This is an almost wonderful game that really doesn't make any sense and ultimately isn't fun. The thing with this game is that it's a mix of meta-progression-based roguelites, like Rogue Legacy, where you aren't expected to, or might not even be possible to, beat the game on your first go since your character starts out very underpowered, and a more traditional roguelite where you start over from scratch every run. This game has runs within runs. You have one major run through the nebula, for which you have infinite lives, and then you have each individual characters run within said larger run. It's possible, and actually the goal of the game, to clear the entire nebula with the starting character. The major run has survival-style resource gathering and unlocks and you start out with absolutely nothing, and then build your arsenal throughout the major run. This is fun and where the game is great. You raid space derelicts, dynamically strategizing between slowly sneaking past deadly enemies and going Rambo on the easy ones, and you collect various loot to improve your character and allow you to survive longer. Just like any other meta-progression roguelite with survival mechanics. I love it!
The problem is that this is not the game. A run like this is only a few hours in total and not worth the money this game costs. The actual game is doing new major runs starting over completely from scratch without any of the unlocks or schematics, and playing with unlockable mutators that offer various challenges. That's the intended game, and it's really not fun. Starting over with the bullshit pea shooter that literally cannot kill anything, and having less than a handful of bullets for it, just isn't fun. The stealth doesn't work well enough and the level generation doesn't allow enough options for that to work. You will constantly find yourself forced to either abandon ship, which has a part you desperately need, or walk through a room jam packed with tough enemies that you aren't equipped to deal with. Or you'll just get killed by a random world map event taking away all of your food so your character starves.
The most baffling decision is that you are not allowed any tools to deal with automated security from the start, and you have to unlock the zapper that temporarily disables cameras, robots and gun turrets. This makes absolutely no sense beacuse security is literally everywhere literally all the time, and schematics and parts are randomized so you can't just choose to go for the zapper first. I started a major run with a gun turret right outside the very first door in the very first ship and I could do nothing but restart the run. Why ¨ would the zapper be locked?! And, since I'm complaining, the other worst decision I've seen in quite some time are the oil slick hazards. Just puddles of oil on the ground that make you slide around uncontrollably, because that's fun. And you better believe that the game loves spawning them right in front of doors that you have to pass through, forcing you to slide around obnoxiously. It's sad, because a survival crafting immersive sim roguelite with art heavily inspired by Mike Mignola should be about as much my jam as a game could possibly be, but I just can't click with this one and I'm not having any fun starting new runs. I'm still going to rate it a 3/5 since there is value here and I did enjoy that first long run that probably took me 5-10 hours total, so it's a fine enough few hours, but it should've been a slam dunk home run 5/5 for me and it just isn't.
The problem is that this is not the game. A run like this is only a few hours in total and not worth the money this game costs. The actual game is doing new major runs starting over completely from scratch without any of the unlocks or schematics, and playing with unlockable mutators that offer various challenges. That's the intended game, and it's really not fun. Starting over with the bullshit pea shooter that literally cannot kill anything, and having less than a handful of bullets for it, just isn't fun. The stealth doesn't work well enough and the level generation doesn't allow enough options for that to work. You will constantly find yourself forced to either abandon ship, which has a part you desperately need, or walk through a room jam packed with tough enemies that you aren't equipped to deal with. Or you'll just get killed by a random world map event taking away all of your food so your character starves.
The most baffling decision is that you are not allowed any tools to deal with automated security from the start, and you have to unlock the zapper that temporarily disables cameras, robots and gun turrets. This makes absolutely no sense beacuse security is literally everywhere literally all the time, and schematics and parts are randomized so you can't just choose to go for the zapper first. I started a major run with a gun turret right outside the very first door in the very first ship and I could do nothing but restart the run. Why ¨ would the zapper be locked?! And, since I'm complaining, the other worst decision I've seen in quite some time are the oil slick hazards. Just puddles of oil on the ground that make you slide around uncontrollably, because that's fun. And you better believe that the game loves spawning them right in front of doors that you have to pass through, forcing you to slide around obnoxiously. It's sad, because a survival crafting immersive sim roguelite with art heavily inspired by Mike Mignola should be about as much my jam as a game could possibly be, but I just can't click with this one and I'm not having any fun starting new runs. I'm still going to rate it a 3/5 since there is value here and I did enjoy that first long run that probably took me 5-10 hours total, so it's a fine enough few hours, but it should've been a slam dunk home run 5/5 for me and it just isn't.