After 5 hours of exploring the galaxy and ghosting past Stormtroopers, Star Wars Outlaws is finally winning me over

Star Wars Outlaws didn't put its best foot forward when I played it at Summer Game Fest. That demo covered most of what you do in Ubisoft's next open-world game: sneak, hack, shoot, and fly. It was fine, but it was overfamiliar, and I couldn't shake the feeling that I was experiencing Outlaws in the exact opposite way it was intended. I wanted so badly to hop on Kay's speeder and explore the open world a bit, but we were rushed through three linear missions on strict 20-minute timers.

Ubisoft...