The Outer Worlds and Its Ridiculously Good Writing

We have said it many times, and we will say it again – The Outer Worlds is a shining gem inside the gallery of modern sci-fi RPGs.

It’s a jovial mix of thriller and comedy, of otherwordly and all-too-familiar, of Fallout franchise and TV series Firefly, of loud combat and quirky dialogue.
It’s the kind of a game that puts a lot of focus on the personality of its NPCs and the world, as well as the party companions, and even the player as it manifests through their dialog options and quest choices. Most of the locations you visit will have peculiar stories to tell, NPCs you talk to will make an impression, your companions will react to the events and ask you questions, and your character will develop a detailed personality through how he or she responds to the surrounding people and what they say in return.

So, who are the masterminds behind The Outer Worlds‘ ridiculously polished story and characters?
The lead writers of the team are Leonard Boyarsky (also a co-director) and Megan Starks, followed by Kate Dollarhyde and Chris L’Etoile.

You might know Leonard Boyarsky from the first Fallout game and Diablo III, while Megan Starks might ring a bell with Pillars of Eternity II and Tyranny. Kate Dollarhyde was another writer working on the Pillars of Eternity series, and Chris L’Etoile is known for his work with the Mass Effect series. Now the saturated storyline and quirky characters begin to make much more sense – The Outer Worlds truly has a little bit of everything from each of these big titles.

Obsidian has a long history with its ups and down under Bethesda, as an independent entity, collaborating with smaller organizations, and now under Microsoft. They most definitely didn’t have a tremendous budget to invest into the title, and they probably didn’t have much time to act to preserve their spot in the industry.

Under all of this pressure, Obsidian still found a way to make the game’s content work and, as many fans will insist, they did a very impressive job with what resources they had available.