I have to amend my original review, because even if it was positive, it was a bit mild;

This game is _FANTASTIC_!

If you're looking for another Bethesda-type gamey RPG - you can move along, you probably aren't audience for this game.
On the other hand, if you're looking for something different that isn't so action oriented as Bloodborne or Dark Souls - but understands the underlying principle that made those games famous - play Outward.

I don't even know where to begin praising it.
Fighting more than one-two enemies is something you should probably run away from for the first few hours. Every move drains stamina, run low enough and you can't attack, block, evade or run - basically you're as good as a sitting duck.
Even a stupid oversized chicken is a challenge if you aren't careful and tactical. You can't cancel your attacks - once you activate an attack or a skill, you will commit to the end of the animation. Activate poorly, and you open yourself to damage, interrupt, or even stagger. Few well placed hits, and you're dead.
This is, btw, what negative reviews call "clunky combat".

If this isn't enough to stop you from applying your gamey habits - well, the inexistence of quicksave/quickload probably will. Given that its just so easy to die, you'll carefully prepare traps, prepare your hotbar with right items and skills, and then your backpack in a location where you can safely pick it up and run away if things get too hot - and you will run away a LOT. That's how every combat with new, unseen enemy will go.
In addition, spend too much stamina too often, and it'll get capped ("burnt"), until you restore it with specific restoratives or sleep. Get hit too much, and your health gets capped same way.
In order to gain mana, you have to permanently _sacrifice_ your health and stamina - now there's a concept long forgotten in modern world and games, sacrifice. Give something, to get something back.

Death? Unless you play hardcode, you basically just get beaten to near-death. Then, a random thing happens. Either some druid heals you and leaves you where you were. Or some random passenger brings you to the city. Or bandits find you and now you're their prisoner.
Enable hardcore mode, and among all these chances - there's simply a chance that indeed, you're beaten to actual death, and its game over.

It doesn't matter how many enemies you kill, it changes almost nothing. There's no XP, there's no levels, there's no progression based on grind.
The skills you'll primarily earn, are PLAYER skills, because you'll learn enemy movesets, special attacks and drop tables. You'll earn money by selling stuff (and doing few sidequests) crafted from those drops, and then purchasing crafting recipes to sell more expensive stuff, and skills to make better use of your equipment and kill more powerful beasts.

Crafting is central to survival. Food will give you numerous buffs, from elements protection to removing health/stamina/mana burnouts, gradual healing, and what not. Aside food, there's traps (separated into triggers and effect dealing parts), potions, weapon buffs, armour upgrades, weapon upgrades, and few survival things like clubs, backpacks, sleeping rolls and campfires.

You can't loot willy nilly, because you're limited with encumbrance - and a lot of things traders simply aren't interested in. Many things you can decompose back into basic ingredients so you can use them in crafting, but many of these ingredients also rot.
There's also no fast travel, so if you overload yourself so much that your speed drops to a crawl - expect to crawl in real time full distance from wherever you are, to the nearest trader.

Nearest trader? Glad you asked. There's no minimap. There's a static region map and you don't see yourself on it. You have a compass, environmental landmarks, and ability to mark things on the map with colorful pins. If you find a trader in the wild, you'll have to use some solid navigation sense to figure out where you are in the world, and mark it on the map for yourself.

Every time you see a path that you won't be able to backtrack to (like a tunnel with a steep cliff), you'll think twice before jumping.
You'll creep in the dungeon without light so you can spot foes in the distance, and then run back and prepare traps to lure them into, hopefully one by one.

In short, every challenge you overcome will actually feel like you accomplished something, because its so easy to die and wakeup as a slave in iron mines, miles and miles away from where you died.
Every time you do die, you will always feel it is your fault, because you could've prepared better.

The fact that this game has mixed reviews reflects the sad state of modern gaming - everyone yelling they want something different, but not so different that established habits don't work any more.
Something truly different demands too much change of an average person - to be enjoyable.

If you like Soulsbornes, and you like survival games, and you want to immerse yourself into the game in a completely different way, where even a simple trekking from one place to another, a short hunt at the sunset, and then cookout and camping is joyful, because you're actually immersed and roleplaying - I cannot recommend Outward enough.
You just have to give it a chance to be what it is, rather than what you expect it to be.


Original review:

I didn't accomplish that much in 5h of play, but I do think this is a good game so far.

Combat isn't clunky or slow; what it is, is not a button masher. Three hits, and you're dead. Its all about circling, waiting for an opening, and using things to gain an advantage over an opponent, such as traps, magic, etc. It is not exactly a Soulsborne simply because combat isn't so fine-tuned, and you're _supposed_ to not just fight, but prepare yourself for the fight properly. In addition, killing opponents gives you no XP or anything - you get some of their loot, which you can decompose into crafting materials, or maybe sell. That's it.
Crafting is a central part of the game, and so are survival parts. One very nice thing is that you're supposed to be camping outside, and hunting and foraging - then craft yourself potions, food, etc, to make it through the next day. Your health and stamina end up being capped if you're up for too long.

All in all, it seems like a great game so far.

I have to amend my original review, because even if it was positive, it was a bit mild; This game is _FANTASTIC_! If you're looking for another Bethesda-type gamey RPG - you can move along, you probably aren't audience for this game. On the other hand, if you're looking for something different that isn't so action oriented as Bloodborne or Dark Souls - but understands the underlying principle that made those games famous - play Outward. I don't even know where to begin praising it. Fighting more than one-two enemies is something you should probably run away from for the first few hours. Every move drains stamina, run low enough and you can't attack, block, evade or run - basically you're as good as a sitting duck. Even a stupid oversized chicken is a challenge if you aren't careful and tactical. You can't cancel your attacks - once you activate an attack or a skill, you will commit to the end of the animation. Activate poorly, and you open yourself to damage, interrupt, or even stagger. Few well placed hits, and you're dead. This is, btw, what negative reviews call "clunky combat". If this isn't enough to stop you from applying your gamey habits - well, the inexistence of quicksave/quickload probably will. Given that its just so easy to die, you'll carefully prepare traps, prepare your hotbar with right items and skills, and then your backpack in a location where you can safely pick it up and run away if things get too hot - and you will run away a LOT. That's how every combat with new, unseen enemy will go. In addition, spend too much stamina too often, and it'll get capped ("burnt"), until you restore it with specific restoratives or sleep. Get hit too much, and your health gets capped same way. In order to gain mana, you have to permanently _sacrifice_ your health and stamina - now there's a concept long forgotten in modern world and games, sacrifice. Give something, to get something back. Death? Unless you play hardcode, you basically just get beaten to near-death. Then, a random thing happens. Either some druid heals you and leaves you where you were. Or some random passenger brings you to the city. Or bandits find you and now you're their prisoner. Enable hardcore mode, and among all these chances - there's simply a chance that indeed, you're beaten to actual death, and its game over. It doesn't matter how many enemies you kill, it changes almost nothing. There's no XP, there's no levels, there's no progression based on grind. The skills you'll primarily earn, are PLAYER skills, because you'll learn enemy movesets, special attacks and drop tables. You'll earn money by selling stuff (and doing few sidequests) crafted from those drops, and then purchasing crafting recipes to sell more expensive stuff, and skills to make better use of your equipment and kill more powerful beasts. Crafting is central to survival. Food will give you numerous buffs, from elements protection to removing health/stamina/mana burnouts, gradual healing, and what not. Aside food, there's traps (separated into triggers and effect dealing parts), potions, weapon buffs, armour upgrades, weapon upgrades, and few survival things like clubs, backpacks, sleeping rolls and campfires. You can't loot willy nilly, because you're limited with encumbrance - and a lot of things traders simply aren't interested in. Many things you can decompose back into basic ingredients so you can use them in crafting, but many of these ingredients also rot. There's also no fast travel, so if you overload yourself so much that your speed drops to a crawl - expect to crawl in real time full distance from wherever you are, to the nearest trader. Nearest trader? Glad you asked. There's no minimap. There's a static region map and you don't see yourself on it. You have a compass, environmental landmarks, and ability to mark things on the map with colorful pins. If you find a trader in the wild, you'll have to use some solid navigation sense to figure out where you are in the world, and mark it on the map for yourself. Every time you see a path that you won't be able to backtrack to (like a tunnel with a steep cliff), you'll think twice before jumping. You'll creep in the dungeon without light so you can spot foes in the distance, and then run back and prepare traps to lure them into, hopefully one by one. In short, every challenge you overcome will actually feel like you accomplished something, because its so easy to die and wakeup as a slave in iron mines, miles and miles away from where you died. Every time you do die, you will always feel it is your fault, because you could've prepared better. The fact that this game has mixed reviews reflects the sad state of modern gaming - everyone yelling they want something different, but not so different that established habits don't work any more. Something truly different demands too much change of an average person - to be enjoyable. If you like Soulsbornes, and you like survival games, and you want to immerse yourself into the game in a completely different way, where even a simple trekking from one place to another, a short hunt at the sunset, and then cookout and camping is joyful, because you're actually immersed and roleplaying - I cannot recommend Outward enough. You just have to give it a chance to be what it is, rather than what you expect it to be. Original review: I didn't accomplish that much in 5h of play, but I do think this is a good game so far. Combat isn't clunky or slow; what it is, is not a button masher. Three hits, and you're dead. Its all about circling, waiting for an opening, and using things to gain an advantage over an opponent, such as traps, magic, etc. It is not exactly a Soulsborne simply because combat isn't so fine-tuned, and you're _supposed_ to not just fight, but prepare yourself for the fight properly. In addition, killing opponents gives you no XP or anything - you get some of their loot, which you can decompose into crafting materials, or maybe sell. That's it. Crafting is a central part of the game, and so are survival parts. One very nice thing is that you're supposed to be camping outside, and hunting and foraging - then craft yourself potions, food, etc, to make it through the next day. Your health and stamina end up being capped if you're up for too long. All in all, it seems like a great game so far.