The Outer Worlds has not even been out for a month, but its sharp writing and role-playing systems have already managed to build a dedicated fanbase. Many players have even compared Obsidian Entertainment's latest title with games from the Fallout franchise, which was embraced by the developers in the lead up to The Outer Worlds launch. The pressure's really on Bethesda when it comes to Starfield, much less any potential Fallout sequels.
As with anything that has a sizeable group of fans online, memes have begun to pop up about different player experiences, the game's characters, and comparisons to Fallout titles. So we decided to pull together some of the best ones for our list of 10 hilarious memes only true fans of the The Outer Worlds will understand.
10 Spacer's Choice
The first meme on our list is a reference to the Spacer's Choice slogan "You've tried the best. Now try the rest. Spacer's Choice!" Which is just one of the many corporate slogans that players will become familiar with during their time with The Outer Worlds.
What makes the meme so great is the way it points out how absurd it is for a corporation to try and sell itself off being "the rest" not the best, which the game itself also does very often with its fictional slogans.
9 The Real Engineer
Next on the list is a meme dedicated to The Outer Worlds' companion Parvati who has quickly become a fan favorite. In-game Parvati is an engineer, which is why this particular image pits her against Team Fortress 2's Engineer and Firefly's Kaylee Frye.
Additionally, the inclusion of Kaylee is particularly funny due to the fact that many players have said The Outer Worlds' characters are similar to Firefly's and that the game could be called a "Space Cowboy Simulator."
8 It Was Fallout New Vegas The Whole Time
While there are plenty of similarities to draw between The Outer Worlds and Firefly, the majority of comparisons have been to games from the Fallout series. In particular, Fallout New Vegas has been mentioned by many reviews of The Outer Worlds because Obsidian Entertainment developed both titles.
Despite a generally positive attitude about their Fallout game, Obsidian has never gotten the chance to make a sequel to the game, so it makes sense that fans would jokingly imply that The Outer Worlds is actually just New Vegas in disguise.
7 Why Is The Text So Small?!?
While much of the discussion around The Outer Worlds has been positive, one criticism that seems to be universal among those that have played the game is that the in-game text is too small. This includes both the fonts used in the menus and the text from subtitles and dialogue choices, which means it's a regular issue for most players who are not playing close to their screen.
As a result, fans have often joked about the amount of squinting and eye strain needed to complete the game.
6 Obsidian Turning Fans Against Bethesda
With so many comparisons being made between The Outer Worlds and Fallout, it was inevitable that people would also start to compare Obsidian's success to the generally negative feelings many gamers have about recent Fallout games.
This has led many players to create memes the portray Bethesda as characters who feel the world is out to get them, even though, for the most part, it has been a series of poor decisions from the studio that turned many fans away from the franchise.
5 Bethesda Can't Catch A Break
Continuing with the theme of Obsidian Entertainment making Bethesda look foolish, the next meme points out the fact that shortly after they announced Starfield, The Outer Worlds was also revealed. To add insult to injury, Obsidian's game was even given a release date that was two years sooner.
Obviously, Starfield could end up being a genre-defining masterpiece, but with Bethesda's recent track record, gamers don't think that is likely. Also, with two years until release, many players might forget which was actually announced first.
4 The Perfect Lie
In The Outer Worlds, when you enter a restricted area, your character uses a digital disguise to allow you to hide in plain sight. To balance this, the disguise has a meter that, when empty, will require the player to successfully lie to an NPC in order to remain in the restricted area without alerting anyone else.
This is smart because it allows players to sneak through a location with very minimal mechanical effort based solely on their dialogue skills, and this meme perfectly captures the feeling of pulling this off.
3 Thanks For Explaining That
Another interesting feature from The Outer Worlds is the game's Flaw system that will offer the player some sort of stat penalty in exchange for a perk point. What causes the option to appear is when your character has done something enough times that the game thinks it would have long term effects.
For example, in the picture, you can see that the flaw is for physical damage due to the player having received continued physical damage up to that point. It can be quite comical to read through the explanations for each flaw, though, as often it will very obviously state that taking one type of damage over and over again makes you more susceptible to it.
2 Hostile Negotiations
One of the more silly immersion-breaking things that players can do in The Outer Worlds is talk to NPCs with their weapons drawn and pointing towards whoever they are having the conversation with. There is an option to holster your gun though choosing to do so has no meaningful impact on your character or overall playthrough.
It is nice that you are not punished for not putting away your weapons, but because of this, many players choose not to holster their guns and end up looking rather aggressive when entering conversations.
1 Parvati Must Be Protected At All Costs
Once again, appearing on the list is a companion meme, and specifically, a Parvati meme. As previously stated, Parvati has quickly established herself as a fan-favorite character among The Outer Worlds community, with many arguing that she is generally the best companion in the game.
This is why it is funny to see a meme that so perfectly captures the overprotective devotion for Parvati that some players seem to have developed during their playthroughs.