Outer Worlds: 10 Ways It Blows Fallout 4 Out The Water

8. Companions Feel Even More Fleshed Out

The Outer Worlds
Private Division

Companions had been a staple of Fallout for a while, but the fourth game pushed the feature even further, giving each character far more dialogue, their own unique stories and quests, and all around tried to make them feel like real-life people, and not just extra storage for when you were over-encumbered.

The Outer Worlds, however, is taking this system to the next logical level. All the hallmarks of the regular companion system remain - two people in your party at any given time, unique, personalised quests to tackle, and individual combat styles to be utilised - but every element feels even more robust, with a couple new features thrown in for good measure.

For one, they're even better in combat, not only because of their signature weapons, but because each has a special ability you can activate with the push of the D-pad.

In general though, the companions I spoke to simply felt like larger parts of the world than ever before. At one point during my playthrough, a companion ran into someone they knew out in the wastes, kicking off an emergent conversation between them that felt so rewarding to uncover.

They made the world seem more dynamic and lived in, and that’s essential for an RPG like this.

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Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.