I know it all. All of the witty insights, all of the arcane knowledge, and all of the random blather. I know all of the words. Or at least I will if I decide to use one of The Outer Worlds 2’s early mods, which ditches the skill restrictions to give you access to every dialogue line in the game. It’s just one among a nice crop of tweaks thus far, as the Order of Adjustment dig their mitts into the RPG’s early access.
Of the 28 or so mods which have popped up over the game’s first weekend in the hands of folks who paid extra, it’s the latest to arrive that’s caught my eye. Veteran modder Kassent has ditched the skill requirements which lock away certain dialogue lines if, for example, you’ve not invested enough points into engineering to be able to dish out some accurate yacking about machines.
Obviously, it’s not the kind of thing I’d remotely recommend enabling for your first playthrough, since it’ll get in the way of you roleplaying anything other than the galaxy’s smartiest pants, but as someone who’s used these sorts of mods in games like Disco Elysium to seek out the elusive last few bits of chatter I might have missed in multiple conventional runs, I’ll likely give it a whirl down the line. After all, if a game’s got good words, which this one definitely does, it’s nice to take ’em all in.
If you’re looking for mods that might be useful right out of the box, there’s a solid selection of those building up too. As with Bloodlines 2 last week, modder Caites is behind a lot of the early tweaks. Thus far, they’ve done stuff like aid combat-averse cowards by making The Incognito’s crew of companions tougher, make it easier to get whichever perk/flaw loadout you like, and have even found time to give the VATS-esque tactical time dilation mechanic a boost I’m not sure it needed. Also in the ‘make things easier’ bucket are modder Goldenchrome’s option of more than the usual two skill points per level up and range boosting of the neon outlines around grabbable or intertactable stuff.
Finally, if you’re a weirdo and decide not to play in the default first-person perspective, here’s a mod which pushes the third-person camera a bit closer to your character, potentially making it a bit easier to hit the thing you’re shooting at.
Most of these Outer Worlds 2 mods are installed via simple file placement, but it’s worth noting that UE4SS is required to get Kassent’s dialogue unlocker working. If you’re still on the fence about the game ahead of its full launch this week, consider taking a gander at my review.
