I am not a smart girl. Too many words to read? I’ll figure it out. Want me to tackle something in a precise order? We’ll see about that. You’re telling me a shrimp fried this rice? I doubt it.
This part of my personality is something I’ve simply learned to accept as I cruise further into adulthood and view my occasional air-headedness as an undisputed element of charm, even if it immensely frustrates people I care deeply about. Sorry, sometimes I’m going to place the wrong thing in the microwave, and we’ll just have to deal with it. Anyway, I’ve been playing a lot of The Outer Worlds 2 lately.
Obsidian Entertainment’s space-faring RPG allows you to create a character and do things your way, even if it means bumbling through every single mission like an absolute idiot. Yep, I’ve been making a lot of mistakes, but that hasn’t stopped me from having so much fun.
The Outer Worlds 2 Is All About Being Yourself
Like most Obsidian games, your adventure begins by creating a character in your image, or a bespoke original creation for the purposes of roleplay. You pick an appearance, a background, and a handful of quirks to carry you forward into the new playthrough.
I wouldn’t worry too much, since despite labelling myself as a renegade who would only tow the corporate line if it meant a healthy payday, I swiftly walked away from that to become a more kind-hearted soul in the game proper. I’m also not the sharpest tool in the shed and have failed to recognise the nuance of certain quests before it’s too late.
One early story quest requires you to build a shield device before sneaking into a facility in which the entrance is covered by a cloud of deadly acid. All I saw on the objective screen was the fact I needed to sabotage the place by, presumably, blowing it to pieces. Turns out that there was also an option to close vents and execute on the job without dooming everyone in the base to an early death and/or space cancer.
I did none of that, and returned to the quest giver to receive an earful about screwing everything up. But I played dumb, told him all I did was push a bunch of random buttons and this was the result. The best part? He bought it.
Now this dude was blaming himself for everything and planning for his eventual execution. Bad luck, bozo. If you’ll excuse me, there is a satellite relay in the next town over I need to accidentally launch and send hurtling into the nearest children’s hospital.
In my defense, I missed an optional piece of dialogue from my companion that made it obvious this was set to happen unless I did some hacking to stop it. After sneaking into the first world’s signature location and completing the main quest chain, the relay will enter a self-destruct sequence.
And Screwing Up In The Coolest Ways Possible
Turns out there is a terminal in which you can either redirect the crashing station towards the smaller town of Westport or disable its detonation entirely. I failed to realise this and escaped the base only to watch the entire town of Fairfield — in which I’d spent several hours getting to know its occupants — be wiped off the map. Moments like this are a dime a dozen in The Outer Worlds 2 as you embark on quests that conclude in a variety of impressive ways.
Normally, it is possible to talk your way out of hostile situations or blow everyone to pieces, but I love the chance to wiggle out of harm’s way by total accident. This happens a lot, and the writing is so charming that my character could always be read as a kind-hearted snake oil salesman who loved to screw up first and apologise later.
What makes the experience even more diabolical is that I accidentally gave myself a flaw in which I can never dedicate all of my skill points to my best skills. If things get too high, it becomes locked off and with each new level I need to spread myself out into other corners of character customisation.
I am the jack of all trades and master of absolutely nothing. Most smart players would put all of their skill points into speech, guns, or lockpicking — yet here I am being terrible at pretty much all of them. If you need me, I’ll be climbing through a broken window to steal your space crisps to sustain myself.
I’m reminded of early playthroughs going through Fallout 3 as a teenager in which I fumbled through most quests and landed on the most average outcome possible. No heavenly karma or labelling myself as the devil incarnate, just a lovable schmuck making ends meet. I’m only a handful of hours into The Outer Worlds 2 so far, but I’m already loving the fact that I can bring this bastion of mediocrity to life who will eventually — somehow — go on to save the galaxy.
The Outer Worlds 2
- Released
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October 29, 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Intense Violence, Blood and Gore, Strong Language
