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During my first playthrough of the initial Outer Worlds title, I was quickly hooked by its satirical, Fallout-like type of wit. This title featured engaging exchanges, individual logs, and promotional posters that illustrated a company-run society that was both grim and humorous. My main fear starting the sequel was that this version – without blame of its own – might not be as funny like the original.

Certainly, situations weren't flawless. However, life certainly seemed a bit less broken at that time. This game showed a bleak future that didn't feel overly familiar, and nonetheless succeeded to be simultaneously touching and hilarious. I started the follow-up feeling quite confident that this installment wouldn't manage to achieve this a second time, but I'm pleased to announce that I was incorrect. The Outer Worlds 2 is as smile-generating as the title that preceded it, and additionally brings fresh concepts instead of just recycling identical material like an tired company slogan.

Evolving Characters

A large portion of the NPCs users found in the first title had been defeated by the actions of business corporations including Spacer's Choice, and were painfully aware of the extent to which their existence was miserable. This sequel takes things in an alternative path, presenting individuals who are brainwashed (occasionally metaphorically, regularly truly). A lot of these characters aren't conscious of how deeply messed up their conditions are, or that there may exist choices to an existence spent beneath the control of a large business or limited by the beliefs of a demanding cult.

This second installment explores types of company influence that are more subtle than only making the people destitute. Various personalities have been programmed with the type of excessively zealous "work ethic" rhetoric you might encounter on social media accounts that promise to reveal the key to success when you buy an expensive course, or invest in a questionable digital currency plan. Furthermore, the release's company advertising has progressed.

Modern Themes

There continue to be plenty of unmotivational posters in various locations threatening to dock staff compensation who so much as consider having a break, but furthermore exist references to pyramid scheme tactics, such as a staff guide that proudly declares, "Unfamiliar individuals are simply customers YOU still need to meet!" As someone who grew up in a network marketing household, I promptly exploded laughing when encountering this allusion, because it's a saying I have frequently encountered repeated exactly by those at the bottom of these systems.

Luckily, this sequel is just as funny and satirical as the first game.

The Outer Worlds 2 also examines the dilemma various individuals experience concerning occupation, government, and even personal purchases: Having to choose the smaller of multiple bad options. When trying to choose whether to assist a dangerous corporate entity or a problematic faith organization within the title, I found myself supporting the known negative: A recognized company structure that sucks (yet merely employs advertising to brainwash its subjects), as opposed to the faith organization, which also sucks, but employs a horrible approach termed "cognitive reset" to keep its adherents in line.

Unreliable Masters

Additionally, the individuals you serve might not be dependable. Playing as an galactic official, you're tasked with working to return order to this settlement after a forceful company buyout, and you'll soon discover that both the aggressors and the defenders follow separate (but similarly terrible) beliefs. But a quick review of the communications on your spacecraft's system show that the Earth Directorate is hardly the universe's most principled organization as well, as demonstrated by a response to a distress call that notifies the contact it will take "three to five corporate years" for a response to their transmission. (This duration is approximately the time it takes for many people to get a hold of a human support representative through calling nowadays.)

Familiar Situations

Various situations in this installment are highly recognizable, but it's a cathartic type of familiarity, and the game succeeds in balancing its depressing dystopian setting with comedy that's genuinely funny without feeling out of place. A primary concept is the rapid beginning of enshittification that appears to occur after significant business mergers. Workers from each party of this sequel's major acquisition experience their living standards worsen consequently, while the leaders in charge of the hierarchy are, expectedly, collecting money rapidly.

Okay, at the very least I recognize my position.

Comparable to the first game, The Outer Worlds 2 is naturally humorous, but additionally isn't afraid to become dramatic. At one point, while wandering around the title's initial explorable world, I discovered a corpse with an audio log close by. This recording showed that this NPC (who was aligned with the brainwashing religious faction) had died in an accident during efforts to locate and dispatch her romantic partner. This partner had seemingly abandoned from their faction, and the now-dead NPC was enraged by her significant other's {traitorous