There was barely any surprise when The Outer Worlds 2 was announced at the Xbox and Bethesda joint E3 presentation in June 2021, which launched a highly stylized and satirical trailer poking fun at the state of gaming trailers in the industry. The Outer Worlds had a strong reception for its story, setting, writing, and companions, many of whom are memorable to the overall experience. With that formula in mind, The Outer Worlds 2 would benefit from expanding its companions to alien characters.

While The Outer Worlds 2 has no official release date, it hasn't stopped anticipation from fan speculation on what the story will be. All that's known is that The Outer Worlds 2 will have a new crew and star system. The first game was known for being short, but with Obsidian now having more backing, perhaps the sequel will be a longer game with more content to explore. However, with so little information, all the community can do is ponder, yet the ask for alien companions doesn't seem to be a big one.

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Aliens in The Outer Worlds

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The Outer Worlds was known for portraying humanity as the dominant life form in the Milky Way Galaxy, with many of the brightest minds leaving Earth after the Great War and its aftermath for the stars. While the Halcyon Colony was featured in the first game, The Outer Worlds mentioned that additional colonies existed as far away from Earth as Halcyon. One of these other locations may well be the setting for The Outer Worlds 2.

While plenty of exotic and alien creatures are featured in The Outer Worlds, most are a result of the terraforming process gone wrong; the game is notable, as a result, for not including any sentient alien races. However, that's not to say that the game can't introduce other intelligent species in the sequel. Instead of featuring sentient races, the first game touches upon the ideas of alien life through the CEO of Sublight Salvage and Shipping, Lilya Hagen.

From the onset of her quest line, Lilya warns the Stranger to be watchful and cautious. She's notoriously suspicious, always looking over her shoulder like someone or something is close by, ready to strike. As the Stranger continues to earn her favor, she reveals her belief that aliens exist among them, working with corporations to replace humanity. Unfortunately, this theory doesn't fully pan out within the game. Instead, Lilya's suspicions are aimed at a scientist looking to modify the people of Halcyon for survival with genes from the different creatures encountered.

Why Alien Companions Would Work in The Outer Worlds 2

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One of the most prominent reasons that having alien companions would work in The Outer Worlds 2 is that it would promote diversity among the companions, creating new and exciting storylines. The Companions in the first game were diverse to an extent, featuring not just men and women from all walks of life, but with fan-favorite Parvati Holcomb, who is asexual, an identity not usually featured in media, let alone video games. However, the diversity spectrum could be enhanced tenfold with different species altogether.

Alien companions, through this lens, could promote enriched storylines to the game and among the crew, with different companion species having to overcome racial tensions or acts of violence for deeds in the past. Such quests could shake up the formula presented in The Outer Worlds while leaning heavily into the satire the series is well known for. Additionally, having alien companions could create new reasons to explore the map and worlds of the new solar system.

In the first game, many maps were small and isolated, with money being a driving force in exploring the different regions. With a diverse cast of human and alien companions, richer worlds can be created, prompting players to explore what the planets offer to fulfill companion quest lines. As a tinfoil hat example, if one species can only survive on a specific biome or within a particular atmosphere, igniting a quest to survive that world and learn how to successfully keep the crew alive at all locations, even in more hostile environments, would be fun, and that would just be the tip of the iceberg.

The Outer Worlds 2 is currently in development.

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