News Outward, sandbox open world RPG focused on simulation and immersion, out 29 March 2019

texhnolyze

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In Outward, you're no Chosen One, you're an ordinary human being. Your medieval fantasy RPG adventure - which begins on March 26 on PC, PS4, and Xbox - won't be easy, but maybe it'll be more rewarding.


Basically, the game will feature:
- Single player campaign
- Choices that matter
- Open world to explore
- Factions with their own story
- Hybrid classes
- Skill trainers
- Ritualistic spellcasting
- Cooking & crafting
- Weather system
- Survival elements
- Co-op (online & local)

One of the devs have also detailed some more information in the Steam forum:
Story:
There are three factions you can join, each with its own storylines. So yes, it is somewhat story driven, but some players might prefer just exploring the areas and mostly ignore the story. Every storyline should last about 20h if you focus on that, 30-40 for a more "normal" playthrough without trying to do everything. I believe that a player who really digs the game and want to see everything and try every playstyle would take about 100h to do so. I don't want to either undersell or oversell the story. I agree that it's important and we've made a lot of efforts to bring the world of Aurai to life. I can tell you that it's more complex than fetch quests at least, but we don't have those impressive cutscenes either.

Items:
The collectibles are not stuff you find in large useless quantities. There are some very rare items that can be gathered as a crafting material for some end game gear, but those are generally well hidden. Don't expect to find something in every corner, but if you don't look around you will certainly miss out on cool stuff.

World:
There are 4 open regions of about 4 square kilometer each, each with very distinctive landmarks that often contain a dungeon to explore. Each region has its own flora, fauna and climate. There is a town for every region. Right from the start, you can leave one region and head wherever you want, with some dungeon areas sometimes barred until you have the relevant quest. During our latest stream, you can see what the world looks like and we've answered some questions about the lore of the area we were in.

Fantasy:
There is a lot of fantasy elements. You can learn to cast magic, but that requires some sacrifice, and using magic isn't as simple as pressing a button to cast a fireball. The idea is to make an RPG in which you are not spoonfed supernatural greatness by a game that is always holding your hand. In that regard, we try to subvert many tropes, and we focus the story more on what other characters are doing in the world, and the player accompanies and assist them, rather than make the whole world revolve around you. It doesn't mean that the player isn't making any choice however, and sometimes with very intense consequences. Also, we try to have a story that isn't too simplistic with the good vs evil stuff, but some characters are certainly less likeable than others. Our characters have clear motives for their actions beyond "I'm evil, muhahaha".


PCGamer previews:
Outward is a sandbox RPG where there's more to losing a fight than dying
In Outward, your choice of backpack is as important as your weapon and armor
 
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texhnolyze

texhnolyze

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I like their take on exploration.
The diary also gives us a look at the four different regions in Outward, and while you've got a map to help you find your way around, there's no marker showing your position on the map and no arrow pointing you to your objective. You'll need to navigate by spotting landmarks and keeping track of where you are in the world. This isn't a game that's going to lead you around by the nose.
The backpack system is also interesting, but hopefully it won't be too much of a hassle.

 

FreakOrama

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Been waiting for this since it was announced a few years back (a few years later it seemed like it was canceled, glad it wasn't =3).

Hopefully it'll turn out good. Not getting it on launch (unless I get a burst of money x3), and will wait and see how things pan out a week+ after launch.

I like these kinds of games, but I also don't like the heavy chore-like experience that comes along with it, so hopefully the experience between fun and mundane/boring management to progression is balanced =3
 
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Nahkapukki

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Oh man... I saw a snippet of this in a highlight reel about indies and was immediately pulled in. This is my kind of game. Now if only they'd let me hunt, eat and skin humans for clothing...
 
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Casper

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Been following this for sometime, almost purely because this

This ticks a lot of boxes ordinary MMOs aren't.
I want something a little more challenging these days. Just not finding it. I really hope this scratches that itch. I've not really had anything do so since Dogma and before that... FFXI. I get that this is not that, but the vibes I am getting are exciting.
 
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texhnolyze

texhnolyze

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Highly interested. It looks like the hunger/thirst doesn't have harmful affects besides not giving buffs?
There's probably several thresholds. The devs said that you can go without food for 4 days, and without water for 2 days, but you'll be gimping yourself. There's probably a debuff for neglecting them for too long.
 
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texhnolyze

texhnolyze

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Just as long as it doesn't kill you lol
You'll be knocked out and trigger one of 'defeat scenarios'. Basically dead, but the outcome varies.
Defeat scenarios depend on what kind of enemy was closest to you when you were knocked out, and in which area you were. The one scenario that you can find anywhere, is if you are KOed multiple times in a row without sleeping, you will be respawned in the nearest village, fully rested after about a week of convalescence in game time, which can seriously screw with the timeline of your quests but at least you're back on your feet and in an easier situation.

You can be brought by animals in their dens. Many dungeons have their own defeat scenarios as well, such as troglodytes bringing you to their kitchen to eat you.

These defeat scenarios are explained through text during the loading as we load the scene you respawned in.
 
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Alextended

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It's one of my most anticipated games, it looks like it's tailored for me if it all works out in the end. From the monster hunter and souls influences in the systems to the hand crafted open world and the Gothic 1&2-esque hardcore feel to tie it all together. I don't know what it is about it exactly but it looks like eurojank at its very best! The fact they're going with just being an explorer going on adventures rather than a long winded bound to be underwhelming connected campaign is a plus for me and to top it off you can co-op it up with a friend, that's gonna be amazing! Apparently they failed to get it kickstarted which is why it seems to be taking so long with videos dating years back but thankfully they didn't give up on it and I guess they eventually got Deep Silver to pitch in too :)

 
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Alextended

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Nice to see this game has been getting some press coverage lately. Maybe it won't be completely ignored by the media/mainstream.
Exclusive interview with Guillaume Boucher-Vidal, creative lead on Outward and CEO of Nine Dots Studio | TheXboxHub
Outward Preview - The Barefoot Explorer | PowerUp!
www.gamebanshee.com/previews/121874-outward-preview.html
Outward's Open-World RPG Makes You A Nobody...and Treats You Like It - IGN
Fantasy RPG Outward is the survival game I've been looking for | PC Gamer
Outward PC preview: An exciting RPG with piles of potential
Outward Preview - Run From Death With Friends | PC Invasion
No idea why they made this video off-screen but oh well:
Post automatically merged:

I missed this official video, lol:

I'm really hyped for this one, more than RPGs most others look forward to, even the more niche RPG fans which only care for stuff like The Outer Worlds.
 
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Alextended

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Neat, I've been checking the deep silver tube eager for more stuff but it wasn't there cos it's exclusive. Loving this.

It's like they're doing everything I want out of an RPG right despite a low budget. I read it's ~10 people making this.

I'm really getting that modern Gothic style RPG vibe, without a story focus but with much more polished systems.

Maybe if it does well enough a sequel can expand that to the NPCs and story interactions as in the Gothic games.
 
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texhnolyze

texhnolyze

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They just opened up the pre-order on XBox store yesterday. PS4 was up earlier too.

The problem is, both versions aren't available in Asia, I have a bad feeling about this.
 
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Alextended

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You can repair weapons so it's not like BOTW. They also haven't mentioned weapons breaking, just getting worse. I'm thinking it's more like Fallout 3. I liked it in Fallout 3 (in its time) as you used the trademark Bethesda junk repeating loot for repairs which felt better than just filling up your inventory to then sell it for pennies. I found that sort of thing to be a big step in the right direction compared to what came before (Oblivion). It's a shame that with Skyrim any hope that they're actually learning and improving disappeared. Anyway, as long as it feels nicely integrated and like there's a use for it rather than it being a chore I'm fine with it. In Outward they mention repairs are an overnight choice to balance alongside sleep or guarding to avoid attacks (a la D&D games!). I'm assuming there are other ways to do it, in towns perhaps rather than when out and about, as I also assume sleeping is always safe in an inn so you don't need to worry about guarding. I like the idea of preparing for a journey then getting back in town after you finish or after you've depleted certain resources because you weren't prepared well enough or to craft more things, sell whatever you found, and so on before heading out again. Kind of like returning to the hub in Monster Hunter (another game with well done weapon degradation and before World your sharpening tools weren't infinite, only the crafted and otherwise acquired limited items were there) to restock or upgrade your gear or whatever as you can do certain things mid-expedition like craft some additional items but it's not feasible to do it all, yet here it's more organically integrated in a larger, more open and seamless game. All I've seen so far is seemingly tasteful, carefully balanced gameplay elements that all mesh together for the tone, setting and overall gameplay, so, we'll see soon (on mah birthday if there are no more delays!) :)
 
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Alextended

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The Steam page says split screen is there and most of their videos show that aspect off a little bit at least so, most likely yes :)
 
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Derrick01

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They just opened up the pre-order on XBox store yesterday. PS4 was up earlier too.

The problem is, both versions aren't available in Asia, I have a bad feeling about this.
I assume you're referring to Epic? I thought the devs already came out against this on discord and said it would be on steam. Granted Deep Silver is involved here too. You would think after metro and the idiotic AMA incident they would be trying NOT to get more negative headlines.
 

dummmyy

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Man, this looks really fun / sounds super frustrating. Will probably buy @ launch...and hopefully play
 
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Alextended

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NooooOOOooOOoooOOoooOOooOOOoooOOOoooOOoo!

Edit: developers maintain in correspondence as of today that the game will be out on Steam on March 26th. Fingers crossed it's true....
 
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texhnolyze

texhnolyze

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Just posted on Discord:
I am now able to say what's going on regarding the pre-orders for PC. Some of you already noticed that the game is available for pre-order on the Epic store and not on Steam, and you expressed your worries that this would mean Outward would be exclusive to their store. I can assure you that Outward will be released on Steam as well on launch day.

However, there will be no pre-order possible on Steam. Because we didn't want players to be unable to get the pre-order bonus if they decide to play on Steam, anyone who buys the game on Steam during the first week after launch will also get the bonus content (the pearlbird pet and the fireworks).

With that being said, if you don't mind buying the game on the Epic store, know that they are giving us a significantly bigger share of the revenue, so it benefits us more as developers if you buy it there.
So instead of pre-order bonus, there will be first week purchase bonus now. There simply won't be pre-order on Steam.
 

AxeVince

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Knowing how the team needs money, anything they can do to get it is okay for me.
Devs had it rough over the past 4-5years working on this.
 
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Alextended

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Well I doubt Deep Silver gives them more money just cos they made a deal with Epic >_>

But I'm sure the game will sell nicely (on Steam) and they'll be better off post-launch :)
 
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