You have paid an installment of your blood debt, undertaken one of the three main choices that have conditioned your destiny forever, explored different dungeons, hunted prey and monsters for food and crafting materials, rested in front of a bonfire in the worst places to heal wounds from battles and ultimately defeat a huge amount of enemies. But most likely it wasn't enough for you, because in your heart you felt the need to continue experiencing the feeling of travel, adventure and growth that only a video game like Outward could confer.
The creators of this product in a certain sense listened to the community and managed to satisfy this demand from the players, through a DLC whose purpose is to expand and add content even for elements that for some development reasons have not been implemented. in the base game.
The Soroboreans is a downloadable content for Outward, a title based on the typical mechanics of an RPG but with a strong action character. It was developed by Nine Dots Studio and published by Deep Silver June 16, 2020. It is currently available for the well-known Steam platform, as well as for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles.
On PC for this product it is also possible to take advantage of the Steam Remote Play feature, which allows you to play with your friends online in co-op via a streaming service. To create the game we chose to use the Unity graphics engine. Among the various languages available.
Each region of Outward: The Soroboreans was conceived to have its own and unique identity, as well as to contain within itself a certain dominant faction within its area. Once the content has been installed, it will be possible to access it simply by talking to any Soroborian merchant present in one of the different cities, who in exchange for 200 silver coins will take the player to the new region of the game. This is called Ancient Plateau and is home to the main city of Harmattan, where it is revealed through the thundering voice of a golem that a certain Master of the Forge urges the Soroborians to surrender. Otherwise, their souls will be given to the five winds and the city will be set on fire in utter chaos. As soon as you arrive, you already understand who the villain of the story is, but initially the reasons for his hatred towards the Soroborians are not clear and it's up to the player to discover them.
It does not end there, because the Ancient Plateau offers an increase in the number of possible paths to take to absolve the debt of blood, which go from three to four. In fact, the presence of the Academy of Sorobor is strong in the city, which will offer to recruit the character interpreted and pay off his debt in the event that you want to follow the related questline.
Outward: The Soroboreans features a new mechanic worth describing. This is the enchantment, with which it is possible to make any piece of equipment a little more powerful than normal, through a procedure that at first is difficult to manage and understand. But this is not the only bite that is difficult to swallow, because - despite the addition of a new type of weapon and two skill trees - the combat still remains quite woody and difficult especially in the first hours of the game.
Another flaw is the lack of depth with which the different characters have been characterized. This is demonstrated by the short and few dialogues within the game, which at the same time make the gameplay more direct and faster.
Finally, let's talk about the graphics sector. Very light colors are preferred, but during the night and inside the dungeons the developers have opted for a decided abundance of darkness. From this aspect we can see how the lights are treated by the game engine, which separate the environment that surrounds the player in a sharp and sharp way.
Especially for its woody and mechanical combat system immersed in an exploration consisting of a total lack of markers and reference points, it can be safely said that the title in question is not suitable as a very first approach to RPGs. Outward: The Soroboreans could however be appreciated by a user of the videogame world who wants to try something new and challenging. Whether it's different from the typical The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim-style RPG, or where there's no strong punishing gameplay like in Darkest Dungeon. The DCL expands all the concepts discussed by adding new mechanics, enemies, dungeons, an enchanting mechanism and a modest number of missions to complete.
