Outward

Outward is an open world[3] fantasy role-playing video game developed by Canadian studio Nine Dots[4] and published by Deep Silver.[2] The game can be played in multiplayer both online and or locally through split-screen. The game focuses on survival[3] as well as the concept of the player being a commoner rather than a hero, and features several survival game aspects.[2]

Outward
Developer(s)Nine Dots
Publisher(s)Deep Silver
Director(s)Guillaume Boucher-Vidal[1]
Designer(s)Guillaume Boucher-Vidal[1]
Platform(s)Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows[2]
Release26 March 2019[2]
Genre(s)Role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Gameplay

On top of more traditional gameplay of action role-playing games, Outward includes several survival aspects, such as having to carefully watch one's warmth, hunger, fatigue and thirst. It's also possible for the player character to suffer from such conditions as a cold, a disease or indigestion. Losing all of one's health in battle can lead to a variety of consequences, including being imprisoned by enemies or being brought back to safety by an NPC. The game has an auto-save system, meaning the player is unable to manually save and return to earlier saves upon death or other such setbacks. While the game has a magic system, spells were specifically designed to be challenging to obtain. Similarly, skills and stat increases must all be earned by completing quests for NPCs or paying experts to receive training. Quests have multiple outcomes, and success or failure can permanently affect the game world and how the story progresses, such as a character being convinced to stay in a faction, or an important city being permanently destroyed if the player fails to kill certain characters.[4]

Story

The game starts with the player character, an inhabitant of the city of Cierzo, getting shipwrecked off the coast of their home city. They had previously inherited a debt called a Blood Price from their ancestors, a debt that must be periodically paid. A Blood Price affects all members of a given family, and the voyage was meant to pay it off. Now penniless, and despite having barely survived the deadly wreck, they are given only five days by the desperate townsfolk to pay off this debt and retain the family holdings.[2] Once this debt has been paid, or the players home has been seized, the player is given multiple ways to react to their unfair situation and the true story begins. They can free themselves of their bloodline by joining the Holy Mission of Elatt, enter a new spotless bloodline by helping the Blue Chamber Collective, or free themselves of the entire system through the Heroic Kingdom of Levant. These three factions are trapped in a stalemate; the Blue Chamber wants to uphold the current status quo, the Kingdom of Levant wants to overthrow the unfair Blood Price system and let people live for themselves, and the Holy Mission similarly rejects the bloodline and social systems upheld by the Blue Chamber but only because it hinders the forming of a unified front against the common enemy of mankind, an otherworldly force called the Scourge. After the player joins a faction, the stalemate starts to crack and global events begin to progress. The main part of the story consists of three parallel storylines, one for each of these factions, all of which are perspectives of the bigger story. Main quests have time limits, though these are typically several months.[1]

Downloadable content

The first downloadable content called The Soroboreans came out for PC on June 16, 2020 and came out for PS4+Xbox One on July 7, 2020. It adds new dungeons and enchantments.

Reception
Reception
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
MetacriticPC: 67/100[5]
PS4: 62/100[6]
XONE: 65/100[7]
Review score
PublicationScore
PC Gamer (US)89/100[8]

The game received mixed reviews according to review aggregator Metacritic.[5][6][7]

Outward has sold over 400,000 copies as of October 2019.[9]

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References
  1. Outward proves you don’t need crunch to make a massive RPG, VentureBeat
  2. Outward's open-world RPG makes you a nobody... and treats you like it, IGN
  3. Outward review – surviving with friends, Metro
  4. Fantasy RPG Outward is the survival game I've been looking for, PC Gamer
  5. "Outward for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  6. "Outward for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  7. "Outward for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  8. Livingston, Christopher (April 10, 2019). "Outward review". PC Gamer. Future US. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  9. Boudreau, Ian (October 6, 2019). "Survival RPG Outward has sold 400k copies and is adding poutine". PCGamesN. Network N. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
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