Yes, absolutely. But I don’t think you need to wait for level 15-20 to get there. As soon as you start getting blues, which introduces mods, it’s a whole new game. I think this happens at level 10, if not a little earlier depending on when you rescue Dr. Zahidi. By then, you’ve got a full set of skills to play with.
I wonder if there’s a problem where people feel the need to play at the highest world tier they can reach and so they keep getting “punished” for running around using their powers rather than creeping around as if they were playing a cover shooter? Isn’t the default setting to opt into the highest tier available? In which case, the occasional reminder that you can drop to a lower world tier might be construed as conceding defeat?
I have no problem dropping the world tier as needed and it’s made the game so much more accessible and even breezy. It really helps the pacing. Frustrating boss fight? Too many enemies swarming me? @Jason_McMaster not carrying his weight? I might try new powers or a new line on the class tree or a steady stream of berating abuse to inspire McMaster. But if that doesn’t do it, then I’ll just skip past it at a lower tier and then adjust back upwards afterwards. I’ve never gotten past world tier 7, but it seems like there’s enough content here that raising my world tier is a whole other kind of progression I can work on at my leisure, after I get through the story missions.
But, yes, you’re absolutely right about how people need to get past the first impression phase of Outrider to really appreciate what it’s doing. I’m astonished that Square Enix has published an action RPG that’s this good, because their last action RPG was one of the worst I’ve ever played.
-Tom