Outward - Reviews

[ToddMcF2002]

You guys need to hug it out. Bromance it

 

[lackblogger]

What may be lost is immersion, what is gained is time to spend on more interesting aspects of the game, such as exploration of unvisited locations, solving a quest, and so on.

Ah yes, the things that might or might not qualify the game as an RPG. Lol, almost forgot about all that stuff.

So what's character creation like?
Is there any class options?
Do you gain experience & level-up or other similar character building system?
Does everyone build the same way or does the build system provide a variety of ways to approach situations?
What's the loot variety like and how does that effect build variety?
Is loot random or hand placed?
Is there a good variety of enemy encounters?
Is it mainly boss combat or does the enemy ever use strategic placement or is it packs of things?
Do the enemies seem to belong in the places where you find them and are they randomly generated?
Do the enemies drop loot? Is what they drop relevent to what they are?
Is the game procedurally generated or hand crafted? As in will everyone have the exact same experience if they all played exactly the same way?
Is there an end or does it go on for ever?
Is there a main quest or objective or does it continue to regenrate new random quests forever?
Is it level scaled?
If you played for long enough can you have every skill in the game or is there limits to build based on earlier choices?
What makes it different in gameplay to something like Red Dead Redemption or Grand Theft Auto or any other open world sandboxy game with quests?

Have you played long enough to get a good handle on all this kind of stuff yet?

 

[TheRealFluent]

Ah yes, the things that might or might not qualify the game as an RPG. Lol, almost forgot about all that stuff.

So what's character creation like? Basic. Just a few hairstyles, faces and race.
Is there any class options? Yes, several. You unlock them later in the game.
Do you gain experience & level-up or other similar character building system? No, there's no leveling up. You build your character via gear and skills.
Does everyone build the same way or does the build system provide a variety of ways to approach situations? Variety. You can build wildly different characters from all the possibilities.
What's the loot variety like and how does that effect build variety? Weapons and armor favor certain builds, and there are weapon skills for each weapon.
Is loot random or hand placed? Both.
Is there a good variety of enemy encounters? Very good. There are lots of monsters, different types of humans and so on.
Is it mainly boss combat or does the enemy ever use strategic placement or is it packs of things? Sometimes packs, sometimes 'boss', tough monsters. Some humans will cast magic on you.
Do the enemies seem to belong in the places where you find them and are they randomly generated? They are not randomly generated, they are very native to their areas.
Do the enemies drop loot? Is what they drop relevent to what they are? Yes and yes. Animals will drop meat while bandits will drop human related things.
Is the game procedurally generated or hand crafted? As in will everyone have the exact same experience if they all played exactly the same way? Hand crafted. No two stories will be the same because of the death scenarios, which factions you choose and how you build your character.
Is there an end or does it go on for ever? I think there's an end but I'm not 100% sure.
Is there a main quest or objective or does it continue to regenrate new random quests forever? No quests are random, there is a main quest, one for each faction that is unique, and plenty of side quests.
Is it level scaled? No.
If you played for long enough can you have every skill in the game or is there limits to build based on earlier choices? There are limits. You get 3 Breakthrough Points to determine your class builds.
What makes it different in gameplay to something like Red Dead Redemption or Grand Theft Auto or any other open world sandboxy game with quests? It is an RPG with hand-placed loot, survival elements and so on.

Have you played long enough to get a good handle on all this kind of stuff yet? Yes, 30 hours or so.

Responses in bold.

 

[lackblogger]

Thanks for the info fluent, that's much clearer. It definitely sounds like they focused a lot on loot and less on character building, the blank slate character creation and no XP or levelling is a very brave and bold approach.

 

[TheRealFluent]

Thanks for the info fluent, that's much clearer. It definitely sounds like they focused a lot on loot and less on character building, the blank slate character creation and no XP or levelling is a very brave and bold approach.

It's focused on loot (which there is a lot of, all with different effects for different build possibilities) but also very much on skills. Passive and active skills make the biggest difference, as a new skill can mean the difference between surviving a fight or dying. So far I've spent one of my breakthrough points on Runic Sage magic, which combined with a lexicon (a book in your hand) and 4 runes, you can use different combinations of runes to achieve different things. It's really neat. My current playstyle is one where I run from enemies but drop magical arcane traps that explode behind me. I just spent a lot of silver (the game's currency) to upgrade my runic magic as well as give me 8 total combinations that all do different things. I can summon an ethereal sword which does nice damage, conjure a floating orb of light, drop magical traps, summon a protective aura and 4 more things I haven't discovered yet (have to mix and match the runes to find all possible combinations). Really fun stuff!

 

[Cacheperl]

So what's character creation like?

Visuals only. Faces, gender, hair style, hair color, "race" (which just translates to different sets of colors/shapes again, no other ingame consequences. As far as I can tell.)
No control over starting equipment / skills / attributes / whatever.

Is there any class options?

In a way, yes. You can choose different sub-classes later in the game. This choice affects which skills you can learn from these classes. But there are also skills that are not restricted to classes.

Do you gain experience & level-up or other similar character building system?

No experience/levels at all. But there is a character building system: Skills are bought with money. No experience, no level up. Although, you could split some hairs and claim that money is experience in this game.

Does everyone build the same way or does the build system provide a variety of ways to approach situations?

I do not know about "everyone", just that magic / melee / ranged builds are all viable in different variations. The only thing I have not tested yet is stealth combat. Which is an option, but I feel going for the stealth skills may gimp my character.

(To elaborate on stealth: You pretty much always break stealth by using light sources. Which makes sense. But many of the enemies you encounter reside in places which are much too dark to see anything. Again, that makes sense. But it may also invalidate stealth combat, except for some few specific situations.)

What's the loot variety like and how does that effect build variety?

Loot/equipment is the main progress mechanic in the game, I'd say, often much more important than the skills you buy. I feel there are some setups that reduce build variety, such as the potential to reach 100% reduced mana cost via the right gear… min-maxing would hence probably always end up with minimal mana builds.
I'm not yet sure whether the same issue might come up with reduced stamina costs (melee, non-magic ranged).

Is loot random or hand placed?

Some loot is hand placed, some is random. The random stuff usually respawns, just like most crafting resources you can mine/collect/gather.

Is there a good variety of enemy encounters?

I'm not so sure about that. Globally, yes, but on a single map some stuff does get old after a while, especially due to respawns.

Is it mainly boss combat or does the enemy ever use strategic placement or is it packs of things?

Not mainly boss combat. Most battles are 1-4 enemies. The AI is a bit retarded, especially with groups (worst example: you can lure single enemies by shooting them with a bow from range).

Do the enemies seem to belong in the places where you find them and are they randomly generated?

Yes, they belong. Bandits in a bandit fort, animals in the wild, monsters in a crypt/cave. But there is some randomness involved. They do not always spawn at the same places. Different types (animals, monsters, bandits) may also start to fight each other if they share an area.

Do the enemies drop loot? Is what they drop relevent to what they are?

Definitely. Animals drop, e.g., bones/meat/fur/claws. Bandits drop, e.g., weapons/armor/food/bandages. Monsters drop claws/fangs/bones/weapons (if they have weapons).
I think humans and monsters with weapons always drop the weapons they actually have equipped, including shields and arrows if relevant. The same does not seem to apply to armor or clothes.

Is the game procedurally generated or hand crafted?

Hand crafted.

As in will everyone have the exact same experience if they all played exactly the same way?

That's a tough one. It would be the same if you make all the same decisions, but some of those decisions may not be yours to make in some games. Maybe you catch a cold and can not finish a quest in time.

Is there an end or does it go on for ever?

Not there yet.

Is there a main quest or objective or does it continue to regenrate new random quests forever?

Yes, there's a main quest line of sorts. Quests are not random, but some of the side-quests can be restarted after some time has passed. Which makes sense, because these side quests are usually about helping with day-to-day business of some merchants/vendors.

Is it level scaled?

There are no levels. The enemies do not scale to your gear or skill progression.

If you played for long enough can you have every skill in the game or is there limits to build based on earlier choices?

The only limit is that you can choose only 3 subclasses. All skills from these subclasses and all unrestricted skills can be learned. If you find the right trainers, and have the money.

What makes it different in gameplay to something like Red Dead Redemption or Grand Theft Auto or any other open world sandboxy game with quests?

The survival aspects (not sure about how much of that is in RDR 2 though, never played it). The action is less polished.

 

[TheRealFluent]

Keep in mind there is choice and consequence too. A few quests allowed me to make a choice one way or the other, and some quests are time-based and can be failed if you don't act quickly enough. There is tons of replayability here.

 

[Ripper]

I see the above is a list of detailed answers. I thought for a moment it was an argument rebuttal, and thought, whoa - that's hardcore.

 

[Cacheperl]

Immersion is the name of the game here, adding fast travel would ruin the game completely. And survival aspects are an interesting aspect of the game, at least for me, not just visiting locations (which is fun when you actually have to put effort into it) or solving a quest (which is better when they are fewer and farther between and you work toward them). I would just say at this point if you don't like the game and don't like walking/survival simulators then you should just skip it. The game was made a certain way and they're not going to change it.

Oh, I like the game. I'd just like it better with fast travel. So, not ruined for me. But I'd agree that this may not be so for people with different preferences.

I see the above is a list of detailed answers. I thought for a moment it was an argument rebuttal, and thought, whoa - that's hardcore.

Not in this thread.

 

[lackblogger]

It's focused on loot (which there is a lot of, all with different effects for different build possibilities) but also very much on skills. Passive and active skills make the biggest difference, as a new skill can mean the difference between surviving a fight or dying. So far I've spent one of my breakthrough points on Runic Sage magic, which combined with a lexicon (a book in your hand) and 4 runes, you can use different combinations of runes to achieve different things. It's really neat. My current playstyle is one where I run from enemies but drop magical arcane traps that explode behind me. I just spent a lot of silver (the game's currency) to upgrade my runic magic as well as give me 8 total combinations that all do different things. I can summon an ethereal sword which does nice damage, conjure a floating orb of light, drop magical traps, summon a protective aura and 4 more things I haven't discovered yet (have to mix and match the runes to find all possible combinations). Really fun stuff!

That's a nice collection of spells there. They all have that nice cosy familiarity of D&D spells of yore, like Light, Skull Trap, Ethereal Blade & Shield. After 30 hours and heavy investment it sounds like you're finally at level 1/2 equivalent in D&D character building.

 

[lackblogger]

The only limit is that you can choose only 3 subclasses. All skills from these subclasses and all unrestricted skills can be learned. If you find the right trainers, and have the money.

Thanks for the info pearl, that's a great list of things about the game & I thank you for taking the time to elaborate on them. I've pulled out this part as this sounds the most interesting and the part I'd love to hear more about, but I'll probably google it, there's bound to be a wiki by now that shows all the available skills and classes that are available once you've earned the game time to have one/them.

 

[TheRealFluent]

That's a nice collection of spells there. They all have that nice cosy familiarity of D&D spells of yore, like Light, Skull Trap, Ethereal Blade & Shield. After 30 hours and heavy investment it sounds like you're finally at level 1/2 equivalent in D&D character building.

Yep. Although it might be a bit more advanced since I just shelled out a hefty 600 silver to upgrade all my Runic Magic to be more powerful and have ancillary effects. I have to figure out what the final 4 combinations are as well. But yes, it's very satisfying now and my character is starting to come around after a long struggle trying to kill most enemies, I now possess some strength.

Thanks for the info pearl, that's a great list of things about the game & I thank you for taking the time to elaborate on them. I've pulled out this part as this sounds the most interesting and the part I'd love to hear more about, but I'll probably google it, there's bound to be a wiki by now that shows all the available skills and classes that are available once you've earned the game time to have one/them.

Well I believe you're going to end up as a 3-classed character in all regards. You have 3 "Breakthrough Points" to spend on classes, and then skill trees within those classes. There are also non-class skills you can invest in, as well as weapon skills from other trainers. So eventually you will be a 3 class character, when you have enough money.

 

[TheRealFluent]

Oh, I like the game. I'd just like it better with fast travel. So, not ruined for me. But I'd agree that this may not be so for people with different preferences.

I think the current system is perfect and think that fast travel would ruin the game. I like the reward of reaching my destination after trials and struggles (you might catch cold, or get an infected hyena bite, maybe have to deal with winter coldness or running low on food, etc.). But that's just my take on it. This game overall is very ideal for me, its ideas are more hardcore and just make me smile that a game like this has been made for ultra nerds like myself.

 

[lackblogger]

Well I believe you're going to end up as a 3-classed character in all regards. You have 3 "Breakthrough Points" to spend on classes, and then skill trees within those classes. There are also non-class skills you can invest in, as well as weapon skills from other trainers. So eventually you will be a 3 class character, when you have enough money.

Yeah, just looked it up:

There are a total of seven classes, each of which has eight skills to buy, of which one will be the Breakthrough buying the class skill and two will be end-of-tree one-or-the-other skills, so you're final character will have three classes, 21 skills and the 7 universal skills making a total of 28 skills, mixed between passive basic enhancements like +40 health and active abilities like your bow shot doing more damage on a cooldown. Skills are learnt via paying a trainer, so one assumes finding trainers is linked to progression.

Therefore, playing in co-op it's nearly possible to see all the classes in the game in one game, just that one class left over. For solo players that would be a potential 2 playthroughs to see everything except that one last class.

Most of the skills are quite cheap except the Breakthrough starter skill (500 silver) and the end-of-line skills, to which these all cost an even 600 Silver. So I guess when you start having a few thousand silver stashed away with not much left to buy then you're pretty much near the end of the game, assuming you've met all the trainers.

 

[TheRealFluent]

Having a few thousand silver stashed away is no easy feat though. I'm 40-ish hours in and just broke through 2 classes, Sage and Philosopher, with a little money left over. It seems to be a pretty lengthy game, money was hard to come by for most of that 40 hours.

 

[TheRealFluent]

Oops, meant to post this review here, from a friend of mine on Steam:

Played this for a whole weekend with my sister and the game has been amazingly addictive. On paper it does not offer anything special: it's just a game with tough combat, big world, tons of quests. Graphics are not exactly outstanding and combat is pretty straightforward.

What the game really shines at is making the world feel interconnected and alive. When we died to our very first bandit encounter we woke up in bandit camp. We tried to fight our way through and died again. We tried to sneak out, found our backpacks... and died again. Third time was the charm and we successfully got out of the camps with our backpacks and ran back to safety of the town.

This describes very well the difficulty of the game: it's tough, but not brutal. You will die a lot and there is a chance of losing everything you have with you, but the game will keep giving you second chances. Of course, the game is a lot more forgiving when you play it in multiplayer and adds a second layer of strategy to encounters. It's been a lot of fun to play the tank/archer, with my sister complementing my playstyle with a two-handed DPS/mage build.

I really the like the Gothic style of learning of skills and the big journey of finding the people who can teach you the skils you want. Getting to the hermit in the tower or a new city is exciting, because maybe here you will find what you wanted to learn. And while the graphics are not AAA quality, the art direction is superb. Discovering the world and various locations had been a joy, because you find so many beautiful vistas and get into so much trouble on your way there.

The story seems to be on backburner for this game, but the lore is fresh and interesting. While there is not much dialogue and not too many quests, everything I heard was intriguing and made me crave more.

For me this is absolutely the game of the year

 

[TheRealFluent]

Cohh Carnage seems to love it.

 

[crpgnut]

Even though I've mostly stopped playing, I agree this is a decent survival/lite rpg mix. If I had more time to spend each day, I think I would enjoy the game more. As it is, I sometimes don't get to do anything except walk in the amount of time I can spare to game. I'm a loot hound though and I have a couple thousand silver by now and I'm only 60% done with the first area. I do travel back and forth doing treasure runs. I carry two backpacks. One empty that I place on the ground near the entrance to wherever I'm visiting. I just dump everything I find in a dungeon into the empty backpack. Once the dungeon is clear, I head to town and drop my "main" backpack and then run to the cleared dungeon and pick up the "loot" backpack.

 

[TheRealFluent]

Even though I've mostly stopped playing, I agree this is a decent survival/lite rpg mix. If I had more time to spend each day, I think I would enjoy the game more. As it is, I sometimes don't get to do anything except walk in the amount of time I can spare to game. I'm a loot hound though and I have a couple thousand silver by now and I'm only 60% done with the first area. I do travel back and forth doing treasure runs. I carry two backpacks. One empty that I place on the ground near the entrance to wherever I'm visiting. I just dump everything I find in a dungeon into the empty backpack. Once the dungeon is clear, I head to town and drop my "main" backpack and then run to the cleared dungeon and pick up the "loot" backpack.

That's interesting. I just take what I can carry. I did pick up the 100 lb carrying bag though, even if I move a bit slower. Gotta make that silver.