The Outer Worlds 2 - Respeccing not allowed

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RPG Site reports that respeccing is not allowed in The Outer Worlds 2, because your player choices are permanent:

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"Not every game is for every single person. Sometimes you have to pick a lane" - The Outer Worlds 2's director on meaningful role-playing consequence and banning respec

On RPG Site, we have an unofficial motto. 'Everything is an RPG nowadays'. Our tongue is firmly planted in our cheek when I say it, but to some degree it's sort of true - various RPG mechanics have enjoyed a parasitic spread into every genre you can think of, from EXP in shooters to skill trees in brawlers.

But then you have the real RPGs. You know the sort of stuff I'm talking about. Crunchy, deep, systems-driven. For the sickos out there, many of whom religiously visit this website. And in The Outer Worlds 2, the genre veterans at Obsidian seem absolutely determined to do one thing - double down on those sorts of systems.

The role-playing charge is led by an unflinching focus on choice and consequence - with as heavy an emphasis on the repercussions as the player agency. We're not just talking about a branching narrative here, but also in systems - best indicated by the game's dedication to a wild and wonderful suite of perks. In a hands-on demo, I spend a significant amount of time just scrolling the perks list - which is plentiful, many of them also surprisingly impactful.

[...]

"We don't allow respec. The reason is... so," Adler begins, grinning. There's a deep intake of breath. Can of worms: Opened.

"Lots of people love respec," he diplomatically notes. "And that is definitely one way you can go about things. I personally want the player to understand their choices are permanent - they matter - and then they think more about their choices.

"There's a lot of times where you'll see games where they allow infinite respec, and at that point I'm not really role-playing a character, because I'm jumping between -- well my guy is a really great assassin that snipes from long range, and then oh, y'know, now I'm going to be a speech person, then respec again, and it's like-"

[...]