An Open World, Survival-Driven RPG Sequel

If you wanted a punishing, systems-heavy survival experience back in 2019 then Outward was your masochistic go-to. Despite its technical shortcomings and a lack of polish, the original has grown into something of a cult favourite. Now, a bolder, more unforgiving, yet just as rewarding sequel is on the horizon. Outward 2 is set to revitalise hardship, with more consequential RPG choices, unique playstyles, overhauled combat, and a roster of tough-as-nails enemies making survival across this beautiful open world a sterner test than its predecessor.

A Relatable, Human Journey

Beginning Outward 2, you’re just a regular human; a commoner, not innately powerful, without magic or combat skill. Outside the relative safety of city walls, in the unfettered wilds, is where you earn your growth, with distinct classes and playstyles emerging as you become more adept at making it through the night. Developer Nine Dots Studio is positioning this sequel as “the ultimate simulation of an adventurer’s life” – rising from zero to hero, with the satisfaction this brings, is where Outward 2 portrays its believable, relatable, deeply human themes.

Survival is Your First Concern

Before you can even think about dabbling in heroics, however, Outward 2 thrusts upon you a slate of survival concerns – hunger, thirst, exhaustion, even harsh weather will kill the most careful explorer long-before encountering any of the game’s gamut of deadly creatures. Whilst the sequel refuses to hold your hand, the adverse effects of these survival mechanics – sickness, fatigue, and so on – aren’t designed to punish you but to teach the importance of preparation. You’ll need that skill as you venture further, and the stakes grow higher.

Your Backpack Can Be a Source of Friction

Embodying the relatability of Outward 2’s human endeavour more than most is the game’s backpack mechanics. You’ll need to load it up with food, weapons, potions, and camping gear, but how much should you take? Overloading slows your movement to a snail’s pace, but leaving a provision behind, something you may need later, could spell certain doom should an inopportune moment emerge. More so, heavy bag or not, you’re best dropping it when encountering a foe; it’ll enable you to barrel-roll out of harm’s way, if only for a second.

Fully Playable Online and Co-op

Completing Outward 2 is possible as a solo player, but if you wish to share the burden of staying alive long enough to see the end then good news – the sequel is fully playable in both online and split-screen co-op, with partners able to seamlessly drop in and out. At launch, at least, there’s no matchmaking system for finding online companions, so if you fancy teaming up but don’t have a mate to join you then you can check out the studio’s dedicated Discord server.

Aurai is a Dynamic Open World

While the sequel is undeniably gorgeous, the open world of Aurai is a hostile place. And, without fast travel or mounts, route planning and preparation is paramount. With four distinct regions to discover, each containing unique biomes, environmental threat, and gameplay constraints, venturing from one area to the next forces you to adapt your gear and your approach. See, while heavy armour will keep you protected in a monster-filled forest, it’ll cause deadly hyperthermia in a sun-scorched desert. In short: you’ll need to prep accordingly.

Cycling Seasonal Shifts

Biome diversity isn’t the only reason you’ll be rethinking your tactics, but each of Aurai’s regions are affected by seasonal shifts and weather patterns too. That monster-filled forest we mentioned? It’ll be a balmy place to explore during Springtime, but previously accessible paths will be frozen come Winter. Freezing temperatures may open other routes, of course, but learning how to manage extreme heat and cold alike will be crucial to surviving the game’s seasonal shifts.

Character Creation Includes Starting Scenarios

One of Outward 2’s defining character creation tools is the ability to choose your avatar’s starting scenario. Alongside familial backgrounds and traits, how your character begins their journey is up to you – are you a mountain-dwelling miner, or a denizen of a subterranean realm? How your choice of starting location intertwines with the wider story – if each permanently diverges or coalesces at the same point – is unclear, but they give stronger reasons to get out of the comfort of your home village than picking just your likeness or stats.

Exercises is a New Progression System

Up to this point, many of Outward 2’s improvements revolve around refining already existing systems, but the all-new Exercise system is something else entirely: a redefinition of how character progression works. Performing tasks built around survival, crafting, combat, and more, completes an ‘exercise’ which you can then choose to adapt into your build, unlocking permanent stat boosts and passive abilities. There are five attribute branches to follow, but you won’t be able to max out every exercise. This means long-term character planning is essential, with the sequel encouraging you to follow a path toward a specialised playstyle.

The Reading System Synergises with Exercises

Exercises, however, are only one half of the coin. While they encourage you to learn by physically doing certain actions, Outward 2’s Reading system provides foundational knowledge which you’ll need to dedicate time to studying. After tracking down specific books, you’ll be given the opportunity to read them at camp, but the information contained within their pages isn’t gleaned immediately. Reading is a time investment, just like Exercises, and you’ll need to hit certain criteria for both before a specialised trainer – of which numerous are scattered throughout the open world – will teach you an advanced skill.

Combat Has Been Refined

While the weighty feel and fundamental need to drop your bag remains, Outward 2 expands its predecessor’s combat by introducing the ability to dual-wield any weapon combination freely. Two pistols, a sword and an axe, even two shields if you think there’s payoff in such a strategy. Meanwhile, the mechanical clunkiness of the original has been refined with smoother, more responsive animation, with swift dodges, rolls, and seamless transitions between attacks, parries, dodges, and more.

Spellcasting Remains an Involved Process

While combat receives a quiet overhaul, magic wielding in Outward 2 remains a deliberate, involved, near-sacrificial process. See, in order to build your mana, you’ll need to permanently sacrifice some of your health, and if you pursue a pure-magelike build you’ll be brittle to the touch. Elsewhere, casting spells still follows a ritualistic procedure, where you’ll need physical stones which act as catalysts to create sigils. New Willpower attributes, reading magic spellbooks, and hybridising magic with the sequel’s new dual-weapon mechanics give spellcasting some distinction over the first game.

Defeat Leads to Unique Situations

Similar to its forebear, defeat in Outward 2 doesn’t mean death. What actually happens is you’ll be carried, unconscious, to parts unknown. A cave, perhaps a bandit camp, and you’ll either have your backpack with you or you’ll need to scope it out amidst an uncertain backdrop. Maps in Outward 2 don’t include a marker; it’s just a map, so losing your gear could prove quite an annoyance. Still, you could wake up in worse condition – injured, robbed, or both.

Hardcode Mode Negates Frequent Auto-Saves

As the game auto-saves frequently in Outward 2, your decisions carry extra weight. In other words: you’re forced to live with the outcome of your choices, both good and bad. However, if this loop isn’t tough enough for you, the sequel ships with a Hardcode Mode. Here, there’s a 20% chance that defeat will wipe your save file, permadeath-style. That ever-present risk adds a layer of tension to every encounter, turning even routine fights into high-stakes gambles where continuing is never guaranteed.

Early Access Comes With the Usual Caveats

Releasing to early access means Outward 2 will arrive as a work in progress. On PC only, you can expect ongoing balance changes, system refinements, and bug fixes as development rolls on. A broader roadmap will shape community feedback into meaningful iterations before more biomes, classes, and events unlock. A beta is available to play right now, with studio Nine Dots recently publishing a list of fixes to the game’s Steam page, arising from player feedback.