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Upon my initial playthrough of the first Outer Worlds, I was immediately drawn by its irreverent, Fallout-like brand of humor. This title included engaging exchanges, character diaries, and advertising displays that portrayed a business-controlled nightmare that was at once bleak and humorous. My primary concern starting The Outer Worlds 2 was that this entry – not due to of its own – could fail to be as funny like the original.

Certainly, conditions weren't ideal. But the world definitely felt slightly less fractured at that time. This game showed a bleak future that didn't hit too close to home, and nonetheless succeeded to be both heartwarming and hilarious. I began the follow-up feeling quite confident that the sequel couldn't succeed to accomplish this once more, but I'm delighted to report that I was mistaken. The Outer Worlds 2 is equally smile-generating as the game that came earlier, and additionally brings fresh concepts rather than just recycling the same content like an overused corporate jingle.

Changing NPCs

A large portion of the game characters users found in the first title had been beaten down by the deeds of corporate entities like Spacer's Choice, and were fully cognizant of the extent to which their situation was terrible. This sequel moves events in an alternative path, presenting individuals who are programmed (periodically symbolically, often literally). A lot of these characters aren't even aware of how deeply messed up their situations are, or that there could be choices to a lifetime passed under the boot of a large business or restricted by the doctrines of a high-demand religion.

This follow-up explores types of company influence that are more insidious than only making the population impoverished. Numerous characters have been programmed with the kind of excessively zealous "grindset mindset" rhetoric you might encounter on social media accounts that claim to disclose the path to accomplishment should you purchase an expensive course, or participate in a sketchy crypto scheme. Furthermore, the release's business promotion has developed.

Current Topics

There continue to be numerous demotivating signs throughout facilities indicating reductions in pay from workers who dare to consider having a break, but furthermore exist references to network marketing tactics, featuring an employee manual that proudly declares, "Unknown people are merely customers YOU haven't met yet!" Being a person who was raised in a network marketing household, I promptly exploded laughing upon viewing this mention, because it's a phrase I have often heard stated precisely by individuals in lower positions of those structures.

Fortunately, this sequel is as comedic and satirical as the first game.

The Outer Worlds 2 furthermore explores the situation many of us encounter regarding employment, politics, and even personal purchases: Having to pick the smaller of multiple bad options. While attempting to choose whether to assist a dangerous corporate entity or a problematic faith organization within the title, I found myself supporting the familiar evil: A familiar company structure that is terrible (but only uses propaganda to indoctrinate its followers), as opposed to the religious group, which is equally bad, but utilizes a terrible method termed "cognitive reset" to control its members in line.

Unreliable Masters

Furthermore, the characters you work for could fail to be reliable. As an space operative, you're tasked with working to return control to this settlement after a hostile corporate takeover, and you will quickly find that both the aggressors and the residents follow differing (yet equally horrific) doctrines. Yet a speedy examination of the messages on your ship's terminal reveal that this organization is hardly the world's most ethical authority too, as evidenced by an answer to a help request that notifies the contact it will take "several business years" for an answer to their communication. (This period is about how long it takes for me to reach a real support representative via telephone nowadays.)

Recognizable Scenarios

Various situations in this sequel are extremely familiar, but it's a cleansing kind of recognition, and this title achieves equilibrium between its bleak societal vision with comedy that's truly humorous without feeling incongruous. A primary concept is the rapid beginning of deterioration that happens to unfold in the wake of large company takeovers. Workers from each party of The Outer Worlds 2's big merger see their quality of life worsen as a result, while the CEOs in control of the structure are, naturally, raking in money quickly.

Okay, at the very least I know my position.

Comparable to the first game, The Outer Worlds 2 is naturally humorous, but additionally doesn't hesitate to get serious. During a moment, while wandering around the title's initial explorable world, I came upon a corpse with an audio log in the vicinity. This recording showed that this NPC (who was aligned with the programming faith group) had perished in an incident while trying to locate and eliminate her lover. This loved one had reportedly deserted from their group, and the now-dead NPC was angry about her partner's {traitorous