izigame.me

As a longtime Outlast fan it took me a while but the game has finally grew a LOT on me.
The concept, vibes and visuals of Outlast Trials are so cool. I love the artificial elements of the settings the brainwashing thing and the character design, the reagents clothing options are awesome and the enemy design and voicelines are incredible, shout out to Mother Gooseberry and her designers and voice actress, I absolutely love her and Dr Futterman. The other enemies and Prime Assets are also very fun and interesting, I hope we get more soon. So much care and personality was put into them, they all have cool little details!
It's not completely lore focused but it has some pieces of lore and elements from the Outlast story, it takes place before the other two games and features figures like Murkoff, Dr Wernicke and possibly the Walrider. We also have information about the characters introduced in this game and they are very interesting by themselves.
This is the most brutal Outlast game, I'm not sensitive to these things unless it's done with children and animals but it was the only game that managed to make me uncomfortable in some way at some moments, mainly because here you are the one causing harm to others and not the one suffering or watching without getting involved or just seeing the bodies without actually witnessing the moment the deaths occurred and the deaths are really brutal. There is a trial where you turn a guy into a sex doll, another in which you break a woman's arms and legs, hang her and then crush her head and one where you cut two men alive and hide drugs in the holes so yeah it's very metal.
The multiplayer aspect and fast pacing gameplay with more ways to deffend yourself take most of the scare factor away and some characters are comically over the top. It intensifies the classic Outlast dark humor and I think that's perfect and really fitting for the game atmosphere. Nothing about this it's a problem.
Still, it manages to make you tense and give you a few scary moments at times. Anyone who hasn't shit their pants after at least one interaction with a Big Grunt has internally died a long time ago, there is no soul left in this body.
The game's progression is pretty cool, I like how you can upgrade your characters and equipments, the catalog (battle pass) system is fair as you can still buy previous passes with the exception of the Christmas catalog, so I assume this applies to all catalogs for holidays and the catalogs rewards are some of the best cosmetics.
Being able to customize your sleep room is cute.
The gameplay is fun but very repetitive if you play solo. It's kinda weird, didn't hit right for me at first, it felt like something was missing. In the few times at the beggining I tried playing with randoms I felt like I was doing nothing but being carried by more experienced players, It was not uncommon to find myself walking around the map for an hour without understanding what to do or finding the objective but after I got a better understanding of the game and upgrading my character and devices after finishing all the main trials and starting to play with randoms more oftenly it became a lot of fun. I've been laughing and having epic action moments that gave me goosebumps and the chaotic experience of playing in higher difficulties adds so much to Outlast Trials, it's kinda addictive even. I always want to play more.
I still consider the time it takes before the real Fun beggin a problem. I bet a lot of people got bored of the game before this point and Outlast Trials was left with a bad taste in their perspective, that's why I don't feel like recommending the game to anyone who isn't an Outlast fan or have a very demanding and restricted taste in games. I suppose the best way to enjoy the early game is to play with friends who are also playing for the first time, that way you learn things together and stay at the same pace. However I noticed it's common for experienced players to let newer ones do the objectives and just guide them, at least I was lucky enough to be placed in the same match with a lot of people who let me enjoy the game so if you don't have a problem playing with strangers and be put in the same match as this type of player you'll have fun too.
I disapprove the use of AI. Yes, it's just a few pictures and posters on some maps, I probably wouldn't have even noticed or would just find it suspicious it if I hadn't been warned about it but even the smallest use of AI is powerful enough to normalize it and cause harm to the world, society and art. It sucks even more because the art direction in this game is so cool :/ the aesthetics, character design, maps, everything looks so cool, why use AI at this point? You were almost there damn it. I feel a little betrayed and disappointed tbh.
Outlast Trials needs a better matchmaking system. A list of joinable lobbies or a quick match option for every trial, it's so hard to find matches that at first I thought people didn't even play the game anymore, you always have to hope that people in the sleep room accept your invite or have friends who play frequently. Having to play solo because you didn't find anyone else to play with you is frustrating.