FTL: Advanced Edition

This is my first review here, mostly thanks to this game being "unique" enough to deserve it. The game has a nice visual style and art direction, and the music is really awesome and suits it all very well. The gameplay boasts various interesting in-game mechanics and diverse styles of play with a vast number of possible ship+systems+crew setups. Ship battles are engaging and breathtaking, and a number of random encounters with occasional quests break the mold of linear progression towards the end goal of the game. Well, that's it for the good points of the game. Now, let's get to the biggest spoonful of dung in this barrel of honey. As I've already hinted in the title of this review, FTL is basically like playing a game of poker: you get to know the basic rules the first several hours, then you learn even more tiny details for several days, and only then you begin to figure out the strategies and successful combinations for winning the game at least once. It requires several days to simply get the hold of the game's mechanics in relation to gameplay scenarios - unless you want to screw your playthroughs over and over again. You either learn it the hard way by playing the game or by literally studying various guides and recommendations for hours. Like poker, this game heavily relies on RNG and your incredible luck, which almost throws any balancing out of the window. There is a balancing mechanic in the game, don't get me wrong - with each new sector you get tougher enemies, for instance, and the game's difficulty settings affect how smart AI's battle choices are, but all of it is hardly of much significance when a single mistake, which might happen due to some random event, can destroy your entire playthrough, and you might not be aware of it until it's too late. To sum it up, to enjoy the game and receive a feeling of satisfaction you have to memorise a number of successful strategies and stay clear off of any mistakes. Sounds reasonable, right? 🤡: "git gud".

Aaaargh... No game in recent history caused me to curse so much as this game. And yet I keep coming back for more. I mean, the game is HARD. Even on easy setting, you will lose many many times, before you actually beat the game. Lack of save games raises the stakes while event randomisation and, dare I say, balancing issues, are stakes of a different kind - whacking you on the head and piercing your heart. Aaaargh! Seriously, I've closed this game mid-way so many times, when my poor little ship was torn to pieces by half a dozen crazed space station attackers that I could nothing about. Or one of the other random oh-$hit! experience. And yet I keep coming back... Seriously, this could be a great game, but due to balancing issues it's merely a good game. I'm hoping the developers will do something about it.

FTL ( faster than light) is a cult classic among indie titles. As a strategic simulation of interstellar ships fights, FTL sits on top of its competitors, almost defining the genre for years to come. Gameplay, the difficulty curve is high and will keep you playing again and again while trying to master this game. Furthermore, the variety of ships, techs and aliens, while not enormous, manages to diversify and stimulates new strategy in order to achieve victory. The game greatly flexibility and planning ahead, which are pivotal for this game. Speaking of the other aspects, graphics and soundtracks are enjoyable while story, albeit simple, serves its purpose. So an all round yes buy it! for an indie gamer, this is a pillar of the genre that must be try it out at least once in you life.

...nein, ich habe das Spiel inzwischen wesentlich öfter als 1000x gespielt und (fast) jeder Durchlauf hat wieder so viel Spaß gemacht wie die ersten paar Versuche vor - jetzt schon - einigen Jahren. Wenn jemand glaubt, daß das Spiel nicht sonderlich komplex ist, kann ich nur sagen: Irrtum. Großer Irrtum. Von der Zusammenstellung der Waffen bis zur Auswahl und Organisation der Crew, der Wegfindung, dem - besonders am Anfang - unbedingt sehr gut durchdachten "Investitionsplan" (wofür gebe ich meine paar Scheine aus? Waffen? Besatzung? Upgrades? Sofort oder lieber sparen?) oder auch - ganz banal - schieße ich jetzt noch einmal mit einer Rakete oder hebe ich mir die letzte lieber für den nächsten Kampf auf? Man sollte meinen, daß ich inzwischen alles gesehen habe was in diesem Spiel passieren kann, aber auch heute noch - wenn ich wieder einmal einen Versuch wage - komme ich in Situationen, die vielleicht GENAU SO noch nie passiert sind. Und obwohl ich inzwischen die Erfahrungen von vielen, vielen, unzähligen Stunden habe, ist kein Spiel ein Selbstläufer. Auch ich scheitere immer wieder einmal und das macht dieses Spiel einfach großartig. Es ist ohnehin so, daß man 100e Stunden benötigt um alle Schiffe bzw. Erfolge freizuschalten, viele davon kommen "einfach so" ohne daß man es geplant hätte, es gibt aber auch ein paar, für die man viele, sehr viele Versuche braucht. Und mit der "Advanced Edition" kommen noch einmal zig neue Herausforderungen auf einen zu, die teilweise wiederum sehr schwierig zu erreichen sind. Das Spiel ist auch perfekt "für zwischendurch", man kann jederzeit unterbrechen und später weiterspielen oder auch - und das würde ich empfehlen - man nützt "unterlegene Gegner", die z.B. die Schilde nicht durchdringen können, für Zielübungen und um das Crew-Mitglied an den Schilden perfekt "auszubilden" (damit laden die Schilde dann schneller). Dabei lässt man das Spiel einfach laufen und holt sich einen Kaffee ;) Viel Spaß mit diesem Spiel-Diamanten!

Too difficult, too unbalanced,.. bla. I've spent dozens of hours in this game and can tell, that it's really not that unbalanced. Yeah sure, luck greatly changes the difficulty. Still, it's far more about tactics, while bad luck or higher difficulties simply reduce the tolerance for mistakes. Also you could pause any time, so you don't have to decide quickly. Player ships are another opportunity to adjust difficulty and of course modify your tactics. What else to say: You have to manage your space ship and fight other space ships or stations in real time battles (with pause function). Along the way you upgrade your ship, unlock new ships and deal with text events. You also discover a universe with different species, that are not super complex but still interesting. Sound and music are very good, even though there could be more songs. Graphics are okay but I forgot about it, quite fast. Finally there are several mods and a still active modding community. If you're not sure, buy on discount. This is definitely worth a look.