even if wages increased with inflation and 80 dollar games weren't so distressing, the first outer wilds fucking sucked and I have no hope for the sequel

I don't know. It seems like they're addressing the issues that the first one had. It was too safe and far too full of itself. It should have just been one big planet and a bit less goofy. Seems like the next one is shaping up for that. Also, if there is a game company that I trust right now it's obsidian. I was super disappointed with the ending just being the same slides they used for new Vegas, hopefully we at least get a more satisfying ending.

It was okay

I am officially done buying games on release. None of these games are worth 80 bucks.

Do you wanna spend 80 dollars on a new game, or wait a year and buy it for 10 dollars when it works and is actually finished? WHERE CAN I PRE ORDER IT FOR 120 DOLLARS TO PLAY IT 3 DAYS EARLY AND PAY TO BE A PLAYTESTER? Like i'm not surprised why games are this expensive.

In NJ most of it os because it is NJ which has a higher cost of living across the state (last I checked). Until federal legalization happens everything that is sold here is grown here. That keeps prices high as bonded warehousing space is pricy here.

That's the kicker. Getting games on release now feels like early access. I've been hyped for a few games in day one and there's either server issues, driver issues, crashes, what have you. These things are so rushed they need a year to be finished. By then you'll know if it flops too, avoid getting caught in the hype.