This is a game I picked up last December that has been sitting in my backlog for quite some time. It is one I had high hopes for but in my first playthrough of it, you are about to see what is not so enjoyable. Which reflected a bit of negativity on the overview that I wrote about the other week.
I arrive at the game having survived a shipwreck. A few people died and one further person would end up not making it since I had no idea he needed to be saved. From here things would go quite downhill quickly.
I ended up wandering a long beach for a short amount of time. Gathering what little resources I could hoping to survive till I could make it back to where my home town was. I ended up coming across someone I knew and they ensured I at least had a safe place to reset and recover from the shipwreck.
Once I made it back to my home town you would think they would at least be thrilled that someone survived the shipwreck. Well, you would be wrong. I had owned a lighthouse and the adventure I went on did not come back as a success. They knew I did not have the money to cover the taxes on my place.
Nothing like feeling like a government is crushing you into dust. It was shocking to find how angry these town folks were at me. As if I had caused the shipwreck or something that I'd later find out someone else was to blame.
I was told I'd be given a short amount of time to come up with the 150 silver I needed to pay the taxes owed. Otherwise, I'd lose my house which was this amazing lighthouse. I was quite shocked. I'd quickly learn being new to this game that the cards were stacked against me.
The further I'd play this game the more of a feeling I'd get that just playing it once was not going to be good enough. That if you had certain game knowledge that you have gained from playing it before. Things just became easier for you.
Without having such knowledge as I was about to learn. The game would keep slapping me across the face. Throwing up challenges that I'd fail to meet. Things would start compounding onto themselves making the game further challenging in trying to survive in this game.
Since there did not seem to be any work inside of the town I ended up exploring the region I was in. Hoping I could somehow find or make 150 silver and pay off my debt in time.
This is one of those games where if you are a packrat like myself. Having a house is a requirement. You have quite a limited amount of carrying weight. Thankfully there are different backpacks you find along the way to help increase how much you can carry. That however is nowhere enough to make up for not having a house.
I also learned the hard way that everything resets after so many days. I ended up dropping some stuff at one point to reduce my carrying weight. Only to come back at a later date and realize it was gone since the zone reset. Losing some needed crafting materials I was hoping to bank up.
The game itself has a map but you are not shown on it. So, for each region, I'd have to learn how to navigate by taking a look at landmarks. Starting I had no clue what was really what. Granted I did try and make some educated guesses. I’d still be quite lost for some time.
I’d also learn that not every dungeon is listed on the map. Making things even more challenging when I needed to find a location that was not even listed on the map.
The first creature I went out and fought ended up killing me. I ended up getting saved by some strange-looking beast. He took pity on me and I ended up getting some armor from him.
While the combat in this game is not that complex. It was clear I was far from ready to deal with it. It was also rather funny I'd end up getting killed by something so basic. This also would not be the last time I'd end up getting killed by this type of creature. More times than not I'd be out of stamina and unable to get more than a couple of swings before getting killed.
The hardest part I'd quickly learn about getting killed is ending up somewhere else. You would think getting killed right outside of my home town I'd end up there. But I did not. I was now fully lost not having a clue where I was.
To make matters worse a few moments later I'd get killed again. I’d also not be taken back to the cave I was just at either. I’d yet again be moved to another location within the region.
This is when I'd learn another harsh part about getting killed. Sometimes only hours will have passed. Other times days of in-game time will pass. I was now quite close to failing my first mission and losing my house.
On top of that, I was not out of water and food. My character was starving. I had quite a low life. Without using something to heal with or eating food that regenerates health. You need to sleep to get your health back.
I’d also find out your health becomes “burnt” aka gone till you reset and regain it. So, I'd quickly go from having 50 health down to a cap of like 30 and even lower. So even when I had a way to heal the damage I'd taken. I’d need to rest to get back to my normal life cap. Other things like stamina and mana worked the same way.
Final Thoughts
So, it was no shock a couple of moments later I got killed again. At this point, I knew I had just lost my house. Things however were about to be a lot harder than that for me. My character awoke in a prison with all my gear being taken away.
You could say at this point I was quite pissed. The little gear I had was gone and I did not catch the gear being taken to a chest nearby. This location requires a bit of work even trying to do it in the first place.
That gear I could at least get back. Not having a house on the other hand would end up sending me down quite a spiral. While later on I'd be able to buy the house back. It would be at a higher price.
Since I lacked a proper place to store things. I’d end up living a life of poverty. Anything I did not need I'd be forced to sell as I lacked the carrying capacity to hold onto things. Then for crafting purposes, I'd either have to buy stuff back at a higher price or spend time going out to gather just the couple of items I needed just to be left right back in the same situation I was in of selling off any extras for a small amount.
Information
Screenshots were taken and content was written by @Enjar about Outward Definitive Edition.
These virtual reality games must be an adventure...