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Upon my initial experience with the original Outer Worlds title, I was immediately drawn by its irreverent, Fallout-inspired style of comedy. This title boasted dynamic dialogues, personal journals, and advertising displays that depicted a business-controlled nightmare that was both grim and entertaining. My primary concern approaching The Outer Worlds 2 was that this entry – without blame from itself – wouldn't be as humorous as its predecessor.

Sure, situations weren't flawless. But the world certainly seemed a bit less broken at that time. The Outer Worlds presented a dystopia that didn't hit extremely relatable, and nonetheless succeeded to be at once heartwarming and uproarious. I started the follow-up feeling quite confident that this release wouldn't be able to pull this off a second time, but I'm delighted to report that I was incorrect. This follow-up is equally smile-generating as the title that preceded it, and additionally brings new themes as opposed to simply reusing similar elements similar to a tired company slogan.

Developing Personalities

Most of the game characters users found in the initial release had been worn out by the activities of corporate entities including the fictional company, and were acutely conscious of how much their lives sucked. This sequel moves events in an alternative path, including personalities who are indoctrinated (occasionally metaphorically, often literally). Many of these personalities don't even realize of how profoundly messed up their circumstances are, or that there could be choices to an existence spent beneath the control of a massive corporation or restricted by the beliefs of an intense faith.

This follow-up explores types of company influence that are more insidious than simply keeping the people destitute. Numerous characters have been programmed with the kind of excessively zealous "hustle mentality" language you can discover on social media accounts that vow to show the path to accomplishment when you buy an expensive course, or invest in a sketchy crypto scheme. Even the game's business promotion has progressed.

Modern Themes

There remain many demotivating signs throughout facilities threatening to dock employee wages who dare to think about requesting leave, but additionally there are references to network marketing methods, such as a staff guide that confidently announces, "Unfamiliar individuals are simply customers YOU haven't met yet!" As an individual who grew up in a direct sales environment, I promptly exploded laughing when encountering this allusion, because it's a saying I have frequently encountered repeated exactly by individuals in lower positions of such schemes.

Thankfully, The Outer Worlds 2 is just as funny and satirical as the original title.

This sequel furthermore explores the dilemma numerous people encounter regarding work, political matters, and even consumer choices: Having to select the lesser of several poor choices. While attempting to determine if to assist a dangerous corporate entity or a problematic faith organization throughout the experience, I realized I became aligning with the known negative: A recognized corporate entity that is terrible (though just utilizes propaganda to brainwash its subjects), as opposed to the religious group, which also sucks, but employs a terrible method termed "mental refreshment" to control its members compliant.

Unreliable Masters

Additionally, the individuals you serve may not be reliable. In the role of an galactic official, your mission involves attempting to restore control to this outpost after an aggressive business acquisition, and you rapidly learn that each of the attackers and the residents follow differing (though equally awful) ideologies. Yet a speedy review of the messages on your ship's terminal show that this agency isn't precisely the galaxy's most moral organization either, as evidenced by a response to a help request that notifies the contact it will take "three to five business years" for a reply to their message. (That time frame is approximately the time it takes for numerous individuals to reach a real help desk employee via telephone currently.)

Familiar Situations

Numerous instances in this sequel are painfully relatable, but it's a cleansing type of familiarity, and this release succeeds in balancing its bleak societal vision with wit that's truly humorous yet not seeming inappropriate. An important idea is the quick commencement of decline that appears to occur after any major corporate acquisition. Staff members from all factions of this installment's big merger experience their living standards worsen as a result, while the leaders in control of the structure are, of course, accumulating profits rapidly.

Okay, at the very least I know my situation.

Just like the initial release, this follow-up is inherently funny, but it also doesn't hesitate to become dramatic. At one point, while traveling around the game's first explorable world, I stumbled across a deceased individual with an audio log in the vicinity. The audio log disclosed that this NPC (who was aligned with the programming faith group) had perished in an incident while attempting to hunt down and dispatch her significant other. This partner had seemingly abandoned from their organization, and the deceased character was enraged by her partner's {traitorous