When The Outer Worlds launched in 2019, it carved out a special place for itself as a witty, retro-futuristic RPG dripping with personality and satire. Now, “The Outer Worlds 2” returns with bigger worlds, sharper writing, and that signature development charm from Obsidian Entertainment and publisher Xbox Game Studios, ready to pull us back into corporate greed, space cowboys, and moral grey areas. But with so many expectations riding on the sequel, the big question is, does The Outer Worlds 2 push the series forward or just orbit the same old stars? 

The plot lands hook, line and sinker, throwing you into a galaxy on the brink of collapse. You play as an Earth Directorate agent who has been sent to uncover the cause of all these mysterious rifts tearing through reality as we know it. You get led to the colony of Arcadia, a world drowning in conflict. It’s classic storytelling with witty and full of moral grey area, where every choice carries weight. The writing shines through its mix of dark humour and heavy themes, which keeps the narrative engaging. 

The core part of an RPG’s experience is the depth and flexibility of its character progression system. Players can customise their protagonist through a robust skill tree, a variety of abilities and a rich assortment of perks, allowing each playthrough to feel distinct and tailored to your preferred playstyle.

The skill tree is divided into multiple categories that reflect your strengths and specialties. Combat-focused skills enhance weapon proficiency, accuracy, and damage output, while tech and stealth skills allow hacking, sneaking, and manipulating the environment to gain advantages.

Social skills like persuasion, deception, and intimidation influence the dialogue options, and I’ll be honest: I loved using intimidation. Progressing through these skill paths unlocks new capabilities and boosts some existing ones, making you really decide which one is best for you. 

Abilities in The Outer Worlds 2 are active powers or tactical tools that can be deployed to help with exploration or combat. Some abilities will temporarily enhance your combat, for example, increasing your critical hit chances or slowing down time, while others offer strategic advantages like deploying drones, hacking enemy systems, or buffing companions. Each ability has a clear impact on gameplay, letting players approach encounters in multiple ways and encouraging experimentation with different strategies. 

Perks provide permanent enhancements that further define your character and playstyle. They can improve everything from weapon handling and health regeneration to critical hit effectiveness and dialogue outcomes. Many perks also synergise with companions. Making sure you choose the correct perks can significantly influence combat efficiency, exploration success and how you interact with the game’s world and factions. 

Along the journey, you can meet companions who you can recruit to join you on your journey. Each companion brings their own unique personality, abilities, and storylines, and sometimes a little bit of additional firepower, even if they shoot like stormtroopers. Companions assist in combat by providing tactical support, which is tailored to each companion, with some specialising in heavy weapons and others specialising in melee.

When you first begin the game, you have limited options on companions, but as you advance in the storyline, you will get more options, and you need to make sure, depending on what you are doing, you choose the correct companions. Outside of combat, companions contribute to exploration and problem solving and depending on the companion, stop you all the time to try and talk some sense into you, and most of the time I tell them to go away. I found the companions sometimes got under your feet when you’re going through a narrow walkway, and they always seemed to be two steps behind you. 

The controls in The Outer Worlds 2 feel smooth and responsive, whether you’re in the middle of a chaotic firefight or just exploring Arcadia’s sprawling settlements and arguing with people. Movement and aiming felt tight, menus are intuitive and switching between weapons or abilities feels seamless.

Obsidian clearly put some effort into refining the gameplay flow, making it all feel more natural. I will openly admit that during some of those longer dialogue sequences, I started mashing A or B just to speed things along, and let’s say those poor buttons got a workout. 

When it comes to sound design, The Outer Worlds 2 absolutely nails it. To ever blaster shot to ambient noise to the noise it makes when you fold an enemy in half with your staff, all fits perfectly into the world and pulls you deeper into the chaos of Arcadia. Either Obsidian Entertainment hired an army of talented voice actors, or they’ve got access to the best AI voice systems on the market, because every line delivery sounded spot on. The performance brings so much life and personality to each character. Combined with a stellar soundtrack that swells at the right moments, the game’s audio adds incredible depth. 

Visually, The Outer Worlds 2 is a standout. I was genuinely surprised by how well it balances the signature half-realistic, cartoonish art style with a new level of polish and detail. Arcadia’s landscapes burst with colour and character from the neon-lit cityscapes and rusted industrial zones to the alien-filled wilderness and battlezones. The environments felt alive, with the lighting and atmospheric effects giving each area its own mood and personality. It’s still unmistakably The Outer Worlds with its quirky, pulpy sci-fi vibe, but everything feels sharper, richer and more immersive. It’s like the developers found the perfect middle ground to create an immersive experience.

The Outer Worlds 2 is a worthy successor that expands on the first game in almost every aspect. With its sharp writing, engaging choices, deep RPG mechanics, and vibrant, fully realised world, it captures the humour, charm and moral complexity that made the original a hit. It gives players a bigger playground and a richer cast of characters to interact with. For fans of story-driven RPGs and anyone who enjoys a galaxy full of chaos, humour, and tough choices, The Outer Worlds 2 is a trip worth taking.

Written by: Hayden Nelson