FTL is great. It makes sad to call this an 'Old' Indie game, but I guess 12 years ago is a long time now.

It's a space-battle micro-management rogue-like, which is a mouthful but that's the only way I can really describe it. You manage a bunch of bars and systems to blow up enemy ships before they blow up you. It is just simple enough to not be entirely overwhelming to me, but I can see if other people might not enjoy that level of complexity.

To be critical, the game is ridiculously difficult. It's a struggle to beat the game on Easy difficulty, and it's made even harder by using the newer advanced systems. I know of a number of people who have put 20+ hours into this game and haven't even come close to beating the Easiest difficulty. The final boss is definitely a huge difficulty spike that I think could be toned down a bit.

It also, with help from Binding of Isaac, really put Roguelikes on the map in the indie space. But maybe that's revisionist history - I was still in my adolescence back then, so maybe the genre has always been popular.

Ben Prunty absolutely kills it on the soundtrack and I'm so glad they brought him back to do the Into the Breach soundtrack. Love his work.

My introduction into the roguelike genre, mainly due to my interest in a more tactical, strategic space combat game that was accessible to play. While FTL is all that, it goes much deeper, being one of the first games to reinvigorate the Roguelike genre we know today.

First of all, the game is very unforgiving. Until you learn what tools you need to get through later levels and win your runs, it will beat you down without any remorse, even on Easy. Nevertheless, the tools are there, and with multiple ships to unlock, there is a variety of playstyles that can be viable, though the game does pigeonhole you a bit towards the end, needing specific counters to the final boss that limit that ability to be a bit more unique in your builds at higher levels.

The intuitiveness of the interface, and the strategic depth of the minute to minute gameplay are fantastic, all wrapped in a clean aesthetic punctuated by an atmospheric soundtrack. The free Advanced Edition update that was released also adds new content that expands the game and keeps it fresh years later. Whether you like space games or just want a challenging roguelike, this game will not dissapoint.

It's hard to think of a game where I've gotten to the end boss as many times as I did in FTL yet never beaten it.

~sigh~

Great game, though.

A very nice catch by steam here. This game is basically star trek as you have many different rooms and systems and at times I felt like saying to myself "move full power to the shields" and it is a lot of fun. It's somewhat a simple game, but it's done so well and in such a way that it's like playing your own little star trek game. You have a story where you have to run ahead of the rebellion to pass on the message to the guys in charge to give yourself a advantage. A lot of effort and fun in this game and well worth the price.

Rating: Doubt
Was going to give this the Love & Hate rating, because this game is so close to being incredible, but it’s just way unbalanced for me to give it that rating. I did not have fun playing this despite the mechanics and gameplay being solid. It’s one of those games that thinks brutal difficulty equals challenging and deep, when it just means frustration. Nothing quite like playing a run for an hour before getting fucked over by the RNG or the completely unfair final boss. I played this on the easiest difficulty and was backing up my saves so I could replay tough fights and I still wasn’t able to beat this game. Waste of time and wasted potential.