Abandon Ship

I want to be kind to this game, it's a genuine attempt to make something new, a seafaring version of FTL. There are a few mechanics to differentiate it from FTL and the graphics and setting set it apart well enough. My biggest gripe is probably that it does not benefit at all from the roguelike format and there is no reason to limit saves. Death is just a boring loss of progress that you have to farm back. The game is linear, there is no replay value, not in the roguelike sense of trying something different next run. You won't be playing this across multiple runs to experiment with different ships or new unlocks. The game also isn't short, it's not like you can knock out a full run in an hour or so (as is common for roguelikes). Why would you implement a tedious loss-of-progress system in a game that does not have the other mechanics to support it? It's a wierd decision, I think they just use it because FTL has it. So I want to be kind, I admire the attempt, it's not a straight clone. But I can't reasonably rate it more than 3/5.

I've seen people compare Abandon Ship to FTL, but it reminds me a lot more of Sunless Sea. There are elements of both here, and it's mostly well put together, but there are some flaws. AS has a lot more mechanics than either FTL or SS, but more isn't always better, and the focus seems to be have been on graphics rather than interface. I'm going to start with criticisms, but I wholeheartedly recommend this game. FTL is split screen and zoomed in, so you can clearly see what is going on. AS is isometric, and zoomed out without any camera controls, making it hard to see what crew are doing and making it hard to target enemy crew. It also makes moving on the map tedious, as you can never see enough South of you. Camera controls would enhance the experience significantly. The narrative is much deeper and richer than I expected, but doesn't have Sunless Sea's frankly ludicrous level of detail. A lot of similar themes are present, and the tone is equally dark, but it feels a little superficial in comparison. Some of the mechanics aren't really meaningful. Supplies and morale don't go down over time, so it's easy to keep both high, and I've never experienced any consequences whatsoever. The feeling of pressure food and terror adds to SS is absent, and the cult timer which tries to emulate FTL's incoming fleet mechanic progresses too slowly, and isn't really much of a threat anyway. I never felt tension outside of combat. All that said, it's a good game. It's mechanically sound, the story and music really draw you in, and I never felt like I was being forced into a specific playstyle. The criticisms frustrate me not because they ruin the game, but because they hold it back from being truly spectacular.

an interesting looking game that i was looking forward to trying. I played the tutorial and was enjoying what it had to ffer. that was until i encountered a game breaking bug where the screen simply fades to black after existing the tutorial area. my internet searching indicates this bug has been around for over 3 years and the workarounds listed online failed to resolve the issue. an game where you cant even exist the tutorial due to game breaking bugs that have not been patched out after 3 years is a hard pass for me. shame, it seems so interesting......................

Okay, comparison to FTL is somewhat in order. Ship and crew, upgrades, permadeath... While FTL forces you to run the gauntlet, and has very explicit ending, Abandon Ship carries a story that takes a long time. You can - and will - make mistakes stemming from not knowing the mechanics, but the game very effectively punishes you for exploring the mechanics. You need to invest heavy amount of time to progress the story, but all your effort can be gone in a fingersnap. All while you keep caring about your ship and your crew. The mix of story and permadeath is very strange to me. Like, you want me to sail through the story, or you want me to run it again and again? FTL is definitely on the long end of permadeath-gameplay I can tolerate, and Abandon Ship is well beyond the limit. When I die, and I'll die, the game is going straight out of my PC, never to be touched again. And given the story, setting and various management mechanics, it's really a shame. You have limited ability to create manual saves at will, though you need to find a special in-game item for that. From the in-game description, diving for the save item can be quite risky, and I have no idea if attempt to get the save item can in fact _hurt_ your progress. I have seen devs take strong stance explaining that fear of losing progress is what they wanted to create - and I can only admire them for their firm belief. Well, not only that, I can also hate their guts for the same. What am I supposed to do? Snapshot a VM to get functional game saves? Some games where one dies often use the respawning to advance your gameplay - you earn a bonus to this and that, and after a while, you can move past the obstacle. Some games give you the choice of living or dying while noting important hangs on the outcome. Others save your progress, so you need to pass each obstacle only once. This game does neither. This game is built as if it hates the player.