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During my first experience with the initial Outer Worlds, I was immediately drawn by its irreverent, Fallout-like type of wit. This release included dynamic dialogues, character diaries, and advertising displays that illustrated a business-controlled nightmare that was at once dark and humorous. My biggest worry approaching the follow-up was that this installment – through no fault on its part – wouldn't be as humorous like the original.

Admittedly, situations weren't flawless. Yet society certainly seemed somewhat less damaged back then. The Outer Worlds showed a bleak future that didn't hit overly familiar, and yet accomplished to be simultaneously touching and hilarious. I commenced the sequel rather certain that this release couldn't succeed to achieve this a second time, but I'm pleased to announce that I was wrong. This follow-up is as chuckle-inducing as the title that came earlier, and additionally brings original ideas instead of simply reusing identical material comparable to an tired company slogan.

Developing Personalities

The majority of the game characters players encountered in the initial release had been worn out by the deeds of corporate entities including the fictional company, and were fully cognizant of how much their situation was terrible. This installment takes things in a different direction, including personalities who are programmed (sometimes figuratively, regularly truly). Many of these personalities aren't even aware of how extremely disordered their situations are, or that there could be options to an existence spent under the domination of a large business or restricted by the beliefs of a demanding cult.

This follow-up investigates methods of corporate control that are more deceptive than only making the people destitute. Numerous characters have been indoctrinated into the kind of extremely eager "grindset mindset" discourse you can discover on digital platforms that promise to reveal the key to success should you purchase an expensive course, or put money into a questionable digital currency plan. Furthermore, the release's company advertising has evolved.

Contemporary Issues

There continue to be plenty of unmotivational posters throughout facilities threatening to dock staff compensation who even think about taking a day off, but there are also references to pyramid scheme strategies, including a staff guide that confidently announces, "Strangers are just patrons you still need to meet!" Being a person who grew up in a direct sales household, I immediately burst out with laughter when I saw this reference, because it's a refrain I have frequently encountered stated precisely by people at the base of these systems.

Luckily, The Outer Worlds 2 is equally humorous and sarcastic as the initial release.

This sequel also examines the predicament various individuals experience when it comes to work, government, and even personal purchases: Needing to select the smaller of multiple bad options. While attempting to decide whether to support a dangerous corporate entity or a dangerous religious group throughout the experience, I found myself aligning with the known negative: An established corporate entity that is terrible (yet merely employs advertising to indoctrinate its followers), as opposed to the cult, which also sucks, but uses a terrible method called "cognitive reset" to maintain its followers in line.

Questionable Employers

Even the people you work for may not be trustworthy. As an space operative, your mission involves trying to reestablish order to this outpost after an aggressive business acquisition, and you rapidly learn that both the invaders and the invadees follow differing (though equally awful) doctrines. Yet a speedy inspection of the messages on your ship's terminal reveal that this agency isn't exactly the world's most ethical employer either, as shown by an answer to a distress call that tells the sender it will take "several corporate years" for a reply to their transmission. (This duration is about how long it takes for numerous individuals to contact a real help desk employee through calling these days.)

Recognizable Scenarios

Many moments in this sequel are extremely familiar, but it's a cathartic kind of recognition, and this release manages to balance its bleak societal vision with wit that's authentically amusing while avoiding inappropriate. A primary concept is the rapid beginning of decline that appears to occur after large company takeovers. Employees on both sides of The Outer Worlds 2's big merger find their existence worsen consequently, while the leaders in control of the structure are, of course, raking in profits quickly.

Well, at minimum I know where I stand.

Similar to the initial release, this sequel is intrinsically comedic, but additionally isn't afraid to become dramatic. During a moment, while traveling around the game's first discoverable location, I discovered a body with a message in the vicinity. The audio log revealed that this NPC (connected to the brainwashing religious faction) had been killed in an event during efforts to locate and kill her significant other. This partner had reportedly deserted from their organization, and the perished individual was incensed at her partner's {traitorous