I'm Glad Star Wars Outlaws Doesn't Think I'm Dumb, But I Wish It Thought I Was Smart

has made a brand out of being the first open-world game, but despite that claim, it's an experience that's familiar in many ways. Even setting aside the saturation of content since Disney's acquisition of IP, every big new game from publisher Ubisoft carries over some formulaic elements, whether in the consistent monotony of the series or simply in fundamentals of structure. It's not exclusive to Ubisoft — a lot of companies have taken on similar formulas — but it's hard to deny how obvious the through line is.

I'm not fundamentally opposed to the average Ubisoft game, and I have a significant fondness for some, like a number of entries. Over the past decade or so, however, I've had one big point of frustration with the Ubisoft approach that recurs game after game. Even in richly detailed worlds with plenty of fun gameplay opportunities, it's difficult to get fully lost in the experience, and I think a lot of that ultimately has to do with UI.

Star Wars Outlaws focuses on a grimier, seedier side of the universe with a rich, detailed open world that features both new and legacy characters.

to its credit, has a lot of user interface options. Even more to its credit, it's possible to turn off a lot of UI elements and still play the game comfortably. Disabling everything from enemy detection indicators to the compass at the top of the screen can help make sneaking through hostile areas more engaging and intense. There's nothing wrong with preferring to play the game with a more obvious framework enabled, but I do think everyone should at least try the minimal UI approach, and it really doesn't take much getting used to.

UI toggles and other ease-of-play settings can be found under multiple categories in the menus, so it's worth looking through accessibility, gameplay, and dislay categories to get a complete picture.

There's one thing that I haven't found a toggle for, however, and it's one that really irks me. Although the focus of is mostly on stealth and