The Outer Worlds 2 was officially unveiled at E3 2021 earlier this month. While it was far from being the biggest surprise of the show, it was definitely a welcome one to the series' many fans. The game will once again be developed by Obsidian Entertainment, but fans still have many questions about what The Outer Worlds 2 will ultimately look like. There is a wide variety of questions that players have about the new game. What corporations will be present? Will there be any exciting new combat features? What sort of new companions will players recruit along the way?
Of course, it is no secret that The Outer Worlds is heavily inspired by the Fallout series and Obsidian's own release within that series, Fallout: New Vegas. The games feature largely similar RPG mechanics, dialogue structure, and FPS combat that allows players to slow down time and land specific shots. The Outer Worlds 2 will undoubtedly be very different from a Fallout game, but Obsidian Entertainment should definitely take a look at Bethesda's other premier series, The Elder Scrolls for some guidance on how to develop their sequel.
The Outer Worlds 2 Can Learn From The Elder Scrolls' Time Progression
One of the biggest changes coming with The Outer Worlds 2 is its entirely new solar system. Obsidian has not said very much about the solar system, but it does leave questions as to how similar the game's world will be to The Outer Worlds. One of the largest aspects that The Outer Worlds 2 can learn from The Elder Scrolls in this regard is how The Elder Scrolls handles the progression of time.
The Elder Scrolls series has an intricately detailed world that is filled with history and detail for players to discover as they play. With The Outer Worlds 2 presumably being set after the first game, it is a great opportunity for the game to show how the world has progressed and advanced in the time that players have been away.
The jump to the new solar system could also allow players to see the familiar factions and corporations from The Outer Worlds in new and interesting ways to learn more about them. The Elder Scrolls also handles this well, with groups like the Imperials being presented from a very different perspective between two games such as Oblivion and Skyrim.
The Outer Worlds had a lot to say about capitalism and the corporations that made up most of its world, and The Outer Worlds 2 has a lot of potential to take a new look at those groups in new and interesting ways while players explore the new solar system and interact with them. With how self-aware The Outer Worlds 2's announcement trailer was it is clear the game's sense of humor will be maintained, so hopefully the sequel will use the opportunity to develop the rest of the first game's world further.
The Outer Worlds 2 Can Learn From The Elder Scrolls' Worldbuilding
Another challenge facing The Outer Worlds 2 is developing an entirely new solar system that feels like part of the same universe of the first game while having a distinct and interesting personality all its own that makes it stand out. This is another area that The Outer Worlds 2 can learn from The Elder Scrolls on. Each Elder Scrolls game is set in an entirely different region of the same continent with its own cultures, politics, history, and themes. However, The Elder Scrolls maintains a sense of continuity by having certain factions, characters, races, and deities present throughout each entry in the series.
Not only does this approach help each Elder Scrolls game feel connected to the ones that came before it, but it also helps the series' world feel bigger and sprawling. The Outer Worlds 2 can do something similar by keeping some of the various factions and characters from the first game and having the first game's story directly impact the sequel's setting. It can also do this by having references to the old planets and system from the first game pop up throughout the game, whether this is through the story or The Outer Worlds 2's new companion characters.
The Outer Worlds 2 Can Learn from How The Elder Scrolls Handles Races
One standout feature of The Elder Scrolls is the different races that players come across and can play throughout the games. The Outer Worlds did not feature any alien races, but The Outer Worlds 2's new solar system is the perfect opportunity to introduce some. Adding alien races would go a long way to help set the new solar system apart from the first game while also allowing it to flesh out the cultures and have them interact with the universe's corporations in different interesting ways. Since The Outer Worlds has never featured races before, however, there are a lot of cues the sequel could take from The Elder Scrolls if it does introduce them.
The Elder Scrolls does a great job of making each race's culture feel distinct and fleshed out, which The Outer Worlds 2 would have to attempt to do as well if it introduced alien races to the series. To do this, the game would have to fully flesh out each race's place in the solar system as well as their own detailed histories and cultures. Another big benefit of adding the races would be allowing players and companion characters to play those races and having each race have its own strengths and weaknesses. Playing different races in The Elder Scrolls is an excellent way to mix up playthroughs and allow players to roleplay more effectively, and they would add the same benefits to The Outer Worlds 2 as well.
Of course, there is no way of knowing whether or not The Outer Worlds 2 will look at The Elder Scrolls series for inspiration at all until the game fully launches in the future. There is a lot that players are hoping The Outer Worlds 2 will change from the first game, and it will be interesting to see what directions Obsidian decides to take the game in. Hopefully, the studio will make a great new entry in the series that can satisfy all of its many fans and earn it some new ones along the way.
The Outer Wilds 2 is currently in development.