Star Wars Outlaws starts with a very intense scene which sets a clear tone for the story. Then we are introduced to a young woman Kay Vess and her adorable alien animal companion Nix. Kay is a young thief living on Canto Bight not exactly in the lap of luxury as she talks to Nix about getting that big score so they never have to worry about struggling to survive. Kay is smart and I liked her right away, but I noticed sometimes she doesn't always think things through which is how she gets in trouble when a job goes wrong and she ends up with a Death Mark (a bounty where the person is wanted dead) and stealing a starship to flee and crash landing on another planet. It's a very fast paced and exciting opening setting up this intergalactic adventure.
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| Kay and the adorable Nix. |
The planet Kay crash landed on is Toshara and this is a great first area to get a feel for this open world Star Wars story. There's a brief tutorial on how to move and how to get Nix to fetch things, distract people so Kay can sneak by, and Nix can also help Kay fight. Kay is a scoundrel and this is a story about scoundrels which works because Kay is so likeable and Nix adds to that in his charming cuteness a lot. This also introduces us to syndicates and jobs Kay can do for each one. There's a balance to it however and you have to decide which syndicate you want to get in good with first. Some jobs you do for one, may land you in trouble with the other. The game shows this pretty well in the user interface showing how good or bad your relationship is with the four syndicates.
There's a ton of side quests as well that do benefit Kay with better weapons, crafting items, and armor. We mustn't forget the mini games either. I was delighted to see there was a little arcade in one area and you could play video games. There's also a card game called Sabacc and there's a bit of a learning curve with it. I appreciated the accessibility settings allowing me to make this card game easier to follow. It took me a few tries to get the hang of it, but I did get it. It wasn't really my favorite and I only really played it when I had to for certain quests.
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| Kay and Nix explore a cantina. |
What I really loved was being able to explore everywhere on each planet Kay visits throughout the story and various side hustles. Each planet is interesting and I was always finding new things on each one and loved how they were all so varied. The whole gist of Kay doing this is putting together her own crew complete with a really cool BX-series droid commando known as ND-5 to do a really big job involving a very secure vault. Everything throughout the story is leading up to that vault heist and the game lets you go at your own pace encouraging lots of exploration. Kay has a speed bike that helps with this especially in harder to reach areas.
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| Off to go exploring! |
I loved Kay and Nix together throughout all of this. The timeline for Outlaws is in the present, but there are a few flashbacks here and there showing why Kay is hesitant to trust people and struggles to ask for help. It does this in a way that makes it obvious without being heavy handed. Nix really steals the show so often with his funny antics and his cute charm. He doesn't say a single word and yet he says so much with all his actions throughout the game showing that he and Kay are truly partners and family. One of my favorite things in the game is a fun mini game with Kay and Nix sharing a meal. Hit the buttons correctly and you get to see them enjoying themselves with a good meal together. It's a nice moment of downtime from adventuring and a charming breather from all the combat.
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| Kay and Nix enjoy a meal. |
There's a lot of stealth in Outlaws which makes sense since Kay is a thief. The combat style is actually fun with Nix being able to help fight, lots of blasters, grenades, and even some high speed chase fights. Nix really shines in the stealth and combat aspect of the game because you can send him to fetch a heal item or a grenade to throw at enemies. He can also be sent to turn off switches or open a gate. There are a myriad of ways to use Nix which really highlights what a great team he and Kay are. Sometimes the battles could get a little tedious in places, but nothing that detracted from my enjoyment of the game. I also appreciated that there were lots of cute little creatures that I could pet in the game. My personal favorite were these small creatures that looked like a mix of kangaroo and dragon.
I did have a bit of an issue with starship battles. Sometimes the camera would swing wildly making it harder to track enemy ships even when I highlighted them. The other factor is sometimes the camera moving around quickly like that would cause me to be nauseous and I'd have to pause the game and take a minute to work through that. Luckily, there weren't too many space battles so I didn't have to deal with that too much.
The main story itself was great. I liked seeing where it would take us next and I think a big part of that was how much I liked Kay, Nix, and their merry crew of rogues. There are even quests you can do for a few of them which give you a little insight into who they are and how they got to be there. I do wish there was a little more backstory for some of them, but again it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the game. There were little hints and subtext for some reveals through the story and I was always excited when my suspicions about certain story lines and characters were confirmed as I played the story. I really liked the ending because it gave a fairly satisfying conclusion and ended on a high hopeful note for Kay and Nix and their friends. It was very much a Star Wars story with nods to the familiar lore while also being its own thing in a fun space romp and I loved all of it.
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| Kay and Nix explore a new planet. |
*Star Wars Outlaws is available to play on the following platforms: Xbox Series X/S, Playstation 5, and Steam
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