Staff – March 26, 2019 at 8:17 AM
I awake on the shore, dressed in nothing but a loincloth, following a shipwreck that resulted in many dead. I’d been on a return trip from an expedition in the hopes that my earnings would be enough to resolve a grave debt — a Blood Price — that has plagued my family for generations. But instead, all that money is now at the bottom of the sea.
Once I make my way back to Cierzo, the town where I live, I’m not met with sympathy or well-wishes, but with virulent anger. The townspeople demand that I repay my family’s debt to the tribe in full. When I tell them I cannot, they threaten to seize my home. A sympathetic chamber lady steps in to buy me time, demanding that I be given five more days to come up with the money, but she tells me that she can offer me no greater assistance than that.
From then on, I’m on my own, with nothing but a satchel full of berries and jerky to help kick start my journey.
This is how Nine Dots Studio’s Outward opens. I’m treated like a nobody, and though I may have some allies in the town of Cierzo, there’s no one holding my hand as I step into the vast, scary world of Aurai. If I’m going to resolve this debt, I’m going to need to figure something out on my own.
This attitude towards the player never changes. There isn’t some ceremonious moment in which the player is handed their first weapon, or informed that they’re secretly the Chosen One, or told that it’s “dangerous to go alone.” Nevertheless, the rest of Aurai beckons beyond Cierzo’s walls, and it’s up to the player to muster up the courage to leave and explore.
The Nine Dots team felt that starting the player off in a position of powerlessness is more true to the essence of why we play games in the first place. “People don't play role-playing games to be powerful,” Nine Dots’ Co-Founder Guillaume Boucher-Vidal said. “I think they play role-playing games to feel immersed in a different universe.”
Boucher-Vidal argued that the superhuman or heroic qualities that are typically bestowed upon game protagonists often obstruct our ability to wholly embody these characters in the first place. Outward’s player character was designed to feel mortal; not only must they manage their hunger, thirst, and exhaustion, but they must also stave off diseases, repair their weapons and equipment regularly, and ensure that they can withstand harsh weather conditions.
“The point is not to make the experience tedious, but to allow you to feel like you really are in the shoes of the character going through this adventure,” Boucher-Vidal said. These mechanics are designed to evoke real-world struggles and help bridge the gap between Outward’s fantastical setting and reality. “I don't know what it's like to slay a dragon, but I do know what it's like to be hungry,” Boucher-Vidal said. In fact, there are no dragons in Outward — you may be more likely to perish due to an unchecked illness than an enemy’s blade.
Many of the RPG and survival mechanics found in other games are granted much more nuance in the world of Outward, as well. For example, doffing weighty backpacks grants you more dexterity during combat encounters. Attaching a lantern to your satchel might free up your hands for other uses, but your body casts a shadow, obscuring the path immediately ahead. Even casting a fireball isn’t as simple as the flick of the wand; instead, the player must first create a fire sigil on the ground, and only sparks cast in the bounds of the sigil become fireballs.
These mechanics weren’t designed this way simply to present needless challenges. They require a lot of practice, sure, but once you master them, they allow you to feel like a true adventurer. “The player progresses by learning the rules of the game,” Boucher-Vidal said. “Eventually, things that at first seem a bit cumbersome just become second nature, and you get used to it.”
What’s remarkable about Outward is that, in spite of how brutal and difficult its systems might seem, it always feels like the game is rooting for you to succeed. For instance, early in my playthrough of the game, I was mauled to unconsciousness by a wolf. I awoke in its lair, having lost my satchel, and had no means of defending myself when it simply attacked me again.
I thought that, by this time, I would have died. But instead, on-screen text informs me that a benevolent stranger came across me and brought me to safety back in Cierzo, wanting nothing by way of compensation for this generous deed. Though I awoke much worse for wear than when I’d left, I was oddly grateful for this gesture.
And here’s the thing: you can’t die in Outward, but you also can’t load any previous saves. The game autosaves constantly, preventing you from revisiting a combat encounter or reconsidering a decision. In essence, the game forces you to learn from your mistakes and accept the consequences of your actions, but it never forces you into an impossible situation. It believes, instead, in your ability to learn and grow as a player without needing to rely on your character’s stats or weapons or divine status as the Almighty Protagonist.
Boucher-Vidal explained that pitting realistic survival mechanics against such a fantastical world was a balancing act for Nine Dots. Ultimately, however, they knew their mission was to encourage the player to escape reality, not relive it.
“We are not trying to simulate reality, but to add more factors to take into consideration, just like in real life,” Boucher-Vidal said. “One thing that I wanted to make sure we accomplish with Outward was that if you know what you're doing, if you are prepared and you think ahead, then things aren't too complicated.” Once you can achieve that state of mind, you’ll find that being a self-made adventurer is far more rewarding than being a cookie cutter hero.
Outward was released for PC today, March 26, 2019.
