The Outer Worlds

Genre: Open-World Action-RPG / First-Person Shooter

Players: 1

The Nintendo Switch 2 Difference

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Review:

The Outer Worlds (Not to be confused with Outer Wilds, another game featuring space exploration but otherwise unrelated to this game) is an Open-World First-Person Action-RPG and First-Person Shooter developed by Obsidian Entertainment, the makers of Fallout New Vegas, so I’ll say right now that the comparisons to the Fallout series here are inevitable (and largely warranted – this game is very similar in many ways). Released on other platforms in 2019 and brought to the Nintendo Switch in 2020, the Nintendo Switch port got a lot of flak for being… well, bad. In the time since, the game has been patched, so I suppose the question many looking at the game now may have is… is it worth it?

I’ll start with the bad news – The Outer Worlds on Nintendo Switch is an ugly game. If you picture a mid-generation Xbox 360 game you probably have some idea of the sort of graphical quality to expect in the Nintendo Switch version of this game. Ugly textures, poor resolution, plentiful pop-in, strange shimmering on objects, frequent slowdown, and much lower amount of environmental detail are all present here even after the patch. It’s not outright unplayable, and it doesn’t interfere too much with the gameplay, but this game definitely bears the mark of a title that had to make severe sacrifices to be able to run on the Nintendo Switch. Suffice it to say, if you can play this game on any other platform, you’re probably better off getting the other version.

Having said that, I wouldn’t go as far as to say the overall presentation here is bad. The game has a very stylistic look and feel much in the same way the Fallout games do, as well as a comparable sense of humor and absolutely superb writing and outstanding voice acting. The entire game permeates with a culture that has become overrun with corporate worship and total disregard for human life and freedom to the point of absurdity, and while the game’s off-world sci-fi setting says “I’m from the future!”, its old-timey linguistics and advertising style clash beautifully with this setting in a way that feels like the Fallout series crossed with something like Firefly. For all the game’s flaws in the graphics department, it is still a joy to partake in its story.

As for the gameplay itself, I’d say that The Outer Worlds is more action-focused than Fallout is, with gameplay closer to a First-Person Shooter (complete with gyroscopic motion control). Players do not outright freeze time to target body parts, but do have a limited ability to severely slow down time to get off a well-aimed shot or two. However, that’s not to say the action is the primary star of the show here – this is definitely still an RPG, and players will meet all sorts of interesting characters and make some difficult ethical choices during the course of their journey.

There is one other area where this game differs from the Fallout games, and frankly I don’t think it’s a positive one – this game’s open-world is segmented into various colonies and ships throughout space, and while each of those has some amount of wandering and exploration that they allow for, the fact that they aren’t contiguous makes the Open-World elements of this game far less enticing. It’s not as easy to feel excited at the prospect of exploring where every place you can explore is penned in and segregated from all of the other areas. This limitation also makes it a lot easier to feel like the game is railroading you into playing through the main story, as well.

One other note for those looking to buy the physical version of the game, be aware that, as I understand it, this game requires a 6GB patch, so even if you get that version of the game, be sure to have a good amount of space on your MicroSDXC card.

In the end, while it’s not really a replacement for the Fallout games, The Outer Worlds is the closest thing to Fallout that Nintendo Switch players have right now (no, Fallout Shelter, you don’t count), and for players looking for that same sort of sci-fi setting and delightful satire with great writing, The Outer Worlds does a good job of giving players something to sate that appetite. However, if you can play this game on any other platform, that’s still going to be your best bet, even after the patch – the Nintendo Switch version is still well behind its peers.

tl;dr – The Outer Worlds is an Open-World Action-RPG and First-Person Shooter that’s much in the same vein as the Fallout games, and it features some incredibly good writing and voice acting, as well as some comparable gameplay, albeit with a bit more focus on its First-Person Shooter elements. Having said that, the segmented map design the of the game’s world-hopping make the Open-World elements far less appealing, and the Nintendo Switch version is still graphically far inferior compared to other versions, even after the patch. It’s still perfectly playable and fans wanting a solid Open-World game on the go may want to look into it, but those who can get it on another platform are better off doing so.

Grade: B

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2020 Game Awards:

Runner-Up: Most Underrated, Best Voice Acting

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The Nintendo Switch 2 Difference

The Outer Worlds

Genre: Open-World Action-RPG / First-Person Shooter

Players: 1

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Review:

The Nintendo Switch had its fair share of “miracle ports”, games that looked and played far better on Nintendo’s underpowered hardware than they had any right to. But it’s generally agreed that The Outer Worlds wasn’t one of them. I was pretty forgiving of this game’s graphical shortcomings on Nintendo Switch, given what it had to work with. However, now that we’re talking about the Nintendo Switch 2, it’s time to take the kid gloves off and ask if the added power of Nintendo’s second-generation hybrid console can bring this port up to something closer to what other platforms got?

And the answer is a resounding “no”.

Outer Worlds on Nintendo Switch 2 has all of the biggest problems it had on the original Nintendo Switch – a low resolution that made it look like you were seeing the game through a Vaseline-smeared screen, muddy textures, low-quality character models, tons of pop-in… this version of the game is just as ugly as it ever was on Nintendo Switch.

To be fair, there has been one noteworthy improvement – the loading times. On Nintendo Switch, it took the game 55 seconds to load to the title screen, 1:19 to load up a game save, and 47 seconds to do a fast travel from your ship to a planet’s surface. On Nintendo Switch 2, those times are cut down to 28, 25, and 15, a massive improvement.

Even so, it’s hard not to be disappointed at how ugly The Outer Wilds still looks on a current-generation platform. This is nowhere near up to the standard set by all other non-Nintendo platforms, and while this may have been understandable on Nintendo Switch, it’s an outright embarrassment on Nintendo Switch 2. This game desperately needs a patch or Nintendo Switch 2 re-release, because as-is, this just isn’t going to cut it.

tl;dr – The Outer Worlds is an Open-World Action-RPG and First-Person Shooter that’s much in the same vein as the Fallout games, and it features some incredibly good writing and voice acting, as well as some comparable gameplay, albeit with a bit more focus on its First-Person Shooter elements. Having said that, the segmented map design the of the game’s world-hopping make the Open-World elements far less appealing, and the Nintendo Switch version is still graphically far inferior compared to other versions, even on Nintendo Switch 2. It’s still perfectly playable and fans wanting a solid Open-World game on the go may want to look into it, but those who can get it on another platform are better off doing so.

Grade: C+

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