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During my first encounter with the first Outer Worlds, I was immediately drawn by its irreverent, Fallout-esque type of wit. The game boasted engaging exchanges, personal journals, and advertising displays that portrayed a corporate dystopia that was simultaneously dark and humorous. My main fear approaching the sequel was that this installment – without blame from itself – wouldn't be as funny like the original.

Admittedly, situations weren't flawless. However, life undoubtedly appeared a bit less broken at that time. The Outer Worlds depicted a grim society that didn't strike overly familiar, and yet accomplished to be at once emotional and hilarious. I commenced the follow-up feeling quite confident that this installment couldn't succeed to achieve this once more, but I'm happy to state that I was incorrect. The Outer Worlds 2 is equally smile-generating as the game that preceded it, and additionally brings original ideas instead of just recycling similar elements like an tired company slogan.

Changing NPCs

Most of the game characters players encountered in the original game had been beaten down by the actions of company organizations including the fictional company, and were acutely conscious of the extent to which their situation was terrible. This installment progresses matters in a different direction, featuring characters who are indoctrinated (periodically symbolically, frequently actually). A lot of these characters aren't conscious of how deeply disordered their situations are, or that there could be alternatives to a life lived under the domination of a huge company or restricted by the doctrines of a high-demand religion.

The sequel explores types of business domination that are more deceptive than only making the population impoverished. Various personalities have been brainwashed into the kind of excessively zealous "grindset mindset" discourse you can discover on digital platforms that claim to disclose the path to accomplishment should you purchase a costly program, or participate in a questionable digital currency plan. Furthermore, the release's corporate propaganda has progressed.

Contemporary Issues

There are still many demotivating signs in various locations indicating reductions in staff compensation who so much as contemplate having a break, but additionally there are references to network marketing strategies, such as an employee manual that confidently announces, "Unfamiliar individuals are simply customers YOU have yet to encounter!" Being a person who developed within a multi-level marketing family, I promptly exploded in amusement when encountering this reference, because it's a saying I have frequently encountered stated precisely by those at the bottom of those structures.

Thankfully, this sequel is just as funny and sarcastic as the initial release.

This installment also examines the predicament various individuals find ourselves in when it comes to occupation, political matters, and even personal purchases: Being forced to choose the smaller of multiple bad options. While attempting to choose whether to assist a dangerous corporate entity or a concerning cult in the game, I found myself aligning with the known negative: A familiar company structure that is terrible (though just utilizes propaganda to brainwash its subjects), rather than the religious group, which is similarly terrible, but employs a horrible approach named "psychological renewal" to keep its adherents compliant.

Questionable Employers

Even the people you work for might not be dependable. In the role of an Earth Directorate agent, you're tasked with trying to reestablish control to the Arcadia colony following a hostile corporate takeover, and you will quickly find that the two the invaders and the residents subscribe to differing (but similarly terrible) doctrines. Yet a speedy inspection of the messages on your spacecraft's system demonstrate that the Earth Directorate isn't precisely the world's most ethical organization too, as shown by a response to a help request that notifies the contact it will take "3-5 corporate years" for a response to their transmission. (That time frame is approximately the time it takes for me to reach a human help desk employee via telephone nowadays.)

Relatable Moments

Many moments in The Outer Worlds 2 are highly recognizable, but it's a therapeutic type of familiarity, and this release succeeds in balancing its depressing dystopian setting with humor that's genuinely funny yet not seeming out of place. A primary concept is the quick commencement of deterioration that happens to unfold following any major corporate acquisition. Staff members from all factions of The Outer Worlds 2's significant consolidation find their existence decline therefore, while the executives at the top of the structure are, expectedly, accumulating money hand over fist.

Hey, at least I recognize where I stand.

Just like the original title, this sequel is intrinsically comedic, but additionally doesn't shy away to become dramatic. At one point, while traveling around the game's first discoverable location, I came upon a body with an audio log in the vicinity. The audio log showed that this character (connected to the indoctrinating cult) had perished in an incident during efforts to track down and dispatch her lover. This partner had apparently defected from their organization, and the deceased character was incensed at her significant other's {traitorous