FTL: Advanced Edition

This is a game about space. it doesn't try to present you with beautiful ships, planets and views. It just tries to present to you a struggle. you are on the run from a large fleet. the game is divided in sectors, the sectors have way-points that you jump to until you reach the way-point that allows you to move to the next sector. each way-point presents you with a scenario which can be anything from just nothing, to a pirate attacking you or a problem you would see in a Startrek episode. Each sector is different and a little more difficult as the last so you need to explore as much of the map as you can before the fleet catches you, for friendly, but mostly unfriendly, help to upgrade your ship. This game really does a lot with very simple and seemingly minimal concepts and mechanics. it gives you a lot of options, control and freedom of how to advance. there are ships to choose from, subsystems to upgrade, weapons and crew to choose, tasks to assign, tactics to decide. All are easy to do and all can mean the difference between life and death. Yes, death. This game is very punishing. Small mistakes can cost you everything, sometimes not right away but then still further down the line. There is little room to recover but most of the time it feels fair when you die. You will die many times. I just keep coming back to this as it's just very satisfying when you succeed. My only issue is that the freedom that you are given is a bit of an illusion. Some tactics just don't work as well as others do, so you often end up with similar upgrade paths through the game. my other issue is that there is still a chunk of luck involved in getting necessary upgrades. You can do everything right but still end up outmatched. this is because good loot-drops are rare and, the biggest issue (seems easy to solve), is that the stores where you buy stuff have very limited stock. Space is unforgiving like that I suppose. Awesome & greater than the sum of it’s parts: 4.5/5

.. the best. But! Let me borrow one sentence from one review below: "The game is based around entirely random encounters; adaptation is a virtue." You can be good player but you cannot entirely escape randomness in this game. I have to admit that I'm not really good at this game. But I like to play it. It's good. I often accuse randomness but it's not true. It's quite possible to finish this game. You just have to be patient and careful.

This game is an absolute GEM; I think a quick google-search or a read of the other reviews here gives more insight than i could add here. Even if you dont like rogue-likes; give this a chance! What i would like to add though is, that besides an increeeedible replayability this game also has a modding environment these days; so if you played this dry, search for "FTL Multiverse Mod" and enjoy basically this 10/10 game all over again.

And it's 90% luck and 10% skill :( It's a great game for sure, but the difficulty and your sheer mercy and the kindness of a VERY UNKIND RNG blemishes the game greatly. I mean, has ANYONE honestly completed this? Oh and "sdfg144" - way to go! What a fucking marvellous example of a good review!

FTL represents more than just a great, GOG 5-Star rated game, enough reviews have discussed that (and I agree 100%) FTL represents the end of the gaming world as it's known through public fundraising efforts. FTL's success means that large corporations run by individuals disconnected with what the customer actually wants, no longer get to call the shots. Now, as long as gamers put their money where their mouth is, any great idea by passionate people such as the creators of FTL, has a chance to survive and thrive. Platforms like GOG will help make this possible. Worth 3x the amount it charges, this is a great game, a representation of gaming in it's purest form: people making something FUN for the sole reason of being FUN, and sharing that with like-minded others.