Incline Outward 2 - the sequel to the open world RPG where you are an ordinary adventurer and survival is harsh

[HoboForEternity]

 

[notpl]

Oh, cool. I hope this one actually has world design of some sort, NPCs that are at all interactable, non-fetch quests, and survival mechanics that aren't outshone by a zelda game on the nintendo switch.

Footage makes it look like the exact same game to the last detail, though, so not optimistic so far.

 

[HoboForEternity]

I think the mal design is between good and great. They are all pretty navigatable and has tons of landmarks.

I do wish the cities and quests are fleshed out more and yes more NPCs

 

[notpl]

I think the mal design is between good and great. They are all pretty navigatable and has tons of landmarks.

I do wish the cities and quests are fleshed out more and yes more NPCs

It's a series of four hallways and the main quest consists entirely of slowly walking from one end of that hallway, talking to the one NPC in the one city that has dialogue, and being told to walk back to the other end of the hallway to the other single city in that map and talk to the one NPC in that city to tell him the news.

For the sake of transparency, I should take this moment to state for the record that I did not especially care for Outward 1.

 

[Zombra]

Steam page is up.

 

[Yosharian]

Looks neat. If they fix the major flaws of the original, this could be a great game.

 

[Raghar]

Looks neat. If they fix the major flaws of the original, this could be a great game.

Which flaws?

 

[lukaszek]

Looks neat. If they fix the major flaws of the original, this could be a great game.

Which flaws?

progresion, or rather lack of early-mid game onward
not being able to dual wield dagger+pistol
clunky controls

 

[Zombra]

not being able to dual wield dagger+pistol

I did read that dual wielding was a much requested feature and will be in the sequel. Citation unavailable.

 

[lukaszek]

not being able to dual wield dagger+pistol

I did read that dual wielding was a much requested feature and will be in the sequel. Citation unavailable.

this case was annoying as both were allowed in offhand only. My build was about utilizing shots and backstabs which forced me to swap weapons and 20% of the time it didnt work due to wonky controls

 

[Zombra]

this case was annoying as both were allowed in offhand only. My build was about utilizing shots and backstabs which forced me to swap weapons and 20% of the time it didnt work due to wonky controls

My homie is a pistol and dagger ninja and has no problems with the controls. Get good bro

 

[Jinn]

I see the writing hasn't improved at all lol

 

[Raghar]

I see the writing hasn't improved at all lol

We don't play that game for writing. We play the game to be screwed by a random encounter and placed in the middle of nowhere.

 

[Jinn]

We don't play that game for writing. We play the game to be screwed by a random encounter and placed in the middle of nowhere.

Oh, I know. Trust me, I enjoyed the first game, but it had a ton of areas it could have improved upon. The atrocious writing was certainly one of them. If they can't even get it together for a trailer narration, there isn't much hope for the text in the actual game.

 

[TwoEdge]

I don't know, guys. I'm getting bad vibes from the tone in this trailer. It just doesn't gel with my concept of a harsh setting. Maybe it was like this all along, but limited resources caused gaps my imagination colored differently. Still too early to be sure, but this seems like a step in the wrong direction.

 

[deuxhero]

First game was interesting but felt like a prototype more than anything. Everything felt clunky. Some of the ideas were interesting, but nothing felt natural. The NPCs in town wanting to lynch you for an ancestor's crime in cutscene then immediately be super helpful during gameplay was a huge disconnect.

 

[HoboForEternity]

I reckon a lot was cut during development to make it viable, so everything feels disjointed plot wise.

 

[goregasm]

I was really getting fable vibes tone wise from this trailer, and that's not a good thing for me.

The devs are saying all the right things, but time will tell. Enjoyed the first game for what it was.

 

[The Wall]

How long into the trailer until I see happy nigger? Black Knight with HUGE sword roasting fat white french chef over bonfire

 

[n0wh3r3]

Outward is 6 USD right now.

 

[TwoEdge]

I've watched the Q&A with their CEO and it was pretty much exactly what I hoped a sequel to Outward would be, so maybe my feelings about the trailer were wrong. Here it is:



Bullet points for the stuff that caught my attention, for those who'd rather read through:

- No Fast Travel and no mounts, they'd remove the tension of traveling around. However, there will be mules to carry cargo, and those will need to be cared for, fed, and can die;
- Same number of skill/spell trees and same system (to be learned from trainers spread around the world for money) some are familiar, some completely new;
- Nine Dots' team is doubled in size (28 up from 10), but they're aiming for quality over quantity;
- Improving narrative is a huge priority for them, full voice acting;
- They want combat to be less clunky, and speedier, with more feedback, and they have the resources for it now;
- The same composer as the first installment, the excerpts from the trailer are the first samples;
- Can't announce the release date yet, but the other projects from their publishing arm will be released first;
- They want to implement a year-round calendar, with months, holidays, and whatnot, instead of only rotating seasons (which will also impact each region differently);
- More quick slots this time around for QoL reasons such as consumables not competing with slots reserved for skills.
- Different region, no Cierzo, but there are still recognizable places;
- Takes place 50 years after Outward, events from it unfold into the sequel, such as:

Spoiler

there are now Immaculates trying to integrate with society, the Levant faction has especially grown in power;

- No 1-handed spears;
- Four design pillars: better character creation, better combat, better storytelling, and making the world feel more alive, all other elements are not as improved upon (player housing, for instance);
- Coop returns, and starts right after character creation. Same structure though, so no quest progress or exclusive rewards for coop partners;
- 3 Exclusive factions again, but more fleshed out;
- There will be differences to the crafting system, but it will still feel familiar;
- About the same map size, but more dense;
- New weapon types, including dual-wielding with a new flexible control scheme, in which whatever you equip in the offhand will complement your main (which seems just like the first game, but he touts this as an Improvement, maybe it will influence the moveset instead of being just a skill?);
- Immersion is still their ruling design philosophy;

They're also publishing (and helping with the development of) two other games (as shown in the full reveal trailer, for those who watched it). Of note is an honest-to-god, turn-based, classical roguelike, with 50 different classes and a setting based on the struggles between heaven and hell, which also influences said classes, resulting in 100 possible combinations.

 

[luj1]

First Outward was kinda meh

 

[Grampy_Bone]

Backpack dropping simulator.

There's a line between cool immersion and tarded gameplay and that's it. right there.

That and let me quicksave, FFS.

 

[Zeriel]

I just straight up hate the visual tone of the trailer. Hoping that was just some weird filter they used for it and the game will look like the first one, but it killed any hype I might have had.

 

[NaturallyCarnivorousSheep]

I see the writing hasn't improved at all lol

If you want to see what focusing on writing leads to I recommend you to play Torment:Tides of something something I forgot.

Behead storyfaggots