Games like this?

[Le Spiff]

Howdy!

So, I loved this game since minute one, and now 20 hours in I'm still loving every bit of it. Especially the conversations, depth and diversity of NPC's (from just normal people, to very outspoken charachters, many of them funny, but none of them "unbelievable") but also the relative simplicity of the combat and leveling. I don't mind me some hardcore games (like Grim Dawn's deep charachter progression, or hardcore shooters like Day Of Infamy or Red Orchestra), but the fact that there's little "fluff" here, makes the rest so enjoyable, like you really are on an adventure and don't have to spend strategic thinking about technical charachter progression stuff. There's nothing I don't love about this game (except maybe too much content and quests and stuff to discover, but that's also a good thing).

Anywho, I played the living crap out of Elder Scrolls IV and V, and also every Fallout game (even that very unkown one for PS2 (Brotherhood of Steel), and a lot of other similar games. But I never encountered a game like this, with this great balance between immersion, accessibility, depth, humor, freedom,...

So I've been thinking about and looking for games that come close (I'm dreading the moment I'm done with the playthrough.. :p) and are similar, or would offer a similar experience, apart from the ones mentioned above.

Does anyone have any ideas of that to look for, or in which direction? Or is this game pretty unique?

[Elenoe]

I consider characters, story and quest structure here below average really. But if you want realistic characters, non-polarized choices, NPCs actually responding to your choices and a damn lot hidden ways to solve quest by "third or fourth" ways outside given "do A or B" I would suggest ELEX. That's my current #1 among believable characters and true RPG feeling, not just "talking, agreeing, fetching".

And Greedfall is not bad. A bit more story concentrated. But nice stories, even on side quests. Still more believable characters and companions then here.

[Le Spiff]

Awesome, thanks for the tips! :-)

[Nyct]

When I was describing Outer Worlds to a friend of mine, he asked a similar question: what is it like (as in what games could he compare it to.) The best comparison I was able to offer was to call it the bastard child of Borderlands and The Elder Scrolls. If you never played the Borderlands series, I would highly recommend them, if for nothing other than the plot and comedy.

[Le Spiff]

Yeah, I played the first one a while back. Been meaning to get some friends together for a Borderlans 3 playthrough. I think your comparison is pretty good! It really is a nice blend between the two.

[ralphtobybob]

This game is lame, from what I've seen so far. So everyone is struggling to survive, yet there's hordes of marauders living off the land? Most buildings are abandoned - why is this colony even viable? Combat is primitive. You stand and shoot, even at point blank range and the enemy just stands and takes it.

The whole theme of the game so far is, 'let's go out of our way to not look like Fallout New Vegas, even though the dialogue is the same, except without the contrived western accents.
I sure hope this gets better. I'm starting to wish I'd bought some top shelf tequila instead.

[Le Spiff]

Messaggio originale di ralphtobybob:

This game is lame, from what I've seen so far. So everyone is struggling to survive, yet there's hordes of marauders living off the land? Most buildings are abandoned - why is this colony even viable? Combat is primitive. You stand and shoot, even at point blank range and the enemy just stands and takes it.

The whole theme of the game so far is, 'let's go out of our way to not look like Fallout New Vegas, even though the dialogue is the same, except without the contrived western accents.
I sure hope this gets better. I'm starting to wish I'd bought some top shelf tequila instead.

Thanks for your opinion, not very on topic though :-) This game is definitely for everyone, which is normal, people have different tastes. Like the French say: "Les gouts et les couleurs, on ne discutent pas", don't discuss tastes and colours.

So let's drag you on topic: you don't like this game at all, could you then recommend games you do like, in a similar genre, that did suit your fancy?

[Ez Duzit]

You might want to try The Witcher 3. Very deep character development, good humor throughout the game, and a great story. Also the most in-depth side quests of any game, ever, with many of the side quests being complete stories on their own, which also add to the overall story.

It's not exactly the same genre, but it's not that far off. And it's a good play.

[Le Spiff]

Thanks for the tip! I know it's right up there with the best RPG's ever, but I've been hesitant to try out The Witcher games ever since playing the first one. I felt the combat to be so awkard, especially for a game where the protagonist is an elite monster hunter.. I just never could get into it, despite it being highly praised.

At this point I'm quite willing to try it out, though, but I'm looking more for a game that's less "serious", and has a bit of the same humour as The Outer Worlds.

For now I went with Disco Elysium, which had been on my list as well. Greedfall, Borderlands 3 and The WItcher 3 are next in line :-)

[midnite rule]

Messaggio originale di Spiffmeister:

I never encountered a game like this, with this great balance between immersion, accessibility, depth, humor, freedom,...

Those words make me think of Jade Empire.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncFifQHc9lI
An old BioWare game from 2005. It’s a Kung Fu adventure set in a fantasy world inspired by East Asian cosmology. It has simple yet satisfying RPG mechanics.

Like all BioWare games it has romance subplots (including gay and polygynous ones) the interesting thing in Jade Empire is you can turn your lover evil if you’re the corrupting type.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7EKxHQc0j8

Unfortunately, given how old Jade Empire is, it can be difficult finding a version that works. The Steam version is a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. The GOG version is a safer bet, but some people have issues with that one too. There is a version for iPads and Android tablets with surprisingly good controls for a mobile port, it’s not the ideal way to play it but at least the tablet version is guaranteed to work.

[Le Spiff]

Funny, I actually have that game on Origin, I think, where it was a free give-away at some point. I remember playing it, it wasn't too bad now that I recall it! Thanks for the tip :-)

[ralphtobybob]

Messaggio originale di Spiffmeister:

Messaggio originale di ralphtobybob:

This game is lame, from what I've seen so far. So everyone is struggling to survive, yet there's hordes of marauders living off the land? Most buildings are abandoned - why is this colony even viable? Combat is primitive. You stand and shoot, even at point blank range and the enemy just stands and takes it.

The whole theme of the game so far is, 'let's go out of our way to not look like Fallout New Vegas, even though the dialogue is the same, except without the contrived western accents.
I sure hope this gets better. I'm starting to wish I'd bought some top shelf tequila instead.

Thanks for your opinion, not very on topic though :-) This game is definitely for everyone, which is normal, people have different tastes. Like the French say: "Les gouts et les couleurs, on ne discutent pas", don't discuss tastes and colours.

So let's drag you on topic: you don't like this game at all, could you then recommend games you do like, in a similar genre, that did suit your fancy?

I played Destiny 2, but it's broken. I've played FNV far more times than FO4. I bought this because some of the reviews hit all the right 'buzzwords' like 'forget Destiny 2' or 'Red Dwarf'.

But my gaming recommendations are irrelevant to this particular game, right? That doesn't change the game. And I need to take back part of what I said, because I just ran into an NPC with a fake Western U.S. accent, despite being born on another planet.

Other games like the ESO series ask you to buy into their reality, but there's an explanation or source of motive power for most everything. Here, I'm supposed to believe all of these marauders, who are alien to this planet, somehow managed to expand their numbers without the technology of the settlers. In one of the first scenes, you see a single sky cop or whatever wipe out a couple of marauders with no effort. Yet, they're still a threat. Dumb.

My character also seems to be on a rail than in an open world. And one of the first major quests just turned into 'do I provide electrical power to Freeside, or New Vegas?' Been there, done that.

[Le Spiff]

Well, the topic literally says "Games like this?", where I ask personal recommendations, I fail to see how criticism of this game is on topic, and why you'd click on this specific thread to give your criticism on the game. Don't get me wrong, your criticism is perfectly valid and quite on point, even though I don't wholly agree with it, but it's not what I'm looking for on this topic/thread.

So, your recommendations are perfectly valid. You couldn't get into this game (whereas I could), so it is interesting to know which games do work for you. That helps me to assess different games and concepts, to know which audience they speak to, and to which they don't.

So feel free to still give me your recommendations if you like :-) But I won't get into the discussion of why this game's bad, there's plenty of other threads for that, and this one ain't it :-)

[warrenmart]

The companions talking to one another randomly as well venture along is enjoyable to me as well...they have a lot of personality...I too am looking for the types of games you describe

[Le Spiff]

Yeah, a lot of those conversations are awesome! Some are just normal chit-chat, some are pretty deep, and some or hilarious. It's the diversity of them that stands out most of all.

[ralphtobybob]

Messaggio originale di Spiffmeister:

Well, the topic literally says "Games like this?", where I ask personal recommendations, I fail to see how criticism of this game is on topic, and why you'd click on this specific thread to give your criticism on the game. Don't get me wrong, your criticism is perfectly valid and quite on point, even though I don't wholly agree with it, but it's not what I'm looking for on this topic/thread.

So, your recommendations are perfectly valid. You couldn't get into this game (whereas I could), so it is interesting to know which games do work for you. That helps me to assess different games and concepts, to know which audience they speak to, and to which they don't.

So feel free to still give me your recommendations if you like :-) But I won't get into the discussion of why this game's bad, there's plenty of other threads for that, and this one ain't it :-)

The 'review' came across as a canned comment, similar to a paid comment one sees a lot. Fanboi soliloquies don't bother me, I've been there before too.

Games I'm reminded of with respect to artwork, or are similar to, if you will, are Obduction and The Cycle. Btw, one of the other buzzwords in those reviews was Firefly.

Put all of that together, and I inferred something with a sense of humor, like the Space Quest series. It's at least playable and seems to be bug free for now.
Luckily I managed to buy some cheap vodka.