The Best Companion in: The Outer Worlds

And wander through the forest

Yup, I'm back with this series once again to take another oh-so-subjective look at who the best companion is in The Outer Worlds. This time it ain't a Bethesda title, but rather the Obsidian game that many say eclipses everything that Bethesda have put out in their long stint with the Fallout licence. That's not an argument that I want to really go over until my review, but it does legitimise my attempt to include this title in my 'best companions' lineup. On that subject... I know that I'm several months late on my Outer Worlds review but it's just one of the many blog-related projects that I've had to put on hold out of a mix of more interesting topics to write about and just plain laziness on my part. (I'll get to it eventually. Probably.) But that's neither here nor there, because today is all about the crew of the Unreliable.

Companions in the Outer Worlds are treated much how you'd expect any companion in a Western RPG to be. They are optional folk who you run into throughout your adventure with their own issues and gripes who agree to throw in their lot with you in exchange for you helping them with their problems. (Like a very hands-on kind of therapist) In more of a Mass Effect twist to this formula, these folk also become members of the player's crew, meaning that they follow you on your journeys across the cosmos and even have some things to say regarding the main quest every once and a while. Of course, this also allows for these folk to interact with each other and talk whilst you do your own thing around the ship, and that nets huge points from me right out of the gate. (I love that stuff!) But let's get into the specifics one-by-one.

First we have the companion SAM, and I very much did put him as the first entry because he is my least favourite of the crew and I'm still kinda bummed to admit that. SAM, (Sanitation and Maintenance Automechanical) fulfils the position of your resident robot crew member that was popularised by Knight of the Old Republic. But whereas HK-47 was unforgettable for his snarky unsympathetic disdain for everything none metal, SAM just sort of exists as a long-running joke of being a cleaning robot that you've reprogrammed to fight folk. Now alone that's a decent enough premise to make an small throwaway gag, but as a prolonged companion who is with you for the entire length of the campaign it sort of wears thin in a couple minutes. That couples with the fact that SAM has no personality or quest-line to speak off, making him probably one of the most boring additions to a companion roster that I've ever seen out of Obsidian. (Oh, and he sets off 'Robophobia' which made him practically useless for my playthroughs.)

The next fellow is a lot more developed as a character but still not really my cup of tea, and by that I'm referring to Felix. This is the rebellious little fellow who joins up with your crew the first time you arrive to Groundbreaker, and he latches onto the player in order to find his direction in life. He pretty much exists as a punk anti-establishment archetype although he lacks any significant cause or purpose of his own. This puts him in the position of being an impressionable youth who is taught through example by his elders, something which is fine enough from a narrative perspective but not really what I look for from companions in my action RPG games. I know that may sound pretty hypocritical after I've lauded New Vegas for having companions who mould to your influence, but let me explain. In New Vegas these characters were their own people, with their own goals or directions in life; The Courier would insert themselves into that plan and become a source of inspiration in doing so, it was a development that happened naturally rather than a more contrived arrangement as it is with Felix. What that allows for is development to work both ways as we get a glimpse into the sort of person we are through the ways we shape those around us, which is always the ultimate goal for me when I play an RPG; to figure out exactly who it is that I'm playing and who they will grow into by the end. With Felix that 'reflection of character' is not as apparent or too muddy, so even after we go through his character quest and amend, or encourage, his beliefs and philosophies, I'm still no closer to getting to the core of the player character, and that's a loss in my book. (To be fair, that's true with most of The Outer Worlds' companions, but with Felix it's a glaring misstep, as his reaction to the player seems to be his biggest character point.)

Okay, so maybe ADA isn't exactly a 'companion' so to speak, but her purpose in the story is similar enough to one so I'm counting it. ADA, or (Autonomous Digital Astrogator) is an experimental AI that runs the Unreliable and is foisted into your care after your escape pod accidentally lands on her former captain. ADA is quite frankly hilarious and any player would be doing themselves a disservice not to catch her opinion on every event in the story before you pursue it. When asked about how to deal with the settlement of Edgewater she actively encourages to do whatever you can to destroy the whole place merely for being the location where Captain Hawthrone died, and she's full of these delightfully illogical impulses that seem entirely antithetical to the character of a computer and yet fit her so well. In another scene she empathically denounces any assumption that she is sentient, whilst simultaneously providing evidence to that fact purely with the vehement passion of her response. ADA serves as this enigma that is never really unravelled throughout the narrative but she doesn't need to be, the fun is in the mystery. unfortunately she has no real questline to her so I can't really mark her too high.

Back to actual companions, however, and we'll end up at the hunter Nyoka from the beast-ruled moon of Monarch. This character is actually lightly embedded into the main story in a very superficial manner, but it's a suitable enough introduction to a character that I quite like. Nyoka is witty and sarcastic but not to an excessive degree. Plus, her particular gripes actually have a origin in her backstory, so that's nice. Nyoka has pretty insightful commentary on the situations you come up against and she is one of the party members that I always ended up relying upon in my playthroughs, to the point where I literally wouldn't have finished the game in my initial run without her skills. (Picking the 'Robophobia' flaw proved to bite me in the ass at the final bossfight.) Her questline is also very serviceable for all the beats I look for in a companion questline; a personal task which reveals some vulnerability to the character and provides a vehicle for the development of both parties involved. I just feel as though the actual quest in question was a little... generic. It's the kind of thing I've seen in a dozen MMO's before and I don't instantly remember Nyoka when I think of that setup. (The whole 'last member of a team goes and finds the last effects of their former team members' just doesn't feel unique.) Maybe that slight disappointment is just me and others loved Nyoka's story, but that's just what I came away with.

As there always seems to be one companion who ends up as the face of the game, for The Outer Worlds I think it'd have to be Ellie, which is strange seeing as how she has very little to do with both the main narrative or the main thematic conflict against utilitarianism. That being said, Ellie is still one of the most likeable companions, so I understand why Obsidian decided to show her off. Snarky and cynical, Ellie Fenhill is an interesting oxymoron as a trained doctor who also identifies as a bandit/pirate. She's neither as caring as one would expect from someone from the healthcare profession nor as bloodthirsty as stereotypical bandit/pirates, making her quite the label defy-er. As you get to know her a bit better you'll learn the truth behind her backstory, which is so perfect that I will not spoil it here. (And it makes absolute sense.) Unfortunately Ellie is oddly dismissive when it comes to chiming in for key decisions, and I understand that's part of her personality, but it makes it hard to bring her into the pace of the story. (Although again, that's sort of her point.)

Vicar Max is one companion who utterly surprised me in every single way. First of all, I didn't think he'd even be a companion even after meeting him face to face. (That almost never happens. Prospective companion's usually stick out like a sore thumb.) Then I thought that his standoffish introduction would make him an unlikable person, but he turned out to have much more personality to him than was initially apparent. Maximilian serves as a vicar for The Order of Scientific Inquiry, but he finds it difficult to maintain the stoic piety inherent with such an office as his search for intellectual validation clashes with his taught beliefs. As you delve into his personal story you end up delving into the heart of a man torn by who he was raised to be and who he thinks he should be, something that the player gets to experience very vividly. Max's journey is actually very unique and interesting, showcasing a man shattering his very foundations of belief and being profoundly affected by it, and his story is certainly one that fascinates me with every playthrough. Additionally, his presence serves as a very clever way of introducing players to the Halcyon religion and opposing Iconoclasts, immersively imparting oodles of important exposition. (Not too shabby, Obsidian.)

However, for my pick of best there's no one I can feasibly settle on other than Parvati, and amazingly that's purely due to her personality. (I'm usually very cold and unempathetic to such characters.) You meet Ms. Holcomb rather early on in the game, and that's very strategic as her perspective on events is akin to that of the Halcyon everyman, which is an important voice to consider as you blaze your trail across the colony. In personality, Parvati is a grounded soul who's lived her entire life in subservience, and consequently is very mild mannered and shy. Joining your crew is likely the most impulsive decision she's ever made thus building her confidence is the obvious point of her questline. In the grand scheme of things, however, nothing you achieve with her actually has any bearing on the main questline. Irregardless of that, I find her to be easily my favourite presence aboard The Unreliable. She seems to be the most genuinely nice person onboard at any given time and her companion quest of helping her get a date with the lead engineer of the Groundbreaker was simply adorable. Parvati served as a glimmer of innocence amidst the deluge of greed and corruption that this story centres around and I found myself really appreciating that by the late game. And so I guess that makes Parvati my choice for best companion in The Outer Worlds, a fact that I'm surprised to acknowledge even as I type this. But I guess she and Max are the only companions who I didn't feel fell slightly short of their potential, and she's more fun to hang around than Max. (Process of elimination, baby!)

I'll admit that I went into this particular blog not actually knowing who I'd pick by the end, so I'm slightly more elucidated merely from writing this. Of course, there will be a bit more Outer Worlds content due out at some time, so this might not actually be the full rooster of companions for the final game, but this is my selection for the time being. (Perhaps I'll write an addendum some time later.) Until then, however, I'll merely wrap this up with a slight tease about how my next companion-related blog will get a little more 'fantastical'. Stupid cliffhanger that I'm sure I've done before, but there it is.