I've played countless incredible RPGs over the years, ranging from classics like Chrono Trigger, Mass Effect, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic to modern masterpieces such as Elden Ring, Baldur's Gate 3, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, and most recently, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. So, when people ask me to pick a king of the hill, it feels like an impossible choice — but if I was forced to make it, I think I'd have to say Obsidian Entertainment's beloved 2010 hit Fallout: New Vegas.
Despite dated visuals, clunky shooter mechanics, and bugs (I can mod those out, anyway), New Vegas remains one of my all-time favorite games to replay because of how rich of an RPG it is. It offers a level of depth that many titles fail to match even today, complete with countless engaging quests, tons of reactivity to the player's actions, and an ocean of viable ways to solve the problems the Mojave Wasteland throws at you.
It's hardly a surprise, then, that New Vegas' director Josh Sawyer (who also directed Pillars of Eternity and Pentiment) recently championed the value of RPG "crunch" — in other words, the structure, systems, and reactivity that players interact with as they immerse themselves in a world. Speaking in an interview with PC Gamer, Sawyer asserted that RPGs can be made more approachable and casual-friendly without sacrificing the complexities that makes the best ones so memorable and engaging.
"There is this idea of the 'super accessible RPG' ... I think we can accommodate different types of players, but it's not with a 'one size fits all thing,'" he said. "I'd like us to kind of be a little more thoughtful about that, because I want to support the sweaty boys! I am at least sweaty-adjacent in my own gameplay. If I don't play at the highest level of difficulty, I'm just below it. I do get annoyed when I play a game and there's nothing there for me to tinker with."
"I do also understand that a lot of people have a lot of fun just cruising around," he continued, acknowledging players that aren't looking for that same level of richness. "They like level scaling, they like things being a slip 'n' slide … I appreciate that, and I think with not a whole lot of effort, but just good planning, we can support a wide spectrum of players."
Sawyer went on to state he thinks it's "a mistake when we sacrifice that stuff in the name of accessibility," and believes that options that lower difficulty and simplify crunchy systems can be implemented to ensure that most players can enjoy an RPG without having to tear out its depth for the sake of widespread appeal.
"I think that if you make systems that can do all of that [choices, gear, customization, reactivity, etc.] you also can make systems that support scaling and like, collapse in on themselves and simplify those things, right? It's not that it's no work, but it's not as much work as you might think if you put the time into it."
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It's an argument that I agree with wholeheartedly, and it's one that's hard to argue against, too. You don't even have to go far back for proof; games with fairly rigid levels of RPG crunchiness like Elden Ring, Baldur's Gate 3, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 all sold exceptionally well and achieved global popularity, with the former two games in particular dominating industry conversation for many months after release. Even Dragon's Dogma 2 performed strong, though many certainly bounced off its friction-forward design.
On the flip side, you have games like Dragon Age: The Veilguard and Assassin's Creed Shadows — both of which I'd argue are far shallower. The Veilguard missed sales expectations by almost half, and while Shadows seems to have fared better in this regard, both games fell out of the limelight in what felt like days. And if you ask me, the reason why is because they offer little under the surface to sink your teeth into.
Thus, I'm happy to hear Sawyer push for the same design philosophy that led to Fallout: New Vegas' excellence so many years ago, and if what we saw of The Outer Worlds 2 at the Xbox Games Showcase suggests anything, it's that Obsidian Entertainment as a whole believes in those guiding principles as well. The first game didn't quite hit the mark, I feel, but I'm optimistic that The Outer Worlds 2 will be the New Vegas sequel I've always wanted.
The Outer Worlds 2 is scheduled to launch on October 29, 2025 on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC (Battle.net, Steam, Xbox PC), PS5, and Xbox Cloud Gaming. It has serious potential to be one of the best Xbox games and best PC games of the year, and notably, as a first-party Xbox title, it'll also be playable day one on PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
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