Outward 2 Hands-On Preview: A Brutal Adventure

2 hours ago 2

Published May 25, 2026, 8:18 AM EDT

Scott Baird is a Staff Writer at DualShockers with over a decade of experience writing about video games, board games, and tabletop RPGs. He has been writing professionally since 2013 and covering games since 2018, with work spanning news, reviews, lists, guides, interviews, and event coverage.

Before joining DualShockers, Scott contributed to publications including The Escapist, Dexerto, TheGamer, CBR, and Gamepur. He has also worked as a full-time Pokémon writer at Dexerto and a features writer at TheGamer. Scott holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Film & TV Production.

Outward 2 is entering early access, giving players the chance to explore Aural ahead of its full launch. Like its predecessor, Outward 2 is a punishing survival RPG, but the jankiness of the early access state makes the gameplay more frustrating than fun.

The original Outward received a middling response from critics at launch, as the gameplay can be brutal. The series consists of survival action RPGs: think the Hardcore mode from Fallout: New Vegas mixed with the combat from Dark Souls. While the critics weren't impressed, Outward earned a passionate cult following who loved that the game never held their hands and expected them to rise to its level.

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DualShockers had previously previewed Outward 2 at the end of 2025, via a carefully selected gameplay slice that showcased some of the improvements over its predecessor. Now, in our second preview, we've had way more freedom to explore its world and be slain in countless fashions by the horrors that await there.

A Drastically Improved Character Creation & Player Resource System

At the beginning of Outward 2, the player gets to select one of three starting locations, with their own associated quests. In the early access version, there's only one choice: Simeon's Bastion, which is in the kingdom of Lavant.

Character creation in Outward 2 doesn't involve classes or races. Instead, the player selects from various backgrounds and personality traits that determine their stats. For example, picking the Book Worm trait grants a point of Intelligence and removes a point of Strength.

Once the stat distribution has been decided, the player moves on to the appearance screen, which is a massive step up from the original Outward. There are tons of options for body shape, face design, and hairstyles, letting the player tailor their ideal hero.

Character creation in Outward 2 doesn't involve classes or races. Instead, the player selects from various backgrounds and personality traits that determine their stats.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Before the player can start their Outward 2 adventure, the game strongly advises them to try the tutorial first. Considering how ruthless Outward 2 can be, this is a godsend, as a totally new player would be quickly overwhelmed by how different it is from similar games.

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The only big complaint with the tutorial is the layout. It's currently a massive level, broken into sections that the player must physically return to. I'd have greatly preferred a menu that just moves you to each area, with one that runs through them in order of importance, for a totally new player

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The Outward 2 early access demo opens up with the player being mugged and left for dead. They wake up in a clinic, having been robbed of all but a few essentials. Luckily, they were saved by a doctor named Vitrys, who asked the player to acquire some herbs from a nearby flowerbed. Like everything else in Outward 2, these herbs are deadly due to their explosive nature, so the player is advised to wait for rain before plucking them.

Simeon's Bastion is a gorgeous city to behold and explore, with plenty of NPCs to chat with and shops to visit. Though I have to admit to missing the fast travel points after going through it a few times.

Crafting is a massive part of Outward 2, as it's the most cost-effective way to acquire healing items, better weapons, and traps that can be used to take down enemies. It's here that Simeon's Bastion has everything the player needs, for a cost.

Simeon's Bastion is a gorgeous city to behold and explore, with plenty of NPCs to chat with and shops to visit.

One new addition to Outward 2 is mules. These can be purchased in the city and used to carry gear, much like in old-school Dungeons & Dragons games. Mules are a vital resource, as they not only carry a ton of equipment but can also be sent back to town with their gear, with the intention of reducing unnecessary running around between villages.

Like the player, the mules can be damaged by enemies, so they must be protected, as they won't fight back. This can be detrimental on adventure, considering how challenging the game is, but at least the player can order the mules to stay behind, so they can be kept somewhere safe when they're about to leap into a fight.

Prepare to Die (A Lot)

The world of Outward 2 is teeming with enemies, be they wild animals, rampaging undead, bee-infested zombies, or just brigands who think the player is an easy mark. Anyone who tries to play Outward 2 like they would a FromSoftware game is in for a rude awakening, as the player is far more fragile.

In Outward 2, it's important that the player drinks water, eats food, gets enough food, and drops their backpack before entering combat. If they fail to neglect these, then the stamina penalties are harsh, and it won't be long until the player runs out of dodging juice.

Outward 2 is chock-full of detrimental status effects, something I quickly learned when I left the first city, and took a hit for not wearing a hat and getting sunstroke! If you have to be vigilant about everything in Outward 2, as the game will give you no quarter.

Outward 2 is teeming with detrimental status effects, something I quickly learned when I left the first city, and took a hit for not wearing a hat and getting sunstroke!

The combat itself is standard action RPG fare, though the weapon variety and number of attacks the player can perform have been greatly improved over the original Outward. Player positioning is much more important this time around, as the kind of attacks they can perform will differ, depending on how they're launched.

The idea is that the player is always meant to leverage things in their favor, such as setting traps, using items that provide buffs (such as rags that add status effects or damage to their weapons), or using environmental barriers whenever possible.

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Naturally, this will lead to many player deaths while they master the systems, though, like its predecessor, Outward 2 never actually kills the protagonist. Each time you die, there's a screen explaining how they were saved or somehow managed to escape, with the player moved to a new area, usually with some of their gear stolen.

Outward 2 doesn't have experience points or levels. Instead, the player unlocks stat boosts by performing actions in the game world, such as gaining a permanent Strength buff from killing enemies. This encourages players to use all the game systems to gain as many permanent advantages as possible.

I must admit, I'm not a huge fan of how Outward 2 handles its systems because death is so punishing. Items are incredibly important to survival in Outward 2, be they food or weapons, and losing them, even temporarily, is massively frustrating. I much prefer the FromSoftware system of temporary loss of experience points.

The other issue is that purchasing items is extremely expensive, especially given how hard it is to earn money, and crafting items takes a ton of time and effort. Throw in the sheer amount of running you need to do between locations, only to be slain in five seconds by an enemy encounter, and you're left feeling deeply unsatisfied.

I can see why the original Outward received such a mixed critical reception, but it has a passionate fanbase. This is the game for the most hardcore crowd, and not because it has tough bosses, but because it requires constant vigilance and monitoring, something I don't enjoy as much as other gamers.

Jank is the True Villain of Outward 2

Outward 2 is an early access game, which means it's still being worked on and bugs are expected. That being said, the issues in the current build severely impacted my enjoyment of it. The first of which involves getting stuck on the environment, which made combat maddening, as the protagonist would be stopped mid-roll from a slight incline in the ground, allowing enemies to close the gap and kill me. Stuttering when several enemies appeared was also an issue, though it wasn't consistent.

The second is light. While the game is fine during the day, it's pitch-black indoors or at night, even with the brightness cranked up to full. The intention is to use a torch, but even with one, it barely illuminates the area around the player. The game is, essentially, unplayable in the dark. Sure, you might say "just don't go into dark areas or out at night," but you don't always have a choice, unless you want to ignore areas or burn time waiting for daylight.

On one of my early incursions, I stumbled across a strange building filled with bee-infested zombies. Initially, I was excited to explore it, but so many areas were pitch-black that it was a struggle to see what I was doing, even with a torch. And god help you if you enter without a torch, or you lose it after dying. I was left scrambling around in the dark, just waiting to be constantly eaten by monsters.

The enemy AI is also extremely punishing for certain enemies. Regular creatures, like animals, tend to do telegraphed moves that you can respond to by dodging or blocking. Human enemies, however, are an utter nightmare. I felt like a Dark Souls boss fighting a speedrunner, as human enemies constantly zipped around, just outside of my reach, with seemingly limitless stamina, just grinding me down.

I felt like a Dark Souls boss fighting a speedrunner, as human enemies constantly zipped around, just outside of my reach, with seemingly limitless stamina, just grinding me down.

I don't think I've ever hated a video game enemy more than the regular human goons in Outward 2. Well, okay, that's a lie: the Guardian Ape in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is worse, but they're giving it a run for its money. Fighting human enemies is like trying to hit a mouse in your kitchen with a spear made from straws stuck together, and I gave them a wide berth each time I saw one.

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I will freely admit that many of my problems with Outward 2 are a skill issue. In the past, I've beaten Ludwig and Isshin, but the idea of remembering to drop my backpack each time I need to fight a dire squirrel, before it stunlocks me and forces me to run around for another twenty minutes getting my gear back, makes me break out in a cold sweat.

I'll be more inclined to throw myself into the Outward 2 experience when it's the full game, and the tech issues have been ironed out. The tutorial makes Outward 2 a lot more accessible to new players, but it probably won't win any new converts. The diehard fans who were worried that the developers had gone soft to attract a fresh audience can put those fears to rest: Outward 2 is just as hard as the predecessor, and that same sick thrill that comes with success is waiting for you.