Deep Sky Derelicts

As I've said in my other reviews, I don't blame devs for this as they probably don't know that unity adds this to their games, but I still believe people should still know and have a choice.

I got it for free during a GOG promotion and decided to buy all the DLCs to even the deal. At first, the game can feel a bit arid and confusing because of the strange exploring mechanism, which drains energy a each step. It feels like a central mechanism of the strategical layer, and a boring one : the Derelicts (the space hulks you're exploring for loots) are immense, I can barely progress before my suit is exhasted... How many trips back and forth will I have to take just for refuelling ? Awful. At this point, I was tempted to drop the game. After all, it was free. Don't do it (yet). Once you've figured that the power generators totally eliminate that mechanism, you're left with a very charming tactical deck-builing rpg, that gives you ample possibilities in terms of team composition, personal builds and itemization (a fortiori with the crafting DLC)... There's some real pleasure to be found there. Sadly, the game becomes quickly too easy, and the Derelicts, although each proposes side quests and a singular environmental thematic, are too big and soft for what they offer. The game isn't helped by its story and narration, which are barely integrated to the gaming loop. It feels like a very superficial coating that barely exists and delivers nothing emotional or involving. Too many rooms offer nothing relevant, too many fights are just a 2 rounds nuisance that bring no other joy than witnessing the power of your team in gorgeous art (it's truly brilliant !). You end up your raids with your inventory clogged with countless useless junk items you'll blindly trade for some useless money. At this point, Deep Sky Derelicts becomes a routine pleasant enough you'll complete it for the pleasure of maxing your team, but not rich enough to restart it again and again. Note : the final reveal is politically oriented, with some second-hand clumsy malthusian preaching, but hey, that's the sad side of indie gaming. They want to include "A Message" to feel different.

Now I've only played for an hour or two, but it's really boring. Basically the abilities (that's the cards granted by char & gear) offer simple, generic stuff as in any other RPG: buffs, debuffs, damage, AoE, healing. Only that's all you do... There's no running into cover, no sneaking around, no sweet-talking your way out of it, no terrain advantage: Just the simplified shootout. Pretty basic really. There's great card games out there and that's basically what this is, but with all the cards being limited to the most generic RPG effects ever it is blunt and pale. With that alone it'll be hard to design a meaningful challenge. Thus the "options" seem arbitrary, my choices meaningless; there's no challenges, nor fun. Started "Hardcore" and didn't find it intuitive at all. Understanding little, fumbling my way about like a fool, I still failed to find difficulties. The tactical dimension of (early) combat is virtually non-existent. I've yet to encounter a game that starts poorly but ends up ingenious... Perhaps there's a need for tactics later down the road. Perhaps the class perks eventually make teamwork and a thought through team composition an essential part of the game - I may never know, because for a start nothing matters and I'd have to play through this utter boredom to find out. Both visuals as well as dialogues are great really. It does not seem to condense into a major story so far, but that may even add to the anarchic undertone that carries the atmosphere here. As mentioned I didn't get far before quitting.

Great game, just sucks that it crashes every two hours or so. Avoid.

Okay, I think I might be getting jaded over these rogue like games where RNG is the main mechanic. This is not gaming... this is just gambling. The game is not terrible, but it is held back by an obvious lack of QA polish by the Dev. Just a little more effort would make the world more alive but I think the theme is boring and deadly so maybe the dev just wants a dead world as part of the atmosphere. Trying to press your luck and RNG can ruin you in a single go... standard fare for a rogue like I guess... I just don't like that options, equipment, skills, & cards are arbitrary all the time. You can clearly be equiped to outclass an encounter yet just be so unlucky that you fail every roll, get weak attack cards and wind up losing a party member because the game decided that the group of 5 enemies you are fighting gets to go two time at the start with all attacks being AOE and very damaging. Another game where skill is not how you win. You win by hedging your bets... grind up and stack your decks. This is not gaming, it's just gambling... and maybe that is why these games get more attention than they deserve. Get this on discount, you should less dissapointed.