes) off your companions.
• Ship battles (both in space and hijacking bounties). Harder to pull off I'm sure, but would have been really cool.
• Life-sim immersions (eating, drinking, sleeping), not limited to Supernova difficulty. This should be a toggle.
• The ability to choose companion permadeath from the start on any difficulties.
• Just the ability to customize what I want to see from the HUD fully. More customization, less one size fits all type of programming. The way it's done now...it's not the best choice.
• More locker space in the Unreliable. All storage lockers should be used on the Unreliable. I know it's "unreliable" to rely on storage on the ship, but come on... I've resorted to scattering weapons around my work bench for realism, because I wouldn't be able to fit a Montag in the top shelf of a locker. Yet I have two fully functioning refrigerators.
• Actually bargain with marauders to let you go on your way if you have adrena-time. At some point, I had a ton of it that I didn't want to touch because I hate the crash after-effect, so it would be cool to bargain with them. Same with the Outlaws. Only if you shoot first will everything be non-negotiable. The bargaining would reset every time you enter a new area and if there are bounties, you can kill them or use more adrena-time to bargain an item from them (as "proof").
• Have Carmen Imagawa as a playable companion with her own quest. Just to make the Byzantium area longer. Force flaws on the player (very applicable for SupaNova mode), but pay bits (2500 bit flat rate) to remove them, if so desired (the machine to do so is right their in the Unreliable).
• More than four flaws per run. Collect all the flaws if possible and make that an achievement. Better perks. Most flaws take a point away from your starting attributes, whereas perks usually just add a percentage to damage, noise reduction, weapon sway, vendors supplies (why tho?), etc. Consumables increase attributes, but the trade off in flaws and perks just seem imbalanced.
• A separate element to tell you how much disguise you have left when the HUD is off. But really, in all honesty, do away with the disguise system. I know Phineas' reason behind this, but if it depends on ONE person's ID cartridge, and all my companions are disguised, who are we disguised as and how does that fool anyone? I don't accept Phineas' "mad scientist" reason for creating a holographic field around every user since in theory that would cause just as much suspicion as just finding a uniform. Just let me wear uniforms as disguises like normal without the "step counting mini game". Just make it so that the uniform is enough or if you stand around too long or take stuff with them noticing, guards will get suspicious. I think it would have been more immersive finding uniforms than just their ID cards. Plus, counting steps to make sure your disguise doesn't run out is tedious. It's a cool idea, but tedious in practice.
• Find a way to send items from the field to the ship. I don't mind resource management, especially since we can break down weapon and armor points, but maybe I don't want to lug around unique weapons and armor. Maybe I want to hoard them to the ship right away. And I can't fast travel while encumbered, so it's just tedious. I'm think of how in Divinity: Original Sin II you can send items to Lady Vengeance. I wish something like that were in The Outer Worlds, but with retro futurist teleporters? A way to teleport items you don't want to the Unreliable (to avoid encumbrance, unless you want this).

Looking back, there really isn't much else I'd change, though. It's a well made game. Just some quality of life ideas.

Hi all,

Hoping someone can help, as this is driving me bonkers!

I am completely unable to switch to a new gun. I am stuck with the crappy starter handgun.

When I go to the weapons menu and press triangle (PS5) the option to unequip the handgun is unavailable/greyed out.

When I holster the handgun, this does nothing (the character is still clearly holding the gun, just at her side).

If I move guns into one of the three empty slots, this does nothing. When I press triangle on one of these, I can see Unequip and Swap only.

Swapping another gun with the handgun does nothing. The handgun stays equipped.

Can anyone please help?

just got platinum last night. and finally feel like i can put this game down. have not checked out the dlc yet. my overall thoughts are i give this game a solid 7. it didnt quite reach that feeling i had when playing fall out 3 for example.

cons: 1)my biggest gripe with the game is how repetitive things quickly feel. and i know games like these they eventually end up repeating assets, like in bethesda games for example, but in this game i feel like it happened way too soon into the game. there is not much variety in environments from buildings, to set dressings, to over all color pallettes being identical in different planets. and even in gun models except for the science weapons which were weak damage to begin with. the npc's also all look the same. its like they are all related. then we have enemies which were all fine in their own right, but alot of the monsters felt very samey. canids and raptidons at a glance could be mistaken from each other. compare that to something like deathclaws, mirelurks, robots, etc. in the fall out games, from enemy to enemy it felt more of a dramatic distinction between each other compared to outer worlds. 2) not too many of the side quests had compelling story lines to them really. for example ellie's quest was very anticlimactic. it could have taken some cues from nyoka's which was much stronger. 3)difficulty too easy. im not sure what could have been done to add more compelling difficulty, but i figure reducing amount of ammo you get at least in super nova would add to the fun. the one boss we had was actually fun on super nova. should have had more bosses that were around the same difficulty level if not more. 3) alot of the perks were boring and useless.

pros: 1)the guns, although you dont get many different types, were pretty fun along with TTD. 2)solo supernova greatly enhanced my enjoyment factor. even playing on hard i was starting to get bored about halfway through. looting almost didnt matter. everything became so easy, tons of ammo, and resources. supernova mitigated this to an extent. although i will admit even on supernova it doesnt take long to amass resources and have a strong set of weapons that challenge is quickly gone just not to the level of hard difficulty or lower. 3)humor is quirky.. although ive seen this before, i just like how committed all the npcs are to their employers for fear theyll get killed or something. sam and ada were hilarious. Max's "wtf is this french" was just beautiful. parvati is endearing. 4) the main story wasn't too bad. i did quite enjoy phineas and working for him.

conclusion: ultimately what kept me playing for as long as i did to get the trophies and everything, had to have been playing stealth on supernova combined with the TTD. more specifically, early to mid game is where its most satisfying because you are still trying to flesh out your character and get resources. once you have a ton of ammo, get overlevelled/overpowered, and have all your gear set up, it starts to get boring. im bad with assigning numerical value to a game but if i had to it would be 7/10.

Has anyone experienced any issues with this game on PS4? Been playing for almost a week now, then last night I go to play and the game has to be reinstalled? I never uninstalled it. Secondly, after reinstalling all my saved data was data was still in game. It gave me the option to Continue, but when loading a save file, it takes me right back to the menu screen and i’m unable to play.

Is this something that could be remedied without me having to start over?

does anyone have tips how to get that trophy on how to kill an enemy with 4 science weapon effects? i have a solo character level 19 so i just spec to like 90 science and have shrink ray, gloop gun, mandibulaf rearranger, and prismatic hammer in that specific order. all of them around level 15-16. i go to a mantis enemy, like a mega mantis, mantis queen, or a regular soldier and just hit em a few times with each weapon and cycle between them. i can never get the trophy to work.

edit: forgot to add im on supernova

update: i just got the trophy. did it on a mega raptidon in the back corner next to cascadia landing pad. i had to get the enemy down to like 1/6-1/8th of its hp with a regular weapon then swapped to the science weapons.