Star Wars: Outlaws, 15 hours in.

It’s Star Wars Assassin’s Creed Witcher essentially. There is a touch of what I call Ubisoftosis (map with a million pins) but they didn’t overdo it this time. Main story is okay so far, sidequests are nothing to write home about but somehow it all comes together very nicely because systems play off each other constantly.

The first hook is the setting of course. I’m not a big Star Wars fan but I appreciate how richly detailed it is. I can’t help but compare it to Starfield where travelling is a chore and Outlaws does everything right. Even with fast travel available I usually travel to my spaceship on speeder or on foot, launch from the ground to orbit, punch in hyperdrive and land in the same way. It’s so seamless and fun!

My squirrel brain remains entertained because of the exploration & upgrades loop. There’s lots of environmental puzzles that are really well done and equipment rewards are usually worth it. On top of that you have abilities that you gain by performing certain actions, some of which can be a bit of a puzzle too, similar to how achievement work usually.

Kessel Sabacc is Star Wars Gwent, surprisingly fun for how simple the rules are. Switch 2 version includes Sabacc related DLC which is nice.

Technical side is really impressive. I didn’t think I’d see games with RTGI on Switch 2, especially not at launch. It does crash from time to time though but I haven’t lost more than a minute or so of progress thankfully. The game really benefits from playing on the go as you can quickly score some side jobs and leave main story for when you have more time at home.

The biggest drag for me are spaceship parts. The ship handles horribly and controls are weird. I have no fun spinning while chasing red arrows. If I could I’d keep Southpaw control scheme strictly for those parts it’d be bearable but alas…

Best 7/10 game I played in a while.