Topic: Star Wars Outlaws (30-8-2024)

Yeah, I kinda hated Star Wars Outlaws for the first couple hours.

Always a good sign! But that whole prologue heist on Canto Bight felt really pedestrian. Maybe I was still a little annoyed at being forced to create an Ubisoft account (always hate having to do that) and it took me a long time to tweak my preferred settings, but I was hoping for something a bit more impressive, some grand spectacle that would get my pulse going. Something akin to the beast fight arena from Bounty Hunter or the Clone Wars graveyard and runaway train set-piece from Jedi: Fallen Order. Just having Kay wake up and mooch around the streets wasn't exactly making me care much, and showing me one pretty vista didn't grab me, either. The game's tutorials are confusingly scattershot (constantly highlighting what ledge to jump to, but never telling me how to crouch) and Kay felt clunky to control through crowds and narrow alleys.

So, I put my controller down, got some food, made a phone call, and came back fresh to the game proper. Kay was now on Toshara, and as I rode my speeder bike away from my ship, I found the spectacle I was looking for. Despite wanting to explore, I decided to focus on story and, without any single moment making it an obvious change, gradually came to realise that I was having a heck of a lot of fun. I got used to the controls (which still aren't perfect, but they'll do) and began to make sense of where I needed to look amidst the convoluted menus. Nix became invaluable support in both combat and stealth, rather than just the fetch mechanic he represented to begin with. Characters began to take shape around me, and I could concentrate on them long enough to form opinions. I started to care and hey, that's half the battle, right there.

Being able to form said opinions helped when it came to making decisions between the factions. I realise it's never gonna go deeper than adding surface-level flavour (nobody at Lucasfilm would have given Ubisoft freedom to decide the fate of major characters or organisations from Star Wars canon) but I at least wanted to get to know the crime bosses, their underlings, and get a sense of their perspectives. For the most part, it feels like I'm being given the opportunity to do just that, to the point where I absolutely tanked Kay's reputation with Crimson Dawn in favour of supporting the Pykes and the Hutts. I'm a little annoyed that the best cosmetics I've seen (so far) are the reward for getting maximum rep with the Hutts. Why give me something so cool to wear as a reward for something that I'm clearly gonna attain ten minutes before the endgame?!

One thing that was great from the get-go? The sound design, and especially the music. Wilbert Roget II has been one of my favourite video game composers for a while now, so when I realised the soundtrack was his, everything made sense. It's a perfect blend of all the major musical styles featured across the franchise, built around one heck of a hummable central theme for Kay.

I'm playing in 21:9 letterbox, which looks gorgeous, especially when blasting across a wide open landscape or taking the Trailblazer into orbit. I have finished all the main quests on Toshara and Kijimi, and will spend a brief session tomorrow morning tidying up some of the more intriguing side quests I ignored before getting back to proper progress on Wednesday. Can't decide whether to hit Tatooine right away (one of my favourite Star Wars planets) or save it for later. We'll see.

Oh, and thanks to the DLC included in my Gold Edition (which I got cheap in a sale last year) I also have this hanging from the back of Kay's bike...

And I made Nix blue. He's adorable. If anybody hurts him, I will not be held responsible for my actions!

@Werehog I’m glad it’s finally clicking for you! Even if it took a few hours to warm up. I think it was a similar gradual simmer for me as well and before I knew it I had a pretty good connection to Kay and some of the companions (especially Nix, for sure!)

I do think you may want to prioritize Tatooine if you want to fast track your Hutt reputation. But honestly, there’s more and more opportunities to get in the good graces with the different factions as you progress. I was able to max out every syndicate, some sooner than others, and still have ample time before the ending to enjoy using the rewards you get, which are both cosmetic and practical. In fact, for the last third, or so, of the game I had many more things to outfit my Kay with than I could really use and sometimes the best looking outfits didn’t have the perks that I valued most for my playstyle. But getting to the highest reputation with all the factions definitely makes the game easier, so for no other reason than being able to roam more freely on the map, you should try to max them all out, imho. But I do think I pushed for the Pykes first and the others came later. Of course, sometimes siding with one group will automatically lower the rep with another group, but there’s other opportunities that simply build rep for one group without affecting any others.

Anyway, take all that for what it’s worth. I’m hoping that your time with the game gets even better as you move along! How do you find the basic gameplay and progression through the maps? I remember your saying that this is actually your first Ubisoft open world game. Does it feel familiar or entirely different than you expected?

@Werehog Happy to hear your opinion on Star Wars: Outlaws turned around eventually! I know how excited you must've been for an open world game set in this universe, so I can imagine it was incredibly disappointing at first to not feel the connection you hoped to have with it. I'm surprised to hear the game has a reputation system and choices. I didn't realise it had some RPG flavour to it. Are they at all meaningful choices within the games narrative/ensemble of characters or is it really just for cosmetic rewards and such? I also didn't know it had proper squadmates and such. It seems like there is more to this game than I previously thought! Have previous Ubisoft games done squadmates? If they did, I can't think of any.

Anyway, glad you're having a great time now! Hope it stays that way for the entire duration. Excited to see what screenshots you'll be able to grab.

@Th3solution Appreciate the advice, buddy! Which I was able to follow yesterday (didn't get to play any Monday, alas) and I have now cleared all of the main story missions on Tatooine. I also hung around and did the extra pre-order / deluxe edition mission for Jabba, which... was totally not worth it, and I can see why it caused a minor controversy around the game's launch window. But the upshot is, I'm now at max rep with the Hutts and Kay is sporting the colourful outfit I wanted, so yay!

Because I was keeping focus on the story, I didn't realise how easy it'd be to max out a syndicate's rep. Between the job brokers, collectible intel sales, and most side quests featuring some kind of last minute, "You know, you could always screw 'em over and help their rivals!" potential for a rug-pull, I have a much clearer idea of what's possible now and you're right, if I'm desperate to max out any of the remaining syndicates, it'd only take an hour of odd jobs to achieve. I'm happy to carry on for now (even though the Pykes and Crimson Dawn currently hate Kay's guts) and see where the story takes me. Should I end up tanking my rep with the Hutts at some point, it won't matter. Been there, done that, literally got the t-shirt!

The rep system is honestly the only major difference between this and all the other open-world games I've played before, so you're right, while this is technically my first Ubisoft sandbox, there's nothing here that's surprising me (or worse, confusing me). I mean yeah, there's a lot to keep track of, lots of sub-menus and ability upgrades and optional gadgets and whatnot, but I've played "busy" games before, so that's nothing unique. Most of the time I've had to double-check something, it's because the game is using Star Wars language to describe a common mechanic, and my brain lags between being a gamer and being a geek. I think we're at the point in AAA game development where it's less about bold new ideas and more about how successfully you can pull off your planned recipe using known ingredients. Despite still struggling with a few clunky moments here and there, I'd say Outlaws is being very successful in that regard.

Oh, and that mission to infiltrate Jabba's Palace? So much fun. Made me one heck of a happy nerd!

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@Tjuz Thank you! Knowing that Outlaws was gonna end up being a much larger, more sweeping multi-planet adventure definitely helped in that slow prologue, that's for sure. And I always try to allow for a degree of a "grump factor" the older I get, as well. I'd never criticise something for not doing what I want it to do, but I do find that I'm susceptible to the occasional, "This isn't what I'm used to and I'm pressing all the wrong buttons!" kind of irrational hatred. Which I never carry forward, but still, it's a thing!

As far as I'm aware (unless the endgame pulls out a surprise) no, Kay's choices between the syndicates aren't really meaningful. Like I said before, I sincerely doubt that Lucasfilm would have given Ubisoft permission to make drastic changes to the Star Wars galaxy's status quo. The game is set in a very specific time period as well, in the short gap between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. There's no way I'm gonna be able to overthrow the Hutts or dismantle the Pykes or anything, because they have to endure. There is a new syndicate unique to the game (which I have no influence over or interaction with outside of cutscenes) so my guess is that the story's major twists will impact them.

And also no, there aren't any proper squadmates, either! But I can totally see how my previous wording might have given that impression, sorry! Kay has Nix, who is a cute lil' fuzzball you can command to fetch items, distract enemies and security cameras, open doors, etc. but he's basically an extension of Kay's own abilities, albeit a very cute one. There is a bit of a "build your crew" element to the story, but this just gradually adds NPCs to your ship, a'la the Normandy or Tempest. They don't seem to accompany you anywhere outside of specific missions or scripted instances.

Not sure about previous Ubisoft games, as this is my first one! But it doesn't sound like something they'd do, at least not as a core game mechanic. From what I know second-hand, I think some of the Assassin's Creed games have things like an eagle companion. Nix feels like an extension of that.

Unfortunately, its Photo Mode can occasionally cause the game to crash! It's a known bug that can still cause problems, so I'm not taking as many screenshots as I'd like. Probably for the best, though!

@Werehog You might know this already, but if you’re going for the platinum you have to bottom out your reputation with at least one syndicate, so if you’re on the low side with one, you might as well go on a shooting spree in their territory and get the credit for lowest possible reputation. There’s trophies for maxing out rep with each one too.

I didn’t go through the trouble of the platinum as there’s loads of other combat specific trophies and minigames. Also, I don’t enjoy the Wanted status and there’s some specific trophies tied to doing things while Wanted and I didn’t mess with those.

How are you finding Sabacc? I dabbled in it but didn’t really spend much time doing the optional Sabacc tournaments.

I'm tempted as it's fairly cheap on Amazon UK and I love a bargain but still unsure. I think I'll try the demo then go from there.

@Th3solution Oh, thanks, but I got the "lowest rep" trophy back on Kijimi...! Already hated Crimson Dawn before they showed up in the game, so naturally ended up tanking 'em pretty early. I have the Hutt's max rep trophy now as well, so figured there'd be more for each syndicate.

I remember you mentioned you stopped short of the platinum in your post-game impressions, and I totally understand you bowing out, since I have naturally unlocked some of the random trophies (such as beating my high score at an arcade cabinet and surviving a Death Trooper kill order) which give me a good idea of the full list. Funnily enough, sabacc is one of those things I consider a similar sort of "mop-up" activity. I enjoyed it as an atmospheric story beat, but then got stuck thinking I had to play it against that literal jarhead when all I'd done is accidentally trigger a side quest. When I realised my mistake, I was relieved to be able to back out with an, "I'll come back to this later, maybe." From what I gather, it plays a larger role in one of the two DLCs.

Speaking of which, did you get the DLC packs? I know you're not usually a fan of pre-planned expansions, and I know one of them doesn't unlock until you clear the main story, but the other's been sitting in my Journal for a while now, so I'm wondering whether to play it before or after the big finale.

Which is my next main mission. I cleared Anaxes earlier, and am all set for the point of no return. The creepy mission set in an abandoned Battle Droid factory was a new favourite!

I'm super-busy for the next few days, so it's gonna be a long wait to see how it all ends. Argh!

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@Jammer If the demo only covers the prologue, then don't use it to judge the whole game. Everything gets significantly more fun after the first few hours!

@Werehog Yeah, I do not have any of the DLC expansions, so unfortunately have no advice about the timing of playing them. I will be very curious to hear how you like them though! I think I recall that they were well received by fans of the game. And I’m also interested in your final thoughts when you’re able to get through the finale. You’ve made quick progress through the story so I really hope that it crescendos sufficiently for you.