Opinion - The Outer Worlds is RPG's Past, Disco Elysium is Its Future

Apples and oranges..

While the article is a shameless advertisement of Disco Elysium, I think the title - which is obviously a clickbait - refers to The Outer Worlds being the same old sh*t and DE trying to be a little bolder than the average.

I'm wondering how much development time DE required. It might not be cost-effective to use that seemingly intensive style for AAA titles.

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
These articles fail to realize there are no perfect RPGs. Also cant compare a game like Disco Elysium to The Outer Worlds. Completely different and targeting different audiences.

It's like putting a classical music fan into a live metal concert.

I agree with your first statement

But metal and classical have way more in common than you might think. Both usually require high dexterity i.e. chops to play notes rapidly in time, both are very straight; no swing, both can be symphonic.

Maybe your analogy would be more apt with classical vs punk music.

Additionally this:

Originally Posted by BriefDArt
I certainly don't hope Disco Elysium represents the future of CRPGs.

That would kill my interest in the genre.

Also, I'm pretty sure it doesn't.

Beyond that, Disco is - if anything - a throwback to an even more distant past, including Torment and choose your own adventure book-style games.

It seems to be a game that's unaware of what computers can actually do, meaning it feels like something that belongs in the 80s or 90s.

I way prefer The Outer Worlds. To each their own.

Seems pointless to compare the two games. I haven't played DE yet. But I just can't get immersed much in TOW. It's dull.

It's not boring. It's well made. But it's dull. Nothing feels urgent. Nothing feels fresh about it. It's very "by the numbers" which is OK. Not necessarily bad. It's just dull.

Originally Posted by FizzyShellfish
It's not boring. It's well made. But it's dull. Nothing feels urgent. Nothing feels fresh about it. It's very "by the numbers" which is OK. Not necessarily bad. It's just dull.

I can't remember the last time I played an RPG that actually felt urgent. It's almost like developers are afraid to make those anymore.

I disagree about nothing feeling fresh though. I think the setting at the very least is fresh. How many other games can you name that are similar in tone and style?

I agree, it feels a little dull in the middle part of the game, once the excitement of a new and fresh open world CRPG wears off, and warts reveal themselves.

I mean, for games similar in tone and style - you don't have to look beyond Fallout 3 and 4. They both have similar takes on humor and exaggerated corporate greed.

Fallout 4 is quite colorful overall, and while the visual style in TOW is different - it's in the same ballpark, as far as I'm concerned.

Where TOW stands out, I feel, is the NPC interactions - with the varied ways you can handle quests and dialogue options.

That's about it, really.

The rest is pretty much a watered down and - surprisingly - more streamlined Fallout 3/4/76. I would never expect an Obsidian game to feel more mainstream than a Bethsoft game, but there it is.

But it isn't bad at all to resemble those games - as I love them.

I am sure that Obsidian have professional and competent writers, but I guess the push from higher up is towards appeal to a wider audience (i.e. CoD audiance). It seems that they have done a very good job and pleased both old and new audiences.

DE being an indie is designed and targeted for a particular audience, and appears that they have been successful as well.

I love how every time a developer smells money and wants to expand their audience, it's automatically the publishers to blame

Indeed, the good ol' Blame Game, one of the oldest games known to man, a never ending pass-the-buck of lies, misunderstandings, confusion, conspiracy and hypocrisy [to name but a few]. I guess the publishers get the most attention because they are the ones with the final say on what gets released to the public, the highest power if you will, a bit like blaming the politician when some drug addled loon murders someone for five bucks. Buck's gotta stop somewhere…

Originally Posted by JDR13
I can't remember the last time I played an RPG that actually felt urgent. It's almost like developers are afraid to make those anymore.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker made me feel that things were urgent.
Apart from that I indeed can't remember another game right now.

+1
The modder who made no timers mod for Kingmaker deserves to be praised for life!

That's a good thing, as I hate urgency in open world games

Originally Posted by BriefDArt
I love how every time a developer smells money and wants to expand their audience, it's automatically the publishers to blame

Who mentioned publishers?

Originally Posted by SpoonFULL
Who mentioned publishers?

You didn't mean the publisher when you said the people "higher up" pushed for wider appeal?

Ok, my mistake.

In that case, I'd tend to agree.

I probably should have clarified that I meant Obsidian CEO - no worries.

Well, I shouldn't have assumed you meant something that you didn't specifically state

But, yeah, I do get the feeling that the Obsidian CEOs are more about the business than the art these days.

There is also this comparison and Bethesda wont be happy.

Outer Worlds vs Fallout 76

http://www.noobfeed.com/features/139…-did-it-better

One thing I really like about Outer Worlds is that I'm not punished; at least most of the time, for being an explorer. If I find quest items way before I receive the quests, I can normally just take the item early without having to backtrack at a later point to pick it up. It doesn't always work like this, but it does frequently. Thank you, Obsidian!

Originally Posted by crpgnut
One thing I really like about Outer Worlds is that I'm not punished; at least most of the time, for being an explorer. If I find quest items way before I receive the quests, I can normally just take the item early without having to backtrack at a later point to pick it up. It doesn't always work like this, but it does frequently. Thank you, Obsidian!

Indeed. That was a big issue I had with Greedfall. There was little point in exploring in that game because nothing of significance appeared until the associated quest had been activated.