FTL: Advanced Edition

If I had more time and patience to learn optimal actions required for success, and build the requisite in-game knowledge to handle unforeseen scenarios, then perhaps I would enjoy this game. Unfortunately, at this stage in my life, I have neither. Maybe I could have started with "Let's Play" videos, but I'm not keen on engaging in a game that requires extensive meta-knowledge without the benefit of save-scumming. I would rather reserve my time for games that are not punishingly difficult and require constant failure for the fleeting chance of success. If you appreciate being reminded constantly of how little you know, or enjoy failing because you haven't failed enough to learn how to respond properly, then FTL might be your jam. That's not how I like my games, though I can grant others may appreciate that.

While there is some (suposed) interesting mechanics, the gameplay become very dull fast. I only had fun for 1hour, then it felt empty.

With certain ships it's almost impossible to beat the final boss, even on easy, due to the RNG. You can prepare for it, never see what you need even if you check every store, and still have an excellent build, and then 3/4 of your shots will miss an already damaged final boss. The entire game revolves around the final boss which is by far the weakest aspect, and is entirely reliant on the "RNG" not screwing you over. Played this over the years and it's never gotten better. If you don't get the exact right build, it's all over no matter what you do. Not every build is viable, and having fun in the game is trumped by the fact you always have to consider this end boss, which entirely relies on meta knowledge. Sorry, developers, 'dying is part of the fun' is not true when it's entirely up to what feels like a highly unfair RNG. Middle boss, with the drones, seems to have about 75-85% evasion. It's purely unfun once you hit that point. But you're gated from unlocking new ships and progressing in the game and unlocking more things due to said "RNG".

I would love to see a version of this game that does not rely on random events that are so punishing. Managing a ship and crew and combat etc is VERY well done, but the difficulty is insane. I eventually gave up and used cheats. Unlimited money, I had a fully upgraded ship and unlimited ammo, still couldn't beat the final boss. Shame, it was a good idea, poor execution.

A neat concept, but a bad experience. On paper you need to manage a ship, its crew and upgrades in order to defeat other ship and over come the boss at the end. You have different crew species, different weaponry and different gear you can equip your ship with that will allow you to approach the game differently. You also need to manage resources, as different parts of this ship need power and some weaponry require resources. Sounds quite solid, but undermined primarily by three things. RNG. It really is random for the most part. If you are not lucky, then you are not lucky and thats it. The game doesnt offer you enough mechanisms to combat the deck being stacked against you. A bad event, wrong enemy appearing, not enough or too many shops, not enough resources, etc. Time wasting. Weapons take a while to charge up and fire, most of the time all you can do is wait for the guns to be combat ready and try to knock out the enemies shield and weapons systems. You micro manage attrition you suffer in the meantime, but its still a needlesly prolonged fight for no reason. Grinding. Im somewhat skeptical about this one as you dont really unlock upgrades, per se. You unlock new ship compositions. Different starting weapons, starting crews, starting layouts. Im not sure how much this will contribute to you success. The game does have different items you can emply, so Im sure you can develop some strategies for certain runs. But that will require you to go through tons of trial and error until you can see if there really is more to it. Within 10 hours you will probably see almost all the events and items this game has to offer. But then you will have to spend many more trying to "master" them for the most efficient run. Bottom line, unless you like being kicked in the balls repeatedly until you get lucky enough and are well versed enough in the game to be able to tackle it, there are more enjoyable ways of spending your time.